ALIVE.

The blog lives! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates the past....2 months
It's not because there hasn't been anything to update about (trust me, there has been SO much going on!!) just finding the time to sit down and just write especially when you're already behind.

Anyway! Today I'll try to get as caught up as I can so bear with me for a long post (which I will try to edit later to include pictures..we'll see how that goes.)

WEEK 1:
The Sunday before my first day I spent recovering from the night before as well as doing a little home shopping. I decided to buy a cake for my school as a welcoming present (mocha cake from one of the many Paris Baguette stores here)..it barely fit into my fun sized refrigerator (think of those college style mini fridge). I also spent some of the night contemplating my self-introduction to the school (I was told I'd have to give a 5 minute introduction of myself to be video broadcasted to the school).

My first day I was super nervous! I didn't even know where my school was because my other coteacher whom I hadn't met yet was going to walk me over. I remember waking up early to get ready and finish my speech (because of my typical procrastinating ways). I met my second coteacher outside my building and we walked over to the school. She seemed very timid but very sweet - something that I've noticed with most Koreans is despite having some level of knowledge about the English language they usually do not feel comfortable using it (especially in front of native speakers) and will also deny any sort of proficiency (even when they speak the language fairly well).
I personally really relate to their reluctance to use a foreign language because I myself am so uncomfortable practicing/using Spanish (despite studying it for 6 years) and Vietnamese (being able to understand it and having been raised with that language in the home). Something that I'm really challenging myself is to break away from the comfort of using English only - I am trying to learn Korean right now (self study and some of the teachers are helping me study as well).
I think it's so important to have confidence with language because if you don't try and you're always too afraid to make mistakes you'll never learn (which is what I tell all my students so...I'm trying to live by it too)

Anywho, tangent. SO we walked over to school and made a bit of small talk just beginning to get to know one another - randomly I ran into a friend I met at orientation on the way to school (turns out his school is on the way to mine! and he lives quite close to me although I still haven't visited his place yet)

Arrived at school to find half of the place under construction. I'll be honest as most of the teachers have expressed to me our school is obviously not in a well off area. Almost all the students families are middle to low class in terms of SES - this is also important because it is a reflection of their education level. Those students who do not have the money cannot afford to go to "hagwons" or at least more rigorous/challenging hagwons. Hagwons are like supplementary classes or courses that students take after school and usually in another place (they're usually referred to as academies). I see students wandering around so late at night on weekdays because they start school at 8-9am in the morning and once they finish at public school they continue at their hagwon until around 10pm at night. I remember at UCI I took a class about international education standards as well as study ethics - really got a firsthand contrast from the way people value education here in comparison to the states.

We also don't have much budget for extra materials (as far as I can see the school only pays for printer paper and ink for the printer - everything else the teachers supplement themselves...even colored construction paper and glue my coteacher buys for her class). There are many classrooms in Korea that are well equipped with touch screen TVs and lots of techy advancements but most of our classrooms just have a big screen TV and a microphone (which is more than enough to teach a class with so I can't complain)

Bottom line is that same as anywhere else lower SES usually means less education opportunities for students = but despite that they are generally really agreeable, cheerful and bright students (I dont think I would have been able to know the difference between the students who are very impoverish compared to the middle class students had my coteacher not pointed it out to me - at least in terms of their happiness and energy they bring to the class :) but I'll get into more of those stories later!)

Anyway back to the first day! So I was really nervous to have to give a speech in front of the school and for meeting all of the faculty, I didn't really know how I should go about introducing myself or what proper cultural protocol was...
My coteacher walked me into the administration office where I got to meet the principal and one of the vice principals (my school has a female principal and both a male and a female vice principal). They were very kind offering me coffee and asking me about myself (most of the conversation was translated through my coteacher). They were also very appreciative of the cake I brought :) yay!

After some time of being in the office they walked me over to where our video broadcast was going to be done. Looking back now I shouldn't have been as so nervous as I was considering most of the school would have not been able to understand me anyway. Basically the principal gave me an introduction (in Korean) and then I talked about myself (in English) and then my coteacher talked about me (in Korean). Oh! I forgot to mention that it was on my first day I found out that I am the first native English speaker the school has had (so a lot of the times administrative questions about my position aren't generally known right away which can be irritating at times but understandable).

After the announcement I was shown to my desk in the subject teacher's lounge..it was so cute because my coteacher had made little paper hearts with my name on it :) and placed them around my work area and on my books
I also had a ridiculous amount of food given to me the first day @_@. It started with my coteacher who walked me to school giving me a bottle of starbucks coffee, then the coffee from the vice principal in the morning..followed by my main coteacher giving me a sandwich and chocolate milk in case I hadn't had breakfast yet...to the cake i brought and some juice...along with a huge plate of grapes and apples @_@...keep in mind my day only lasted from 8:40 to about 12:40 x_x

Anyway after sitting at my desk for about 20 minutes the principal called us into her office (which is baller. if you watch Korean dramas think of when they're in like a boss/managers room and it has like the row of huge chairs that's what her office is like) to cut the cake and take pictures. It was a confusing time but a happy one haha they took wedding like poses with me cutting the cake and then after that gave me a plate of grapes and had me go back to the staff room.

That whole week I only had half days (because I was still on technical quarantine and wasn't allowed to teach classes...although I made no sense because if I were sick I could still contaminate the school by being there but sure haha I enjoyed the half days. H1N1 is a huge scare here and they're excessively precautious of it. To the extent that practically all public places will have a bottle of hand sanitizer, a good chunk of the population walk around with medical masks - many of these are even decorated with cute characters. Not going to lie, I have one too).

The kids were so adorable (and still are)! They don't do it as much now but for the first month or so kids would yell hello to me (even students who aren't my students haha)
But yes that was my first day (I have so much to write because I took notes on everything that happened :P)

The rest of the week was mostly exploring around my area when I got back and also little chores here and there (going to the bank to put money in my account, etc).
I did however have a random trip to Seodaemun that first Tuesday with a friend to go to the SMOE office to pick up paper work. We ended up not even needing to go but we decided to explore the area since we were already out. We found what we thought was a temple but it was actually a palace (closed). We wandered into an art exhibit/museum and then continued to the area outside the Seoul history museum. Because it wasn't free we walked over to this really nice bookstore and just browsed some of the books there (foreign books are sooo expensive here!). After that we grabbed some dinner and headed home :) it was a fun and adventurous night!

The other noteworthy event was on Friday I had my first Seoul shopping experience in Dongdaemun (huge shopping mall with floors packed with different sellers - this is a place where you can bargain with the seller) and then moved onto shopping/wandering in Edae in search of eyelash extensions which we ended up in Hongdae again for a night of dancing
Also that Sunday I had my first American chain food in Korea (burger king in sillim!) - it was...good but something was off about it? I think it was the bun. haha

Yep so that was my first week! Overall it was a very easy transition into the classroom (only half days the whole week so plenty of time to plan for the first lesson and then being able to observe classes on Friday to prep). It really helped that my coteacher and all the staff were very friendly and helpful - always making sure I was comfortable and had no problems (Most of the other NSET [Native Speaking English Teachers] had to go get their ARC [Alien Registration Card - like a state ID card] on their own but my coteacher did everything for me [took my picture, printed out the documents and even went to the immigration office on her own because she didnt want me to wait a long while]).

I'm grateful to be placed where I am and be working with the faculty and students that I have - I couldn't imagine being happier anywhere else or in any other situation :)

This is also taking much longer than anticipated so I'll continue to update about past events...(post most likely be this long because I won't have as many notes about what happened)
Again sorry for the lack of updates! THE BLOG IS A PRIORITY TO ME! I'll try to write more...yaksokay~ (i promise)

Coffee Culture

Another delayed update. This blog is so neglected because of the busy busy lifestyles of foreign English teachers. I either feel really behind or things are just moving so fast-paced here that you never really have a moment to just sit, take a breaher, and reflect. I feel like so much has happened since I have been in Korea. I've done a fair (although I feel like I need to do more) amount of sight seeing, ate an abundance of different Korean food, met people both native and foreign, as well immersed myself in the never ending night life. It's all been good fun.

One particular find is the unique coffee culture here in Korea. Coffee is pretty big in Korea and as the saying goes, "you know you are in Korea when you are willing to pay more for your coffee than your actual meal." While it's sometimes a bit pricey, I really enjoy going to them and relaxing there. It gives you that much needed slow down from the hustle and bustle of the city. I find most to be super duper cute and fun.

One unique place I went to very recently was a place in Gangnam. I forgot it's name already - but Diana and I went there with one purpose. To find the feet eating fish. Whaaat?? Well, at this coffee place, you can enjoy a cup of joe and unlimited fresh baked bread and, after paying an additional two dollars, you can soak your feet in warm water where little fishies play.

I guess you can think of it as a type of special exfoliator for your feet. The fishies come swim to your feet and you start feeling a ticklish little poke all over. That ticklish feeling is the fish are actually eating the dead skin off your feet. Kind of weird right? It was. But I guess it worked. 20 minutes later, my feet felt softer than usual. However, that may have been from the 20 minutes being soaked in water.

It was fun though and probably the most unique coffee shop adventure I have experienced. Now don't get me wrong, most coffee shops aren't as special as this place - most are pretty ordinary. But this one is one that really comes to mind.

Now if you are interested in this Dr. Fish therapy, my only advice is if you are ticklish ... don't do it!


COFFEE!


fishies that eat your feet!


it was really weird.


like really weird haha!