MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!
i know..i'm terrible at updating this thing.
there just isn't time. i seem to always be into
something and if i'm not...then i'm probably asleep.
anyway. this is my first christmas away from home.
so far..it seems that only one of my packages arrived.
i'm worried about the other two!
eep! callie and sam i want you to get your things!
my friends are i are gathering tomorrow for christmas dinner.
here is the menu...
Turkey
Chicken
Stuffing
Mashed Potato
Gravy
Roast Potato
Corn
Carrots
Green Beans
Yorkshire Pudding
Dinner Rolls
Crescent Rolls
Bacon
Cookies/Chocolates
Holiday Wine
Banana Bread
yum! i cannot wait to eat delicious food! don't ask what yorkshire pudding is...i have no idea. it's a brit food.
after dinner we're doing white elephant. i'm quite proud of the gift i bought. i found it on the sale rack of home plus....it's a purple beaded bed canopy. who wouldn't want that?
then i imagine we'll play games and drink too much.
all in the name of the season, eh?
well i have 10 days off. figured i'll use this to be a tourist in seoul....or sleep.
we'll see how it plays out.
-
Kim
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
chuseok weekend
we went to the mountains this past weekend.
we went paragliding.
it was gorgeous.
thats me in the air :)
we went paragliding.
it was gorgeous.
thats me in the air :)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
working on my fitness...
so i joined a gym.
a very expensive gym.
a very, very expensive gym.
i really like it though.
i go everyday and have found a love for
spinning class.
i didn't go today because i wore through
my shoes. i need new running shoes.
no idea how to find new ones.
guess i'll just buy a pair of mens
and wing it.
oh, well.
-
kimmie
theres too much going on in life to update this like you guys want me to.
i'm sorry for that. i'll try and do better.
a very expensive gym.
a very, very expensive gym.
i really like it though.
i go everyday and have found a love for
spinning class.
i didn't go today because i wore through
my shoes. i need new running shoes.
no idea how to find new ones.
guess i'll just buy a pair of mens
and wing it.
oh, well.
-
kimmie
theres too much going on in life to update this like you guys want me to.
i'm sorry for that. i'll try and do better.
Monday, September 14, 2009
things.
Alright, Callie was right, I've been neglecting the blog. There have been many reasons for this, first and foremost is the fact that I'm usually busy. I work all day and Wednesday-Sunday I always have plans.
I finally have a life here, and a pretty damn great one. I am so happy and lucky to be where I am. I miss everyone at home, but I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.
I've been on several vacations lately so I'll share some pictures, most of which you've seen because they are on facebook, but I digress.
Malippo: Home of the Fog.
We didn't take many pictures there, it wasn't an eventful beach trip. This past weekend however...
I think this speaks for itself..
We took 10 people to Jeju, pictures are on Facebook. It was one of the best weekends I've had here. It was just a lot of fun and a breath of fresh air.
As you've read I've been having sinus problems (damn weather changes and pollution!) I went to the Doctor here, it's so efficient. America take a cue! I walked into the Doctor waited about 5 minutes, went in talked to him, and left. It cost me THREE DOLLARS!
Then I went to the pharmacy. They do medicine differently here. They don't give you a giant bottle, they give you just the amount that you need and if you need more you just go back and get it. Even pain pills are distributed like this.
When you get your medicine it comes like this.
I have no idea what any of it was but it worked! I still have a cough but thats alright. Each pack is a dose, so I was taking it 3 times a day I had 4 days worth of those little packs. It's a neat idea.
-
Finishee!
I finally have a life here, and a pretty damn great one. I am so happy and lucky to be where I am. I miss everyone at home, but I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.
I've been on several vacations lately so I'll share some pictures, most of which you've seen because they are on facebook, but I digress.
Malippo: Home of the Fog.
We didn't take many pictures there, it wasn't an eventful beach trip. This past weekend however...
I think this speaks for itself..
We took 10 people to Jeju, pictures are on Facebook. It was one of the best weekends I've had here. It was just a lot of fun and a breath of fresh air.
As you've read I've been having sinus problems (damn weather changes and pollution!) I went to the Doctor here, it's so efficient. America take a cue! I walked into the Doctor waited about 5 minutes, went in talked to him, and left. It cost me THREE DOLLARS!
Then I went to the pharmacy. They do medicine differently here. They don't give you a giant bottle, they give you just the amount that you need and if you need more you just go back and get it. Even pain pills are distributed like this.
When you get your medicine it comes like this.
I have no idea what any of it was but it worked! I still have a cough but thats alright. Each pack is a dose, so I was taking it 3 times a day I had 4 days worth of those little packs. It's a neat idea.
-
Finishee!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
the office season 5
will be released on dvd tuesday september 8th.
i will be requiring this dvd for my personal happiness.
you can argue over who gets to purchase it.
hell, i'll even tell you who to contact to get money from
my account to go purchase it.
you have around a month to make decisions.
godspeed.
i will be requiring this dvd for my personal happiness.
you can argue over who gets to purchase it.
hell, i'll even tell you who to contact to get money from
my account to go purchase it.
you have around a month to make decisions.
godspeed.
Monday, August 10, 2009
bang bang
sunday while feeling quite unwell we decided to go shoot guns!
my gun.
woohoo! actually it was scary and he kept telling me that i was shooting too fast.
i got one bullseye and barely made the rest of the page. i did shoot one of the clips off that was holding the paper. pretty impressive.
my gun.
woohoo! actually it was scary and he kept telling me that i was shooting too fast.
i got one bullseye and barely made the rest of the page. i did shoot one of the clips off that was holding the paper. pretty impressive.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
talking points
i feel like if i don't do this now i never will.
-south east asia. tin huts?
-MAYONAISE! ugh!
-craziest mall EVER
-sbarro receipt as toilet paper?
-crazy housekeeping man
-i'm on a boat
-aaah. restocking the mini fridge. embarrassing
-damn, those rocks hurt
-why are there so many indians?
-basketball AND cows
-being taken for a ride...literally and figuratively
-HBO? hell yeah
-global ban on skirts, hello tube top dress!
-asia's amazing race and creepy host
-DON'T TOUCH MY TOILET PAPER
-ugh, i'm ready to go home! 2 more hours until i leave...5 until i leave leave for korea
-
kimmie
-south east asia. tin huts?
-MAYONAISE! ugh!
-craziest mall EVER
-sbarro receipt as toilet paper?
-crazy housekeeping man
-i'm on a boat
-aaah. restocking the mini fridge. embarrassing
-damn, those rocks hurt
-why are there so many indians?
-basketball AND cows
-being taken for a ride...literally and figuratively
-HBO? hell yeah
-global ban on skirts, hello tube top dress!
-asia's amazing race and creepy host
-DON'T TOUCH MY TOILET PAPER
-ugh, i'm ready to go home! 2 more hours until i leave...5 until i leave leave for korea
-
kimmie
Saturday, August 1, 2009
philippines!
alright well i just got in and not even really settled. i never knew that the philippines were so.....poor. it caught me off guard having the plane land in manila with slums almost reaching over the retaining walls.
the airport is also very small and confusing. there are a million different buildings. you get off of the plane from the arrivals and then have to figure out where to go. you have to catch a shuttle to the domestic flights area, which you have to drive through a slum. get there...have to go to a room to print your ticket...walk through a metal detector. get into the place where you check your baggage and have to go through another metal detector. get through that and go through TWO more metal detectors.
also there are detectors for men, and for women.
get out of cebu airport and am immediately thrown into a cab. people are right, it's more expensive than i thought. driving here in a corolla (made me miss my baby) i asked the driver if people really lived in these areas. just mud and thatch huts, children running around nude and filthy some without shoes. he just said yes, that people lived there and tried to run their small shops. needless to say i don't think that i'll be leaving the resort too much.
pulled up and recieved a complimentary drink after i handed over my 2000 Peso deposit for not having a credit card and was guided to my room. the girl at the desk asked me if i was alone so she gave me an upgrade.
these beds are so soft! my bathroom is bigger than my apartment in korea! the room with the toilet and sink is very large, then you walk through glass doors outside to a room that is covered only with thatch. there are soft stones all over the ground and a HUGE jacuzzi bathtub. the shower is also outside. i like it.
took a walk over to the beach and it is......bad. haha. really bad actually. but there are island hopping excursions that i plan on going on to see real beaches. i think that it'll be a very relaxing weekend.
breakfast is free. the room service food seems pretty cheap and there is a bar 20 feet from my front door. it's mostly families and couples here and i think that most places close around 11 but she told me that room service is 24 hours.
hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and i can go snorkeling or something.
alright, well you know that i made it safely so there....i'll try and keep everyone posted and i'll attempt to take pictures, even though i hate it.
-
kimmie
the airport is also very small and confusing. there are a million different buildings. you get off of the plane from the arrivals and then have to figure out where to go. you have to catch a shuttle to the domestic flights area, which you have to drive through a slum. get there...have to go to a room to print your ticket...walk through a metal detector. get into the place where you check your baggage and have to go through another metal detector. get through that and go through TWO more metal detectors.
also there are detectors for men, and for women.
get out of cebu airport and am immediately thrown into a cab. people are right, it's more expensive than i thought. driving here in a corolla (made me miss my baby) i asked the driver if people really lived in these areas. just mud and thatch huts, children running around nude and filthy some without shoes. he just said yes, that people lived there and tried to run their small shops. needless to say i don't think that i'll be leaving the resort too much.
pulled up and recieved a complimentary drink after i handed over my 2000 Peso deposit for not having a credit card and was guided to my room. the girl at the desk asked me if i was alone so she gave me an upgrade.
these beds are so soft! my bathroom is bigger than my apartment in korea! the room with the toilet and sink is very large, then you walk through glass doors outside to a room that is covered only with thatch. there are soft stones all over the ground and a HUGE jacuzzi bathtub. the shower is also outside. i like it.
took a walk over to the beach and it is......bad. haha. really bad actually. but there are island hopping excursions that i plan on going on to see real beaches. i think that it'll be a very relaxing weekend.
breakfast is free. the room service food seems pretty cheap and there is a bar 20 feet from my front door. it's mostly families and couples here and i think that most places close around 11 but she told me that room service is 24 hours.
hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and i can go snorkeling or something.
alright, well you know that i made it safely so there....i'll try and keep everyone posted and i'll attempt to take pictures, even though i hate it.
-
kimmie
Saturday, July 25, 2009
the won!
tonight my friend laura brought her cat to come stay with me for the week while she is in Thailand. Things didn't go so well and her cat is the devil so she had to take him home to put him in boarding for the week.
after that me and the ladies went out in itaewon, woohoo! dirty part of seoul full of foreigners, military and god knows what....actually, indians.
regardless. we waited in the quque for a bit to get into this place called Helio's. Rach just really had to use the bathroom. This place is always overcrowded plus you have to pay 10 bucks to get in.
Later on in the night after the rest of our friends have ditched us to go home (said they were tired, it was only 3am!). Rachel and I were dancing away and chatting to many people.
Last time i was at Helio's I met a guy from Azerbaijan. Tonight I met a guy from EGYPT. and he was....gorgeous. I have a thing for muslim's with broken english. I think thats my niche. I asked him if he was going to ask for my number or if tonight was going to be the only time that I saw him. He got my number and called mine so if he doesn't call I can harrass him. Ha!
The only dancing he did was SLOW dancing. So we slow danced to Shakira, Young Jeezy...who knows what else. He imports cars to Egypt, drives, and said that his family is royalty.
did i say that he was gorgeous.
i hope he calls, eh, even if he doesn't.
it was a really good night.
now i'm home at 6:30 am....not tired. guess I'll go read and hang out with bear man a while.
-
kimmie
after that me and the ladies went out in itaewon, woohoo! dirty part of seoul full of foreigners, military and god knows what....actually, indians.
regardless. we waited in the quque for a bit to get into this place called Helio's. Rach just really had to use the bathroom. This place is always overcrowded plus you have to pay 10 bucks to get in.
Later on in the night after the rest of our friends have ditched us to go home (said they were tired, it was only 3am!). Rachel and I were dancing away and chatting to many people.
Last time i was at Helio's I met a guy from Azerbaijan. Tonight I met a guy from EGYPT. and he was....gorgeous. I have a thing for muslim's with broken english. I think thats my niche. I asked him if he was going to ask for my number or if tonight was going to be the only time that I saw him. He got my number and called mine so if he doesn't call I can harrass him. Ha!
The only dancing he did was SLOW dancing. So we slow danced to Shakira, Young Jeezy...who knows what else. He imports cars to Egypt, drives, and said that his family is royalty.
did i say that he was gorgeous.
i hope he calls, eh, even if he doesn't.
it was a really good night.
now i'm home at 6:30 am....not tired. guess I'll go read and hang out with bear man a while.
-
kimmie
cass-uh
korea's beer of choice. this was the street promotion from last night. snagged the picture from my friend andy. gotta love it. tastes quite good too!
Monday, July 13, 2009
where am i?
can you find me?!
more to come later!
i will say though...it wasn't mudfest as much as it was...rain festival!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
BOO!
i like this song :)
also, in my last post i was refering to something stupid i did, well check out facebook. i can't save the video and post it here, or yet i've not figured out how to do it!
I BUNGEE JUMPED!
AND GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE BY THE CORD!
my face is still black a little bit where I got hit. I didn't even know it happened. 30 minutes later Karla asked me if I knew that i had been hit in the face....nope! Felt up there and had a HUGE knot.
regardless, it is something that i can mark off of my list of things to do. it will also reserve a spot on the list of things to never do again!
my 4th of july was so abusive but great! i couldn't move at all on sunday. rafting was alot of fun. pictures from the trip guides should be up at some point, i know that there should be a picture of me flying over a raft!
they turned over a raft, splashed water on it. take a run...jump on it and land in the river. skinned up my knee, haha.
bungee jump punch to the face.
massive sunburn.
hurt my knee dancing to a queen cover band later that night.
fabulous though!
my 4th of july was one long day. i think i was awake and doing things for 22 hours that day. wouldn't have had it any other way.
regardless, check facebook.
-
kimmie
Monday, July 6, 2009
I did something very stupid this past weekend. As soon as I get the video and pictures I will post them. Until then...the suspense builds!
Another thing. My apartment finally looks like...well an apartment. Mars had to move out so I got ALL of her kitchen stuff, some blankets, a rug. I came home Friday and all of my dishes were finished! Then Saturday was an adventure which I will speak of later.
And today she moved her couch out. I came home and my ENTIRE apartment was CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN! It wasn't messy to begin with (believe it or not!) but still. I was so excited!
She even made burritos last night.
Tonight i made my own pasta sauce (EEK!) and learned to cook with garlic. It was delicious!
I also came home today to another letter from Marjorie! Thank you dearest! The post office is open while I am at work so I never have time to post anything. I have been thinking of what to send everyone and think that I'm coming up with some pretty clever ideas.
-
Kimmie
Another thing. My apartment finally looks like...well an apartment. Mars had to move out so I got ALL of her kitchen stuff, some blankets, a rug. I came home Friday and all of my dishes were finished! Then Saturday was an adventure which I will speak of later.
And today she moved her couch out. I came home and my ENTIRE apartment was CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN! It wasn't messy to begin with (believe it or not!) but still. I was so excited!
She even made burritos last night.
Tonight i made my own pasta sauce (EEK!) and learned to cook with garlic. It was delicious!
I also came home today to another letter from Marjorie! Thank you dearest! The post office is open while I am at work so I never have time to post anything. I have been thinking of what to send everyone and think that I'm coming up with some pretty clever ideas.
-
Kimmie
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
oh, yeah...
i said i wouldn't give out my number but screw it..
010-8691-3500
no idea what the country code is. and remember...i am 13 hours ahead of you. if it is between the hours of...8pm and 5am for you...i am at work. however..lunch is between 11pm and midnight.
other thing i enjoy...
on demand movies!!!!!!!!
010-8691-3500
no idea what the country code is. and remember...i am 13 hours ahead of you. if it is between the hours of...8pm and 5am for you...i am at work. however..lunch is between 11pm and midnight.
other thing i enjoy...
on demand movies!!!!!!!!
randoms
greetings from korea! bear says hello!
these are some pictures hanging on the wall, it's not my class but is adorable anyway..
nevermind...blogger is being strange.
-i've made girlfriends. friends i can call up for a night out or for a hangover sunday lunch. yay!
-baseball continues to be great! hustle doosan!
-bear can jump. high. it drives me insane. today he jumped on my keyboard.
-mars was fired from her job and has to leave the building in 10 days. i am inheriting winter bedding, a toaster, dishes,a rug, and kitchen utensils. she already has a job lined up in jeju (that bitch)...jeju by the way is korea's hawaii.
-we went to itaewon last weekend. my friends met normal boys. i met the middle east. look up azerbaijan. it's spelled incorrectly. he's only here for two weeks, and i haven't emailed him. wondering if i should. actually kind of cute in a russian kind of way.
-said night, i danced for 5 hours. my calves are still killing me. i love it.
-open class is OVER! back to normal schedule. normal schedule where i don't have free time to sit and look at this...
-thats the view of the trees above the park bench i eat my lunch at everyday
-i feel as if i'm not living up to the life that i'm supposed to have. everyone i know is in a couple, married, or has kids. i have none of the above and think that i'm happy with it. at the same time...i'm the only one. kind of makes you wonder where you went wrong. then at the same time your at a pub on a wednesday night having the time of your life and think that everyone else is missing out.
-sometimes i'm bored, sometimes i'm lonely, sometimes i feel so lucky to be where i am and doing what i'm doing. i've always travelled and i've always been too independent. waking up in a foreign country everyday and enjoying it, i could not ask for more.
sometimes i think that life is just perfect. then i hear....finishee! oh, konglish.
wishlist!
-hana (1) box of shells and cheese. which i know would make me incredibly ill, but i miss it!
-hana (1) pair of shoes that i don't hate wearing. i've turned into the person i've always hated....i wear flip flops. daily. i hate HATE wearing shoes.
-cat toys
-bear to stop being INSANE and let me have a moment of peace (is this what parenthood is like?!)
-more books...which i can easily access from here...for a price.
i totally had more...but this is all you get!
OH! i need addresses! not that i have time to go to the post office during business hours but i can always try!
-
Kimmie
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
shopping in korea sucks.
ugh. i travelled a hour into seoul today to find decent clothes for open class.
they told us that we had to wear skirts or dresses.
looks like i'm going in pants. might throw on a necklace just make things proper.
the style here right now is short dresses. so what do short dresses mean on me?
shirts.
and since i'm not allowed to wear slacks underneath...hmm.
even the shirts...fuck, even the tank tops...couldn't fit.
went to the bathroom and saw a tag in the floor for the gap. considering going back tomorrow....eek! we only had time to go to one store. i met up with friends at 8 after getting off work, went for dinner and the shops all closed at 10.
tomorrow i get off at 5:20 so maybe i'll go back when i'll have more time to browse more stores.
UGH!
this sucks more than you know.
all of my clothes are falling off of me.
also...
bear was alone for 16 hours today. now he's going insane and i'm tired and cranky.
i don't know what i'm going to do when i go on vacation and leave him for a week.
hopefully whoever is in charge of feeding him will also stick around to play some.
-
kimmie
ugh. i travelled a hour into seoul today to find decent clothes for open class.
they told us that we had to wear skirts or dresses.
looks like i'm going in pants. might throw on a necklace just make things proper.
the style here right now is short dresses. so what do short dresses mean on me?
shirts.
and since i'm not allowed to wear slacks underneath...hmm.
even the shirts...fuck, even the tank tops...couldn't fit.
went to the bathroom and saw a tag in the floor for the gap. considering going back tomorrow....eek! we only had time to go to one store. i met up with friends at 8 after getting off work, went for dinner and the shops all closed at 10.
tomorrow i get off at 5:20 so maybe i'll go back when i'll have more time to browse more stores.
UGH!
this sucks more than you know.
all of my clothes are falling off of me.
also...
bear was alone for 16 hours today. now he's going insane and i'm tired and cranky.
i don't know what i'm going to do when i go on vacation and leave him for a week.
hopefully whoever is in charge of feeding him will also stick around to play some.
-
kimmie
Monday, June 22, 2009
my day
today i woke up to the sound of the skype buzzer, i had a call! CALLLLLLLLLIE!
bitch better hurry up and get a passport. i slept in but still managed to take a shower. i woke up able to smell myself today. not a great thing. then i was walking to work and standing at a cross walk that was taking FOREVER to change. i was getting ready for my morning commute smoke when a car pulls up and slams on the horn.
immediate thoughts "FUCK! i know i'm white but leave it alone"...okay, actually i've only had one adverse reaction to my being here and it was from a little girl. i walked by and she screamed WAEGOOK! eh, oh well. it was my teachers handyman! he yelled at me to hurry up and get into the car, haha. i asked him how his weekend was and he said bad, then he asked me if i had a boyfriend yet. this dude is married. and speaks broken english. there are some attractive korean men, most definently, but mr. yoon is not one of them.
get to school, open day practice again! i think that i've written about this nightmare, but today was actually....really good. if you discount the fact that at lunch i was eaten alive by little red bugs, i guess it comes with the territory!
so after work i decided to run by the atm to see if i had been paid yet...tada! i had...and a day early too. i guess that means that i get to go into seoul tomorrow instead of wednesday, tuesdays i get finished with school a wopping 40 minutes early, but still...thats 40 minutes earlier that i'll be in town. especially since where i'm going takes over an hour on the metro.
i digress. my friend told me about these pants that she bought at Lotte Castle (yes, it looks like a castle). walked around all million floors of this place. if you think phipps is swanky, come to Lotte. and mine is a small one. I even got to tour the grocery store, and OMG! but i imagine the prices are a bit higher than HomePlus so thats where I'll stay.
I finally found the store i was looking for, find the pants and go to try them on. i should have known that you have to take off your shoes to even go into the dressing room. i've been here long enough to know the rules about shoes (when in doubt, remove them). i've taken to being one of those people i hate and only wear flip flops. i know...so i go into the dressing room, was kindly asked in korean to remove my shoes and then come out and DUDE HAS TURNED THEM AROUND SO THAT WHEN I STEP OUT I CAN WALK INTO THEM....
at first i was like "oh, wow thats nice" and then i thought "oh shit, he touched my nasty ass flip flops"...what a job.
didn't buy the pants, came home instead. pleasant surprise 100000000. i got my apartment bill. i figured it would be insane since i had the AC running all month and it not properly working...at all. instead SIXTY BUCKS! looks like i'm buying myself a new cell phone and more clothes tomorrow :)
alright. off to take bear bear to the vet for more shots, dinner, pharmacy run and then groceries.
-
kimmie
bitch better hurry up and get a passport. i slept in but still managed to take a shower. i woke up able to smell myself today. not a great thing. then i was walking to work and standing at a cross walk that was taking FOREVER to change. i was getting ready for my morning commute smoke when a car pulls up and slams on the horn.
immediate thoughts "FUCK! i know i'm white but leave it alone"...okay, actually i've only had one adverse reaction to my being here and it was from a little girl. i walked by and she screamed WAEGOOK! eh, oh well. it was my teachers handyman! he yelled at me to hurry up and get into the car, haha. i asked him how his weekend was and he said bad, then he asked me if i had a boyfriend yet. this dude is married. and speaks broken english. there are some attractive korean men, most definently, but mr. yoon is not one of them.
get to school, open day practice again! i think that i've written about this nightmare, but today was actually....really good. if you discount the fact that at lunch i was eaten alive by little red bugs, i guess it comes with the territory!
so after work i decided to run by the atm to see if i had been paid yet...tada! i had...and a day early too. i guess that means that i get to go into seoul tomorrow instead of wednesday, tuesdays i get finished with school a wopping 40 minutes early, but still...thats 40 minutes earlier that i'll be in town. especially since where i'm going takes over an hour on the metro.
i digress. my friend told me about these pants that she bought at Lotte Castle (yes, it looks like a castle). walked around all million floors of this place. if you think phipps is swanky, come to Lotte. and mine is a small one. I even got to tour the grocery store, and OMG! but i imagine the prices are a bit higher than HomePlus so thats where I'll stay.
I finally found the store i was looking for, find the pants and go to try them on. i should have known that you have to take off your shoes to even go into the dressing room. i've been here long enough to know the rules about shoes (when in doubt, remove them). i've taken to being one of those people i hate and only wear flip flops. i know...so i go into the dressing room, was kindly asked in korean to remove my shoes and then come out and DUDE HAS TURNED THEM AROUND SO THAT WHEN I STEP OUT I CAN WALK INTO THEM....
at first i was like "oh, wow thats nice" and then i thought "oh shit, he touched my nasty ass flip flops"...what a job.
didn't buy the pants, came home instead. pleasant surprise 100000000. i got my apartment bill. i figured it would be insane since i had the AC running all month and it not properly working...at all. instead SIXTY BUCKS! looks like i'm buying myself a new cell phone and more clothes tomorrow :)
alright. off to take bear bear to the vet for more shots, dinner, pharmacy run and then groceries.
-
kimmie
Thursday, June 18, 2009
fan death, open class, and delicious pizza
It's been a while I realized since I wrote a real post about what all is going on with me over here. I feel it's kind of pointless as I tslk to most of you a good bit, well those of you who I know are reading. Who in the hell checked my blog from Italy?
oh, well. I'll start out with a little tidbit about fan death. I'm not sure how many of you have ever heard of this. Apparently the majority of Koreans believe this. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death
I heard about it and asked a co-worker, she avidly believes it. Apparently it even stretches so far as to say that you should not have your AC on in your car without the windows cracked because you will suffocate from the lack of air circulation. My belief on it is this: Koreans don't use their AC. I think they all just die of Heat Exhaustion, whatever.
I just figured out how to get on demand movies, totally watching Pearl Harbor. Not sure why. On the screen the movie titles are in Korean so you have to know the pictures from the DVD.
Open Class is my nightmare. It is the day where parents come to school and watch us prove that their money is being well spent. It is my nightmare. My school doesn't think that I am friendly. Well, only Director. The kids all love me and the majority of the teachers do, although today, I swear one of them shooed me out of the room. We have been practicing NON STOP! I think there has been only one practice that hasn't ended in my tears. Tomorrow we get to do it again :). I have 10 classes to do and the Korean teacher that I am working with likes to change things up on me at the last minute and make me look like a fool. It's pretty fabulous. Other than that life is just, life. I work all of the time. I don't really get out and do much. On Thursdays I make it a point to go to Punk Night for about an hour.
Friday, and Saturdays I generally make my way out but I'm always so tired that I'm a grandmother and go home early. People here stay out all night long, and most every night. It's crazy. Korea is definitely a party place. I just wish everyone could see Seoul on a weekend. It's white people everywhere! One good thing about Seoul on the weekends: Kabobs. I can't believe that I had never had one until here, they are delicious.
Speaking of delicious. There is some really great pizza by my school. I tend to order a pie every week. I wonder if they think that I'm a glutton/lazy foreigner for always eating pizza. It's so good though: Potatoes, Corn, REAL BACON!, and onions. Mhmm!
Speaking of good things: I had my first trip to Costco this past weekend. I'm going to go back soon and get a membership. I think I could live off of the items stocked in Costco. Sidenote: if you want to see a fat Korean, go to Costco. Everyone here is stick thin, but not there! I guess they have little sleeping cots in the back! AND it's only 2 subway stops away!
There is more, but I'm being lazy and thinking about pizza.
OH!
Bear is doing great. He's getting so big. If he would sit still long enough I'd snap some pictures. He's getting tall and his paws are so big. He's going to be a very big Bear cat. He is a wild man but so sweet. He sleeps under the covers in my bed but I always feel bad because I toss and turn so much. That is his payment for waking me up at 6am everyday going INSANE.
-
Kimmie
oh, well. I'll start out with a little tidbit about fan death. I'm not sure how many of you have ever heard of this. Apparently the majority of Koreans believe this. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death
I heard about it and asked a co-worker, she avidly believes it. Apparently it even stretches so far as to say that you should not have your AC on in your car without the windows cracked because you will suffocate from the lack of air circulation. My belief on it is this: Koreans don't use their AC. I think they all just die of Heat Exhaustion, whatever.
I just figured out how to get on demand movies, totally watching Pearl Harbor. Not sure why. On the screen the movie titles are in Korean so you have to know the pictures from the DVD.
Open Class is my nightmare. It is the day where parents come to school and watch us prove that their money is being well spent. It is my nightmare. My school doesn't think that I am friendly. Well, only Director. The kids all love me and the majority of the teachers do, although today, I swear one of them shooed me out of the room. We have been practicing NON STOP! I think there has been only one practice that hasn't ended in my tears. Tomorrow we get to do it again :). I have 10 classes to do and the Korean teacher that I am working with likes to change things up on me at the last minute and make me look like a fool. It's pretty fabulous. Other than that life is just, life. I work all of the time. I don't really get out and do much. On Thursdays I make it a point to go to Punk Night for about an hour.
Friday, and Saturdays I generally make my way out but I'm always so tired that I'm a grandmother and go home early. People here stay out all night long, and most every night. It's crazy. Korea is definitely a party place. I just wish everyone could see Seoul on a weekend. It's white people everywhere! One good thing about Seoul on the weekends: Kabobs. I can't believe that I had never had one until here, they are delicious.
Speaking of delicious. There is some really great pizza by my school. I tend to order a pie every week. I wonder if they think that I'm a glutton/lazy foreigner for always eating pizza. It's so good though: Potatoes, Corn, REAL BACON!, and onions. Mhmm!
Speaking of good things: I had my first trip to Costco this past weekend. I'm going to go back soon and get a membership. I think I could live off of the items stocked in Costco. Sidenote: if you want to see a fat Korean, go to Costco. Everyone here is stick thin, but not there! I guess they have little sleeping cots in the back! AND it's only 2 subway stops away!
There is more, but I'm being lazy and thinking about pizza.
OH!
Bear is doing great. He's getting so big. If he would sit still long enough I'd snap some pictures. He's getting tall and his paws are so big. He's going to be a very big Bear cat. He is a wild man but so sweet. He sleeps under the covers in my bed but I always feel bad because I toss and turn so much. That is his payment for waking me up at 6am everyday going INSANE.
-
Kimmie
Monday, June 15, 2009
OVUEEN!
just so you know. i totally made friends with a Korean Queen Cover Band. and their pretty fantastic. get to see them play July 4th after a day of White Water rafting. I'm pretty excited about that too. it's going to be a long day :)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
reasons i love korea.
And walking around at 10 pm and seeing this....on a daily basis. Korean's do not drink to enjoy themselves. They drink to end up like this. You see this.....all the time. You get kind of used to it.
Fresh food! I'm learning to cook, and to enjoy my fruits and vegetables. After 25 years, I imagine that it's about time! I've learned to love strawberries! They are my absolute favorites. A big glass of orange juice is always a treat. I really want to learn how to start cooking with fresh ingredients. I've been looking up recipies...we'll see what I come up with!
Not having a dryer. I have a dryer but it doesn't have a heating element, therefore would use a lot of power. I hang all of my clothes on a rack and a drying rack. I think that this is also something that I will continue at home. There is not point in wasting energy if it isn't needed. I wash everything and immediately put it on the rack. I hang everything up with hangers, and granted my clothes dry indoors but it works perfectly. Less than 24 hours hours, clothes are done. It reminds me of simpler things and those are things I'm learning to enjoy.
Kimchi! I've been afraid of trying it because, I don't know. Look at what it looks like. But it is delicious! Mhmm. Fermented Cabbage in a spicy sauce. Korean's believe that eating kimchi will cure all ailments. It is eaten with every meal. Every food here has a meaning behind it. They believe that some foods are good for the liver, some for the lungs, etc. All of this while drinking soju and smoking like fiends.
I really enjoy eating with chopsticks. I think that this is something that I will continue to do once I return home. I make most of my meals at home and eat with traditional Western utensils. Meaning, spoon, fork, etc. I enjoy meals out so that I can practice my chopsticks skills. Their quite fun to eat with! At first it was a little tricky but not hard at all to master.
Friday, June 5, 2009
korean pop music
i love it. it makes my terrible day better. i got the one with english sub titles...learn some korean!
if we have free time we sing this in class. shh. don't tell anyone.
if we have free time we sing this in class. shh. don't tell anyone.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
baby bear
so...i have a kitten. poor thing is so sweet and cute. i wish that i had a picture of his tail. it looks like it was slammed in a door. it probably was poor thing as sick as he is. i got him 3 nights ago and he has yet to poop! he has peed only twice! he eats his food but does not use the bathroom. honestly, i don't think he likes his wet food, which is strange, but good for me!
tonight i decided to take him to the vet near my house, thank goodness they speak english. although at one point the doctor asked me to slow down, haha. but it was so cheap! I got an x-ray, fecal exam, first round of shots, heart worm protection, an an enema for about $60. not bad, i told him that in america it was very, very expensive. when he gets big enough for me to buy him a real litter box (right now he has a cardboard box i salvaged from recycling) it will be expensive. he also needs a shower but i cannot find kitten shampoo! his fur is a little matted, but he seems to be cleaning himself pretty well...
here he is! i have more pictures on my camera but the batteries are dead. oh, well. i'll get them up eventually..
karla and i with our kittens. yodi and bear!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tom Cruise
at my bank there are two people who speak english. one is a really nice small balding man who i feel like i annoy, and then there is Tom Cruise. when my co-teachers went to the bank one time they asked his name and that is the one that was given, so Tom Cruise he is.
the other day, the female co-teacher told me that he had hit on her saying that he was unhappy with his wife and was looking for a "friend" to hang out with away from his wife...
today i ran to the bank and he was the teller that i was assigned to. he asked me how life in korea was treating me, i said fine. i told him that today was my day off so i was just puttering around. i told him that my co-teachers were in Jaeju and he asked why i wasn't with them. i told him that since they are a couple i wasn't invited. he asked where my boyfriend was....my quick reply was...in america, haha. he asked me if i was in love. i said yes. he asked if i was meeting any guys here in korea and i said no, that my boyfriend was in america. he told me that i was a good woman. he asked if all american girls sleep around like on sex and the city and other shows that he had watched...
it was strange.
so, that was my day off. now i'm cleaning/organizing...
-
kimmie
the other day, the female co-teacher told me that he had hit on her saying that he was unhappy with his wife and was looking for a "friend" to hang out with away from his wife...
today i ran to the bank and he was the teller that i was assigned to. he asked me how life in korea was treating me, i said fine. i told him that today was my day off so i was just puttering around. i told him that my co-teachers were in Jaeju and he asked why i wasn't with them. i told him that since they are a couple i wasn't invited. he asked where my boyfriend was....my quick reply was...in america, haha. he asked me if i was in love. i said yes. he asked if i was meeting any guys here in korea and i said no, that my boyfriend was in america. he told me that i was a good woman. he asked if all american girls sleep around like on sex and the city and other shows that he had watched...
it was strange.
so, that was my day off. now i'm cleaning/organizing...
-
kimmie
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
why not?
tonight i learned a new game.
if you ask questions beginning with "why" regarding Korea you must take a drink.
some examples might be...
why would a kid show up to school wearing a shirt that said "too drunk to fuck"
why would a kid show up to school wearing a shirt that said "i <3 my hooker"
why do koreans feel the need to spit all over everything.
why do men stand around the streets throwing hooker postcards all over the ground.
why is there a bar that has a william yates quote on the sign.
why, why, why?
you ask these questions and you must sip your beer.
it's quite a fun way to pass the time and trip up your friends because we are always asking "why"
if you ask questions beginning with "why" regarding Korea you must take a drink.
some examples might be...
why would a kid show up to school wearing a shirt that said "too drunk to fuck"
why would a kid show up to school wearing a shirt that said "i <3 my hooker"
why do koreans feel the need to spit all over everything.
why do men stand around the streets throwing hooker postcards all over the ground.
why is there a bar that has a william yates quote on the sign.
why, why, why?
you ask these questions and you must sip your beer.
it's quite a fun way to pass the time and trip up your friends because we are always asking "why"
lots to say....
these are the things that will be covered in this post..
1. bicycle, bicycle...
2. new schedule, ugh!
3. korean fire drill
i swear there was more....i feel that those will provide ample information for a post...
so, number 1...
there is this guy who was pointed out to me as being the "town bike". oh how i wish that i had a photo of this guy! i will admit to having to have "bike" explained to me. everytime i see him, i chuckle. he is a foreign guy. he always has on: capri pants, his jewelry (man rings, haha), flip flops. and he ALWAYS has a sucker in his mouth. oh, he also has a posse. there is nothing attractive about him. i do not understand how he gets laid so much. one day, i will snag a photo of him..
2. last week i found out that we were getting new schedules. no problem. i had just memorized the one that i had. so why not throw another one at me? well, well, well....this schedule is the devil. i do not have a free moment to even pick my nose or take a piss. not that i ever really do those things at school anyway. this schedule....my pre-k that i was used to visiting twice a week for 30 minutes...i now see every class, everyday, for 40 minutes. the book i'm using was used last schedule in classes that were divided (higher and lower) so needless to say, everyone was on a different page. it was a nightmare. nightmare, nightmare! also...these are my least favorite kids. these are the ones who just sit and stare at you.
then lunch, woohoo lunch!
afterwards i see my favorites: brahms and bach. I thought that i only saw brahms and bach, lets throw a little koala in there too. brahms is split into two....for 20 minutes which for this huge class is just enough time to get them settled, then tell them to leave. bach i was used to having a split class as well...there are 4 in there who are so far advanced it's not even funny. they can read my mind and tell me in perfect english.
there is one kid in this class though that troubles me. not as in he is a pain, but i am troubled for his well being. when i first started i was told that i would have one kid who had some kind of learning disability. for those of you who are unaware....that does not exist here. everyone must conform. i really think that he might be autistic. although, me not being a doctor....who am i to tell. regardless, this kid...he is so far behind everyone. barely speaks, does not know his letters (he can draw them on the table with his finger). it's basically been my policy to see if i can get him to drag along, but i can't stop class for waiting on him. today, he was coloring in his own little world. it came time for class to be over and materials be put away and he pitched a fit. he curled into a ball clenching the crayon can and would not let go to save his life. his teacher walked over and began slapping him until he let go. after that he just sat there pounding his fists on the table. this is the same class where the other day, one of my favorites was trying to write with his left hand (big no-no) and the teacher slapped him.
i hate that part. i didn't know that the left-handed stigma reached this far over into the world. i noticed one day that none of my many, many kids were left handed. i soon learned why. they aren't allowed to be. eek! i loved coming home with pencil stains all over my arm as a child from where i would drag my arms across the paper as i was writing.
oh, well.
next week will be a seemingly easy week. monday is fun day! it's going to be a prelude to having tuesday off as children's day. we're taking the kids to a soccer field all day. all foreign teachers are going to be in charge of a different activity then the kids will rotate around. we had to pick our activity, and well...my suggestion for water balloon toss was shot down and i will be automatically assigned to a game. OH! we're giving the kids presents for children's day.....they showed us what they will be....GIANT SLUGS!
i don't understand. what in the hell are you going to do with a giant slug?
korea still amazes me, haha.
next....we had a fire drill the other day.
they set loose a can of orange sulfer in the hallway. half of the children went to the ROOF and the others took the ELEVATOR downstairs to the lobby. $10 to anyone who can tell me what is wrong with this picture. I of course was given the duty to stand by the sulfer canister and direct traffic. poor koala class was in tears. we were all handing off babies to each other because they were so upset. that stuff smelled terrible! but really....the roof. if there was an actual fire, then we would be in a massive rescue party.
alright...enough...here are pictures...
harry had a birthday...
so did roony.
the rest of the pics are on facebook :)
-
kimmie
1. bicycle, bicycle...
2. new schedule, ugh!
3. korean fire drill
i swear there was more....i feel that those will provide ample information for a post...
so, number 1...
there is this guy who was pointed out to me as being the "town bike". oh how i wish that i had a photo of this guy! i will admit to having to have "bike" explained to me. everytime i see him, i chuckle. he is a foreign guy. he always has on: capri pants, his jewelry (man rings, haha), flip flops. and he ALWAYS has a sucker in his mouth. oh, he also has a posse. there is nothing attractive about him. i do not understand how he gets laid so much. one day, i will snag a photo of him..
2. last week i found out that we were getting new schedules. no problem. i had just memorized the one that i had. so why not throw another one at me? well, well, well....this schedule is the devil. i do not have a free moment to even pick my nose or take a piss. not that i ever really do those things at school anyway. this schedule....my pre-k that i was used to visiting twice a week for 30 minutes...i now see every class, everyday, for 40 minutes. the book i'm using was used last schedule in classes that were divided (higher and lower) so needless to say, everyone was on a different page. it was a nightmare. nightmare, nightmare! also...these are my least favorite kids. these are the ones who just sit and stare at you.
then lunch, woohoo lunch!
afterwards i see my favorites: brahms and bach. I thought that i only saw brahms and bach, lets throw a little koala in there too. brahms is split into two....for 20 minutes which for this huge class is just enough time to get them settled, then tell them to leave. bach i was used to having a split class as well...there are 4 in there who are so far advanced it's not even funny. they can read my mind and tell me in perfect english.
there is one kid in this class though that troubles me. not as in he is a pain, but i am troubled for his well being. when i first started i was told that i would have one kid who had some kind of learning disability. for those of you who are unaware....that does not exist here. everyone must conform. i really think that he might be autistic. although, me not being a doctor....who am i to tell. regardless, this kid...he is so far behind everyone. barely speaks, does not know his letters (he can draw them on the table with his finger). it's basically been my policy to see if i can get him to drag along, but i can't stop class for waiting on him. today, he was coloring in his own little world. it came time for class to be over and materials be put away and he pitched a fit. he curled into a ball clenching the crayon can and would not let go to save his life. his teacher walked over and began slapping him until he let go. after that he just sat there pounding his fists on the table. this is the same class where the other day, one of my favorites was trying to write with his left hand (big no-no) and the teacher slapped him.
i hate that part. i didn't know that the left-handed stigma reached this far over into the world. i noticed one day that none of my many, many kids were left handed. i soon learned why. they aren't allowed to be. eek! i loved coming home with pencil stains all over my arm as a child from where i would drag my arms across the paper as i was writing.
oh, well.
next week will be a seemingly easy week. monday is fun day! it's going to be a prelude to having tuesday off as children's day. we're taking the kids to a soccer field all day. all foreign teachers are going to be in charge of a different activity then the kids will rotate around. we had to pick our activity, and well...my suggestion for water balloon toss was shot down and i will be automatically assigned to a game. OH! we're giving the kids presents for children's day.....they showed us what they will be....GIANT SLUGS!
i don't understand. what in the hell are you going to do with a giant slug?
korea still amazes me, haha.
next....we had a fire drill the other day.
they set loose a can of orange sulfer in the hallway. half of the children went to the ROOF and the others took the ELEVATOR downstairs to the lobby. $10 to anyone who can tell me what is wrong with this picture. I of course was given the duty to stand by the sulfer canister and direct traffic. poor koala class was in tears. we were all handing off babies to each other because they were so upset. that stuff smelled terrible! but really....the roof. if there was an actual fire, then we would be in a massive rescue party.
alright...enough...here are pictures...
harry had a birthday...
so did roony.the rest of the pics are on facebook :)
-
kimmie
Saturday, April 25, 2009
proper travel attire required...
yesterday i woke up and knew that i was supposed to head into seoul. i looked out the window and of course it was raining. eh, not a big deal. i have an umbrella and my coat is waterproof. walk outside to head to the bus stop and the wind is blowing something fierce. it was my first time catching the bus to seoul and i was alone. it was really easy. there is an express bus that will drop you off in downtown seoul in 45 minutes. mars was going to meet me there at the bus stop. so i get there and it's POURING down rain. my shoes are completely soaked through and i'm waiting. she shows up about 10 minutes later and we go off in search for the next bus that we need to take.
we walk from bus stop to bus stop to bus stop in the rain. my shoes i feel like i need to ring out. we finally find a bus stop that has the line that we need and we stand there and wait for probably 15 minutes. we tried invoking murphy's law by lighting cigarettes knowing that the minute we did our bus would pull up. it didn't work.
we finally get on the 471 and head out. oh, goodness. i know what my dad was talking about when he would make fun of me for giving it some gas, then letting up, then giving it some more gas. we were having to stand and were bouncing all over the place. sometimes he'd start going and then slam on brakes. it was horrible.
that took forever. we finally get to the stop where we need to be and grab a taxi. he told us we needed to cross the road and get one over there. so we did. when the taxi pulled up he splashed water all over us.
we pull up at the hotel (we were going to an engagement party) and it was AWESOME! it was all maori people. who by the way are some of the most gracious and polite people ever. there was a buffet and all you could drink :) i kept going for the chardonnay and garlic bread and cheese. mhmm. i probably had....too much. i know that mars did.
i might come back and put pictures on here, but maybe not. there was a phillipino house band that was playing and they were awesome for the following reasons.
1. the girls belt buckle said bitch
2. the bass player had on monster shoes
3. the girl with the belt buckle also had her top woven into her pants
4. she could sing!! she gave Whitney and Mariah a run for their money
5. they were all ridiculously nice
6. the guy singer looked to be about 50 but still was wearing orange baggy pants and a hip hop shirt
they were super fabulous. in such a bad way but they could sing and had everyone dancing all night. we had a dance circle, okay...oval with a bunch of korean's. it's funny how it just didn't matter. we all wanted to dance...
i was trying to drag mars out so that we could catch the buses when she informs me that we're taking a taxi. alright. i'm glad that we did. we just had drunk chat and our driver was so fabulous. we get back and our friends band is playing at the pub so we head there. i had a couple of beers and then after purchasing one more, i decide that it's time to call it a night and came home.
but last night was fabulous.
i met more wonderful people.
and i'm an adopted maori.
-
kimmie
we walk from bus stop to bus stop to bus stop in the rain. my shoes i feel like i need to ring out. we finally find a bus stop that has the line that we need and we stand there and wait for probably 15 minutes. we tried invoking murphy's law by lighting cigarettes knowing that the minute we did our bus would pull up. it didn't work.
we finally get on the 471 and head out. oh, goodness. i know what my dad was talking about when he would make fun of me for giving it some gas, then letting up, then giving it some more gas. we were having to stand and were bouncing all over the place. sometimes he'd start going and then slam on brakes. it was horrible.
that took forever. we finally get to the stop where we need to be and grab a taxi. he told us we needed to cross the road and get one over there. so we did. when the taxi pulled up he splashed water all over us.
we pull up at the hotel (we were going to an engagement party) and it was AWESOME! it was all maori people. who by the way are some of the most gracious and polite people ever. there was a buffet and all you could drink :) i kept going for the chardonnay and garlic bread and cheese. mhmm. i probably had....too much. i know that mars did.
i might come back and put pictures on here, but maybe not. there was a phillipino house band that was playing and they were awesome for the following reasons.
1. the girls belt buckle said bitch
2. the bass player had on monster shoes
3. the girl with the belt buckle also had her top woven into her pants
4. she could sing!! she gave Whitney and Mariah a run for their money
5. they were all ridiculously nice
6. the guy singer looked to be about 50 but still was wearing orange baggy pants and a hip hop shirt
they were super fabulous. in such a bad way but they could sing and had everyone dancing all night. we had a dance circle, okay...oval with a bunch of korean's. it's funny how it just didn't matter. we all wanted to dance...
i was trying to drag mars out so that we could catch the buses when she informs me that we're taking a taxi. alright. i'm glad that we did. we just had drunk chat and our driver was so fabulous. we get back and our friends band is playing at the pub so we head there. i had a couple of beers and then after purchasing one more, i decide that it's time to call it a night and came home.
but last night was fabulous.
i met more wonderful people.
and i'm an adopted maori.
-
kimmie
Thursday, April 23, 2009
will you watch....
"will you watch" is a phrase that i thought that i was finished with. will you watch my bag, will you watch my smokes, will you watch my things because i don't want to carry them with me. in america, this phrase is used often.
so when i was out the other night, and got up to go grab a drink and someone said "don't worry, i'll watch your bag" i was caught off guard. koreans don't steal. (other than identities i learned this morning, ha). oh, wait.....foreigners do. because we cannot behave. we cannot behave in our own country, so why would we be able to do it here?
i am at a loss.
and it really makes me angry.
who are these people who were raised like this?
and how did they get here?
lesson learned. hold on to your things. they will get stolen. by foreigners.
number 2 reason today is strange...
i woke up at 5am. parched after a night of pints. oh, i do adore my thursdays. i had to go to the bank this morning to open an account so that i can get paid...the guy was really nice but i cannot get an ATM card for THREE months. meaning....if i need money..i have to go during my lunch break or before school to withdraw. ridiculous. and a pain. apparently identities have been stolen so they have to keep an eye on your account for three months to make sure it's legit? because after 3 months, nothing bad can happen to you....it's just an ATM card.
whatever. i have an account now.
oh, and while we were sitting at the window making my account, the guy looks up and laughing says "did you two drink beer last night"...."maybe"...."i can smell it".....hmm... we didn't drink that much promise. and it was probably her, not me :) haha. come on, it was thursday. leave me alone.
number 3.
as i was walking to school, i turn the corner and see a make-shift homeless village? um...i don't really know how to explain this. there were about 10 rows of 4 each, all wealthy people sitting on cardboard boxes. then on the side there were people sleeping on cardboard boxes. and then some people were just sitting in lawn chairs. it caught me off guard and i was chugging coffee (yay caramel macchiatos in a can!) so i just kept walking...
number 4.
today at work....all of the kids are on a field trip. i obviously didn't go. so i have nothing to do until 12:50. i plan on doing lesson plans, cleaning/organizing.......or just playing on the internet and then going upstairs and reading my book. probably the latter....
well, thats my strange friday and it's only 11am.
-
kimmie
so when i was out the other night, and got up to go grab a drink and someone said "don't worry, i'll watch your bag" i was caught off guard. koreans don't steal. (other than identities i learned this morning, ha). oh, wait.....foreigners do. because we cannot behave. we cannot behave in our own country, so why would we be able to do it here?
i am at a loss.
and it really makes me angry.
who are these people who were raised like this?
and how did they get here?
lesson learned. hold on to your things. they will get stolen. by foreigners.
number 2 reason today is strange...
i woke up at 5am. parched after a night of pints. oh, i do adore my thursdays. i had to go to the bank this morning to open an account so that i can get paid...the guy was really nice but i cannot get an ATM card for THREE months. meaning....if i need money..i have to go during my lunch break or before school to withdraw. ridiculous. and a pain. apparently identities have been stolen so they have to keep an eye on your account for three months to make sure it's legit? because after 3 months, nothing bad can happen to you....it's just an ATM card.
whatever. i have an account now.
oh, and while we were sitting at the window making my account, the guy looks up and laughing says "did you two drink beer last night"...."maybe"...."i can smell it".....hmm... we didn't drink that much promise. and it was probably her, not me :) haha. come on, it was thursday. leave me alone.
number 3.
as i was walking to school, i turn the corner and see a make-shift homeless village? um...i don't really know how to explain this. there were about 10 rows of 4 each, all wealthy people sitting on cardboard boxes. then on the side there were people sleeping on cardboard boxes. and then some people were just sitting in lawn chairs. it caught me off guard and i was chugging coffee (yay caramel macchiatos in a can!) so i just kept walking...
number 4.
today at work....all of the kids are on a field trip. i obviously didn't go. so i have nothing to do until 12:50. i plan on doing lesson plans, cleaning/organizing.......or just playing on the internet and then going upstairs and reading my book. probably the latter....
well, thats my strange friday and it's only 11am.
-
kimmie
Monday, April 20, 2009
ode to a rainy monday...
i awoke this morning feeling great. i was ready to lay back down but nessa was online so we chatted a bit. got ready, walked over to Westerndom where I knew a bank was that I needed (and found out later that there is one attached to my building, eek!). I get over there thinking that the bank opened at 9:30. Thats fine, class doesn't start until 10:30. I go back downstairs and grab a latte (first trip to Starbucks here). Head back upstairs and I see people in there....not employees...wait..it's only 9:10. I go to open the door, but it's locked. Thats fine...I'll just stand here and wait. Then the people inside came out. I DIDN"T PUSH THE DOOR! i tried to pull on it. Of course it wouldn't work! I went in and they ushered me to the one man who spoke Englsih (yay!). I sit down and tell him that I need to cash a money order. No problem, except he runs around handing everyone different print outs. 30 minutes later he tells me that he needs my passport (isn't that the purpose of the ARC card?). I off I go to work, except as soon as I walked outside the bottom fell out of the sky (it was pretty when I left) so no umbrella. A newspaper stand man was laughing at me. So I came back to my apartment to get my crappy umbrella and head to work. Work was actually lovely today. It was really good. It did however continue to rain ALL day and even still now. I checked the weather and it will continue to do so for a while. Oh, well. After work, a co worker agrees to drive us all home. I forgot the part where I gave away my umbrella (it had stopped raining for a bit, didn't figure i would need it!). oh well. a co worker drove us home and here I am. In the morning I'm going to the bank by my house, and this time i'm prepared!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
lazy lazy sunday
I apologize for not posting regularly. There just seems to not be enough time. So much is happening every day that it just piles up and then I don't want to write.....so here we go...a long post. I might even get the pictures off of my camera...
I don't know where I left off. Last Sunday we had girls day. Lunch, movie, and 4 bottles of wine.
Did I mention that they had a delicious cheese plate? FOR CHEAP! next girls day we're going back...mhmm the cheese was so good!
they opened up the place for us. so we were sitting alone in the top of this wine shop just chatting for hours. It was lovely!
So then my week...what happened?.....I worked and nothing too eventful. OH! i discovered Indian food...it is absolutely delicious! I will probably eat there too much. Oh, wow. If you haven't eaten it....GO! NOW!!
On Tuesday my friend popped by my door and invited me for pints downstairs. Tudari Tuesdays are always a great time. Same thing happened on Thursday. She popped by and invited me for pints. I was wanting to go to Punk Night at 11. At 12 we were still drinking pints. We said that we would only stay at Punk Night for an hour, hahaha. Yeah right. Lets just say that street food is a delicious way to put some food in your belly to sober you up a bit....so here we are...
mhmm. sausage on a stick. i swear it is probably my favorite thing to eat here in Korea :) But Thursdays at Punk Night is where I'm really starting to meet people and feel I guess kind of comfortable. It's with the people that I met there that I went to Seoul last night to watch their band play, The Flying Maru. And where I saw another awesome band....Number 1 Korean. They are a ska band, who are on Myspace. The music they have up does not compare with how they sound in concert. I think it's the energy level. Anyway...here are some pictures..
this band was pretty cool. didn't catch their name. apparently they make fun of westerners. and there were a LOT of us there last night. The name of the gig is Funky Funky, haha. but this band pictured is like a punk/pop act. I must say that it is a breath of fresh air because most korean music is girl/boy bands. they had a good energy and i enjoyed them...
then came number 1 korean..
they were really cool. i enjoyed them quite a bit...then came Flying Maru who were dressed as Ajummas (old women). You see them ALL over the place in the mornings. Power walking with their SARS mask, track pants, and visor that hangs down to their chin....You'll see in pictures...
after they played another band played who were basically like an electric core band. they had guitar and a synthesizer...and perhaps a bass? for a couple of songs maybe. they were a lot of fun but by that time I was exhausted and ready to go home. that didn't happen so we just DANCED like maniacs all night. not booty dancing like in America....but just fun dancing. I like that much better. haha.
ah, this is the point where i wish that i had a tv. if i did...i would watch it, but since not...i'm going back to sleep.
-
kimmie
I don't know where I left off. Last Sunday we had girls day. Lunch, movie, and 4 bottles of wine.
Did I mention that they had a delicious cheese plate? FOR CHEAP! next girls day we're going back...mhmm the cheese was so good!
they opened up the place for us. so we were sitting alone in the top of this wine shop just chatting for hours. It was lovely!
So then my week...what happened?.....I worked and nothing too eventful. OH! i discovered Indian food...it is absolutely delicious! I will probably eat there too much. Oh, wow. If you haven't eaten it....GO! NOW!!
On Tuesday my friend popped by my door and invited me for pints downstairs. Tudari Tuesdays are always a great time. Same thing happened on Thursday. She popped by and invited me for pints. I was wanting to go to Punk Night at 11. At 12 we were still drinking pints. We said that we would only stay at Punk Night for an hour, hahaha. Yeah right. Lets just say that street food is a delicious way to put some food in your belly to sober you up a bit....so here we are...
mhmm. sausage on a stick. i swear it is probably my favorite thing to eat here in Korea :) But Thursdays at Punk Night is where I'm really starting to meet people and feel I guess kind of comfortable. It's with the people that I met there that I went to Seoul last night to watch their band play, The Flying Maru. And where I saw another awesome band....Number 1 Korean. They are a ska band, who are on Myspace. The music they have up does not compare with how they sound in concert. I think it's the energy level. Anyway...here are some pictures..
this band was pretty cool. didn't catch their name. apparently they make fun of westerners. and there were a LOT of us there last night. The name of the gig is Funky Funky, haha. but this band pictured is like a punk/pop act. I must say that it is a breath of fresh air because most korean music is girl/boy bands. they had a good energy and i enjoyed them...then came number 1 korean..
they were really cool. i enjoyed them quite a bit...then came Flying Maru who were dressed as Ajummas (old women). You see them ALL over the place in the mornings. Power walking with their SARS mask, track pants, and visor that hangs down to their chin....You'll see in pictures...
after they played another band played who were basically like an electric core band. they had guitar and a synthesizer...and perhaps a bass? for a couple of songs maybe. they were a lot of fun but by that time I was exhausted and ready to go home. that didn't happen so we just DANCED like maniacs all night. not booty dancing like in America....but just fun dancing. I like that much better. haha.ah, this is the point where i wish that i had a tv. if i did...i would watch it, but since not...i'm going back to sleep.
-
kimmie
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
la festa/voting
okay, so today was apparently a holiday that i didn't know about. it's one of those that public schools get off and us....well we didn't. today was national voting day or something. i found out about it tonight when i questioned the fact that i heard a ton of screaming girls outside of the window.
i live a block away from a place called la festa...it's a huge shopping area. all of the bars that i go to are there. the best places to buy bread are a minutes walk away. meat street...oh my. delicious.
so i decided to walk over there to see what all of the noise was...and my goodness...here are the pictures..
this is what i saw.
then this happened...
um....korean hip hop band? i think so...the choreography was awesome...
they started break dancing and were pretty good...
then these guys came on stage and EVERYONE went crazy. boy bands are still HUGE here. look at these outfits!
this was awesome! i wish america celebrated voting like this!
i live a block away from a place called la festa...it's a huge shopping area. all of the bars that i go to are there. the best places to buy bread are a minutes walk away. meat street...oh my. delicious.
so i decided to walk over there to see what all of the noise was...and my goodness...here are the pictures..
this is what i saw.then this happened...
um....korean hip hop band? i think so...the choreography was awesome...
they started break dancing and were pretty good...then these guys came on stage and EVERYONE went crazy. boy bands are still HUGE here. look at these outfits!
this was awesome! i wish america celebrated voting like this!
three weeks
well, today marks 3 weeks from my boarding a plane to move halfway around the world. time sure flies. it doesn't seem like this long, and at the same time it feels like it's been longer. today my horrible class was good. I spoke to the korean teacher who i assume talked to them. today they told me if they didn't understand so i was able to further break down the material. but today is the interesting class. treasures is the ...ugh one. i think that everyone hates treasures. it's basically the same as BTN just a lot more...unorganized. the workbook isn't in any kind of order and a lot of the pages have already been filled in, so you just look for pages that aren't and make them do those. i need to figure out a way to make that class more interesting.
three weeks means that it's almost payday. i'm already at the point where i'm hating everything in my closet and trying to create new outfits is a pain. i feel confident that i'll be able to buy tops here. i need to find a tailor because all of my pants are falling off of me and i seem to have misplaced my belt..i wore it yesterday, so where did it go?
today the weather was so nice. it was WARM outside. as happy as i am about warm weather, i'm also scared because that means that monsoon weather and ridiculous summer heat is on the horizon. i seem to have had more to say, but really i think that i just want to eat dinner and go watch tv down the hall...
friday the kids are easter egg hunting and i'll be damned if i don't get pictures of all of the kids. they really are just way too cute.
-
kimmie
today the weather was so nice. it was WARM outside. as happy as i am about warm weather, i'm also scared because that means that monsoon weather and ridiculous summer heat is on the horizon. i seem to have had more to say, but really i think that i just want to eat dinner and go watch tv down the hall...
friday the kids are easter egg hunting and i'll be damned if i don't get pictures of all of the kids. they really are just way too cute.
-
kimmie
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
ah, tuesday
today, today, today...
today i....took my lunch to school and it was delicious (ham & cheese, pringles (hot and spicy, mhmm)
today i...planted flower seeds with my first graders on the roof. this might possibly be my new get away. it was just so lovely to see the view. also, it was very windy and the seeds were blowing everywhere and my kids were chasing seed packets all over the place. it was rather cute.
today i...got so pissed off, i almost cried...again. so for the afternoon classes there are probably 4 or 5 different sets of classes: BTN (better than native, ha), english time, esl phonics, TREASURES! (ugh!) and some others. I teach BTN, English Time, and....Treasures which is the devil. My last class of the day is the WORST! they defy me and try to make my life horrible. Ever since my boss came in and told me in front of them that I'm asking them to do too much (by making them do work that they CAN do) they just....I don't know. So we read a story Thursday and then today I came in and started asking them if they remembered the story, etc. "yes, we remember"..."well what was it about"...."rabbit"..."what about the rabbit"..."i don't know"..."read it again and we'll talk about it"....they read it again...asked another simple question. all i got was shrugs. then one of my kids said that he wasn't going to do the work. so i told him to go to the corner. he said no. i drug him there. he later told me that he was going to behave and didn't. i slammed the door and left. when i went to the office to take care of something that no one ever told me about i was telling my boss about it and she just kind of shrugged her shoulders. and then i said "i don't know what to do!" to which she replied "if you don't know then i don't know either"...I JUST TOLD YOU THAT THEY DEFY ME!
tomorrow....mean teacher comes back. i hate having them do this stupid shit in workbooks...but really...their parents PAID for these books and expect to see the work done out of them. This is what I hate...I teach out of workbooks. I have kids who can't even recognize LETTERS and i'm supposed to have them writing. I hadn't even finished going through the alphabet with them before I got the workbooks. It definently makes it easier for me but still....AAAH!
the end...whew. just needed to get it off my chest.
tomorrow i think i might take pb & j. we'll see though.
i have to do dishes...always doing dishes..
-
kimmie
today i....took my lunch to school and it was delicious (ham & cheese, pringles (hot and spicy, mhmm)
today i...planted flower seeds with my first graders on the roof. this might possibly be my new get away. it was just so lovely to see the view. also, it was very windy and the seeds were blowing everywhere and my kids were chasing seed packets all over the place. it was rather cute.
today i...got so pissed off, i almost cried...again. so for the afternoon classes there are probably 4 or 5 different sets of classes: BTN (better than native, ha), english time, esl phonics, TREASURES! (ugh!) and some others. I teach BTN, English Time, and....Treasures which is the devil. My last class of the day is the WORST! they defy me and try to make my life horrible. Ever since my boss came in and told me in front of them that I'm asking them to do too much (by making them do work that they CAN do) they just....I don't know. So we read a story Thursday and then today I came in and started asking them if they remembered the story, etc. "yes, we remember"..."well what was it about"...."rabbit"..."what about the rabbit"..."i don't know"..."read it again and we'll talk about it"....they read it again...asked another simple question. all i got was shrugs. then one of my kids said that he wasn't going to do the work. so i told him to go to the corner. he said no. i drug him there. he later told me that he was going to behave and didn't. i slammed the door and left. when i went to the office to take care of something that no one ever told me about i was telling my boss about it and she just kind of shrugged her shoulders. and then i said "i don't know what to do!" to which she replied "if you don't know then i don't know either"...I JUST TOLD YOU THAT THEY DEFY ME!
tomorrow....mean teacher comes back. i hate having them do this stupid shit in workbooks...but really...their parents PAID for these books and expect to see the work done out of them. This is what I hate...I teach out of workbooks. I have kids who can't even recognize LETTERS and i'm supposed to have them writing. I hadn't even finished going through the alphabet with them before I got the workbooks. It definently makes it easier for me but still....AAAH!
the end...whew. just needed to get it off my chest.
tomorrow i think i might take pb & j. we'll see though.
i have to do dishes...always doing dishes..
-
kimmie
Sunday, April 5, 2009
seoul awesome
get it? okay, good.
pictures. then details....in essence..a picture post...
Today...I decided to ride the subway to Seoul. It was an adventure! I went by myself like a big girl and navigated fine. The ride to Seoul took forever. I guess where I was going was deep in the heart of Seoul..or on the South side or something. The line that I had to take to get there...stopped TWENTY NINE times...then I got onto a different line...hopped over 4 and there I was...
for some reason it's not letting me add more pictures...eh...I'll figure it out later. So anyway, I knew that the event that I was going to was going to be in a convention hall type space...but i had never seen it before and didn't really know what to think. You have to walk through a courtyard to get to the actual Mall area. I saw..Bennigans...ColdStone Creamery....a lot of things. This is a really good area to shop, other than it being 1.5 hours away! On a METRO!...
There were SO many people. One thing about Koreans is there is no "excuse me", they'll just push you out of the way. You just learn to deal with it and start pushing back. So I get into the mall and it is HUGE! there was pizza hut, starbucks (those are everywhere)......AND!!
QUIZNO'S!!!!!!
I almost had a heart attack. Lets just say that I ate there and there was no way for me to tell them what I didn't want on there...so I just ate it. So good! Lettuce doesn't bother me anymore so all was well. I took a picture of it :)
OH! Mars told me that there was a bookstore in there that sold English books....so I bought some. Only two. I know that I don't have much money, but really. I think that there are maybe 2 bookstores in Korea that sell English books. I got paperback in all fairness and only bought two. The selection wasn't that great, but it didn't matter. I was in book heaven :)
Alright so the entire reason for going to Seoul was that New Zealand apparently puts on this shindig every year, I assume to draw up interest for tourism and just products from New Zealand. I got to try NZ wine, apple juice, and some energy drink. I also had the pleasure of meeting the Maori peoples most famous Opera singer. She was so pretty and amazing voice. Very nice as well. Apparently she went to school with one of my friends here. Then there was traditional Maori dancing on stage. There are pictures of all of this as well. I guess I'll just put them on facebook and be done with it.
What else....
I guess thats about it for right now. OH! i'm catching a cold. yay! apparently two weeks is sufficient time for this. I think that everyone gets sick within two weeks. tomorrow i'm hopefully going to the pharmacy. Right now it's only in my throat and a little in my chest. Every morning when I wake up I feel like death and start coughing up fun stuff.
Other than that....things are great! I'm just ready for payday/money to arrive. Hopefully this week it'll come! I need toilet paper and groceries!
-
Kimmie
pictures. then details....in essence..a picture post...
Today...I decided to ride the subway to Seoul. It was an adventure! I went by myself like a big girl and navigated fine. The ride to Seoul took forever. I guess where I was going was deep in the heart of Seoul..or on the South side or something. The line that I had to take to get there...stopped TWENTY NINE times...then I got onto a different line...hopped over 4 and there I was...
for some reason it's not letting me add more pictures...eh...I'll figure it out later. So anyway, I knew that the event that I was going to was going to be in a convention hall type space...but i had never seen it before and didn't really know what to think. You have to walk through a courtyard to get to the actual Mall area. I saw..Bennigans...ColdStone Creamery....a lot of things. This is a really good area to shop, other than it being 1.5 hours away! On a METRO!...
There were SO many people. One thing about Koreans is there is no "excuse me", they'll just push you out of the way. You just learn to deal with it and start pushing back. So I get into the mall and it is HUGE! there was pizza hut, starbucks (those are everywhere)......AND!!
QUIZNO'S!!!!!!
I almost had a heart attack. Lets just say that I ate there and there was no way for me to tell them what I didn't want on there...so I just ate it. So good! Lettuce doesn't bother me anymore so all was well. I took a picture of it :)
OH! Mars told me that there was a bookstore in there that sold English books....so I bought some. Only two. I know that I don't have much money, but really. I think that there are maybe 2 bookstores in Korea that sell English books. I got paperback in all fairness and only bought two. The selection wasn't that great, but it didn't matter. I was in book heaven :)
Alright so the entire reason for going to Seoul was that New Zealand apparently puts on this shindig every year, I assume to draw up interest for tourism and just products from New Zealand. I got to try NZ wine, apple juice, and some energy drink. I also had the pleasure of meeting the Maori peoples most famous Opera singer. She was so pretty and amazing voice. Very nice as well. Apparently she went to school with one of my friends here. Then there was traditional Maori dancing on stage. There are pictures of all of this as well. I guess I'll just put them on facebook and be done with it.
What else....
I guess thats about it for right now. OH! i'm catching a cold. yay! apparently two weeks is sufficient time for this. I think that everyone gets sick within two weeks. tomorrow i'm hopefully going to the pharmacy. Right now it's only in my throat and a little in my chest. Every morning when I wake up I feel like death and start coughing up fun stuff.
Other than that....things are great! I'm just ready for payday/money to arrive. Hopefully this week it'll come! I need toilet paper and groceries!
-
Kimmie
Saturday, April 4, 2009
food.
today i ate.....kfc for dinner. after walking around and looking at pictures after pictures after pictures, i ran across a kfc and ran inside! i felt like everyone was looking at me like "of course theres a white person in the kfc". i didn't care. it was delicious. they even gave me honey mustard! and like the popeyes at home used to do, they had the hot sauce injected into it...mhmm. i never thought kfc could be so delicious! after that little adventure i came back to my house and realized that i need to buy toilet paper.
tomorrow i'm making my first venture on the subway. and going to seoul. one of my friends is from new zealand and apparently the embassy is holding some kind of "get to know new zealand" thing so...i'm going to go. it's going to take about an hour and a half to get there, probably longer because we know that i get confused easily. but looking at the subway map, it seems like it's pretty easy to get around.
so yeah..thats my day.
-
kimmie
tomorrow i'm making my first venture on the subway. and going to seoul. one of my friends is from new zealand and apparently the embassy is holding some kind of "get to know new zealand" thing so...i'm going to go. it's going to take about an hour and a half to get there, probably longer because we know that i get confused easily. but looking at the subway map, it seems like it's pretty easy to get around.
so yeah..thats my day.
-
kimmie
Friday, April 3, 2009
work = soju, karaoke, and dancing
Last night was the reason that i should probably always have my camera on me, but like always it's just sitting here on the table. Two days ago I had heard a few of the Korean teachers talking about a work dinner thing. At first I was like....I don't really want to go and started arranging other plans for my Friday night. Well, yesterday at work. Rebecca, one of the Korean teachers said that I should go because Director would be paying for it. My broke ass was like "ooh, a free meal, okay, i'll go". I'm definitely glad that I did.
We started out going to a restaurant across the street. It was the first time that I had been to a restaurant where you take off your shoes going in and then sit on the floor. In Korean...I wish I had a picture to explain..at your table there is a big hole in the middle that they put a bucket of hot coals in. Then you order your meat and they come and put a grate over the coals and you cook your own meat. Last night we had marinated pork..but you wrap it up in lettuce. At a Korean meal there is no empty space on the table. There are so many side dishes (last night there was pumpkin...delicious!) Well after a little while the Soju started pouring. I've learned to love it. Then we had some rice wine, really good as well. We just kept ordering more and more meat. I think that my little table had 5 orders of meat...for about 3 of us, haha. The restaurant became really crowded and we were being shushed and tables were moving away from us. There were probably 20 of us there. It was all of the lead Korean teachers and then all of us foreign except for one. Director was running around passing out shots...we had so much. Then Jennifer said that we were going to karaoke. Oh, God....so we went to Karaoke where as soon as we got there they put a ton of Cass beer cans on the table....we ended up having to get more. But Asian karaoke isn't like at home. Here you have your own little room that you go into....So they were singing Korean songs and we were all dancing and having a great time.
AFTER that...Director said that we were going to a night club. At this point....everyone was drunk. Where is the nightclub? Director paid for all of our taxis and we get there and it was not like anything that I had ever seen...again, I wish that I had pictures! You walk into this room that is about half the size of a football field..maybe larger and there are rows and rows of seating. There are a MILLION employees so you end up bowing a lot (respect thing) and then they lead you to the table. Again..the table is filled with beer but this time we got fruit as well! The stage had pop acts playing. Korean music is stuck behind American, still heavy into the pop boy/girl bands. I had no idea what they were saying but it was so much fun. All of us were just out there dancing. We had our own dance circle..We were all feeling the love, haha.
Then it's time to go....and wait...it's only 11pm. I barely remember taking the taxi home. Karla and I went on a tour of our apartment building and then we went to the expatriate bar...a few more beers, and a ton of white people later...we came home.
That was my Friday in Korea.
Sidenote: all of those damn alphabet fish...worthless, haha. All of my kids are now using workbooks!
-
Kim
We started out going to a restaurant across the street. It was the first time that I had been to a restaurant where you take off your shoes going in and then sit on the floor. In Korean...I wish I had a picture to explain..at your table there is a big hole in the middle that they put a bucket of hot coals in. Then you order your meat and they come and put a grate over the coals and you cook your own meat. Last night we had marinated pork..but you wrap it up in lettuce. At a Korean meal there is no empty space on the table. There are so many side dishes (last night there was pumpkin...delicious!) Well after a little while the Soju started pouring. I've learned to love it. Then we had some rice wine, really good as well. We just kept ordering more and more meat. I think that my little table had 5 orders of meat...for about 3 of us, haha. The restaurant became really crowded and we were being shushed and tables were moving away from us. There were probably 20 of us there. It was all of the lead Korean teachers and then all of us foreign except for one. Director was running around passing out shots...we had so much. Then Jennifer said that we were going to karaoke. Oh, God....so we went to Karaoke where as soon as we got there they put a ton of Cass beer cans on the table....we ended up having to get more. But Asian karaoke isn't like at home. Here you have your own little room that you go into....So they were singing Korean songs and we were all dancing and having a great time.
AFTER that...Director said that we were going to a night club. At this point....everyone was drunk. Where is the nightclub? Director paid for all of our taxis and we get there and it was not like anything that I had ever seen...again, I wish that I had pictures! You walk into this room that is about half the size of a football field..maybe larger and there are rows and rows of seating. There are a MILLION employees so you end up bowing a lot (respect thing) and then they lead you to the table. Again..the table is filled with beer but this time we got fruit as well! The stage had pop acts playing. Korean music is stuck behind American, still heavy into the pop boy/girl bands. I had no idea what they were saying but it was so much fun. All of us were just out there dancing. We had our own dance circle..We were all feeling the love, haha.
Then it's time to go....and wait...it's only 11pm. I barely remember taking the taxi home. Karla and I went on a tour of our apartment building and then we went to the expatriate bar...a few more beers, and a ton of white people later...we came home.
That was my Friday in Korea.
Sidenote: all of those damn alphabet fish...worthless, haha. All of my kids are now using workbooks!
-
Kim
Thursday, April 2, 2009
two weeks 600 + fish later
Hmm...i think that the title says it all! two weeks has flown by. I guess that means that the rest of the time is going to follow accordingly. So far in my apartment I still only have a bed, a drying rack, this table, and a table that i stole from the hallway (people leave stuff out for others to take!). School is...school. It's getting better. I'll go through my schedule or what not. On Monday and Tuesdays I don't have a class until 10:30 but i don't finish until right at 6. On Tuesday and Thursday I have a class at 10 and I get to leave early (around 5:15). My first class of the day is always one of the little kids classes. Out of the 4 little kids classes that I have....two of them are amazing. The one I had today they just sit there and stare at you. Also they are too small to tell you their names and the Korean teachers have a hard time pronouncing them so I've just stuck with "you, come here" but really...they just sit and stare at you. Which is hard when you have action very word cards and you want them to act them out. 2 of my little kids classes are AWESOME! one of them they are just cute....they are the babies and very eager to learn. One of them wouldn't speak to me for the first week but now he yells. Another one in that class will tell you the answers but he whispers. Pictures of these kids are on my Facebook account. I don't know how to post pictures here...I guess I'll try...
Phillip the quiet precious one
Alex still trying to figure out
Phillip the quiet precious one
Alex still trying to figure out if he can trust me
the other class that i don't mind
going to!
Alright...posting pictures was easy....moving them around the page...not so much! Oh, well. It's all a learning experience I guess. I haven't really heard much in the way of how things are going back home. There are a few people that I've been able to catch on Facebook chat, I've skyped with Callie twice :) but other than that...nothing. So I want to hear how everyone is!!
Alright...posting pictures was easy....moving them around the page...not so much! Oh, well. It's all a learning experience I guess. I haven't really heard much in the way of how things are going back home. There are a few people that I've been able to catch on Facebook chat, I've skyped with Callie twice :) but other than that...nothing. So I want to hear how everyone is!!
The other day on the way to work I found a puppy. And I wanted him. But although I am allowed to have pets I don't have time for them and their pretty much really expensive here. One guy I met paid $400 for his CAT! ridiculous. and shes mean. but I'm used to that.
Alright, thats enough for now. I have to finish cutting out alphabet fish....ugh. One of the worst ideas EVER! live and learn.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
one week, good food, korean women love bush
Well, I survived a week. Actually it's been a week and 3 days now since I've arrived. Oh wow. That means that I've spent a lot of money in...a week. This week has been strange, stressful and felt much longer than a week. I moved into my apartment on Monday which is quite roomy and just empty for the time being. Every day I'm checking the dumpsters for free goodies (koreans throw away everything, they don't necessarily believe in second hand things) so it's good for us foreigners...we just snap up all of the unwanted items. It's crazy what you can find...tables, rugs, tvs, microwaves...whatever. And it's not really in a dumpster, it's just off to the side where all of the trash bins are. Have I written about the trash? I need to go outside and take pictures because...it's a bit ridiculous. Okay...for a country who is so ridiculous with recycling, I have NEVER seen more litter. And really, the litter is just naked women on postcards with their phone numbers on them (remember, prostitution is a friend here, AND theres a brothel in the building connected to mine)..okay..so you have your trash bag, which is quite small...and you have a food scraps bag and everything else is recycling and when you go downstairs there are several bins.
One thing about being here, is that i'm realizing that my english is getting worse! haha. the other day i asked my kids to write the sentence "we had food to drink". oh well. tonight i made my first meal in my apartment...penne and spaghetti sauce. i'm pretty proud of myself. i must say that i've been drinking a good bit of soda here. but also a lot a lot of water.
last night we went to hot yoga. it seemed like something neat to do and i felt like i was going to die while i was in there but afterwards i felt great. my horrible day just disappeared and my headache went away a bit until i had some wine and soju at a friends apartment. hot yoga....is yoga that takes place in a room that is heated to 104 degrees. i have NEVER sweated more in my life. i had horrible balance but....i loved it. as soon as payday comes i'm going to get a membership. it's only a 10 minute walk from my apartment (as is everything else it seems!) so thats good and its in a part of town that i haven't really had a chance to discover. i've been meaning to get over there and just haven't had the chance. if i'm not doing something then i'm sleeping, so i don't know. anyway...back to the yoga. they gave us keys to a locker so we went in there to hang up our coats, hats/scarves/many layers (it's cold!). and well...there are just women walking around butt ass naked. there is no way i could shower in there with everyone but after the class i understand why they would want to. after the class we went in there to grab our stuff and it was like all 30 people who were in class with us were in there naked hanging out. i'm too prudish. the lady who was teaching the class was very great. she made sure to say as much as she could in english but for the most part we just had to look to see what was going on. she stayed by us a good bit to correct our form. so yeah...i like yoga. crazy.
okay...school. my school is extremely unorganized, i think that i've hinted at this before. the other day, well, yesterday i was in class and i had assigned some homework which i had been assured that they could do. i get to class and see that only ONE of the four kids has done the work. i was so pissed. i made them sit there quietly doing the work and they were still defying me. i told one to go sit in the corner and he said no. i went to get a korean teacher and all i could find was my boss who came in and belittled me in front of them! she told me that they could not do that work and that i shouldn't have assigned it. but really...they can their just lazy and were testing me and she took their side. i was so pissed off i just left the room, went to the bathroom and started crying. i got myself together and came back and she started back again. after class was over...i let them go early, i needed a break. the korean teacher i split the class with came in and apologized for not telling me where they were. NO ONE TELLS YOU ANYTHING! you have to figure it all out yourself. luckily i do have SOME teaching experience but aaaah! turns out most places are like this but this is one of the most unorganized that many have seen.
last night we had a girls night to just vent about our schools and everything else. it's hard to remember that i haven't been here that long so of course i don't have it figured out. but it feels like i've been here longer than i have. i don't know. i need to go clean dishes and figure out if anything is going on tonight besides sleep!
One thing about being here, is that i'm realizing that my english is getting worse! haha. the other day i asked my kids to write the sentence "we had food to drink". oh well. tonight i made my first meal in my apartment...penne and spaghetti sauce. i'm pretty proud of myself. i must say that i've been drinking a good bit of soda here. but also a lot a lot of water.
last night we went to hot yoga. it seemed like something neat to do and i felt like i was going to die while i was in there but afterwards i felt great. my horrible day just disappeared and my headache went away a bit until i had some wine and soju at a friends apartment. hot yoga....is yoga that takes place in a room that is heated to 104 degrees. i have NEVER sweated more in my life. i had horrible balance but....i loved it. as soon as payday comes i'm going to get a membership. it's only a 10 minute walk from my apartment (as is everything else it seems!) so thats good and its in a part of town that i haven't really had a chance to discover. i've been meaning to get over there and just haven't had the chance. if i'm not doing something then i'm sleeping, so i don't know. anyway...back to the yoga. they gave us keys to a locker so we went in there to hang up our coats, hats/scarves/many layers (it's cold!). and well...there are just women walking around butt ass naked. there is no way i could shower in there with everyone but after the class i understand why they would want to. after the class we went in there to grab our stuff and it was like all 30 people who were in class with us were in there naked hanging out. i'm too prudish. the lady who was teaching the class was very great. she made sure to say as much as she could in english but for the most part we just had to look to see what was going on. she stayed by us a good bit to correct our form. so yeah...i like yoga. crazy.
okay...school. my school is extremely unorganized, i think that i've hinted at this before. the other day, well, yesterday i was in class and i had assigned some homework which i had been assured that they could do. i get to class and see that only ONE of the four kids has done the work. i was so pissed. i made them sit there quietly doing the work and they were still defying me. i told one to go sit in the corner and he said no. i went to get a korean teacher and all i could find was my boss who came in and belittled me in front of them! she told me that they could not do that work and that i shouldn't have assigned it. but really...they can their just lazy and were testing me and she took their side. i was so pissed off i just left the room, went to the bathroom and started crying. i got myself together and came back and she started back again. after class was over...i let them go early, i needed a break. the korean teacher i split the class with came in and apologized for not telling me where they were. NO ONE TELLS YOU ANYTHING! you have to figure it all out yourself. luckily i do have SOME teaching experience but aaaah! turns out most places are like this but this is one of the most unorganized that many have seen.
last night we had a girls night to just vent about our schools and everything else. it's hard to remember that i haven't been here that long so of course i don't have it figured out. but it feels like i've been here longer than i have. i don't know. i need to go clean dishes and figure out if anything is going on tonight besides sleep!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Work, Work, Awkwardness
I'm sitting here at work on my lunch break. Generally we use any planning time on the computers. I am so overwhelmed. I have no idea where these kids are at or what they are supposed to be doing. I was warned correctly, everything here changes at the last minute. I found out last night about a meeting we're having this afternoon. I just got a new schedule, different from the one i recieved yesterday.
i teach 9 classes a day, 30 to 40 minutes a piece. yesterday...there was a specific amount i was to get done with a class and there was no way to do it, having never seen the book before. they have to go through a book every 2 days so tomorrow i have to test them on material i haven't really gone over with them. One of my classes this morning, I gave them the wrong material. It was too over their heads...their Korean teacher asked me if i wanted them to bring their crayons and i said yes..only to give them the worksheet and them have no idea what it was. i need to stick specifically with the alphabet with them. ugh....we all feel the same way. there needs to be some kind of guidelines laid out for each class about what to do and expectations, and there are none. I don't want to complain, i do really like this place but i just feel like i'm in over my head.
I moved into my new apartment last night and it is totally bare. i need things to fill it up but those cost money! OH! this morning i almost burned the place down. i had my straightener plugged into the converter and was JUST about finished when the entire thing shot out of the wall, turned black and started smoking. it was pretty sweet. so i guess i need a new straightener..
okay, lunch break is almost over.
OH! and i don't have internet at my apartment, or a tv, or anything really. so i basically just sleep and watch movies on my lap top. laaaame.
-
Kim
i teach 9 classes a day, 30 to 40 minutes a piece. yesterday...there was a specific amount i was to get done with a class and there was no way to do it, having never seen the book before. they have to go through a book every 2 days so tomorrow i have to test them on material i haven't really gone over with them. One of my classes this morning, I gave them the wrong material. It was too over their heads...their Korean teacher asked me if i wanted them to bring their crayons and i said yes..only to give them the worksheet and them have no idea what it was. i need to stick specifically with the alphabet with them. ugh....we all feel the same way. there needs to be some kind of guidelines laid out for each class about what to do and expectations, and there are none. I don't want to complain, i do really like this place but i just feel like i'm in over my head.
I moved into my new apartment last night and it is totally bare. i need things to fill it up but those cost money! OH! this morning i almost burned the place down. i had my straightener plugged into the converter and was JUST about finished when the entire thing shot out of the wall, turned black and started smoking. it was pretty sweet. so i guess i need a new straightener..
okay, lunch break is almost over.
OH! and i don't have internet at my apartment, or a tv, or anything really. so i basically just sleep and watch movies on my lap top. laaaame.
-
Kim
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