Random Adventures part 2

Jjimjalbang Experience

 I finally went to a jjimjalbang (a public bathhouse) and it only took 2 1/2 years for me to go! When I first arrived in Korea I thought I'd for sure go...one day. But as time passed and the more awkward experiences I encountered the more I thought...maybe not. Living here has definitely tested my patience with personal space. I've literally experienced random strangers touching my hair, rubbing my arms, grabbing my shoulders  while screaming, "TINA TURNER" and yes even attempting to touch my breasts. Yep. That really happened. So as you can see I started to become a little paranoid about going to a public bathhouse where I would walk around completely nude, bare for everyone to not only look but in my experience, touch. The thought of randoms coming up to me and touching what they pleased scared the crap out of me. I obviously worked through that fear because there I was nude for all to see. I only went for one night and it was completely fine. Some did stare, but honestly I was stared at less in the bathhouse than walking out in the streets completely clothed. That was a plus!

This jjimjalbang was set up so the gender separated showers were on the first floor and the sleeping area was located on the second floor. Like I said the shower part was actually fine, but I really disliked the sleeping area. I had a firm block as my pillow and no blanket. There were mats in some areas, but not many. Since I was traveling and staying at a friends apartment the next night luckily I brought my sleeping bag. Honestly, not having a blanket or a nice pillow wasn't what killed me. It was the heat. It was so stinking hot that I never really slept. I literally stayed up all night. I'm not sure if others are like me, but by living through 3 summers in Asia I know I need aircon when sleeping. I literally laid on the floor cursing whoever under my breath. I'm not really a nice person when I'm hot. They did have separate rooms with different temperatures that varied from hot, hotter and really freaking cold (pictured above). I stayed in the main room with no aircon; that ended up being the most "comfortable," but every few hours I ventured to the really freaking cold room to cool down.

I may go to a jjimjalbang again. We'll see. I am a little curious to know how others are set up. Maybe in the near far future I'll try again.

Geoje Island
A while ago myself and a few friends went to Busan to celebrate Buddha's birthday. Our time was mostly spent eating at delicious restaurants and laying on the beach, but we also made time to go to Geoje Island. We ended up starting our day late so we only spent a few hours on the actual island, but we were able to see the Park of Geoje POW Camp. which was interesting. The information provided was pretty good and for the most part the park was nice. There were a few instances where I felt I was in an amusement park which....in my personal opinion is a little strange.

Here's one example of how I thought the park was being a little insensitive. There weren't a lot of these, but just the mere fact these photo opportunities were available I found it to be a little much.

Overall, it was a good experience. I learned a lot and if you have the opportunity to go I strongly recommend it!

More Summer Camp

Last year I worked the Andong summer camp. Read this and see how "fun" it was. I reread that post and I think I was definitely being nice because camp last year was hell. This summer was wonderful. They changed facilities so we had tables and chairs in each classroom as well as whiteboards. And since this facility was newer we had aircon! YAY!! We also had hot showers, another YAY! I didn't talk about the food in my last post, but it wasn't too great whereas at the new facility it was good AND they gave us bread, jam and cereal for breakfast...I wanted to cry! Korea doesn't have different foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner; it's essentially the same. But being foreign I find it really difficult to eat kimchi, rice and spicy meat at 8:30 am. When they brought out the cereal I believe we all literally screamed. I'm just not sure if they realized how nice the gesture was! It definitely made our mornings!

As for the students, this year they were great. All motivated and just nice great kids so it was a pleasure teaching them. There were a lot of laughs, screaming (just a few times) and great memories the first half of the week. The second part of the week demanded a little more from us teachers. Those students attend elementary schools located in the country so their level of English is lower which made it harder to communicate, teach and entertain them. Again, I still had a great group of students. Overall, this year's camp was enjoyable and well worth the extra pay!

Making the team flag.

Team Crayon (pronounced cray-on)

Team A+, take one...

take two...

Closing ceremony

It's currently midnight and I'm exhausted. So I apologize for the many typos because this lady is just too tired to reread anything. Also, I'm getting up early to leave for JEJU-DO, Korea's largest island!!

I'm traveling alone and it's the first time so I'm actually really nervous. Not because of safety, but because I don't want to be lonely. I'm generally ok with being alone and entertaining myself, but when it comes to traveling I would much rather have someone there...hopefully it goes well!

I'M GOING TO JEJU! Happy summer vacation to me.

Random Adventures part 1 + Kookin' in Korea - Kimchi Chigae

It's VACATION time! Ok, it's technically not vacation yet. Although school is out, I have to work a city wide week long summer camp with....6th graders. Yay.  I don't have patience for 6th graders. They're usually grumpy from going through the change. Plus, they always seem to do things my 3rd graders already know not to do. But, I'm hoping with air con at the new facility we'll all be in better moods compared to last year. Cross your fingers!

Since I haven't written anything in awhile I've decided to write two separate post with random stories and adventures from the summer.

Summer camp at my school:
This past week I taught English camp at my school and because I was responsible for making and teaching a few lessons, I was actually quite busy. For the 1st and 2nd graders, since they're so young, we worked on phonics and did a little arts and crafts project I found on pinterest. For a year and a half I've been saving toilet paper rolls and was finally able to use them. For our last class we made toilet paper roll animals! I forgot to take a picture of the animals once they finished, but they all turned out pretty well!

This little guy could have cared less about his octopus. He literally spent the entire class mixing paint and making different colors. I see an up and coming painter!

The 3rd and 4th graders spent their classes learning about and making piñatas. It was very messy, but I hope/think they had a lot of fun!

Step 1: make

 Step 2: paint

Step 3: break

and for the kill...

I didn't take pictures of the 5th and 6th graders since they're very "camera shy." It's also very hard to keep their attention so we played The Price is Right and learned about the five senses. I managed to keep them excited and not bored, but one student definitely tested my patience by always standing up and walking around the classroom in the middle of the lesson.

Cirque du Soleil
A few weeks ago myself and some friends attended the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show. It was my second cirque show and I was originally ecstatic! I don't want to say I didn't enjoy it because in the end I did. But for me it wasn't what you think a cirque du soleil show is. I've attended The Beatles show and it was AMAZING! Just what you think a cirque du soleil show should be....large, magical and takes over the entire venue. Although the MJ show wasn't necessarily this it was still very enjoyable. Instead of large and magical it was more of a stage concert paying tribute to Michael, which in the end was still damn good! I had nosebleed seats at both shows and since the venue for The Beatles show was smaller and the show was larger it was completely fine. However if you want to see more of the MJ show either bring binoculars or pay a lot more for better seats. I love you MJ!

Kookin' in Korea - Kimchi Chigae (김치찌개)

Kimchi chigae (김치찌개) is a very popular korean dish which literally means kimchi soup. It's one of my favorite dishes in Korea. I ate this soup so much my first year I literally became sick because of it...no bueno. In the past I've attempted making this soup, but because I used any kimchi it was not good. Like, not at all. This time around it turned out pretty well and is actually a really easy recipe.

I've wanted to learn how to cook kimchi chigae for a very long time and after months of bothering my coworker he suggested I come over and his mother teach me. So one random Sunday I went to his home and was taught how to properly cook kimchi chigae!

Need:

fermented kimchi, 2 cups chopped

green onions, 2 strands

hot green chili pepper, 2-3

smashed garlic, 2 tbsp not pictured

1/2 white onion, chopped

pork, 6-8 oz

red dried pepper powder/flakes, not pictured

water

serves: 4 people         time: 1.5 hours

The most important part of this recipe is the kimchi. In order to achieve the proper taste, you must purchase the correct type
발효된김치(fermented kimchi). You basically need a well ripe/fermented red kimchi. There is something known as white kimchi. DON'T use this!

1. In one large pan, fry the pork pieces and fermented kimchi together without oil. I was told you fry the two ingredients together for flavor. Cook for ~5 minutes or until meat starts to change color. Other optional meat include tuna and tofu. If you choose to use tofu add at the end (about 10 minutes before finishing) to prevent over cooking. If using tuna, you may cook at the beginning with the kimchi.

2. Once you see the meat change color pour enough water in the pot to cover all pork and kimchi. Cover with lid and let boil.

3. While the meat and kimchi are boiling cut all other vegetables: onions, green onions and peppers. Optional vegetables include mushrooms, sprouts and sesame leaves.

In the past I've attended a Korean cooking class and was instructed to cut an onion. EASY. Except as I started to cut the onion like this...

the instructor slapped my hand and said, "America, good! Korea, no good." I was then instructed to cut the onion like this...

 So, for a more authentic looking dish you can cut your onion in long strands like the picture above and below.  Also, when cutting the green onion I was told to cut at an angle.

After you've finished cutting all vegetables put everything in pot including garlic and add more water. Add enough water to cover everything in the pot. Cover with lid and let boil. Cook for about 40 minutes to an hour.

For extra spice and flavor you can add red chili flakes or red pepper. Enjoy!

My favorite class

It's been a while hasn't it? Unfortunately, I still don't feel like writing anything so I'll leave you with this!

Every now and then my co-teacher and I have our students role play. This particular role play is Cinderella which focus on the phrases, "What time is it?" and "It's ____ o'clock." This class is awesome and even brought costumes and props from home. We didn't even ask them too. That's how awesome they are!

My mom is awesome in the fact she helps me take care of things at home since I am not there to do it myself. One of many things include activating my new VISA card and sending it to me. To mask the fact she was sending a debit card I suggested she find something to put it in. In a sneaky I have something to hide voice she says, "oh don't you worry. I got a plan." I received this blanket today. My co-teacher saw it and screamed, "RUG" then attempted to pull it from my hands and place it on the ground.  Our classroom floor is very dusty and I didn't want my new ISU blanket on the floor! Not only did I panic, but I didn't let go of the blanket. For about 15 seconds we played tug-of-war while she giggled and I repeated, "no, no, not, no, no." She finally realized what I was trying to say and let go of the blanket, slapped me on the back and said with a huge smile, "University. Fun!" We then just looked at each other and laughed.

If you've ever wondered how people move from high rise apartments (at least in Korea). Here you go. I actually live in the building to the left. These buildings are more low rise apartments, but I've seen these trucks used in various size apartment buildings.

Co-teaching, I'm exhausted.

written May 10th, 2013
I don't like using this blog as a resource to vent. I really really don't. However, I do want this blog to be an accurate and honest portrayal of my life and how living in a foreign country truly is. Like anyone else I have great days. I have alright, or as we say in Korea, so-so days. And I too have absolute horrible days where I want nothing else to do, but lay in bed with a pillow over my head and scream. The past three days have been that day. So, like the ups and downs of life in general (and especially for those abroad) I want my blog to resemble just that; an emotional roller coaster filled with language barriers, jjimdak, soju and screaming kids running down the halls.

This week. I'm exhausted.

I work in a public school which means I am employed by the Province of Education (POE). I work in an elementary school teaching both 3rd and 4th grade. This is important to know because the issue...actually lets not use that word. It's not necessarily an "issue". Let's call it, frustration. The frustration I encounter working in a public elementary school is different than those working at a hagwon, a privately owned school and probably even those who work in a public high/middle school. Now, since I teach English in a public school I have co-teachers. Co-teaching is basically self explanatory; two teachers working together to teach the class. For each grade the native English speaking teacher works side-by-side a Korean teacher to teach their class. I teach two grades therefore I have two different Korean co-teachers.

This week. I'm exhausted.

I want to first say I really do enjoy the two women I work with. They are awesome human beings and great teachers. They both care tremendously about our students and want them to learn as much as possible. They also try to understand me and my cultural differences as I too try to understand them. I've met and know other foreigners who do not get along with their co-teacher(s) and as you can imagine because of that, it's a very difficult work environment. So yes I realize I'm very lucky to have the co-teachers I do.

This week. I'm exhausted.

My frustration is not 100% with my co-teachers. For a long time I thought it could be. Maybe we weren't meshing well? Maybe we have different teaching techniques and we need to figure each other out? In the beginning I thought maybe they didn't like me? I realize now that's silly...we share many laughs together. They like me. Plus, I sometimes bring them breakfast!

Today I realized I'm frustrated with everything co-teaching. And for the first time ever I thought...it's time to go home. I've never EVER left work thinking I can't do this anymore. This week was the first time and seeing how my third year long contract is just starting, it scared me.

I'm just so tired of dealing with the power struggle two teachers teaching in the same class can bring. I'm exhausted of finding, yet again, a way to work with a new teacher. I want the ability to freely teach and my students to get as much as possible from my class. This can be extremely difficult with two different people having two different agendas. My agenda has always been and will always be, learning. At my hagwon (first year in Korea) I felt the main priority was keeping the parents happy so they would continue to pay. Now, I feel the priority is with completing busy work and not necessarily on learning.

I'm not really sure what the next few months will bring; let alone the next few days. As of now I'm frustrated and exhausted.


written May 21, 2013
I reread the above post and for the most part I feel the same. Co-teaching is a struggle. I'm not sure if I'll stay and work in public schools my fourth year. I may move on to working with adults. Or I may even decide it's time to move on from Korea. I'm not sure. Although I'm looking into other options, I'm not entirely convinced I'm finished with my time in Korea. And between a great Teacher's Day and weekend in Busan, I'm pretty convinced Korea and I still have some things to finish.

May 15th was Teacher's Day. This day was spent with most teachers in Andong getting together for a small volleyball tournament. It was surprisingly a great day. Not only was I able to see my other foreign friends, but it was nice to see them interact with their co-workers. 

The next day one of my favorite students came in to give me a small heart-shaped letter and a flower! Of course I gave her candy after this.

I also must share this. This student...another favorite, always and I mean always says this while touching my hair. I could be walking down the hall and she runs up to touch the curls and says, "곱슬 곱슬." Or like in the video, I'm sitting at my desk and she literally pops out of nowhere. I never realize she's around until I feel hands in my ponytail and hear "곱슬 곱슬."