Dear Drivers of Chungju,
Please do not hit me with your vehicle! My light is green. The little person is lit up so vibrantly. Your light, on the other hand, is red. You are going through your light.
Thank you.
THIS BEING SAID: I am less afraid of Chungju vehicles than I am incited to anger by Seattle bicyclists. At least they are predictable (you never cross the street when you see a car coming. Ever.) You win some you lose some.
Today I am working on some discipline techniques. AKA, if you don't get any points taken away, you get a shiny sticker at the end of class. AKA bribing/tempting the children into good behavior, so to speak.
I had something else to say, but...I forget now.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Just a few thoughts;
I've moved into my apartment. Traditional showers in Korea, from what I understand, are a shower-in-the-room-with-a-shower-wand system (or at least that's how it is in my apartment.) Things are much more space efficient than in the States, where (coughSeattle'burbs,coughLAcough) people think they need four bedroom + living room + den + dining room single-family homes for two people. In the cities here, everyone basically lives in apartments. Let's be real, this is much more eco-friendly and a more constructive use of space.
Part of the point of me coming here was to be productive and to be inspired to write again. Guess who has written nothing, but has spent her time (when alone at least) browsing the internet, watching t.v. and k-pop videos, eating ramen and sweets, and playing Civilization 5 (one of my better habits! At least it encourages logic.)
I WILL start a productive schedule.
I have somehow eaten McDonald's twice since I've been here (having not eaten their sandwiches for like...SEVEN YEARS.) This is a phenomenon that I also experienced when on Eurotrip 2009. Carly and I ended up eating McDonald's fries on at least two occasions: stuck at a bus terminal and...er, in Bucharest and there's no excuse except that we wanted salads? Jeez. No more McDonald's, I want Dak Galbi!!!
Youtube won't let me embed, but:
http://youtu.be/RKhsHGfrFmY
I've moved into my apartment. Traditional showers in Korea, from what I understand, are a shower-in-the-room-with-a-shower-wand system (or at least that's how it is in my apartment.) Things are much more space efficient than in the States, where (coughSeattle'burbs,coughLAcough) people think they need four bedroom + living room + den + dining room single-family homes for two people. In the cities here, everyone basically lives in apartments. Let's be real, this is much more eco-friendly and a more constructive use of space.
Part of the point of me coming here was to be productive and to be inspired to write again. Guess who has written nothing, but has spent her time (when alone at least) browsing the internet, watching t.v. and k-pop videos, eating ramen and sweets, and playing Civilization 5 (one of my better habits! At least it encourages logic.)
I WILL start a productive schedule.
I have somehow eaten McDonald's twice since I've been here (having not eaten their sandwiches for like...SEVEN YEARS.) This is a phenomenon that I also experienced when on Eurotrip 2009. Carly and I ended up eating McDonald's fries on at least two occasions: stuck at a bus terminal and...er, in Bucharest and there's no excuse except that we wanted salads? Jeez. No more McDonald's, I want Dak Galbi!!!
Youtube won't let me embed, but:
http://youtu.be/RKhsHGfrFmY
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Uyu and Waeguk
I've been trying to write a new post for a few days now but Teaching!
It will be a learning curve...I've taught my first few classes, so at least my feet are wet now but my goodness, there's a lot to learn. The teacher who I'm replacing is, like, teaching queen so I'm just hoping the students don't compare us. The older kids are much easier to work with. I enjoy the littlest ones because they're cute, but the material is harder to teach even though it's simpler. I think because the older kids are learning, like, what I learned in English in high school. It's easier to be analytical than to communicate with 6 year olds when I don't speak Korean. MUST LEARN MORE. The 7/8 year olds are super brilliant, though! And super cute.
I thought I'd learned the word for milk ("oyo") and was sooo proud of myself. In fact, the word is "uyu" (우유). At the coffee stand in E-Mart (the grocery store/market closest to me,) the lady was very nice and gave me milk when I asked for "oyo." I think she remembered me from the day before when I simply said "Milk??" (gesture gesture.) Good Lord.
This afternoon, I wanted to use some internet, so I brought my laptop down to a cafe downtown and asked "Americano Juseyo?" There was much confusion due to my amazing accent. They had to speak English to me. But couldn't. I got my drink and said, "Oyo?" The lady stared at me blankly. "Milk?" She gives me frothed milk, I DON'T KNOW! I hate not speaking enough Korean it feels douchey! I also said "Juseyo Americano?" the other day. WHAT I WILL DO FOR COFFEEEE!
(I'm not actually sure what is being said here.)
Fun facts: Cars here are basically all black, white, and silver.
Cars do NOT stop for pedestrians, but biciclysts are about a thousand times more polite than Seattle ones, even though it is customary to ride on the sidewalk.
I am getting BBQ in a little bit here with my co-teacher and her boyfriend. First Korean BBQ experience in Korea!
It is odd but expected, the waeguk (외국--foreigner) community here is larger than I thought it would be. I went out last night and met some awesome foreigners from all over the west! In fact, I was one of only a few Americans. The funny part is that walking to find a cafe today, I ran into fellow foreigners on the street. I'd heard about the EYE CONTACT--TALK phenomenon, but...you must. It seems like you are bound to run into all of the foreigners in Chungju at some point, so meeting on the street is a fine way to do it! And perhaps it is even rude if you don't say hi, you know? It reminds me of living in LA as well as traveling culture (staying in hostels etc.) I don't know, this is very scattered. I thought I'd be able to formulate a coherent blog post, but alas!
Photos will happen as soon as I move into my apartment, which will maybe happen tomorrow.
It will be a learning curve...I've taught my first few classes, so at least my feet are wet now but my goodness, there's a lot to learn. The teacher who I'm replacing is, like, teaching queen so I'm just hoping the students don't compare us. The older kids are much easier to work with. I enjoy the littlest ones because they're cute, but the material is harder to teach even though it's simpler. I think because the older kids are learning, like, what I learned in English in high school. It's easier to be analytical than to communicate with 6 year olds when I don't speak Korean. MUST LEARN MORE. The 7/8 year olds are super brilliant, though! And super cute.
I thought I'd learned the word for milk ("oyo") and was sooo proud of myself. In fact, the word is "uyu" (우유). At the coffee stand in E-Mart (the grocery store/market closest to me,) the lady was very nice and gave me milk when I asked for "oyo." I think she remembered me from the day before when I simply said "Milk??" (gesture gesture.) Good Lord.
This afternoon, I wanted to use some internet, so I brought my laptop down to a cafe downtown and asked "Americano Juseyo?" There was much confusion due to my amazing accent. They had to speak English to me. But couldn't. I got my drink and said, "Oyo?" The lady stared at me blankly. "Milk?" She gives me frothed milk, I DON'T KNOW! I hate not speaking enough Korean it feels douchey! I also said "Juseyo Americano?" the other day. WHAT I WILL DO FOR COFFEEEE!
(I'm not actually sure what is being said here.)
Fun facts: Cars here are basically all black, white, and silver.
Cars do NOT stop for pedestrians, but biciclysts are about a thousand times more polite than Seattle ones, even though it is customary to ride on the sidewalk.
I am getting BBQ in a little bit here with my co-teacher and her boyfriend. First Korean BBQ experience in Korea!
It is odd but expected, the waeguk (외국--foreigner) community here is larger than I thought it would be. I went out last night and met some awesome foreigners from all over the west! In fact, I was one of only a few Americans. The funny part is that walking to find a cafe today, I ran into fellow foreigners on the street. I'd heard about the EYE CONTACT--TALK phenomenon, but...you must. It seems like you are bound to run into all of the foreigners in Chungju at some point, so meeting on the street is a fine way to do it! And perhaps it is even rude if you don't say hi, you know? It reminds me of living in LA as well as traveling culture (staying in hostels etc.) I don't know, this is very scattered. I thought I'd be able to formulate a coherent blog post, but alas!
Photos will happen as soon as I move into my apartment, which will maybe happen tomorrow.
Monday, October 14, 2013
schleeep time
Scratch the expat pedestal. I'm a hypocrite and I can see the appeal. Questions questions, analyzing, AAAND succumb. The process becomes shorter by the year/experience. GRANTED (enter more here.)
Wait a minute...
I know I've only been here for one day, but so far everything is a little more Americanized than I expected. I mean, not reeeeally. Maybe mostly in Seoul. There seems to be a very solid Expat culture, which is great...but...Groove Magazine says, "Things that will make Korea better: CRAFT BEER." Dudes, why are you in Korea, just move to Seattle, you know?
In any case, I'm very knowledgable after one day, clearly -_-'
I'm sure after a few months here, I will feel very different. It's just surprising! Thoughts of globalization/comfort/culture...my ideals have changed since college, but I've still got it in me. It's hard not to notice and consider. I'm sure this will come up again.
Things to eat: Dak Galbi 닭갈비 . Okay, at least I think this is what I ate. Fried rice and chicken with vegetables. All of the restaraunts here apparently serve one kind of thing in different varieties, which makes it simple enough. My coworker treated me to some delicious Dak Galbi in downtown.
Today I start teaching. Well, today I start watching teaching. I doubt I'll be doing any actual teaching. Good thing I bought so many STICKERS.
There's a typhoon coming towards Japan! How do these things work?
In any case, I'm very knowledgable after one day, clearly -_-'
I'm sure after a few months here, I will feel very different. It's just surprising! Thoughts of globalization/comfort/culture...my ideals have changed since college, but I've still got it in me. It's hard not to notice and consider. I'm sure this will come up again.
Things to eat: Dak Galbi 닭갈비 . Okay, at least I think this is what I ate. Fried rice and chicken with vegetables. All of the restaraunts here apparently serve one kind of thing in different varieties, which makes it simple enough. My coworker treated me to some delicious Dak Galbi in downtown.
Today I start teaching. Well, today I start watching teaching. I doubt I'll be doing any actual teaching. Good thing I bought so many STICKERS.
There's a typhoon coming towards Japan! How do these things work?
Sunday, October 13, 2013
안녕하세요
To start off with, I'm not great at blogging. Too much personal in too public of a space. But...!
I'm currently watching a Korean kids' show ('cause that's what I would do) on the huge-screened t.v. in my motel room that my school has set me up with for my first week. The apartment that I will be living in is still being occupied by the teacher whose job I will be taking. The motel is fun. It's called "Motel Oasis" and there is black glitter wallpaper in the foyer. I'm supposed to go downstairs in a bit in order to change rooms and don't speak enough Korean for that. One of my co-teachers who dropped me off last night said to just tell her, "Change!" and it should work out. TIME TO START LEARNING KOREAN AGAIN. I've also been using big bills when I buy things because I don't know numbers yet so I figure "this will cover it."
Everyone is super nice so far! I start training at school tomorrow!
I ate two Korean meals on the plane instead of the Western ones (bibimbap 비빔밥 over steak any day) and they were delicious. I think the food will actually be one of the easier parts. That was on the plane, though, so I'll update more once I've had my first real Korean meal, which should be happening today at some point.
Pictures and more info to come!
P.S. whatever show I'm watching has a chicken speaking Korean and wearing glasses and an apron.
P.S. whatever show I'm watching has a chicken speaking Korean and wearing glasses and an apron.
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