Thursday, September 30, 2010

A week of report cards and monthly tests!

This week has been a busy one! We had report cards due and the children all write a monthly test. So we have been busy assessing and commenting on each child, which after only a month of teaching is still pretty difficult to do. And then there are those kids that you have a hard time saying anything constructive about! You know the ones that you wish you could write, "Jimmy is an annoying distraction", but instead you write, "Jimmy is an energetic little boy who sometimes needs to remember to listen in class."  I seem to have "lucked out" and received all of the difficult children this semester. Not to say that I don't love them all, it actually seems the evil devil children are the ones I like best, but having every class filled with little shit disturbers is not an easy 10 hour day! 

I finally got back out on my bike last night for the first time since my fall. I went out to our usual training hill but only managed a measly 4 times up(as opposed to my 9 last time). I didn't want to push it too much since my leg is still recovering and is not completely healed yet. I finally slept through a full night last night too! I know it's because I haven't been working out enough and the nice workout I had helped. After my ride I did some exercises and some shadow boxing in my room. I have really been missing my boxing workouts as they were my only real stress release!!! 

This weekend a bunch of us from the office are going out for drinks and likely some karaoke. Should be an interesting time. As with any work place there is all kinds of drama and office politics going on. I plan to just sit back and watch as things get awkward for everyone! 

My buddy Nate and I have been hanging out a lot and I am really enjoying his company. He is the only person here that I feel really comfortable being myself with and I am glad to have that outlet. We have the same sort of philosophies on life so it makes it easier to know I have someone around who sees the world the same as I do,(not to mention a bike buddy and personal trainer!) 

Next week I finally get paid again! This whole getting paid once a month thing takes some getting used to! Even though I am making substantially more than I have in the past trying to budget my money for a whole month is proving to be a little difficult! I finally got my Korean bank account yesterday so I will be able to send some money back to Canada and start paying off some bills! I am pretty excited to be actually able to pay down loans and still have money to live!! Oh how growing up is fun!! 

Besides going out with the work crew Friday night, I plan on taking this weekend pretty easy. I am already tired of all the hustle and bustle of Seoul. While it is an amazing city, I am not a huge fan of city life in general! I miss the open spaces of Canada!!! So I will likely relax and do some more exploring on my bike! 


Sunday, September 26, 2010

A break from the hustle

Well it has almost officially been one month since I arrived here in Korea and it is definitely starting to feel like I am settling in. Friday night I stayed around here and had some beers with my housemates. The best thing about Korea is that public alcohol consumption is okay! We hung out at a park by our apartment building and drank beers and soju! Fun adventures!!

Saturday morning, after waking up with quite the hangover, I set out for a day of hiking with my friend Nate. Our first stop was for some food to feed our hangovers. We went to this sandwich shop by our school and I got a club sandwich. In Korea they put egg on everything so I was not surprised when there was egg on my club, it was a delicious addition! Fueled and ready we headed to Suwon to a mountain a friend of ours recommended. Once in Suwon we had to get a cab to the mountain, which proved to be a difficult task. Most taxi drivers around here do not speak English, luckily for me, Nate speaks some Korean so he was able to get us to where we needed to go. We were finally at the mountain and I was ready for some wilderness. Little did I know it would be awhile before we got to the point where it was relaxing. The first leg of the hike was cramped and packed(as is everywhere in Korea), so many hikers all decked out in the finest of hiking gear. It is hilarious to see all the "hikers" in their expensive hiking gear. The funny part is that the hike is more of a leisurely walk through the woods with stairs on almost all of the hills. When we finally reached the peak of the mountain(only about a 1.5 hour climb) we climbed a rock face and descended a different path.

 This was when we finally got the hike we were looking for. There was no one on the trail but us and by this time we had both talked so much that we were okay with a nice quite hike. Turns out there was a reason that we were the only ones on that path, it just ended. Literally we were in the middle of nowhere with no path to follow. We could hear the highway so we just hoofed it through the woods hoping to come across some form of a trail. We eventually did and ended up in someones backyard. They were out gardening and directed us to the road. We walked for a bit and found a bus stop and hoped on a bus that we were told would take us to Suji. After about a 5 minute bus ride we were home. We had actually hiked almost all the way back Suwon! I was glad to finally have had a nice day of adventure out of the city.

Today I went into Seoul with Desiree where we mett up with our friend Tobye and went to check out Seoul Tower. We took a cable car up to the tower and then went up and got an amazing view of Seoul. It was pretty awesome! On our way home we met another teacher who lives here in Suji and has been here for over a year. She is going to show us the gym she goes to tomorrow so I will hopefully be able to get some better workouts in!!

Another week off work starts tomorrow!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

On the sidelines

Well I have my first injury in Korea. I went out biking last night and took a nasty spill. I got up and biked off with just a few bumps and scrapes. I went on about my night and went out with some friends for dinner. After eating I went to stand up and I had a huge hematoma on my right leg! It had taken awhile to show up. So not only did I screw up my bike but now I can barely walk!!! Not a very good start to my 3 day holiday! I was planning on biking 30km into Seoul today but the plans have changed!

I have been icing my leg and went for a bit of a walk today but am in quite a  fair amount of pain so it looks like I will be spending my Chuseok watching terrible reruns on tv!!! Oh well, I guess it could be worse!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

A new love for Noreabangs

Another weekend in Suji and another great adventure. Friday night we went out for a staff dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant. The food was delicious and it was nice to get to hang out and talk with the Korean teachers because we are separated from them at school. Saturday was an early morning as we had to get up and drive an hour to Ilsan for a full day Poly school workshop, It was a long, long day. I found I didn't learn too much from the sessions, but I am sure some teachers benifited from it.

After we got back to Suji, a couple of us went out for some drinks. My fellow teacher, Nate, has friends here in town so we went down to a bar that one of them works at. After several drinks, and a few bottles of Soju, our Korean coworker Jake persuaded us to go to a Noreabang with him. The Noreabang is a Korean karaoke room. They are very popular with Koreans! It was amazing! One hour and all the songs you want in your own private room. Drinks are cheap and voices are terrible.



 We had a blast belting out some terrible american songs. Afterwards we had our first 'downtown' Suji club experience. We were the only ones there but it had beer, foosball and a dance floor so I was pretty happy!! All summed up it was a good night of bonding with the coworkers! The headache this morning was not quite as much fun!!

This week is going to be a nice one, it's Chuseok, Korean thanksgiving so we only have to work Monday and Friday! I am excited for a nice break! I am planning on just staying close to Suji but I am going to bike into Seoul one day and then head up to Suwon (the next closest town) to check out a Fortress there and explore the city. It will be a nice cheap holiday!!!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Another great day!

Today I had an amazing day at work! I have this grade one class that has 8 rowdy boys in it who do not settle down. It normally takes me about 15 minutes to start class and then I rarely get through all the material I am supposed to. Last week the highest mark on their vocabulary tests was 3/10. I don't know what happened today but they finally settled down, they had actually completed their homework and one of them got 10/10 on their vocab test! I was so happy! i was beginning to get discouraged because I felt like I wasn't getting through to them but now that I see some progress I am much happier. I know everyday with them will not be this perfect but it is a start atleast!!

Tonight I went out training again with my friend Nate. The hill we go to is pretty intense, last time I made it up six times so tonight I aimed for eight and did not fail!! I can't wait to get my fitness level back up to where it was a month ago, and hill training is definitely the way to do it!! I am going to go out again with him tomorrow night.

I sat outside of our building after our ride for a "stoop beer" and relaxed a little. It was nice to just sit by myself and think for awhile. Life is good here and I am very excited for things to come! New friends and new adventures!!! I couldn't ask for more!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Korean Life

Ahoy! I am in my third week here in Suji and am really loving life!!! School is going well and the kids are starting to get settled with all of the new teachers.

This past weekend we went into Seoul again and explored Gyeonbokgung Palace. It was pretty cool to see. We got there just as the changing of the guards was happening so that was pretty cool!!



Afterwards we spent the day wandering around Seoul trying to find some pants for work! It is very difficult! The style of pants here is much slimmer than in North America.

One of my fellow teachers lent me his bike for the weekend while he was away so Sunday I went out exploring! It was so nice to be back on a bike! I had so much fun that when I got home I immediately went to the bike store and bought my own! Last night he took me out to do some hill training with him that was super intense! I am glad I found someone to workout with who will push me to my limits!

I am really glad I am here doing this with my life! There are so many opportunities for travel and new experiences!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Settling in

Well I have almost been here for two weeks now and I have to say things are going quite smoothly. I am settling into a nice teaching groove and am really enjoying the kids and my classes. The days are quite long, I am at work from 9am to 7:30pm everyday, but it is keeping me busy which is good!

My fellow teacher, Desiree, who lives downstairs from me, has been helpful to have around. Not only is she one of the only friends I have here, but she likes to run as well so she has been helping me to keep at a good running routine.

This past weekend we ventured into Seoul with a few of the other teachers from our school. It was pretty fun! Being the sheltered, small town girl that I am, being in a big city like Seoul was pretty fun for me! We rode the subway around town, (my first subway experience!) and did some shopping. One area we went to was called Myeong Dong. It's apparently one of the best shopping districts. The streets were packed with people! Tons of vendors lined the sides of the streets and were selling everything from food to designer knock offs.


It was a pretty awesome day! Needless to say after an entire day of walking around the busy streets of Seoul I was exhausted. We got back to Suji around 10pm after an hour bus ride and I basically passed out immediately! 

Last Friday night we went out to dinner with some of the fellow teachers. It was my first Korean BBQ experience! And it was amazing! There is a bbq in the middle of the tables and they bring you whatever kind of meat you want and fill the table with endless side dishes. Everything was so delicious! We topped it off with some Korean beer and Soju! Not a bad experience! Afterward we went with one of our coworkers to a place called the Makgeolli Hut. It is basically an open air bar/restaurant that is famous for it's Makgeolli(rice wine). It was a pretty cool place and turns out that Makgeolli and cyder(sprite) is a pretty delicious drink! 

Desiree and I are planning our Christmas Vacation already and have decided on visiting Bali for our week off! I have been researching flights and hotels and it looks like we are going to have an amazing cheap sunny Christmas holiday! 

Cheers!