Bukhansan National Park

Tuesday, my friend and I went to Bukhansan National Park. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to go hiking. We left home at 8 AM and took a series of subways and busses to get there. At 9:30 AM we began our hike. After abour 45 minutes of walking up a steep, winding road and dodging fast-moving cars and trucks, we made it to the base of the hiking path. We also arrived at a Buddhist temple. We walked into the temple area and saw so many cool things! Lanterns were hanging from the building and we could smell incense burning and hear chanting from the buildings. It is very different than the church I go to, but, nevertheless, I am interested in what others believe and how they practice their faith. It was really great for me to see everything--even though I didn't know the rituals or reasons for what was happening. Anyway, after the temple, we started climbing and hiking. It was very different from the hiking I have done in the past (Australian Blue Mountains, Alps, Lake Superior:), Tatr Mountains), and was pretty difficult! I am quite sure that this kind of hiking would be extremely restricted in the States!! It is a steep climb, especially towards the top, and can be extremely dangerous! However, I saw many older people and also very young children doing this hike. The mountain air is breathable (in contrast to the city air), and the view is breathtaking! Something cool that I saw was a variety of different birds that I am sure I have never seen before in my life. Again, it was a tough hike and I was happy to see that I wasn't the only one trying to figure out how much longer to the top! On the way down, many many people asked how much longer it was going to be and when we guessed it would be an hour or so, they sighed with exhaustion! We finished our hike about 4 or 5 hours later and were safely home by mid afternoon feeling pretty sore and worn out! This destination was definitely worth the trip!

Chuseok

Last week was Chuseok week here. Chuseok is a Korean national holiday like our Thanksgiving day. The woman in the photo is wearing traditional clothing. There are lots of parks in Seoul and this is one I visited last weekend. It was really beautiful and in some ways reminded me of Central Park in NYC (though, not quite as big).

Keeping in Contact with Home

With all this new stuff going on over here on the other side of the world, it is really important for me to be able to talk to friends and family back home. Here is a picture of my conversation with Martin a couple of nights ago. It is great because we are able to talk to each other over Skype and see each other while talking! :) It is a free program that has saved me hundreds of dollars in phone bills! I sound like an advertisement! Sorry! Anyway, I just wanted to show you my cure for homesickness!

School Life

Here are a couple of pictures of my new school I have a desk in the teachers' room and rotate from classroom to classroom to teach. Many of the students in my classes try to hide when there is a camera present, but I think this one turned out well! I took a picture of the toilet (it is on the floor, not the wall and it is a woman's restroom). There is this special "squatty" option, or there is one western toilet on the end with a bedae (you know, the washing system for an extra clean bottom). Other than a few things, school is mostly the same as in the States. The students work hard and spend a lot of time studying each evening. Sometimes they study so late into the night that they sleep during classes! I will try to make my lessons fun and interesting so they won't be tempted to not off! :)

COEX Mall

Yesterday, my friend Kara and I decided to do a little shopping. We headed out in one direction only to end up going somewhere completely different thanks to some helpful Koreans in the subway station. One thing I have figured out is that if I am unsure about where to go, I just stand near a huge wall map in the station with a puzzled look on my face--without fail, someone comes and offers assistance! We took the subway to the COEX mall--it is a huge, 10-floor mall (however, I think the Mall of America is still lots bigger). The first floor is a grocery store with lots of important goods from home. I was able to find my favorite JIF peanut butter (I paid double for it, but it was worth it). The top floor was an art exhibit (ceramics, prints, sculpture). There was a man who was showing people how to make prints on rice paper. The picture at the bottom is me giving it a try. Sheesh, I look like a giant, don't I? I am so huge compared to that guy! I am not generally a tall person here, really, the stereotype of Koreans being really really short is simply not true! There are many Korean women who are taller than I am. I may not be extremely tall, but I do have extremely large feet compared to other Korean women! I am having a very hard time finding shoe stores that sell my size. When I tell them my size (size 9 or 9 1/2), they literally gasp with huge eyes! How embarassing! It was fun checking out the mall, but what was better was when we walked around outside the World Trade Center. There were lots of cool sculptures and we took tons of pictures while wandering around. This past week was my first week teaching. It went really well, but I am still not quite ready to start teaching yet!! I enjoy working with the kids, but sometimes it is difficult to work with my co-teachers (some of them don't speak English fluently). This week I will teach the same students again, and will begin another after school class one night a week where I teach my co-teachers. That will be my most difficult class, I think. In each classroom at my middle school, there is an LCD projector as well as a wide-screen TV. These classrooms look very old-fashioned, but as you open cupboards, you will see more technology than of that in the States!! It is so much more effective to teach ESL with technology--the kids really benefit from being able to see pictures and view short video clips or sample dialogues. All in all, I am very satisfied with my life here! I really have enjoyed meeting new friends and getting to experience this culture which is so different from my own!

My New Home :)

Some new pics were requested of my Korean home. Here it is guys, all 12 square feet of it! It is cozy and quaint and definitely the smallest apartment I have ever had! :) The upside of it being small is the location: awesome! I am in the middle of all the crazy, loud, neon lights--but a couple of blocks off the main stretch in a quieter part in an insulated apartment with AC! Whenever I want, I can join the street vendors and food stands, or jump on the subway and be taken away to virtually anywhere in the city, or, I can tuck myself away in my quiet apartment where I am secretly stealing wi-fi from Starbucks down the street! School started yesterday, but my co-teachers have given me the week to ease into my new job. I have one week to plan for the next week (three lessons in all, but taught over and over all week). I am also finding my way around the korean computer world (anyone ever tried to use microsoft word in Korean? It is a lot harder than it sounds!) and figuring out how to access my resources at school (I got ahold of scissors and found a key to my desk--huge accomplishments for me!). People are super helpful and friendly. Yesterday I applied for my alien registration card (I am an alien...it has been confirmed), and my Korean realtor friend (the guy who brought us to E-Mart and out for Korean barbeque) showed up and drove me to the immigration office. It took us almost two hours because we got a little lost along the way. He pulled over to the side of a VERY busy street (picture lots and lots of honking...like LA but busier!) and asked a man for help. They loudly discussed the best route to the office for about ten minutes and as we were ready to head out in the direction that was decided, the man jumped in the backseat and personally wanted to make sure we got there without any more confusion!! How is that for generosity! We drove a couple of miles through the city and when we found the office, the poor guy had to take a bus back to his starting point! :) Well, I have lots more to say, but it is a school night for me and I am exhausted!!

Moving In

Yesterday I was unpacking stuff and cleaning up around my apartment and all of a sudden a man showed up at my door. He helped me when I moved in and when Kara moved in downstairs. He knocked on the door, and in broken English, he asked if we needed to go to E-Mart (like Wal-Mart but bigger). We were pretty excited because we both needed some pretty basic things. We climbed in his car and loaded up with things for our apartments and refrigerators! He also treated us to dinner, even though I think he had already eaten. It was nice to eat with someone who knows how to eat the food! Kara and I had tried a similar restaurant for lunch and didn't exactly know what to do when the ladies placed several dishes of mystery food in front of us. When we had lunch, we walked into the restaurant and saw the menu (picture on the top)...what would you order? We smiled at the lady who came for our order and we pointed at something that was at a reasonable price. What we got was lots of meat and vegitables and kimchi. With our helpful guide, though, we knew what we were getting and how it was supposed to be eaten!

Korean National Museum

Before moving from the conference center to our schools, we (about 200 native English teachers) had the chance to visit the Korean National museum. It was so different from western museums... The art was centered around Buddism and Confucionism and even the timeline was difficult for me to understand. The art was labeled according to dynasties instead of years BC or AD. It was really fun to see some of the really old artifacts from this part of the world. The next day, we all loaded up into busses to head out to our new schools. I am going to be working with five Korean English teachers and my school seams nice. All of the teachers are friendly and my apartment is pretty nice. It is small and furnished and it is in a great location in the city! I have an air conditioner and a huge TV (but only the army channel is in English). I will have a thirty minute commute in the morning via subway, bus, and by foot. I have already done quite a bit of walking around and expect to maybe be a little more muscly in a few months. :) The picture at the top is from the museum...I know I could take pictures of sculptures or paintings, but this one seemed more culturally accurate! The bottom picture below is me with all my luggage waiting to meet my principal and co-teachers. This was the room I stayed in with my friend Kara for the first week here.