Two Sun Devils in Korea

Maybe that nickname is is alright after all...

2011-09-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

All my students have been calling this boy "monkey" for the last two years. Recently he has grown to like and accept this nickname because today he exclaimed to me "Teacher, I am the Banana Prince!!! oooh oooh awww awww!!!"

My father is a pilot

2011-06-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today we started Chapter 7 "My father is a pilot" today. I asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. One kid who is moderately good at English said he wanted to be a soccer player. Later in the day, when he was goofing off and hindering the ability of other students to learn (like always) I walked up to him and looked him in the eye. "Do you want to play for Manchester United"? I asked him. "Yes teacher" he responded. "If you are going to go to England, you will need to speak English." Then there was one of those magic looks in his eyes and on his face, you know the ones where you can tell the little dust covered gears in his head are turning and processing. He was an angel for the rest of the class. Let's see if it continues to work.

When I asked another kids what he wanted to be when he grows up he said "A father!!!" How cute.

Robin Egg Candy Virgins

2011-05-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was just one of those days when the kids are super-hyper for some reason. I don't know if it was the phase of the moon, the earth relation to its other cosmic neighbors or what. I did not care, all I knew was I was having a really hard time asking my first class to not talk. It was exhausting and I had a headache. So, against my better judgment I told them if they were good the team that won the game could have a piece of candy next week.

Uggggghhhh! Did I really just do that? I am usually against candy (or anything physical) as a reward. I try not to go for extrinsic motivation and instead go for the deeper, more meaningful Intrinsic motivation (i.e I want to learn English not for candy or a prize but because I want to learn it). Still, I had a head ache and was loosing my sanity so I promised them candy. "At least I wont have this problem with the other classes" I thought.

HA! how could I be so naive? Once word got around from that class that I promised them candy it was a de facto promise to all classes that if they were quiet and their group won the class game that they too would get a sugary reward. Oh well, it was not so bad. At least I'd have my sanity.

Id been thinking and looking for cheap candy for the rest of the week with no good prospects. Because I am a cheapskate, I wanted quantity with out the price tag that comes with a large amount of candy. I found it at COSTCO. I bought a 42 oz bag of Whoppers "Robin Eggs" candy left over from Easter and newly discounted to 3,500 Won (about $3). Perfect I thought!

When it came time to give them out the student were perplexed. Some thought I was gum. Many asked "its candy?" not knowing what to do with the oddly colored cavity causers. Only one kid in 5 classes knew what it was. Pretty shocking. They turned out to be a big hit and that makes me happy.

2011-04-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

As I walked around the class checking the students work I noticed one of my students, one of the more brilliant ones was just sitting there bored, sketching in his notebook. It did not matter the class was less than half over, his notebook was completely finished for the day; the national curriculum is far below his English level. A thick, dark apathetic cloud hung around his head like a Russian Ushanka hat.
"Hello, how are you" I said, hoping to engage him.
"Oh teacher do you like winter?" the student asked. "No, I like summer" I replied haphazardly.
"Oh wow! why?" perked up as he realized we were having an actual English conversation. "I don't like snow and I like summer vacation"
"oh really?" he said with a glint of curiousness in his eyes.
"Yes"
"Where will you go?" the student asked, genuinely interested as his cloud of apatheticness started to dissolve.
"Egypt"
His mind was blown. He sat up in his seat. The cloud was gone.
"Really?"
"Yes"
Amazed he was able to mutter out "I will come with?"
With a smile and a grin I answered "No you wont, it will be my honeymoon."
"Honeymoon?" he said confused. Then the "light bulb" went off and he realized what I just said.
"Oh-my-god!-Do-you-have-a-baby?!?!-That-is-unbeleviable?-That-is-SO-fantastic!-What-is-its-name?-Is-it-a-boy-or-girl?" he bellowed out in one long, excited, hyphenated sentence with out hardly taking a single breath.
"I don't have a baby." I said
"Oh" he said as all the excitement seemed to fall flat and his cloud spontaneously reformed itself and he went back to sketching in his notebook.
Eh. Guess you can't win all the time

2011-04-04T22:05:00.001-07:00

Today I kept telling a student to pay attention because he would be talking to the boy behind him. I told him 4 or 5 times. Eventually I had enough, "turn around" I barked at him. The student sat straight up, then jumped to his feat and spun around as though he was doing the hokey pokey. After he sat down he looked at me and said "teacher why?" as the whole class, including myself erupted into uncontrollable laughter.

Disturbing Child

2011-04-04T00:19:00.001-07:00

I think one of my children may grow up to be a serial murderer as he displays some messed up behaviors. Let me explain, last year I had a bit of problem with him as he seemed to always be angry. He would grab girls hair and pull it, grab girls by the face and jab them in the eye, stab them with his pencil/pen or really anything he can; basically if it causes pain I am sure he has done it to a girl at some point. A student tried to intervene one time and the good Samaritan got his full wrath. I had to break up that fight. Anyways when he would act out I would separate him from the class and put him in the back and made him stand there with his hands on his head. His eyes would be wide and his grin, so diabolical you would think you were watching Lucifer himself grin. Basically, he really did not care if he was in trouble. I watched him very closely after the first few times he acted out and one time as he was about to punch a girl in the face I caught his hand and took him to the back of the room. Not sure if it was that I stopped him from hitting the girl or what but he was ANGRY. He was screaming and swearing in Korean and I dragged him kicking to the back of the room for time out. He screamed so I made him face the wall which he proceeded to punch as hard as he could. Eventually my co-teacher took him away, to the principals office i assume. I asked my co-teacher what his deal was and she told me his mother cheated on his dad and ran away to the Philippines with her lover and did not even divorce my students dad. She just left. I guess this has him with some pent up aggression toward girls and women.

Fast forward to this year and he seems to be not as angry but the behavior problems persist. His physical displays of violence are not as common but there are new and sinister behaviors I am witnessing. A few days ago the children were asked to bring in photos of their family or of their favorite celebrities. The activity was to make paper dolls so they can role play with them and use vocabulary about family relationships. For example "Hello, I am ____________. I am the Father." Any ways the disturbing child brings in a photo of Kim Yu-Na, (the figure skater who won the gold medal at the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver) and shows me. Every one at his table is excited because really EVERY ONE in Korea LOVES Kim Yu-Na. Remember when Michael Phelps won the Gold medal in Beijing? Remember how everyone in America thought he was like the best person on the face of the planet (for a month)? Well its been a year and people still think that of Kim Yu-Na. Anyways, I come back to check on disturbing child and he glued the picture of Kim Yu-Na on a piece of paper sans the top of her head. He then drew her brain and blood dripping down her face. Normally Id just think this was typical 4rd grader boys-will-be-boys shenanigans except he cut holes where her breasts should be and made them all bloody also.
"ew" I said and showed disapproval with my facial expression. "This is not good". The boy went from smiling to worry "No, no teacher". He pointed to where the breasts used to be and said "End cut, good". I told my (new) co-teacher (who has no idea of his past history) and thought it was totally"normal".
Now today, in case you are not convinced he is disturbed some kids came up to me as I was walking to the bank to pay bills and they told me "cat die" and pointed toward the street. I continue down that way and the boy is standing over a dead cat and tearing it open with a sharp stick. Yeah..... needless to say I am kind of scared of him. I hope he does not stab me with a pencil or something.

March 30th 2011

2011-03-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

I have been having a hard time with my new contract. My new co-teachers have poor English ability so it is hard for me to communicate with them. I decided I am just going to have to review the rules each day until the kids can repeat them verbatim. I have been doing it for about a week and so far it has been working great. Maybe I will make it after all.

Some funny stories from today:

A student asked me"Oh teacher!!!! Do you like Pokemon?" "Yes?" I replied. "What is this Pokemons name in English" He asks as he holds up Pokemon shaped eraser. I take a closer look and have no idea. "Come on" I say as I sit down at my computer, "Let's find out". It ended up being one I had never heard of: "Munchlax". Turns out it is a baby Snorelax... Weird I had no idea. Also I told him I would trade Pokemon with him. Amusing.

A student violated class rule #6: "no Justin Beiber" when she put a picture of him on the board. So I ran screaming from the back of the room to the front, grabbed the picture off the board and ate it. Yum. Ok, So I did not eat it, only put it in my mouth and chewed on it a bit. My class laughed hysterically and it got their attention which seemed to be fixed on me (magically?) for the whole class, I should eat more Justin Beiber more often.

also a kid fell asleep 2nd period and every one thought I was going to wake him up mean but I just placed my hand on his shoulder and woke him up nice. I don't know why he is falling asleep, he could have issues at home but I told him "No Startcraft or Maple Story after 10pm."

that was my day. The end.

Mongwolsa

2010-11-16T22:04:00.001-08:00

Mongwolsa
Originally uploaded by robotrenai

It is autumn in South Korea. The colors are out of this world- unlike any I have ever seen. The trees turn into flames of color across the landscape. Soon everything will be brown and I won't see the color emerge until the springtime, so I captured the colors in my photographs to remind myself of the beauty during the dead of winter.
Also of note are my favorite sneakers. Ecosneaks! They are made from recycled tires (my soles have a tread!) and hemp. Not the best for hiking, they have no ankle support, but what are you going to do? When the going gets tough, sit on a rock and take pictures of leaves on your shoes- that's what.

Thirsty

2010-11-02T21:07:00.001-07:00

IMG_4102
Originally uploaded by robotrenai

How cute is this!? So precious. This is not my cat, but I wish it was. A few weeks ago E and I went to the Gio Cat Cafe in Hongdae. It was a day of cuteness.

Halloween in Korea

2010-10-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

Today was a BLAST!
For a costume I dressed up like a Luchador and Devil girl made an octopus costume. We looked awesome ( Photos to come ). Usually we go to Mill Ave. near ASU for Halloween, for obvious reasons (6000 miles away...) I am unable to this year. Devil girl and I decided that the closest thing to Mill Ave. in Korea is Itaewon, so we decided to head down there for Halloween fun. On our way down there we called two of our friends to join us. We walked around for a bit and ended up in an Irish bar called Wolfhound where Devil girl and I had a yummy veggie burger and I got hit on by dudes twice. ( oh nooo! it was 3 in the afternoon and they were belligerently drunk. :-\ ) Devil girl was confused and I just said "i think you have me confused for some one else, what kind of wrestler do you think I am?" the guy was like "oh ! I hate when I do that." LOL.
Anyway, we walked around Itaewon and it was nothing like mill ave, so we got bored. We bought some Russian hats and got back on the subway and headed back to Uijeongbu. Now ever since I was a kid I ALWAYS wanted to scare people with my costume. I have to say- if I don't wake up tomorrow I will die happy. I had a lot of fun in Uijeongbu, we walked around downtown where I terrified many, many, MANY people. I have to say it is way fun and easy to scare people if 1) they have only heard of Halloween and 2) have NO idea when it is. I would quickly say "안녕하세요" (hello) and "happy Halloween". It was fun to see the "light bulb" go off as they realized why I was dressed up in costume. Then again I probably could have freaked out people dressed up as a crayon. I say crayon because Ive always thought that was the dumbest costume ever... O.k. not always, just since I was like 6 or 8; So a long time in other words. But I digress, Halloween was fun this year. Stay tuned for photos.

Playing Catchup

2010-10-26T02:48:00.001-07:00

10-10-10
Originally uploaded by robotrenai

It is what I do when I ride bikes with E, also what I do when I don't post a daily photo for a week. This week I will try to post 2 photos per day (no promises.)

This photo is from 10-10-10. E and I rode our bikes into Seoul along this awesome bike path next to a small river that meets up with the Han River in the middle of Seoul. We didn't ride all the way to the Han River, however. Only to the next neighborhood south of Uijeongbu.
There is a part of the stream with these odd bridges. No railing or pavement, just cement slabs. I wonder if it is a left over from the war. Any ideas readers who have served in the military in Korea?
The only reason I was able to snap this picture is because E had to change the batteries in his GPS so I finally had a chance to get ahead and take out my camera- for once. I am always playing catchup.

Bau

2010-10-26T02:40:00.001-07:00

Bau
Originally uploaded by robotrenai

Finally! 2 weekends ago E and I went to the Bau House (Bauhaus! one of my favorite periods in art history.) Except it isn't the bauhaus, it is a cafe full of dogs. Big dogs and little dogs are welcomed and people are encouraged to bring their pet dogs along to join in the fun. In the US there are many regulations preventing dogs and coffee from coming together, but Korea doesn't care for hygiene and thank goodness they don't. We were in need of some good puppy play time! And good puppy play time is what we got! Until the baby walked in, because suddenly the puppies were no longer interested in the foreigners.

K-Pop Friday - Miss A!

2010-10-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

It is that time again! Time to revive K-Pop Friday with a burst of color, fun, and confusing English lyrics!

New to the K-Pop scene is the girl group Miss A. They are spunky and sassy. Pink hair! Combat boots with ballet skirts! Telling boys to shut up! Gas masks!?

First up is Bad Girl Good Girl. I was super impressed when one of my worst students started telling me "you don't know me!" I thought "WOW! Where did he learn to tell me off in English!? Impressive!" Then I discovered this song. And I realize he probably doesn't have a clue what it means. Oh well. This song is fun and SUPER sassy. The dance moves are hysterical, but that is why I love k-pop. How can you be grumpy when watching this video?

Next up is Miss A's follow up single Breathe. To me, this song sounds like it could be in a video game. Sonic the Hedgehog, perhaps? And the girls movement in this one sits in the uncanny valley- the place where things look almost real, but not real enough. They seem so strange. How do they move like this?

That is all for this week! Stay tuned for next week's K-Pop Friday to see what crazy new music from the Korean peninsula I have for you.

Cow Pasture

2010-10-14T22:25:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by robotrenai

Today's photo of the day comes from the lovely island of Bali, Indonesia. I stayed in small remote villages on Bali. This cow pasture was on the southern tip of the island. I woke up early in the morning and decided to explore the neighborhood I was in. Walking past shacks and guest houses I realized there were cows EVERYWHERE! In the silence of the morning, I could hear their cowbells over the sound of the waves crashing on the cliffs. Bali is so beautiful, I understand why it is such a magnet for travelers- and people writing self righteous books about love, travel, spirituality, and ...top soil farming. For real.

On another note- the sky at this time wasn't grey, it was BRIGHT blue. Anyone have an idea about how to keep the sky from becoming so washed out in photographs? 2 exposures?

Looking into the North

2010-10-14T01:47:00.001-07:00

Looking into the North
Originally uploaded by robotrenai

North Korea. I live with constant reminders that this dictatorship lies only a few miles north of me. Every day I take the number 7 bus north towards my school and pass under a tank trap- a concrete structure over the road (like a bridge) that is brimming with explosives, ready to explode and destroy the road so that tanks may not pass. My school is not far from a center for North Korean refugees. North Korea seems so close, I can almost touch it. Almost. But being at the DMZ, looking through these binoculars at the worlds tallest flag pole, I felt that no one from the west will ever be able to touch North Korea. This photo says what I am feeling. South Korea is real & solid, we watch from the South and hope something spectacular will happen; North Korea is faint, disappearing, and all pomp and circumstance but there is no real substance. Will North Korea and South Korea ever reunite? There certainly are enough cell phones in South Korea to supply the demand of North Koreans...

Yarn Shop Keeper

2010-10-12T21:38:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by robotrenai

I'm a horrible blogger. I say I am going to do a daily feature, then three days later I forget to post. I'm working on it...

I took this photo on Saturday. I met up with friends at a coffee shop and we sat around knitting and chatting. From the coffee shop we went on a walk along a stream in the middle of Seoul to Dongdaemun. Dongdaemun is the location of a gate from when Seoul was a walled city. Today, it is a capitalist paradise. If it is related to textiles, and you want to buy it, you will find it in an abundance of selection. Too much selection. At one point you have to say "Ok, I will buy from this store, from this bin." and find something you like. If you don't narrow down the choice, you could get lost in the labyrinth of shops. Dongdaemun extends for blocks. Clothing shops (really, more like booths) are housed in not one, not two, not three, but probably more like 5 or 6 buildings. All of which ate 9 or 10 stories. Each booth is about 10 feet by 10 feet, and jam packed with goods. Raw materials- fabric, buttons, zippers, yarn, trim, etc, etc, etc, are hosted in a HUGE building. And as I discovered on Sunday, they also extend down the road next to the stream.
In the photo is the woman I bought 10 skeins of yarn for 10,000 won (around 8 or 9 USD). Her store, like every store, was jammed full of yarn. Inside, 3 women were knitting in the cramped space.
After buying the yarn, I bought a huge fuzzy warm comforter that retails for 200,000 won. I paid 60,000 won. This is why I love dongdaemun. Even though it is crowded and anxiety inducing, anything you can possibly buy is on sale for much cheaper than you can get it anywhere else in the world (except maybe the Russian Markets in Cambodia, but that is a story for another day)
I can not even comprehend how much product is for sale at Dongdaemun. It makes my head spin.

Some cute things:

2010-10-11T20:22:00.001-07:00

I am teaching my 5th graders about the rooms in the house and the
items they contain.
They said some cute things today enjoy...

Me: "Who can tell me what a garage is? Raise your hand."
Student: "It is a car house."

Me: "Ok, good. In the Kitchen we have a cupboard and we store plates
and cups in it. What else?"
Students: "Knifes" [sic] "Fork" "Spoon"
Me: "Very good! What about Sporks? Who knows what a spork is" (Joking)
Student: "It is knife and spork fusion"
Me: (laughing) "very good"

Also some kid brought up teddy bears and I asked the class if they
knew the teddy bear was named after a US President.
Shockingly, one girl knew. Blew my socks off. told her she just earned
a candy bar on Friday.

Wool Wall

2010-10-09T17:35:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by robotrenai

Yesterday I went shopping at Dongdaemun. I left with some yarn and a huge fluffy blanket for my bed. I managed to lug the blanket all the way home on the crowded subway. Trust me, it wasn't comfortable.
Anyway, Here is a very small peek at the amount of yarn being sold in Dongdaemun. Crowded little stalls filled floor to ceiling with bags of yarn. This stalled happened to only sell wool. I somehow managed to avoid buying it all and only came home with 10 skeins for 10,000 won (less than 10 USD!) Not that I need more yarn, but I couldn't pass up that offer!

Photo of the Day- Yellow Jacket

2010-10-09T08:04:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by robotrenai

This photo took guts to take. This wasp was HUGE and I wasn't going to stick my face near it. I set up my camera for proper exposure, white balance, and ISO then stuck it out in front of me as far as I could and as close to the wasp as possible without disturbing it. I am so pleased with the outcome. It is one of the photos that I can't believe I took.
This photo is really special to me. I took it in the very center and highest point of Angkor Wat. There are no plants growing inside the temple except this flower bush in the very center. Very striking.
Since going there 2 months ago, Cambodia has never left my thoughts. It is such a strange country. It is beautiful, stunning, out of this world amazing. I saw temples upon temples upon temples, red red mud, peaceful lakes. I ate amazing food. I saw an elephant walking down a city street. All these positive things are in stark contrast to the horrors I saw. Piles of skulls, tiny prison cells. I walked on top of teeth and clothes of those brutally killed, taking cautious steps as to not disturb the remains. I saw the photos of political prisoners who never had a chance to escape. Cambodia makes my heart sigh. I hope Cambodia will never be forgotten, and humanity can continue to learn and grow from the tragedies that happened there.

Photo of the Day - Everland

2010-10-07T17:30:00.001-07:00

IMG_3775
Originally uploaded by robotrenai

Time to revive my blogging habits. I am starting a new feature on this blog, along with keeping up with K-Pop Friday (especially since so much good K-Pop has come out in the past few weeks!)

The new feature will be updated very often. Daily, in fact! I have a growing obsession with photography since I left my sewing machine behind in the desert. To hone my new skills I will focus on taking and editing one photo per day. Some days I may post a picture I've taken in the past and expand upon the story in the photo- like today's post. So lets get on with it!

This picture was taken at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (just south of Seoul). Everland is called Korea's Disneyland. It is fun, but it sure isn't any Disneyland. The atmosphere of the park is all off. I never felt like I was in some magical place. However, we still had a ton of fun. The high point of our day at Everland was the Halloween parade. There were so many performers in awesome costumes. Then I spotted these two. They didn't fit in with any of the other performers. These masks are incredibly creepy, where as everyone else was made up to look cutesy. I was very startled to suddenly see Wednesday and Pugsly Addams!
Halloween is such a fun time of year. What will you be for Halloween? Devil boy has his costume all ready, but I am still undecided.

The first week back from vacation usually sucks…

2010-09-30T22:18:00.001-07:00

…and for the most part, this week was no exception. The fact it has gone from summer to winter this week probably has something to do with it though in all fairness. The end of last week was sunny and warm with clear skies (rare in Korea). I have to admit as much as Arizona has going against it, the one thing it will always have on damn near every place is the amazing weather. Anyway, because of the nice weather I had a chance to place 10 geocaches in Uijeongbu. Hopefully it gets the Koreans and the Military guys who geocache to place some for me to find. I am nearing in to 30
finds in Korea and 150 finds over all. Then this week I found a Korean's blog who wrote about finding my caches. I think this is pretty cool. Then Anyways as I was saying before my ADHD attack, last Sunday was beautiful and warm and this week has been cold and on occasion, wet. I admit my grumpy meter has been quite high. Maybe I am just being grumpy, maybe I am home sick or maybe it is something else but I really hated life on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday I had to deal with my 6-2 class which shall now be known as the terror class because their former home room teacher is in the hospital from having a nervous breakdown from dealing with them. Anyways, they can't seem to get the easy rules into their head so the week before Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) I told them that they had to write each of the sentences 20 times. I really was not expecting much from them as they usually disappoint but they really stepped up and did it. Well every one but one student – he is not writing each one 40 times as make up work. Anyways I really though that they had learned their lesson but I was wrong and my co-teacher was so angry they had to write each rule 100 times. Wow. Anyways dealing with that and personal stuff was not easy and I was feeling down the rest of Wednesday and Thursday. Then my beautiful wife to be came over and we figured out a lot of issues. I really like when we talk and this leads me to believe that life will only be easier once we live together. Friday, is usually one of my least favorite days of the week because I don't really like some of the classes I have – but today they were not bad. I had the terror class today again. They came in and were bouncing off the walls so I taught them the Macarena (which they enjoyed) and promised them a "Halloween, Dress up, Trick-or-Treat, Candy, Movie party" if the entire class can follow the rules for the whole month. I really hope they get it because I want it too. Then my special class (which is usually crappy) I taught the Kids "let it be" which they picked up on quite fast. Love it. Next week we are doing "Hey Jude".

Till next time, bye.

Oh if you want to check out the Korean's blog post about my caches
look here ----> http://fbshare.me/AUBJy

Woah! Did I just get medieval ?

2010-09-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

My 6-2 class they are so bad. They made a female teacher leave the
school because she had a nervous break down. Luckily I am male so I
don't have it as bad but It still sucks to teach that class. Any way
Korean education is lecture, lecture and lecture some more and the
students just sit their – something I am trying to get away from. To
stop any bad behavior in this environment, which I know would be
unfamiliar to them I set up some very specific and easy to follow
rules:

Rule #1: Speak English Only. Pretty easy to understand why this one is
needed. If they speak Korean then they will never learn English.
Rule #2: Full sentences. In 5th and 6th grade they should know how to
do this by now. You can't go around for the rest of your life and only
saying one word answers. Also I know if I can teach them how to say,
for example: "I like apples" then they pretty much can say they like
what ever vocabulary they know.
Rule #3: Raise your hand. You have no idea how much this one was
needed. This rule is self-explanatory.
Rule #4: Don't talk when teacher is talking. Also pretty self-explanatory.
Rule #5: If you need help, ask. I want the kids to know it is OK if
they don't know and they can always ask for help. Aww I have a warm
cuddly feeling.

On Wednesday, my 6-2 class was being their horrible selves and I told
them to behave several times. All requests were ignored. I told them
they obviously did not know the rules so they were to write each rule
20 times and hand it in today (the day before Korean Thanksgiving
vacation). The ENTIRE class blew off the request.

They were quite upset when I told them that now they need to write
each rule 40 times and hand it in the day we come back from Korean
Thanksgiving. "But teacher, it is vacation", "Give us a break
teacher", "Can you minus the number" were just a few of the protests I
heard. I told them there weren't going to be negotiations. They have had,
many, many. Many chances in the past and their bad behavior has
finally caught up to them. "But teacher !!!" they cried. "Hey" I said
loudly "you had a chance to only write 20 and everyone failed at that,
so now every one has to write 40" also, I continued "I am grading this
assignment as a class, you are all a team and if part of the team
fails, you all fail." They looked a bit confused so I explained that
everyone in the class has to do the assignment or they will be forced
to write the rules 60 times, them 80 times and so on and so forth
until every one hands in the correct number. I did this because it is
obvious to me that the teachers can't control them so maybe their
peers can. We will see how it goes. Woah! Did I just kick some ass, I
think I did.

Dobongsan (Dobong Mountain)

2010-06-20T22:52:00.001-07:00

For the past three months I have been e-mailing my mom ridiculously long e-mails that I am sure no one other than my own mom would want to read. For the sake of everyone else, I will edit down the e-mails and post the e-mails from the past three months, and into the future, on this blog. Enjoy.

---

Dobongsan is the tallest mountain in Gyeonggi-do (the province I live in), as well as the busiest park in the world. Dobongsan is in between Seoul and Uijeongbu. I saw it the first day we were in Korea and thought it was the clouds. I couldn't believe it was a mountain. Granite is exposed and weathered to create what appears to be a waterfall of solid rock. It is amazing.

We packed some sandwiches and snacks and made our way to Uijeongbu station. We had a short ride, for once. Only 3 stops. (we usually are on the subway for an hour or more to get to our destination) I was worried about getting lost on our walk to the trail, but there was no chance we could. Once we arrived, I realized how busy the busiest park in the world really is. Man! It is busy! Just as crowded as the subway on a Saturday night. Wall to wall people. All decked out from head to tow in brightly colored hiking gear. Bucket hats, nylon shirts, goretex jackets (yet, no threat of rain today...), gloves, wrist guards, nylon pants, hiking shoes. Hiking poles, cups, cushions, even ice picks hanging off of $300 backpacks. You would think these people were going on a long trip, not hiking for 4 or 5 hours on a lazy Sunday. And everyone was dressed like this. Thousands of people. I felt under dressed, going on a hike. Is that even possible? But I was thankful I only wore a tee and shorts because I wanted to be light and mobile to make it as far as I could possibly go. I didn't think I would get very far, I was getting winded walking up the road that leads to the trail head!

The road boggles my mind. Completely packed with hikers, and lined with snack stands selling everything from roasted silk worm larvae to soju (Korean rice wine. Tastes like purell, but Korean's love it). There were restaurants to eat at on your way back down ranging from a tent with plastic chairs inside, to upscale western style places. There were booths selling cheap hiking outfits and goods, as well as high end brand name hiking outlets (the north face, blak yak, le forte, etc). I picked up a bandanna with a map of Dobongsan on it and tied it around my neck.

The trail was beautiful. It follows a stream that is sometimes just a trickle, and at others fast moving. People rest by the water and have picnics. The trees are bright green with new leaves. I would say it was perfect, but one thing kept getting under my skin. There were too many people! For me, hiking is more enjoyable when I am with one person. Not when I am part of a herd. It stressed me out because it seemed like everyone would follow the route up the rocks that I took. They would be directly behind me, leaving me little room to breathe! And their hiking poles would be nipping at my feet. Luckily they all move at a pretty slow pace so I didn't feel like I was being rushed, but I really don't like feeling like I am being followed.

We braked for lunch pretty early on so that Erin didn't have to carry the extra weight of the food. On our way up we also purchased little sitting pads for 1000 won (less than 1 USD) a piece. The were perfect! A small piece of foam to sit on so your bottom doesn't hurt. We snacked on cucumbers while we hiked. Many brakes were taken. When I thought we were at the top, I turned around and saw the most amazing view. I could see all of Uijeongbu, parts of Yangju and Seoul. I didn't relize how high up we had made it!

To the side was a staircase carved into the mountain with paper lanterns strung up above it. We could hear the chanting and drums of a buddhist temple. I climbed the stairs and took a rest in the courtyard of the temple. It was very peaceful, the first time that we weren't surrounded by people.

After a few minutes we came back down to the trail and continued to the peak. Man. It was a lot further than I thought. I wanted to give up so many times, it was exhausting. I decided to push through and go at my own pace. No longer were there people from wall to wall, anyone had the ability to pass me. I went slow, baby steps, focusing on my breathing and heart beat. The trail got steeper, and I didn't think I could make it. But when I tried I realized it would be easier than the less steep parts because now my arms came into use. They weren't tired because I hadn't used them at all! While climbing up with the assistance of ropes and bars, I actually had a pleasant time! As long as I didn't look down...

But then we got stopped. There was a line of people stopped up to the peak. No one could move. A helicopter was circling the peak. I got scared, so we scrambled up the side passed the stopped people. Hey, we don't speak Korean, we had no clue what was going on! No one could stop us. When I reached the peak I couldn't believe how beautiful the view was. Amazing! But I had to put my awe on hold because the helicopter was hovering over a peak a little ways down. I watched as it airlifted two people off the mountain. They looked fine, able to hold on to the rope. It looked like a tree had fallen over and broke one of their legs. His leg was all wrapped up. But everyone looked ok. Once the helicopter flew off, the moving resumed and we were able to enjoy the top. I can't believe I made it! Slow and steady, I made it and won the amazing view.

A couple at the top shared chocolate with me. It was so kind of them. Erin and I enjoyed bunny cookies from a local bakery. I am so happy I made it to the top!

Coming down the steep section freaked me out. A line of people were waiting for me to come down and I was scared of slipping. Erin went behind me and went really extra slow to hold off the masses so could feel more comfortable. Even though I was terrified, I was able to make it down and they didn't have to call a rescue helicopter for me. heh. The rest of the way was easy. I watched my footing so I wouldn't slip.

When we passed the temple area, I saw a way to get to the stream. I wanted to rinse my hands and splash my face, so we went down. There was an old couple relaxing by the stream, and when we rinsed off our hands in the cool, clear water, they started pouring us coffee! They motioned to sit with us and the woman began cutting up an apple for us. They didn't speak any English, yet they gave us a nice place to rest and some refreshments. It was beautiful. When we said good bye to them, I had more energy and we continued down the mountain at a good pace. When we reached the bottom, I looked up and was stunned to see how high we had hiked. Dobongsan is a very tall mountain, looming over Korea. And we conquered it today! I feel so proud of myself. It is much taller than any mountain I have ever hiked.

We stopped at a restaurant and got a seafood and veggie pancake. Again, an old couple insisted on giving us drink. But this time it was magkelie, another Korean alcohol. Not our favorite. They stared at us every moment we were there, so I felt obligated to drink it and make a show of how silly us foreigners are when we eat Korean food. It was a relief to leave, sometimes the kindness goes too far. Really, we were fine with water! The last thing I want after an exhausting hike is alcohol.

All the photos from Dobongsan, as well as all the photos I take can be seen at my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robotrenai/

K-Pop Friday, this time with 10 percent more national pride!

2010-05-28T04:11:00.001-07:00

While I walked through the courtyard of my school at my school, I saw nine fifth graders practicing a synchronized dance. They were completely serious about nailing each move at the exact moment. The full effect was just downright silly. And that is what I love about K-Pop videos. The dances are silly, but don’t ever doubt their mass appeal.

About 2.5 seconds after witnessing this scene, I was swarmed by students grabbing for my corn pizza and mini can of coke. But that is another story.

Today’s K-Pop videos are brought to you by Hyundai. Because, in Korea, what part of pop culture isn’t connected to a giant multi-national corporation? (psst. the answere is none. At least from my casual observations)

This song is for the World Cup of 2010 in South Africa. It is starting soon. Perhaps this weekend? I’m not entirely sure, because I have never been one to follow sports. Anyway. In this video is the hip hop group Big Bang, leaded by my favorite spritely heartthrob G-Dragon. Joining Big Bang is Queen Yuna. Don’t even call her Kim Yuna anymore. She is the appointed Queen of Korea now. Being the best ice skater ever gets you these privileges. She might do a better job reunifying Korea than President Lee Myung-Bak, because who can resist her sweet demeanor and killer triple axel?

Shout for the Reds! Yeah! Go reds! Wait? What? Surely someone told them that in the west we think of the reds as the communists, right? The sworn enemies of this capitalist society. No? Ok moving on.

You better believe I already have memorized the dance from that video. I expect everyone to be dancing in sync a la my 5th grade girls when I return home. Here is a short “how to” video. Get practicing!

It is that time again!

2010-04-30T07:12:00.001-07:00

K-Pop time!

First off is Big Bang rehearsing a song by G-Dragon, the founder of the group. I am told that Big Bang is supposed to be the Korean version of the Wu Tang Clan. Well, I’m sorry to say they aren’t. But I don’t think this rap is half bad. And I think G-Dragon is adorable.

Next up is SNSD, otherwise known as Girl’s Generation. You will remember them from the previous post. This time they are edgier. Like the alter egos of Girl’s Generation. This don’t, Run Devil Run, has an opposite meaning from Oh!. The lyrics of Oh! are about how much they would like a boy to notice them because they have changed from the past, and the lyrics of Run Devil Run is how they want a boy to get lost because he has a wandering eye. And has to many females in his phonebook.

And finally, the all boy super group SHINee. I’m not sure what is up with the wings. Or the awesome English lyrics. Ring ding dong. Elastic. Fantastic. Enjoy.

Cherry Blossom

2010-04-30T06:57:00.001-07:00

Winter has hit Korea especially hard this year. And it won’t go away. Winter is clinging on even though summer months are right around the corner. Korea touts its self as having four distinct seasons. Well, this year it is the land of 3 seasons. Spring weather could barely be called that. Nearly every day, I have experienced below or near freezing temperatures. Which is really hard for a girl used to a place where no more than a light jacket is required in the winter.

bare branches, gray sky.

While Winter holds on to the Korean peninsula, there has been signs that the weather is letting up. In April, there has been a few warm days. Days where I felt the warmth of the sun through my double layers of tights instead of bitter cold. And for this entire month there have been blossoms.

The cherry blossoms are beautiful, the palest pink and delicate. The trees appear to be blanketed by snow, an April fools day joke played on us by mother nature.

Today, cherry blossom petals have been raining from the sky (a nice break from the wet kind of rain) and they have been replaced by bright green leaves. As the blossoms disappear, so does this bitter cold. This weekend will be warm. All my fingers and toes are crossed in hopes of the warm weather having arrived for good.

This desert girl is welcoming summer with open arms.

K-Pop Friday

2010-04-23T02:10:00.001-07:00

In Korea, pop music is king. It sells new trends, TV shows, cell phones. And sometimes even laundry detergent. There is no concept of entertainers “selling out” like there is in the US. The top K-Pop songs are played everywhere and are known by everyone. The dance moves are simple, so that everyone can repeat them while walking down the street. The old man that manages the sewing shop I take classes at listens to the most popular girl bands while all the women stitch away. The grandfather sitting next to me on the subway watches music videos on his own portable media player while the train makes its many stops on the way to his destination.

I’ve decided to share K-pop videos every Friday. So sit down and turn up the volume, because you are in for a wild experience. No description of that crazyness that is K-pop can fill in for the actual thing.

First off is Girl’s Generation (also known as SNSD) with their song “Oh!” I’ve heard this song in my yoga studio, outside on a pedestrian only street near my house, in Homeplus (department store) and coming out of peoples cell phones. This is the most popular song in Korea. By watching this video, you can get a good sense of how Korean girls dress and do their hair. And yes, they do wear heels like that. All. The. Time.

Next is 2NE1. There name can be said “twenty-one” or “to any one”. They are edgier than Girl’s Generation, like a girl band of 20 Lady Gaga’s. I think their style is their strong point. Check out the crazy hair-dos and wicked shoes.

Bringing up the rear is an old song. The kids at my school hate it because it is sooo last year, but I can not help but dance a little (or a lot) every time I hear it. Here is Super Junior with Sorry Sorry Sorry.

Sick in Korea

2010-04-01T03:31:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite episodes of the PBS show Frontline is titled “Sick Around the World”. It delves into what work, and what doesn’t work, in the health care systems of 5 capitalist democracies around the world. I find it really interesting to see how other countries deliver health care, since I strongly believe American health care is backwards. You can watch the full episode by clicking here.

Today, I experienced how health care is delivered in Korea.

Last Friday I had a fever and soar throat and general “oh hey I am in a new country with new germs” cold. The worst symptoms only lasted a day, thank goodness. However, for the past few days I have been getting massively dizzy. Like- focus on breathing so you don’t lose the contents of your breakfast on the person sleeping next to you on the bus- dizzy. This resulted in the experience of the nurses office, oh so wonderful and warm and cozy. Well, today I decided I needed medicine to get better because I can’t put up with feeling dizzy and congested for another week. I asked one of my Korean coworkers to take me to the doctor.

I was slightly concerned about how much it would cost, since I haven’t filled out any paperwork for health insurance yet. Do they turn away uninsured patients like they do in the states? I didn’t even have an acceptable form of ID, since my passport was at the immigration office being processed so I can have an alien registration card. It was a stressful thought, because if they turned me away from the doctors office I would have to deal with being dizzy for the next eternity.

So, what happens in Korea if you don’t have insurance? The doctors visit will be, in the words of my coworker, expensive. 10,000 – 20,000 won, or 8-18 USD. Without insurance. And, I didn’t even have to pay that much, because the doctor I went to is generous. He only charged me 3,200 won. Did I mention I don’t have health insurance?

What about the wait to see the doctor? It must be horrible, right? Because it costs so little to see him? Wrong. To quote my coworker again, the wait is very long because the doctor is very busy right now. Translation, there were 4 other people waiting to see the doctor, and I had to wait fifteen minutes until it was my turn. Also, a minor detail, you don’t wait in an exam room. You wait in the waiting room, then go to the doctors office when it is your turn. This way, the amount of space the doctors practice takes up is much less than in America. I suspect there are exam rooms and rooms with more specialized purposes, but for a quick visit to the doctor you just go to his office.

It was a much more thorough visit than the time I have gone to the doctor in the US with similar symptoms. The doctor spoke to my coworker. She explained my symptoms in Korea, and then he turned to me and started asking more questions about my condition in English. He did regular doctor things, looked in my nose and throat, and even took pictures of my ear canal so I could see what was going on. When he sat at his desk, he drew a diagram for me to explain why my ears are inflamed. I have never gotten such a clear explanation about how things are working in my body. He took his time explaining so that I understood every medical term through his heavily accented English. He wasn’t in a rush to dismiss me, and that made me feel extremely comforted. Now, this probably isn’t due to the way Korean health care is run so much as this particular doctors way of doing business

That is an important point. Every doctor is in competition with every other doctor because insurance in Korea does not limit what doctors office a person can visit. The doctors here try to make their offices as nice as possible. Tea and coffee is provided in waiting rooms, and waiting times are kept short to keep the patients happy. And doctors take time with their patients, because it makes the patient more comfortable and more likely to return. I am sure there are doctors offices like this in the US. I just haven’t been to them.

Ok, so the doctors visit was cheap and fast (but not too fast). What about the pharmacy? The pharmacy was just as good! When we walked in, we were both given free vitamin C drinks in small brown bottles. My coworker handed over my prescription and we sat and drank our vitamin C while my prescription was filled. It took a total of five minutes. I received 2 bottles of cough syrup, antibiotics, and 5 other assorted types of pills. Everything is wrapped up in single dose amounts, so all I have to do is rip open a little bag and take the contents after every meal. I got enough pills to last 5 days.

Amazingly, this large amount of prescription drugs cost me a little more than 6,000 won. And have I mentioned that this is without medical insurance?

My verdict: the health care system in Korea is more concerned with my health rather than my money, and it restores my faith in humanity knowing a system like this is in existence.

It may only be 7:30pm, but my meds are kicking in and making me drowsy. Goodnight Korea, thank you for taking care of me.

The last two weeks…

2010-03-30T01:57:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that everything is going super. Our first week end in South Korea we jumped onto the subway and head down line 1 to try and find Insadong street (인 사동). We walked around for a few minutes and stumbled upon something really, really cool: Jongmyo (종 묘)!

which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Entry was only 1,000 won, next time you are in Seoul you have to check out Jongmyo. This whole finding a world heritage site thing was extremely exciting to me because it is one of my life goals to visit every site on the planet. With 700+ Sites, it should keep me busy for a long, long time.
We finally found Insadong and walked around for a while taking in the sites and talking to the locals, which was neat because many people spoke English because it is a major tourist location. There were many stands making some sort of string/hair-like candy. We got closer we realized they also did some what of a comedy routine while they made this candy. It was very funny! I asked what it was called and they told me it was called “Dragon’s Beard” because it “looks like a dragon’s beard” they explained as they held it close to their chin. DevilGirl bought some for only 5,000 won. Pretty cheap! As we walked away they yelled “I love USA!” So I told him “I love Korea!” We were looking for a place to get some food and we stumbled across a vegetarian restaurant! We got inside, ordered and then noticed there were photos of this Asian lady all over the place: on book, framed photos on the wall, even on some sort of TV show. Turns out it was a restaurant owned by the "Supreme Master” Ching Hai. Which is a spiritual leader of some sort, seemed kind of cult-ish. DevilGirl and I looked at some of her art books which proclaimed her art was “divinely inspired” and she was able to “change art styles at will” which was "a feat not even the best artists in history could accomplish". “Her art all looks the same, what a load of crap” DevilGirl proclaimed defiantly. Which was met with my shushing. LOL.
On the way back I saw an older foreigner named Karl on the subway so I made it a point to talk to him. Gave me his email and promised to take me to meet some other expatiates on Thursday.
The following week I got the feel for my job, the kids and I really started to get the feel for each other. On Thursday, when i went out with Karl I met a really nice guy from New Zealand. I asked him if he had been to any of the places that was in Lord of the Rings. His answer was “I climbed Mtn. Doom, Twice!” I LOLed and told him he should tell girls that. I also ran in to DevilGirls almost co-worker who was a total ass hat. He bragged about doing mean things to his students when they were not paying attention in class. I was openly mocked when I told him that my students love me. He told me that "Korean students only pretend they love you. They all hate you. You sound so naive!" He was very angering because I feel like he is just here in South Korea to mess around, party and get drunk. He is not interested in the teaching profession and as a result I feel that his behavior not only damages the credibility of foreign teachers in South Korea but it damages the very profession of educator. I am here to have a good time, don’t get me wrong but I am also here to start my career. DevilGirl is lucky she did not end up at his school, and I told her so.
The next week end we went to a board game meet up at we found on meetup.com. We met some really awesome people and made friends who don’t want to get drunk every night. The meet up sport was a church but we got kicked out of there because the Korean speaking priest could not speak to us about religion. It was o.k., we as a group walked down the street and I, acting as a scout found a really sweet coffee shop with big foamy chairs. We played the day away! When it was starting to get later DevilGirl and my self went with a few of them to another part of Seoul and found a huge Gandalf statue. We went to eat at this restaurant and we had Makgeolli. which I did not really like because it had a sour taste but DevilGirl liked it. We were invited out the next day to go to GioCat Cafe, which is like if Starbucks had cats that walked around and sat on your lap while you drank your coffee. Pretty sweet. The following day I told my students about it. Gave them the website and pretty much all of them wrote it down. I should get in free next time!
I also finally got a haircut which was an experience in its self. It could have turned out very bad but it came out alright. The haircut was really cheep also, only 7,000 won. If i would have gone to a similar place in the United States it would have set me back $15.00 minimum. I think I will save this for a later time and do one blog post about getting a haircut.
I have been sick the whole time I have been in Korea, which is a disappointment. Last night I got really Ill so when I came in to work I was forced to go to the nurse's office and lay down. After lunch i was feeling much better, the migraine, dizziness, chills and diarrhea had gone away so I made my way back to my desk. When my students saw me I was swarmed and asked if I was alright. This is how I know my students love me, I treat them with respect and that earns me their respect in return. Some one should tell DevilGirl's almost coworker this!

2010-03-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after work I had to go out to eat with all the other teachers in my school. For people who don’t know it is very common in Korean society. The restaurant was way up in the mountains, past some sweet looking traditional Korean buildings with the pointed roofs and such. We went inside quickly because it started snowing and got seated on the floor pillows; the tables were very low to the ground. I could see the main dish, which was beef and mushrooms. They have an interesting way of cooking it; the food is put in a large deep plate (not quite a bowl) which is then rested on a gas stove. A lady came around and poured hot soup in the plate and the stove is turned on. The soup boils and seasons the mushrooms and beef. There were also lots of side dishes; Kimchi, miso soup, lots of different mushroom dishes and lots of other stuff I had no idea what it was. I did not eat the beef as I do not eat beef so Jane ordered me a fish which was served with its head still attached. Up until this point for the last 9 to 10 years I have not eaten any meat, but after nearly a week in Korean I knew it was going to be much, much more of a challenge to stay meat free. In America it is much easer because I order the ______ with out the ______. But here, that is not possible because I can not speak Korean. So I stared at that fish for probably 5 minutes thinking, “do I really want to do this?” The Fish, having its head, looked right back at me with its baked eyeballs and seemed to say “look you asshole, I am already dead. You better not let me go to waste.” So I dig in at ate the whole thing, and as I remember from the before time when I ate all meat regularly – I enjoyed the skin. I know that sounds nasty but I like how it is crunchy.

That was not the only hard part about the night, which lasted from abut 430 till 830, every one spoke only Korean. I was feeling a little bit invisible not being able to talk to any one. After a while the principal, drunk on Soju, would stand up and give 5-10 minute long speeches (I think at least, they could have been plotting my death for all I know) in which every one would be silent and he would cry, scream, stomp his foot. Then when he sat down every one would clap. He did this probably 5 times over the course of the night. One point he started crying so hard, sobbing. I looked around and I did not need to be able to speak Korean to read every ones face which was a glossed over look of boredom. Their faces screamed, “Just shoot me”. The whole situation made me feel very alone. I am the only native English speaker in my whole school, Devilgirl on the other hand has other native English speakers at her school. It makes me feel like I am all alone at times.

When I got home, I fired up my computer and started to warm my apartment. Hoping DevilGirl was online and home and wanting to talk. No luck, she was still shopping in Seoul with her co-workers. Not having anything at all to even do, I went to bed. I hope this is not how the next year is going to be. :-\

Good bye, America; 안녕하세요 한국 (Hello, Korea)

2010-03-15T01:46:00.001-07:00

Picking up our passports was a breeze. We then took a bus to Santa Monica came back to the Hotel and played XBOX360 until the super shuttle came. When we finally boarded the plane, I was surprised that it was so BIG! I felt like I had to walk forever to get to the back where we were sitting. The actual plane ride was not bad, we left at midnight so they gave us a HOT MEAL (which was included) and every one went to sleep real quick. The plane was also equipped with TVs in the back of the head rests which showed movies and video games, also it had a sky map which showed where the airplane is and cameras that show what the pilot sees and another that points down. Also with the meals they gave FREE wine! Amazing! Any ways I slept for 8 hours and so when I woke up I only had 5 hours left. They served another HOT MEAL (Korea Air does not mess around when it comes too food) and I watched some crazy Hong Kong action flick and then played some games and watched the sky map and we flew over Japan. I could see much of what ever city we flew over. When we landed at ICN I was thinking “that was a piece of cake!” --- I later decided the flight was so easy because they treat you so good. We then had to go through immigration which was weird. My first impression of the airport was that it was really, really clean. We got our bags and met a guy who works for our recruiting company. He drove DevilGirl and myself to Uijeongbu. First we went to DevilGirls place and then I was whisked off to my School to meet my teachers and principal. My co-teacher is very nice, her English name is Jane. She showed me around and when I met the principal he had a meeting with Jane, the vice-principal and another teacher -- all in Korean. I had no idea what they were saying but I was later told by the guy who drove us to Uijeongbu that the principal liked they way I looked because I am tall. I was told to go to my apartment and then my co-teacher would come get me in a few hours. I was dropped off at my apartment with a room number and some keys, after getting in to the building I was feeling lonely so I turned on the computer and found a open WIFI connection to leach off of, and Devil Girl was on so I went to here house. Luckily I had marked her location with my Garmin Dakota GPS so I was able to walk there which is about 1.7 miles. I got there and spent time with her and then went back to my place in time for my co-teacher to come get me and introduce me to some students who said that they loved my face and that I was handsome. LoL!
Saturday, Devil Girl and I went out to explore and found an underground mall, it was pretty sweet and the close are super cheep. Other than clothes they had lots and lots of cell phones, probably about 200-300 different kinds in probably 50-75 different shops. The most popular from what I can tell is the "lollipop 2" which has the Korean Pop Musicians "Big Bang" as their spokes persons. Another thing is it seems like all the store in this mall were just named random English names and phrases, like a mens clothing store name "Cheetos" and a womans clothing store named "bling bling" only it sold very respectable looking outfits --- not "ghetto fabulous" in the least. After we found our way home from the mall using my GPS(comes in handy) we chilled out and then DevilGirl's co-worker showed us to Home Plus which is like 4 stories of shopping bliss. DevilGirl already talked about it in a previous post so I wont get into it too much. One thing I will say is the people there are like 400 times nicer then in the states. We got some shampoo off the shelf and then a worker came up to us and said "1+1". Apparently it was buy one, get one free and she wanted to make sure we got the deal. This happened a few other times and this blew my socks off because this would never happen in the US.
Sunday the two of us went with DevilGirls's Co-worker to meet the "Bu Crew" which was cool to talk to other English speakers. We left early because the "Bu Crew" likes to party till 4-6 in the morning and well DevilGirl and I are just not into that. We were a ways from home and having a hard time getting a taxi --- so a English Speaking Korean came up to us and told us he would help. He was very nice and seemed like he just wanted to practice his English --- which we was pretty good at. Any ways he got us a taxi and told the driver where to go. He was so nice and welcomed us to South Korea. We finally got back to my place and went straight to bed.
Sunday we just hung out at my place and rested, then it started raining so I walked DevilGirl home in the rain and got my feet wet on the way back. Blah. Went to bed at like 9 am --- Monday is my first day at work, which went very well. I got ready quickly and was cursing the rain when my shoes were not dry yet. Luckily Jane picked me up and drove me to school because it was still raining.
My students are too cute for words. They seem to be so excited to have a new teacher. One little girl gave me a sucker and told me happy white day. :)
I also had a physical today which cost me 62,000 won. crappy. I took the needle like a champ and afterwards Jane took me out for yummy Korean food which was a lot like sushi. yum. Excited for tomorrow!

Our first weekend in Korea

2010-03-14T04:34:00.001-07:00

Three days in Los Angeles, 13 hours on a plane, and we’ve made it to the hermit kingdom. We arrived at 6:30 am to a gray day, and stepped off the plane into the cleanest airport I have ever been in. Customs was easy, we didn’t get asked any questions because we have the right visas. We spotted our bags immediately on the carousel, and no one was around so we didn’t have to wait for our position to get our bags. With bags in tow we found the man that was to take us to our apartments. It was all amazingly easy.

The first day was so long. I was shown my apartment and devil boy was whisked away to see his school and see his apartment. I was left in a barren room, a bed with a rock hard mattress still wrapped in plastic. I rested and stared out my window. I am really here!!

sneak peak of my place, when I first arrived

my apartment building. I live on the 3rd floor. I have a view of that lovely power line.

Devil Boys apartment building, he is also on the 3rd floor yet has a sweet mountain view and corner deck/clothes drying room.

I don’t think apartments in Korea are made with much care. Nothing is level, hideous wallpaper is unevenly spaced, cabinet doors are too snug. In spite of these things, I am making the best of it. These past 3 days I have acquired items that make the space more cheerful. It already feels like mine, a place I can feel comfortable and safe in.

The city itself is amazing. It blows my mind how easy it is to get around. Anything I could want is in walking distance. And if it isn’t walking distance, taxis are so cheap if you can manage to flag one down. Apparently taxi drivers don’t like picking up foreigners because the American military people stationed here have left a bad impression. So when DevilBoy was wearing his military style hat, the cab drivers would honk and wave. This is their signal for “no way am I stopping for you”

So far I have been to a pedestrian street lined with bars, shops, and restaurants, an underground mall with clothes and cell phones galore, an open air market with strange produce and new smells, and Home Plus!

home plus is the one with the red sign on the right side

Home Plus is huge. It is like a Target Greatlands plus a Fry's Marketplace plus a Macys. You can get clothes in all price ranges (clothes are found on all 4 floors of this place), books in Korean and English (very small English section, but it is there!), groceries, furniture, appliances, camping supplies, you name it it is at home plus. The ground floor even has a food court with food ranging from Burger King to fresh Sushi. Home Plus is a major landmark in Uijeongbu.

on a ramp in home plus. the wheels of the shopping carts have groves on them that match the groves on the ramp so the cart can not slide down while you are riding it up or down

get your heated toilet seat at home plus!

a coloring book about different cultures. awesome.

i found a hula hoop! but it is too heavy and costs around 45 bucks.

I am looking forward to starting my job tomorrow. I can’t wait to meet all the little kids who I will be teaching for the next year!

Good bye Arizona

2010-03-09T22:24:00.001-08:00

Good bye Arizona

The day finally came, DevilGirl and I left Arizona yesterday never to return... or at least not for 365 days. We made it into LAX quickly and took a super shuttle to our hotel, “Stay”. It is a darling Hostel/Boutique Hotel hybrid in a part of LA that is undergoing a renaissance.
We are in a private room which is pretty basic but still very nice other than this fact. The only “bad” thing (which I do not mind) is we have to share the bathrooms with the rest of the floors (it is dormitory style). So far Id recommend Stay! For dinner we walked down the road a bit and found a nice Shish Kabob place on the corner of Main and 3rd Street in Downtown LA. The owner was very nice and made us falafel that was the size of our palms, he said he made them extra big because he respects teachers. On the way we just had to stop at “BIGMANbakes” a delightful cupcake cafe. Much better than Sprinkles, which is what I am used to in Arizona.
Today I could not sleep, I work up at like 5 am local time and just laid in bed and listened to some loud drunks in the alley. After awhile I got DevilGirl up and we got to the subway. Took it to the KoreaTown and has yummy steel cut oatmeal at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. While we waited for the Consulate to open we discussed how we were and how excited we are to go to Korea. When the Consulate finally opened we quickly took care of our business and came back to the hotel. We were done before 10! Tomorrow we have to pick up our visas at 10 so DevilGirl says she is going to force me to stay up late. Don't know if it will work, the TV in our room has this bright light on it that glows. I think it looks like the Eye of Sauron. Yeah I am a nerd. Later we went to the La Brea Tar Pits, which was really sweet. Saw “Pit 91” an actual “pit” of tar with the bones of Dire Wolves and Saber Tooth tigers Sticking out of it. Pretty sweet. After that we went to a museum that had an exhibit on the history of Tarot cards and a other exhibit on textiles from central asia – you know the “stans”; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, ect. They had a video that i found especially interesting on yurts; which are like teepees on steroids. Cool stuff. Tomorrow we get our passport with visas and head to Korea!

What the Devilgirl will bring to Korea

2010-02-21T14:12:00.001-08:00

floral dresses, moccasins, yarn, and carving tools. what else could a girl need?

Uijeongbu, South Korea, here I come! With 2 pieces of luggage weighing no more that 50 pounds each, containing everything I will want from my current life for the next year. Ugh.

How do I decide what to pack? I was given advice that I have taken to heart. Only pack what you really love, everything else isn’t important. So with that in mind I have begun pulling clothes out of my closet that I love, and leaving behind those I don’t. So far this amounts to vintage dresses, pencil skirts, moccasins, and 3 cocktail dresses (I am anticipating a very active social life.) The next step will be to add in essentials, t-shirts, jeans, exercise gear, and cold weather necessities. My advice for packing clothes: skip those expensive space saver bags and get large ziploc bags. Remove air by rolling the bag or vacuuming it out. They cost a quarter of the price of space saver bags.

Now comes the hard part, What do I pack for my free time? While I expect to be busy exploring Seoul, I know the weather will prevent me from spending all of my free time outside. And making is so important to me that I would feel pretty off not being able to make anything. My mandolin won’t fit, nor will my sewing machine. So I have chosen to bring carving tools to carve little memories of my travels on found wood, and knitting supplies to knit various garments with.

Add in toiletries, plug converters, one large sheet. This girl is ready to go to Korea!

(but now I have to wait for my visa)

2010-02-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

I know it has been an unusually long times sense my last entry; many things have taken place. Before I get going on that I just have to say the State of Arizona has stupid laws regarding records.
In order to be considered to teach in South Korea, immigration and customs requires the applicant to show they have no criminal record by getting a criminal record check from my local sheriffs office. No problem right? I am a law-abiding citizen, I should be able to simply go downtown and get it. Pretty easy, right? Wrong. Not in Arizona. In this strange state it is legal to bring your fire arm into a bar but it is illegal for the state to give you a document to show a foreign government your not a child molesting sicko. To me this is crazy. You need a CRC visa to go abroad, for international adoption, tough.

Devilgirl and I were left with two options: get a CRC from the FBI or from the state of California. Devilgirl decided to go the FBI route and after three weeks they still had not even entered her data in the computer. She called our local representative in congress, Harry Mitchell he got on that for us. She had her FBI check in a few days! I could type lots more but will let her write more on that.

I chose to get my CRC from the state of California. I got fingerprinted at my local police station and mailed it to Sacramento. Looking back this part was quite quick when compared to Devilgirls CRC process. The annoying part was there was no phone number I could call and check on the process, just a voice mail where you could leave a message and they would get back to you; usually when I was driving and could not answer the phone. Anyways, I had my CRC in two weeks. Now, I just had to get it apostilled. This was what made getting the CRC from California a pain in the butt. I had to actually go to California from Arizona to get it certified. Not wanting to spend a lot of money I decided to do something I vowed never to do again: take the greyhound bus. *insert dramatic music*

My mother dropped me off at the The Phoenix greyhound station at 11 at night on February 2nd. The people standing outside and more so the people on the inside were terrifying. The people there make carnies look like the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers. There were people I was sure I saw on America’s Most Wanted. One man had dried urine on his clothes; another girl had socks so dirty the only hint that they were not dyed brown was the very tops were white. I quickly sat near an old woman and commented on the scary people. She laughed, told me she was happy a “ruffian” did not sit next to her and we had an interesting conversation for a few hours. She left on her bus about 20 minutes before my bus was scheduled to arrive. Two hours later (aaarrgggggg!!!!!), my bus pulled up, I got on and was off to San Diego. It was about 2 in the morning at this point and the bus was not packed so I got two seats. I keeled over and attempted to sleep. Then at 4 in the morning a 5-year-old Hispanic kid attacked me. He climbed over the seat in front of me and pounced on my head and chest. Normally being awakened in such a violent manner my reaction was to come out swinging. As luck would have it (for the Hispanic child), I realized two child feet were pressed against my face.

In the confusion I screamed for him to get off my face. I was unable to go back to sleep after that, I took out my Motorola Droid [which will be useless once I get to Korea :'-( Tear] and used the Google maps application and the built in GPS to find out where exactly I was. The two guys in back of me noticed the light coming from the screen and kept asking me questions.

"Hey dawg, where you going?"
“San Diego”
“Hey dawg is that an iPhone?”
“No”
“What is it, dawg?”
“A Droid”
“Hey dawg, can you get on the internet with it”
“Yes”
“Can you look at porno with it?”
“I assume so”

Imagine about 45 minutes of this. Then imagine his breath smells like the fish tacos he ate last night. Yes, it got old very quickly. When I got to Santa Ana where I was to change buses and go to San Diego I had already missed my connecting bus because the bust was two hours late picking me up in Phoenix. The greyhound attendant, as most greyhound attendants are was totally useless, clueless and rude. I have had better customer service in a Tijuana swap meet. From what I gathered the next bus to San Diego was in four hours, which was really was not going to work for me. I started poking around the bust station and realized that Amtrak also was in the same station. Doing the math I realized the next train would get me to San Diego in two hours, if I waited for the bus it would be six and a half hours until I arrived in San Diego – the same amount of time it take to drive from Phoenix to San Diego. I opted to pay the $20 and get to San Diego with time to actually have fun. The Amtrak was awesome, made me want the government to build trains to go EVERYWHERE in the United States. Amtrak really is an asset to our country and an upgrade of everything that is greyhound. Anyways I got my stuff taken care of and then I found 15 geocaches before I was back on the greyhound at 11pm that night. San Diego made me realize how I could never live in the country, when devilgirl and I settle down and move back to the United States, I am going to look into living in San Diego. Love it! Oh yeah, the attendant at the San Diego station gave me good customer service. It was like I was on a different planet.

I was placed in a town south of Seoul and Devilgirl was placed in a town to the north, we asked and I got moved to the same town. Right now we are just waiting for our visa to get processed and we will be off! Exciting!

Passport almost here

2009-12-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting for my passport for a few weeks now and have been some what worried about it taking so long. I applied on the 8th of December, which was three weeks ago yesterday so I was not expecting it to get done for another week at the soonest. So imagine my surprise and excitement when I received an e-mail today from the U.S. State Department notifying me that my passport was done ahead of schedule and I should have it by the 28th of December! Guess this is proof that government can work. Anyways, this is good because the GEPIK job I talked about in the last post is apparently official. I just need to send my documents, including a copy of my passport to the recruiting agency to secure my job as it is first come first serve. I had to let the recruiters know what my preferred age group and location was last night. I told them I would like to teach middle school because a friend who is already in Korea told me about her positive experiences working with middle school students. As for locations, I did some research as I wanted direct access to the Seoul subway and my three locations were Ansan, Goyang and Yongin. here is some more info about the cities and why I picked them over the other cities in Gyeonggi-do:
Ansan (안산시): Located to the southeast of Seoul, Ansan is a beach town on the yellow sea and its connected to Seoul via subway line four. One of its sister cities is Las Vegas, NV which amuses me having grown up only 1 hour and 30 minutes from there.
Goyang (고양시): Northwest of Seoul and connected by subway line three. It's American sister city is San Bernardino, CA which I think is a nice town from what I have seen of it.
Yongin (용인시): Located to the south east of Seoul, this city is farther away from the Seoul's city center then Ansan or Goyang. It is connected to everything via the "Bundang Line". I have also found out that it has an inter-city bus station near the center of the city, which is good when DevilGirl comes to visit. Perhaps the neatest thing is Yongin is home to Everland... which is like Korean Disneyland. Well if Disneyland had a water park, two museums, a zoo, golf course and multiple hotels. According to the their website the price of admission is a mere 35,000 won (about $30.00)! The price of an annual pass is only $170.00 In these days when it costs over $70.00 for one day park hopper or $430.00 for an annual pass to Disneyland it seems a little too good to be true. DevilGirl and I will be going at least once a month! Yongin's sister city is Fullerton, CA which I have never hear of, except for the fact that it is in Orange County.

Other things of note that happened today was I had an interview with a school in Daegu which would be a lot closer to where DevilGirl is going to be. I believe I did well because the principal kept saying "Ok, ok, yeah, good", so I don't know what I will do if I am offered that job also. The GEPIK job is good because it is a lot of money and it is a public school job which means I will have a Korean co-teacher, I can be sure they won't jerk me around and I will be paid on time. But it is far from where DevilGirl is going to be (probably) and I know I will miss her. The Daegu job is good because the principal seems very nice and understanding (she initially could not reach me via cell phone as for some reason there was a message saying my number had been disconnected (?!?!?), but she did not give up and I like that.) and while I will not have a co-teacher the school is for children who have lived in English speaking countries so they are at lest semi-fluent. With choices like these, what's a DevilBoy to do?

One door closes, another opens...

2009-12-22T17:17:00.003-08:00

Today DevilGirl and I decided it would be a good idea to prime ourselves as much as possible for Korea, and that includes trying out the cuisine. According to the Phoenix Newtimes the best Asian market in the Phoenix area is Lee Lee Oriental Supermarket. While we were there we found lots of good stuff. We got asian jerky, some sauce to put on tofu and noodles and some Korea sodas (Pineapple, Orange, "regular" and Milk... see below for a video). We were going to buy some Kimchi but they only had super large jars of it and so we decided to forgo the national dish of Korea... for now. later on I got a email from a recruiter which said that they secured a GEPIK job for me in Gyeonggi-do province. At first I was not sure, it is quite a ways from where DevilGirl is going to be living in Gyeongsangbuk-do but it is a real GEPIK job and not a hagwon job so we both decided that I should try and take it and we will both make the best of it.

Milk Soda:

Prologue

2009-12-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

After doing their "time" at Arizona State University, the day finally came when the Two Sun Devils graduated. The day was December 17th 2009; when the day was said and done they each had walked up the aisle, shook the deans hand and walked away with their Bachelors degree. While the other students had no idea their plans, the Two Sun Devils were already in the process of securing their first jobs, which was to be teaching ESL in Korea. DevilGirl had already been accepted into the EPIK program and DevilBoy was expecting a phone call from a recruiting agency that very night! And so the story begins that Two Sun Devils, natives of the south western deserts of Phoenix Arizona begin their long journey across the sea to 대한민국 (South Korea).