Updates

Ok gang, done a bit of revamping. Pictures can be located under the photo tab. It's a link to the Google Web albums I started back in Europe.

I also have the ability to add people to an e-mail list, it will send an e-mail everytime I post a new blog. If you want to be on this list to avoid checking back often and wondering if I have posted something new just let me know. Send me an e-mail at jeff@eagles.ewu.edu

I got a new phone yesterday and my bank account is all set up. So now I can call and text people here in Korea and meet up with them easier. Last night John, Anne, Lee and I went out to eat at a restaurant. We took a cab to get to the part of town that we wanted saying "Junang -bowling alley?" Since that is where we wanted to go after food. After sitting down I asked for a "menu" while opening my hands and pretending to read them as to pantomime what I wanted. They gave me a small sheet all in Korean of what they served and the prices. I used my phone to call one of the Korean-Americans we work with "Hey Ethan. I got a favor to ask. The four of us are really hungry and we don't really care what we get we just want a lot of it." He laughed and said that I need to carry around flash cards with pictures of a pig or cow on them to better navigate the restaurants. I told him this would probably be a good thing. He talked directly to the waiter and they started bringing us plate after plate of salads, kimchi, peppers, and meat which is cooked on coals in a pot that sits directly in the center of the table with a large ventilation hood that comes down. We ate until we were stuffed and then took off to go bowling.

Anyway, Its almost 6 and I have class at from 7-10 tonight, which is sad because Korea is playing their second game in the World Cup tonight at 8:30. Hopefully I will be able to catch the last few minutes.

Seoul, FIFA, Noribong, Costco and More.

So week two of teaching is down. I feel extremelly good about it. So let's break down what has happened.
I moved from the previous apartment I posted about due to the comically small loft area.
I now am a short three minute walk from the school in a place that has a bigger liveable loft. I helped out one of the teachers I am replacing and got a ton of stuff from her including a couch, stereo, food, towels, blankets, books etc., so big score there. That and the teacher whose apt i moved into had a couple of other things like internet already setup with a wifi router, and a queen size bed and office setup.

So, now on to the classes. I teach 24 hours a week MWF from 4-10 PM and Tues/Thur 7-10 PM (classes are 3 hour blocks with 5 minute breaks every hour). Let me break down even more what happens here. These kids study way way way more than American kids. After they get out of school at around 3 they go to academies like the one I teach at. These academies are called Hagwons. They can go to English Hagwon, Tae Kwon Doe hagwons, cooking hagwon, etc. You want to learn it, you can do it. It costs around 300 american dollars a month to send their kids to school at our hagwon. Now, you may say 24 hours a week ain't nothin. But keep in mind that is not including the hours i take to prep. I usually get to school at about noon - 2 to start prepping for the day but as I get more in the rhythm that time should be decreased dramatically.

So now the kids. The kids I teach are awesome. The classes range from 4-9th grade and vary depending on english level. Some of them I have to speak much slower and definitely watch my vocab. But the highest level I teach understand me very well, although I have to get them definitions for words a lot more often, but it is all really good and fun. I will speak more of the kids later once I can get some pictures or some videos of them.


Service
So they have this thing here in Korea called service. No I'm not just being funny. When you order food or drinks they come and will every so often bring a plate of snacks. Last week we went out and they first brought a plate of hotwings. Then later a plate of watermelon and bananas covered in syrup, followed by more wings. Every time they say 'service' or 'free'. Their way of trying to get you to come back for more. Really good stuff.

So what next? Well let me tell you about last weekend. I went out to the local foreigner bar The Manhattan. from there i met some awesome girls from Indiana who took me out with some local Koreans to enjoy some Noribong. Noribong is karaoke but with a bit of a twist. they building consists only of private rooms where you sing with just you and your friends. There were about 8 of us there Friday night.

So now Saturday rolls around and John, Anne, Hlee and I (the four new teachers that went through training together) all decide to make a trip into Seoul. We took the subway which was took about an hour and made our way through the rain trying to find another friend of ours that went through training with us. I learned an amazing thing. Not have a cell phone is like being blind when trying to find a friend in the 21st century. We did actually run into him on the street about an hour after we were supposed to have met him and had some good Vietnamese food. From there we made our way to a large bookstore after stopping several times for directions and stopping to admire how wet we were all getting. After looking around Kyobo Books for about an hour we got some hot coffee in us and decided to call it a day, that is right after we went to Costco for a quick grocery run. We asked one of the people at a concierge desk if he knew where Costco was. We did this by looking very wet and holding up my Costco card with a confused look on our faces. He printed out a Metro map (with all the stops in Korean) and circled the one where we needed to go. Well after a week of taking the subway during training and the fact i had a seoul subway map in english on my ipod we felt fairly confident in getting there ourselves. We stopped by the Apple store to pick up a new set up earphones for me and then we were off. We arrived at the station and were approached by a guide who offered to help, we asked which exit costco was. He told us Exit 7 and then take bus 4422......

So now we are outside looking this proverbial needle of a bus and sorry for John and Anne (Lee left us after coffee) I inherited one of my father's quirks involving hunger and temper. we ended up just taking a cab the rest of the way to costco and braved the sea of people that shop there at 5 PM on a saturday. Which seems to be the majority of Seoul. Costco was a trip unto itself, it was the closest to home that I have seen since i was here. So many brand names and just everything that was the EXACT same exept everyone was Asian.

So after John and Anne loaded up (i didnt want to carry anything back as we had no idea how we were to get home, and it was still raining A LOT) we made our way back home and very very wearily we started walking through Ansan back to our apartments. Then the entire city erupted in cheering. I cannot stress to you enough the amount the ANSAN WAS CHEERING! The FIFA world cup had started and Korea scored the first goal right off the bat. We all immediately looked at each and found our second wind. We all went home and changed into dry clothes and met up and went out looking for a good place to watch.

We found on open table on the city street in front of a restaurant with a bigscreen tv wheeled out. immediately the Koreans started talking to us in their broken English and we were bonded as friends straight away. They kept on bringing us food (see the pictures of Chicken's feet and Pig's Blood sausage) and asking us questions about where we were from and how old we were. They also brought this Korean rum, a white coconut-milk looking substance that i think was called Mokolee? Anyway, we stayed and finished out the game with our new friends having an absolute blast.

Well its 2 AM here which means i need to watch some more tv and then turn in. I got my Alien Registration Card which means I can now open up a bank account which in turn allows me to buy a cell phone! Go me! Tomorrow one of the teachers who speaks Korean is going to take the newbies out and help get us started. I hope you enjoyed the blog and I apologize for the delay!

apt number 1

So here is the first try with an apartment. I may be moving from here in the next couple days as other teachers are moving out. This one is a bit of a walk away from the school, not too bad, but all the other teachers are located soooo much closer and i would like to be closer to more westerners.

Which does lead me to my next thought. When i was getting prepared to come to Korea i thought that there would be a lot more people who speak english. My preconception of this stems from my trip to Europe where sooo many people spoke english, and not just a little english. but a lot of english. It is very common to go to many different restaurants here and not have any of the staff speak english... hilarity ensues.

The other factor in me thinking more people would speak english is because of how many teachers are over here doing the exact same thing i am. And the kids that we are teaching are soo incredibly good at it. We all have the policy where no one is to speak Korean or any other language while they are in the classroom. The classes are three hour blocks with 5 minute breaks every hour where they cannot speak Korean. These classes all take place after they get done with their normal school day and any other academy classes they are scheduled for. I ran through the typical day of an american kid and they could not believe it.

Anyway, enjoy the video. Classes went good yesterday and today. i will write more on all that later.