Apologies all around: Best of Tweets!

I have betrayed you good friends. In an effort to update more often, and still retain some sort of life complete with social outings, I have begun tweeting. Yes, I realize that Twitter is the lazy, minimalized attention-span bastard cousin of the blog, and yet, I have been keeping up. You can read it here

In case your pointer is feeling as lazy as my mind was here are some notable moments from teaching:

Saw "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" today. In Korean. Things that translate well: Small, deformed penises. Things that do not: words in Korean.

Report Carding for the children. Wishing I could rate my students on a scale of 1-3 gongs. "Mr. and Mrs. Kim....GONG GONG GONG"

My sniffly nose does not bode well for my St. Patrick's Day in Seoul. And this being the first time I will let actual Irish people down.

Notable Notes: After handing one of my kindergarten students a scrabble tile, he promptly put in his mouth. Noting the underlying issues....

Dear Black Bean: What on God' green earth are you doing in my donut ? Get out. You simply do not have any place in something sweet.

PUB QUIZ KOREA REIGNING CHAMP! Also: I CLEANED MY BACK PATIO.

Thanking my lucky stars that my students don't understand all English, as "Bitches Ain't Shit" mysteriously played on my itunes playlist

Student Test answer: "I got to school by lezzy". Actual answer: "I got to school by ferry". Are my students closested homophobes?

"Chris, tell me how you would get rid of the leopard." Chris: "I would use a gimp." My students have been watching Pulp Fiction

That's just a taste, really the rest of my Tweets are like mind desserts from the Gods. Only about a month left here, so expect a really nice look back at lessons I have learned. Or maybe now my thoughts are really only digestable in 140 characters. Only time will tell. Also, actually writing it, I guess.

Update Madness!

Well folks, after receiving free Internet access for about 5 months, because someone forgot to cancel their service, the jig is up. A woman moved in down the hall, and I think the company figured out that I happened to still get a network. So currently I am using the network at school, until Lauren schedules an installation. It was good while it lasted, though.

So, this weekend is Chinese New Year, and being so close to China, it's a pretty big thing here. (Regular New Year, however, not so much). This weekend I am headed to Seoul with some friends, taking advantage of the general migration south to Busan that every Korean seems to be taking (most people go to their hometowns, and most people aren't from Seoul), this has resulted in amazing hotel prices and a less crowded metropolis. Hoping to go to the Olympic Museum and perhaps the art gallery. Then its back for three days of working and then to Busan for my friend Jade's birthday. If this sounds wonderful, that's because it is. I need to wire money home soon. This is detrimental to my bank account.

Also, a thrilling new first. The other day, David (the British coworker), Adrienne (my Korean friend) and I went to dinner. While it was normal Korean cuisine, there was something different. The presence of a new side dish. Silkworm Larva! Bug eating here isn't that unsual, actual. Eating the coccoon of a butterfly is done as well, they fry it up. I haven't had it, but I don't think that will happen. Upon learning that I hadn't tried these tiny taste parties yet, David popped one in his mouth, declared that I now had to have one, and that they were delicious. Not willing to back out of such a dare, I picked one up with my chopsticks and started chewing. While it may have looked like a nut, it had a crispy outside with a wet chewy center. Also, it tasted like the ashes of my father's cigars. I can't even explain to you how horrible this felt.

Ignorance is bliss. I would rather be ignorant about this taste than fully knowledgeable about wanting to drink Listerine in order to get the awful feeling out of my mouth.

By for now,
Mallory

General Life Updates

Hopefully, by now the joy of me actually posting in my blog has overcome you that you have passed out and will not be able to enjoy the rest of the post. But I will write one, just in case. Here are a couple of mini-blogs about what's going on.

-Christmastime in Cheonan came and went. Things were pretty relaxed around here, and I, expectantly, got really excited to see the family for Christmas. I wanted to pick up a couple of gifts for the family and headed to Insadong, a neighborhood of Seoul that is all artisan-based shops and galleries to get some traditional gifts. Prior to leaving, I consulted the map and headed to Jungguk, the subway stop nearest the neighborhood. After sucessfully metr0-ing to Jungguk (which felt like a feat because I had to transfer twice), I walked around for a bit only to get lost in this area. After calling several people, my friend Gary offered the best advice. "Get in a cab and said 'Insadong'." 11,000 won later, I was in Insadong. The metro station I wanted to go to was Junngak. A mere one letter difference from where I was, but was veritably the difference between "San Fransisco" and "San Quentin". Eventually, I got all of my shopping done in about an hour and a half (that's how amazing this place is) and it is currently my favorite area of Seoul. If you travel to Korea, I highly reccommend you check this place out.

-Both myself and my co-worker David, headed home for the holidays. David (who is from just south of London) left at 4 on Christmas day on the shuttle bus to Incheon airport ( a two hour bus ride) and I was to go at 6. We bought our tickets the night before and then headed out for our Christmas Eve dinner of Vietnamese. Fast forward to when I wake up: 6:18 am, a mere 18 minutes after my bus left. Thankfully, I am very paranoid about time and my flight left at noon. So I got my stuff together, got a cab to the KTX station, got a train to Seoul, and then a cab to Incheon which is about 50,000 won (50 dollars). After getting in line to buy my reentry visa and standing in said line for about 20 minutes, I found out that I already had a reentry visa. Also good thing to know: Burger King in Incheon Airport serves breakfast from 6:00 am to 8:00. This is rediculous. Thankfully the rest of my travelling was great. I got home on Christmas day around 9 pm

-Christmas at home was wonderful. Jetlag killed me for about a day, when I was fine until about 5 when I fell asleep on the living room floor, woke up to a plate of food next to my head, ate it and went back to sleep in room, only to wake up at 4:30 the next morning. Thankfully, Dad was up to. He had no excuse, however.

-Things that were weird upon arrival in an English-speaking country. Listening to other people's conversations. You would be surprised how wonderful it can be to be isolated from the rest of the world in terms of language. I can go to the store, not see anyone I know and not have to answer any questions, because people just assume I can't speak Korean, they would be half right, the other half I make up with hand gestures. Landing in Chicago, I was suddenly able to hear what the couple behind me wanted to eat for lunch, or what this little girl was crying about or what the old guy on the cell phone was saying. Frankly, it was annoying.

-Being about to read things once again was good. Usually when I go to the grocery store, I match prices with the weight in oz. on the item and price tag on the shelf. If something is 340 and the 340 thing is 7,500 won, I know I have my man. In the United States, I can actually read the food that I am going to consume! Wonder of Wonders!

-Coming back home was mostly stress-less as well. Last time I made that journey, I had no clue where I was going and what my life was going to be. So I was well orientated. Not only that but when I got to the gate in Chicago, and checked in with the airline, I found out that I was bumped up to business class. Asa! It was the best 11 hour flight ever. I wanted it to be longer. A cross-pacific business class seat is very expensive, but I will save in order to have one again, or bribe the agent at the counter in the terminal. Champagne upon boarding? Yes, please!

-So getting back into the swing of things here. The next couple of weekends should be nice. My friend Jade has her birthday this weekend and she wants to go to Seoul and Busan. So Seoul this weekend for Chinese New Year (we get 2 days off) then 3 days at work and another weekend in Busan. Expect pictures.

Hope this is finding you well and enjoying the New Year and President!
Mallory

Look at this! 2 posts in a month!

Pinch me! I am dreaming. It's really because I have finally had a weekend to just chill out. I think all of us here in Korean Teaching Land try and fill things up because although teaching takes up our days, we can get our work done pretty easily and not have anything to do on the weekend. So after I have cleaned my apartment, (I feel I do this far too much for a one room place) and sent out emails (I am hoping I am up to date with everyone). I am getting geared up for the holidays and here's a Christmas surprise... I am coming home for the holidays. I am in on Christmas Day (hopefully it won't be too crowded) and in New York until the 3rd of January, so a little more than a week. I am excited to see everyone, but I know it will fly by.

Christmas in Korea is weird. Chuseok (which is in September) is the big holiday, and they recognize the 25th as something special commercially, but not in any other way. This is both good and bad. It means I am not bombarded with Christmas advertising all the time, and I can enjoy the Holiday Spirit in my own way, and also stores and restaurants are open on Christmas Day, which is extremely convenient. Seriously. The downfall of the lack of Christmas is the decorations. All the trees around the mall are lit up, which is pretty, but save for the pair of Christmas trees outside Homever (which is being converted into a Tesco HomePlus), the only place I have seen Holiday-like interiors is in Starbucks, only giving me more of a reason to frequent their fine establishment. Which I have. A lot, but I don't feel really bad because I have a frequent buyers card and I think I am pretty close to getting something for free, but I can't read the card, so I am not sure. Here's hoping!

Thanksgiving is coming up and I obviously don't get that off. Canadians have it in October, and the British don't even care that we may have shared a meal with Native Americans, so that leaves only the Americans to have dreams of potatoes and Turkeys. Ashley, a girl from Wisconsin, and I are going to get a couple of the other Americans together and maybe have a pot-luck Thanksgiving at my place. If I am feeling generous, maybe I will invite people's from other countries, but I don't think they could ever feel the way about canned cranberry sauce that I feel. I hope this holiday season finds you all well and with the ones you love. Hopefully I will get to see you when I come back to the States for a short stint. Bye for now!

I am still doing things!

Hey!
Alright, a bit of a super efficient post coming your way. It's report card time, so after this I will be getting cozy with attendance forms and test grades...ASA! Also an important, congrats to the United States for setting a really cool precedent for a President (I am so sorry I just did that). So here's been what for the past few weeks:

Gyeongbukgung Palace: This was the main Palace for the Korean royalty during the last few years of monarchical reign. And it's right in the middle of Seoul. It's beautiful and actually the current building is only 1/10th the original size, which means that I can't even think about how huge it is. Jade was my traveling companion and we eventually met up with the English guided tour, which helped because we had no idea how intricate most of the things in the building were. Looking back on my pictures (of which I will post later) I saw that most of them were of the architecture and painting done. Although it was repainted a couple of years ago, it was very carefully restored, and the designs are incredible. Interesting tidbit: Only the Royal Family was allowed to die within the walls of the estate, so everyone else had to be CARRIED OUT ON THEIR DEATH BED. Crazy.

TaeJoSan: This is a temple within Cheonan that has a huge sitting Buddha. I made this trek on my own, which I think was the best choice. It was very surreal. When I got to the Buddha, I was taken aback. It may have been just the stark contrast between the fall leaves and the green of the aged Bronze, but I was silent for a very long time. A very long time. Then I decided that I should head up the mountain, just to get some excercise. I apparently had never taken into account that Korean people are crazy. The trails, are merely foot trails and ropes at extremely steep areas. My only motivation for continuing was the Korean family in front of me with a 5 year old and infant, who seemed to have no problem bounding up the hill. When I got to a level area with a platform, there was a really wonderful view of the city, where I sat and took pictures for a bit. Then I realized that there was a giant carving of the Buddha in the mountain behind me, this being the real reason that there was a meditation platform. I gave a small offering and then a woman gave me a packet of Red Ginseng extract, which tasted really bad (it's seen as bad manners to reject a gift from others, so I drank it). It sounds weird but it gave me the energy to continue the rest of the way up and find that there was a also a restaurant at the real top, that served alcohol. I did not partake. Made it back down and caught a cab back home, really exhausted but glad that went.


Well that's it for the most part. Went to Costco with Troy and David. They made fun of me because my bill was only $200. I was slightly ashamed, as David spent twice that, easily. Also Troy and his wife got a new apartment that we visited. It was gorgeous. I almost hid in one of the cabinets in the walk in closet. They would have never found me.

Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you soon!

Mallory

So I am pretty much the worst blogger in the world....

I could give you all of the "sorry"s in the world, and it wouldn't really help much; would it? Things are moving quite along here. I am two and a half months in (one fourth of the way through, for those that are missing me). I am starting to actually feel like this is my life now, and it's got some pros and cons. In the interest of letting you in on life for me now, and also allowing myself to vent a bit too (without getting too ranty, that's not why you are here) I am going to list the positives and negatives of living in a foreign country.

PROS
- The immense amount of new experiences I have had. This is never in short supply. I've gone to Dr. Fish twice now (I'm a pro at putting my feet in a tank of skin-eating minnows) and seen Seoul both in the social and cultural light. Teaching here has been eye-opening. Parents are very diligent and make visits to the school often. I always have my students "stats" in order to present at a moment's notice and make sure that I speak to them and not to Lauren who is translating what I am saying. Knowing that everything I do will get back to the parents keeps me on my toes. Sarcasm is not a second language in Korea, especially when your audience has a bit of a language barrier to cross. Being more certified than my coworkers, yet feeling completely inferior to them in terms of actual ability has taught me more about what teaching really is than I could have learned in the States, where everyone has at least a bachelors. It's the school of Korean Knocks. Or something like that.

-My students. I really like my classes. Some are harder than others, but surprisingly this doesn't make me dislike them. It just makes me want to try harder at getting them up to par with the better ones. I have instituted several behavioral policies, which is weird for me, because I am used to teaching the bigger ones. I have yet to get used to allowing them to go to the bathroom during class, and often will try to lecture them on how they should "take care of it before class, or hold it until we are done." The hard part about this is that precursors for this conversation are: know what "it" is ("Pee" means "blood" in Korean), what the words "before" and "hold" mean in this context and a certain amount of gesturing to less than desirable areas of the body. It makes for an adventure. We have also started a slightly experimental class at the Academy. A bunch of younger moms were interested in having there tiny ones sing songs and learn basic English. So I now have 5 5 year-olds everyday. They go to David (my English coworker) for 20 minutes for conversational practice and then 20 minutes with me for songs and books and the occasional alphabet writing. Things are going swimmingly and they are all darling, which makes them less tiresome.

-Cultural outings. Jade, my counterpart for most of my time here in Cheonan, and I have been making an effort to go and see the sights here. While we haven't ventured too far, we have been able to go to several places. First was Independence Hall in Cheonan. It's a collection of museums dedication to the irradication of the Japanese from Korea. That's a big thing here, there's an entire building dedicated to "Japanese Aggression", also an exhbit on methods of torture used. Next was SamGo Ri park, which is a beautiful area that we had a nice picnic and were able to see a dance troupe perform, by accident. Last weekend we went to Seoul for the day and went to Gyeongbeouk Palace (I may have spelled that wrong, but in all honesty, I am too tired to check it). The place was huge. I will try and link up some pictures of the visit. To be around carvings that were done thousands of years ago, and that I was able to touch was just too much for me. Soon I am headed to Jabo-san, the big sitting bronze Buddha here in Cheonan, and there is a temple stay on the books before it gets too cold to do anything but socialize and watch movies.


CONS
(I didn't mean to make only 3 Pros, but they were lengthy, and you guys have jobs, or at the very least, lives)
-The Cultural Barrier. There are small things that really get me. The idea of a "line" is just non-existant here. Getting on a bus means pushing forward before the other people do (this is the only time when being a big Westerner is advantageous). It also means that when you are waiting for the atm, people have no guilt when edging in front of you. The same thing happens when people are in their cars. I am truly excited when a cab driver drives in the turn only lane just to pull in front of the guys at the light. It's the greatest. This same barrier is the same reasons that my students aren't afraid to tell me that I am "fat". I am hardly offended by this, and honestly, even if I was smaller, I would still be too big in stature for Korean standards. Kids don't censor themselves, sometimes it's a blessing, but other times, like when you are having a crappy day to begin with, the last thing you want to hear is a student asking you if you like food.

-People suspicious of foreigners. Time to get honest. As a white middle-class woman in the United States of America, I rarely considered myself a victim of prejudice. I don't consider myself a huge victim of it now; however there are sometimes that I just wish I could look like the rest of Korea. It's not uncommon for foreigners to be unwelcome, because people don't trust us in large groups. Or for the seat next to me to be left unused because people feel uncomfortable. Maybe I am assuming things here, but it's happened. Mostly I am not totally inconvenienced because I have a place to put my feet up, but really though, I am that scary? Also, just because I am Western, does not mean it's okay to ask me if I am Russian. (That's perv talk for asking if you are a woman who entertains).


So the Pros outweigh the Cons, as they should. I guess I will be staying here for sometime. Which means more opportunities to procrastinate writing in my blog. Enjoy!

Happy Chuseok!

Hey everyone!

I am currently enjoying my four day weekend. It's that time of year again, time for Chuseok, which is basically Korean Thanksgiving. All the families travel to the house of the grandparents and eat and celebrate and stuff. All of this information I have received from my students, so I could be completely wrong. After having my students as me several times if I am going home for the holidays, I figured I should make a trip somewhere. This somewhere happened to be Seoul. So Jade, Stacey, Ed, Abby, and I headed out on the KTX on Saturday morning to head into the city.

Prior to this time, I had thought I had seen "fast" before. Like cars that speed, or the amount of time it can take for my students to find a loophole in a rule I have just put into the classroom, but I was wrong. The KTX is by far the fastest thing I have seen. It can get from Seoul to Busan (the southern tip of Korea) in about 2 1/2 hours. Woah. We had a 50 km trip and it took 40 minutes. With stops. I liked it. After getting off in Seoul, we headed to Itaewon, where there are Westerners aplenty. The hotel we were staying at only had two rooms left and ironically enough they were a deluxe room and a suite. Jade, Stacey, and I took the suite, which was $100, but really only 30 because there were three of us. The room was quite nice, with a jacuzzi, and a nice flat screen t.v. It was one of the nicest places I have been in.

After a quick bite of Mexican food, we went shopping. There were tons of shops with Western sizes, which are impossible to find in Cheonan. It was also quite a thrill to see shoes that I could fit into as well. I didn't buy much and it should surprise no one that I spent the most money at the book store. We chilled out in the room, and watched a movie, then we ate some awesome Indian food, that was all you can eat for 10 bucks. The five of us met up with friends and parted ways to see the nightlife in the town. It was really interesting to see bars that made Koreans pay but allowed foreigners to get in for free, in fact I was highly suspicious of these places. Everyone had a great time.

The next day we headed to a pub after checkout and ate some wonderful Irish food and met up with friends again. We were all tuckered out after that so we caught the 6:00 train back home and by 7:30, I was lounging on my couch and exhausted from my time there. I am only sad that I didn't have time to see more touristy things, but with the time I am going to be here and the ease of getting to Seoul, I have no doubts that I will get to see everything. Hope everything is well for all of you!