Owner: documentarist URL:http://documentarist.blogspot.com Join Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 02:05:13 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: my life as an esl teacher in south korea. culture shock to friends, to food, to school... lots of photos and updated daily. Site statistics:Click here
ugh. 1970-01-01 00:59:59 making this fast. just wanted to post something, since i promised that i would every day... i went out to busan last night with kim. we had a good time eating at kebapistan and then checking out various foreigner bars. i stayed out WAY too late... and mostly because of a stupid scot (yes, a guy from scotland) that i met... something about the scottish accent just makes me crazy. i ended up dreaming about his voice all night, but he was singing the lyrics to that looper song. so weird. didn't get out of bed 'til almost four this afternoon and spent the rest of the evening watching telly as i have no energy and my stomach is still being loopy. i really have to stop ordering gin and tonic when i go out... think i made a complete ass of myself last night as well, but everything is a little hazy... i know that i saw chris at like four in the morning on the street in haeundae - totally random. he kept trying to get me to go to the beach with him, but i couldn't abandon kim and didn't rea
moutaineering 101 1970-01-01 00:59:59 well, the first meeting of the gimhae foreigner mountain hiking club was today! the name is just a joke, but i finally managed to get some buddies to come up for the view and some 'fresh' air. it was nice going up with other people... and they considered me the leader since i'd already done it. joe took the picture, so he's missing in it, but here we are "at the top"!kim, emma, meandykim's new hiking boots didn't, however, make it to the top! thank goodness she made it back down! we stopped and had a little picnic while enjoying the view and laughing about the boots. it was nice. we walked past my inukshuk, and it's a good thing i took a photo of it last week, because it's been knocked over now... :( guess i'll just have to make sure to build a bigger and better one sometime... maybe i'll bury some treasure under it!everyone came round to mine after for a chat, and that was really nice too! makes me feel good to have people over. (it's a good thing i cleaned this weekend!
happy anniversary to me! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Today is my six-month anniversary. I arrived in Korea on August 21st 2006, so even though my contract anniversary isn't for another week, it has been sixth months since I left the security and comfort of all I know/knew. I know I've already talked a lot on this blog about what it has been like for me to adjust to life here, but I feel like today is a special day (plus I'm bored at school with nothing to do). So I thought I'd list some of my favourite and some of my least favourite things about Korea.Good thing #1 - there is no winter. That's right. For the first time in my life it hasn't gotten colder than about -2 degrees Celsius. There is no snow. No bitter wind cutting through your coat and then your skin. Plus winter is shorter here. They're already saying if spring and February isn't even over yet! It was so warm on my hike on Monday I had to remove layers and didn't even need the earmuffs I brought along… I love it!Bad thing #1 - cud-chewing cows are eve
korean cooking adventure 1970-01-01 00:59:59 yesterday i was a good girl. i went to school, i went to the gym, and i went grocery shopping. but what made me a super star was looking up recipes to cook before shopping and buying the right ingredients. i wanted to try to make some of my favourite korean dishes (the ones i couldn't stop thinking about after my good/bad post) so i got a recipe for pajeon, japchae, and dokbokki.i had the dokbokki yesterday - they had a pre-packaged do-it-yourself kit at the store, so i got that... just to make sure i wouldn't be disappointed.dok bokkiit's rice noodles in a spicy sauce with veggies. mine didn't look as good as the picture above, but i'm sure it tasted just as good. i was surprised that the packaged one turned out so well, and will certainly be buying it again.pajeon is korean pancakes. 'pa' is green onion, and 'jeon' is pancake, so they're actually green onion pancakes. when i get this at restaurants i usually like it better with kimchi, but i'm actually fresh out and forgot Read more:cooking
it's a beautiful/smelly day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 today felt like april in montreal. like that first really nice day of spring, where you go find a terrace to sit and have a beer on. only, it's not april, it's february; and i'm not in montreal, i'm in gimhae; and there are no terraces here, or people to have beer with in the middle of the afternoon. oh well. i think that was more of a 'university days' thing too... ? maybe, or maybe it's a montreal thing... but i digress.it was a beautiful day today. the sun was shining and you could smell spring in the air. in montreal that would mean the smell of a winters' worth of accumulated dog feces, but in korea, it just means the air was fresh... mostly. i decided it would be a terrible waste to spend the afternoon holed up in my little room, so i headed up to the roof for some sun. (yes, i have an easily accessible roof, which is at my disposal - yay!) so i got a book (two actually since i was about to finish one), a bottle of water, and a blanket to sit on, and walked up one flight
lazy days (?) 1970-01-01 00:59:59 not much to report on this lazy sunday afternoon. the weekend has been spent celebrating my friends' impending departure to the UK. they've been here a long time now, and they're on their way home. so, friday, for the first time since gimhae has been 'home' we went out in my 'hood.the bar is junco, they have great food, and a decent atmosphere, and a fun time was had by all. i made it an early night and left at around two... walking home for once was way cool, as i usually have a 15 minute cab ride at the end of the night...then saturday night we headed into busan to the now famous fuzzy navel. a bar that is quickly becoming one of my favourites in busan. the only word kim could have said to get me into busan yesterday wsa kebapistan... so we went for dinner first with bill, ben, and mark in tow. it was yummy as usual... i promise a full review the next time i go, complete with pictures... i know i keep talking about the place, but i never get "into" it, so i will.we got to fuzzy
international banking crisis 1970-01-01 00:59:59 if you've been following this blog over the last six months, you will have read all about the banking
issues i had when i first arrived. things got much better after i found a great banker at the bank down the street. JJ spoke excellent (for a korean) english and kept all my information for me, making things so easy for me that i guess i got kind of 'soft'. i forgot to write about this last month - what with the million and one posts about seoul - but JJ was transferred. far away. today it hit me like a ton of bricks.i transfer money home once a month. i go to my bank, withdraw cash, and bring it to JJ, who, exchanges it and transfers it for me. last month i walked into the bank popped my head around to where his desk is - all ready to tell him about my trip to seoul - but he wasn't there. i thought that since i was there earlier than usual that maybe he was on lunch. so i left, intended on returning in an hour or so, but i had nothing else to do, so i walked back in to pay my bill
miscellanea 1970-01-01 00:59:59 i didn't think that i had anything to write about today, but there are a couple of things that i found out about my upcoming school year. at school #1 i will only be teaching first grade (the equivalent of grade 7 in canada)!!!! this is great. it will give me the chance to really get to know the kids and create some kind of rapport with them. it means a lot of extra lesson planning - something i thought i had finished yesterday - but that's ok.at school #2 i will be teaching only second grade. this is all right - at least i can use the same lesson plans as i am in school #1.school #2 is moving my desk so that i will no longer be sitting directly in front of the vice principal. though, on second thought, he won't be there for the next few months, so it doesn't really make much difference. i will be closer to the door though...faster, easier escape route!i leave you now with some random photos from the last little while...what is "job's tears tea"? is this some kind of weird biblica
a new look 1970-01-01 00:59:59 i finally did it.i got my hair cut. in korea.i had been putting it off since before i came to korea. then when i got here i was worried that i'd end up with a mullet... since it is alive and thriving here. i was also worried about the cost. it's not something i like to spend money on - the salon. in montreal you can upwards of a couple of hundred dollars for a wash and style - not that i ever spent that much! but i have spent 60-70$ on my hair and just wasn't prepared to spend that kind of money to be disappointed.well, neolive proved me wrong! when they told me pal chun won (8,000W) i thought they were mistaken... and the guy thought i was a moron for asking five times... i thought he was telling me 80,000W and that i wasn't understanding him... but nope, it was less than ten dollars!"before" - in the bathroom at the salon."after" you can't see it that well... that's why i have the next one..."after" - in the bathroom at home.the back - taken by the hairdresser.there you have it
back to school 2007-03-02 10:30:00 today was the first day of the school year in korea. i also started at my new middle school. i'll be there on thursdays and fridays. i met my co-teacher down the street from my house and we drove the five blocks to the school since she didn't want me showing up all on my own on the first day.things were pretty hectic when we got there. it seemed like they weren't expecting me since my desk was covered in junk and hadn't been dusted in five years. there was also no computer or stationary type stuff for me. they've known for weeks that i'd be arriving today, so i don't understand why they weren't ready for it.after about an hour i was shuffled off to the broadcasting room with the other 15 new teachers. we were being paraded in front of the camera in a live broadcast to all the classrooms in the school. i was the only one who got to say a few words. i had to do the same thing when i started at my other school, so i was expecting it. plus having been in broadcasting i'm confortab
Samil 2007-03-01 09:55:00 (or korean independence movement day)today was a national holiday. all that really means for us waegooks is that we get a day off work, but i was curious to know why we got to party until the wee hours of the morn... so i looked into it.on march 1, 1919, the korean independence movement began. 'samil' which translates literally to three one (month/day) was inspired by then US president Woodrow Wilson's 14 point proclamation and the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. he declared and end to colonial rule in countries that were ruled by the victors of WW1. many koreans, under japanese rule, thought they too would be released from their oppressors.with Wilson's proclamation in mind, korea sent a delegation to the conference in February 1919, but they were refused the right to vote. there was a secret pact between the US, Japan, and France to exclude Korea and Indochina from the treaty. this, obviously, did not sit well with the koreans who thought they would be gaining their independence. so
just have to quickly say thank you to my 3000th vi... 2007-03-05 10:44:00 just have to quickly
say thank you to my 3000th visitor... not sure who you are... but yay!!!! that's 3000 visitors since november 16th. hope you all keep coming back!
starface and sfunz 2007-03-05 10:22:00 sorry no posts for the last couple of days, i went to busan on the weekend. i met up with kat, jess (her sister who was visiting from canada), kevin (a friend from orientation who lives up north), and chris... along with a bunch of gimhaens.we went to kebapistan for dinner and then it was on to haeundae to go to starface - a bar i've been hearing about for weeks but hadn't made it to yet. you pay 15,000W (~17$cad) for an open bar. not bad. their gin and tonics were really nice. they had a pool table, but it wasn't as readily available as the one at fuzzy navel, so i didn't get to play at all. they had a live jazz band too, which was really cool... it's been so long... reminded me of the good old days at luba lounge in montreal.the band at starfaceafter the band finsihed playing the music was 'do it yourself'. which i thought was awesome. they just had a computer with winamp and a huge playlist and anyone could play whatever they wanted. that reminded me of house parties with ran
back to school part two 2007-03-06 11:53:00 since i am now teaching at two schools, i had my second first day of school yesterday. it wasn't anything particularly interesting since there were no classes... it was more or less a repeat of friday but in a different location. at least i have a computer there and so had something to do.today, however, was my first day of teaching in the new school year. i was worried because i didn't sleep well last night and was really tired this morning. i also have five classes on tuesday so i knew it was going to be a rough day... it didn't turn out so bad.the kids seemed receptive and nice. i think that most of them had a foreign teacher at their elementary school, so they weren't as big-eyed as the kids last year. for the most part they were all good during the class which was just a little intro... run down the rules of the class - "when teacher is talking, you are not" - "raise your hand if you want to say something" - "respect is the most important thing in the class" - etc... then we w
dawn 2007-03-07 11:39:00 nothing terribly interesting to report... sorry. but i do have to keep writing every day (though sometimes i take the weekends off...) so here i am. i found another interesting korean product at the local store today. it was right on the counter near the cash register so i asked if i could take a picture of it. the 'store lady' looked at me like i was nuts! but not too much more than usual... so i guess it's the kind of thing that is expected of me... here it is:Dawn Hangover Solutioni'll let you know if/when i have the chance to buy some and try it... i should have just bought it today and kept it around for the occasion, since you never really know when you're going to need it, and usually by that point you're too hungover to walk to the store! oh well, maybe i'll pick it up tomorrow. i really love the picture of the typical korean man on it too... hilarious!!!just one of those funny korean things that i thought i'd share... hopefully there'll be something more interesting t
thoughts on a new school 2007-03-08 12:32:00 today was my first day of teaching at my new school. there are some very big differences between the two. at some point early in the day i wondered what my life would have been like for the last six months had i originally been assigned to this school. i'm still not in a position to really know that, nor will i ever be, it's still interesting to note the many variances (albeit sometimes small) between the two schools.first. as soon as i arrived my co-teacher met me at the gate. she had some things that she needed to tell me, and i think that she was there because it was her 'day' to stand guard in the morning (there are always teachers greeting the students as they arrive in the morning)... but it was still nice to have a familiar face first thing.second. the principal invited me for a morning coffee. the p-man at my other school never even says hello to me - even if i say it to him. the new P has actually made a weekly coffee date with me... thursdays at 3:30. he also invited me t Read more:thoughts
the longest day 2007-03-09 11:37:00 today was very long and very tiring. i had four classes in a row in the morning, an hour for lunch and then another class of robust and loud 15-year-old girls. they are great because they pay attention better than the boys, but they're also a lot louder and a lot crazier. they like to scream and when they talk it's always a couple of decibels above normal. oh well. it was still a good day, though i've no idea how i actually got through it... and i'm going to have to do it every friday for the next twenty weeks. argh. guess this means an end to my friday night parties!i did manage to make it to the gym anyway... though i was so tired there were a couple of times where i thought i was going to pull one of those "flying off the treadmill" scenes. but it was ok. i'm not going out tonight for a few reasons, one of them being that i'm just knackered. the other is that none of my favourite people will be out. seems like everyone is off doing their own thing... and i don't feel like mak
i finally caved... 2007-03-11 13:39:00 and bought a toaster oven.i know it seems silly with less than six months left here, but it just makes life so much easier... my apartment doesn't have an oven, since it doesn't have a regular stove. i only have a two spot gas range... so, no oven... but now i am the proud owner of this:and at only 26,000W (~30$cad) it was a steal! just try to find one that cheap in canada!!! anyway, i figure i can sell it when i leave... and if no one wants it then it'll be a nice gift to one of my co-teachers.can you tell i had a boring weekend? the highlight is a small kitchen appliance. i spent my weekend in solitary relaxation... i just didn't feel like going out to the bar and getting home at 5am... maybe next weekend...
vanity at the gym 2007-03-12 10:32:00 i was at the gym today (again... since i'm there everyday...) and i was using that sit-down thigh machine... you know, the one where you have your legs spread wide and you have to bring them together... sorry for the visuals on that one... had to be explained though. anyway, i'm sitting there, listening to my ipod, minding my own business (like i always* do) and this woman comes up to me and starts babbling on in korean."i'm sorry, i don't speak korean," i say."shorts," she replies, "small," and she started to poke at my shorts.i was in a pretty odd position and my shorts were riding up my thigh a little, but they aren't too small. they're the same ones that i pick up at the gym everyday. i can't read the signs, so i always take a pair from the pile where i got them the first day. anyway, i tried to 'shrug' her off by pretending i didn't know what she was talking about, but she wouldn't let up. even when i started doing my next set she was standing there in my way.finally i
happy white day! 2007-03-14 09:27:00 (or yet another concentrated marketing day in korea)white day is exactly one month after valentines day. guys are supposed to give candy to the women who gave them chocolate on valentines. rumour has it that this was all started by a marshmallow company in the '60's... "marshmallow day" became white day sometime since then. sorry this is so vague... but it's not easy to get info on these things...the kids were all hopped up on sugar all day, girls were crying left and right, and i got offerred some candy from other teachers - without knowing why for half the day... why doesn't anyone tell me these things??? anyway, it was a good day overall... met some new classes (finally met all of them!) and took a nice walk at lunch. i'm off to have a beer with the waegooks at B'n'G... haven't been out in what feels like forever!anyway, happy white day!
no new news 2007-03-13 11:07:00 just another day today... went for lunch with the other english teachers at my school. it was all right. they all looked at me like i was crazy when i told them i didn't want any rice. whatever.there's a girl at my school - grade three, i think - and her english is incredible. i don't know how her accent is so good, she's never had a foreign teacher before, and i'm not even teaching her anymore. just wanted to throw some kudos out to her... yun-hee... maybe she'll get some good karma (or something) in return...i've realized that i'm not the problem at my school... the kids are all just crazy. maybe it's the raging hormones...can't wait to go out and see some waegooks tomorrow... i haven't seen a foreigner or had a beer in over a week and a half!!!good vibes to you all!
really! am i that boring? 2007-03-15 11:07:00 still nothing really cool to report. i went out for a drink last night at the bng, but nothing worth writing home about hapened.school was long, but okay... i think separating boys and girls makes a world of difference.i brought my lunch to school today and all the koreans looked at me like i was nuts. they kept saying "diet-y?" and i kept saying "yes". they don't understand that for me to eat three pounds of rice everyday is crazy!the computer at school sucked even harder today than usual. i couldn't manage to get the internet workign properly, it was so slow that my email took about ten minutes to load. what is this dial-up? AND in a country that is supposed to have the highest rate of high speed internet in the world! ha! i think not!anyway, that was that. i've lost four pounds this week so i guess the "diet-y" is working... going to the gym everyday probably doesn't hurt either. catch you all on the flip-side! Read more:boring
what a way to celebrate my 200th post 2007-03-16 09:15:00 i came home from work early today. i've been feeling like i'm coming down with something for a few days, but chalked it up to having to use my "loud voice" at school so much. but today i felt like i had a fever, my throat was aching, my ears were ringing and sore, and i was exhausted. so i came home at lunch, after napping through fourth period.when i got home i felt sort of ok, but i went straight to bed anyway. i napped for a few hours and now i feel really disoriented and groggy... lethargic and off-balance... i don't have a fever, my throat isn't really sore now, and my ears are okay, if only a little sensitive. i'm not sure what's wrong with me. maybe i have allergies? i'm not sure. i only started getting seasonal allergies a couple of years ago and every year i forget about them...but maybe they're back? i wish i had some allegra so i could take it and see if it helps... oh well.while i was napping this afternoon i had the craziest dream.i was living in the same apartment
sorry 2007-03-19 09:44:00 i've been neglecting this blog for the last couple of days. not because i've been so busy doing interesting things, but quite the opposite. i haven't been feeling well since last week (see previous post) and i just had no energy all weekend and a low grade head ache until this morning. no amount of advil liqui-gel migraine (from canada) would make it go away. i'm still not feeling great. last night i couldn't sleep because because i was having trouble breathing and my chest was pounding... i got to school this morning and it was no better so Jo brought me to the doctor who said that my chest sounded fine... my heart was normal, and my blood pressure ok. he was under the impression that i was having a panic attack or something. they wanted to give me some kind of IV drip, buut i said no. i don't like needles because i have really small veins and they always miss and it hurts like hell. they talked me into taking an injection of something they called a "stabilizer" ... whatever the Read more:sorry
...whimper... 2007-03-21 10:25:00 i went to school today. i didn't go in yesterday because i just couldn't get up. exhausted, weary, and still slightly congested with a low grade headache that just lingers. i could have gone back to the doctor, but korean doctors never seem to beleive that there's anything wrong with me. so, i went to school. it was a long day. i told all of my classes that i was sick and wasn't feeling well, so please be on your best behaviour today, and most of them were. if they started acting up i just sighed really loudly, closed my eyes, rubbed my forehead, and waited for them to settle down on their own. it worked for the most part. a couple of time my co-teacher had to get them to quiet down, especially since there is no way i can raise my voice at present.i'm just worried about tomorrow. five classes. i know to some of you it doesn't sound like much, but it is when there are forty students in each one of them. 40x5=200 students to control. it's not easy at the best of times, but when y Read more:whimper
i made it 2007-03-22 12:11:00 i didn't think i'd make it through today - feeling the way i have been - but it was ok. i just took things slowly and one minute at a time and by the end of it i wasn't about to fall over. don't know if it was the tylenol cold or the strange, nasty-tasting liquid the school nurse gave me, but something worked. i was tired, oh-so-tired, but i made it through. they let me leave as soon as school was over (ie. and hour early) which was nice.i made a new friend at school today too - mr kim. we went for a walk at lunch time. his english is definitely lacking, but it was nice to have some company on my lunchtime walk. i like to get away from school for a just a little during lunch. leave the screaming and the stomping and the "hello teacher"'s behind... i wasn't feeling great, but i needed to get away from it all... maybe that's how i made it through! either way, it was all right. now i just have to do it again tomorrow... and every week for the next 17 weeks... i can do it... i can d
late again... 2007-03-23 09:41:00 well, there go any plans i might have had for the weekend. i was planning a trip to teongyeong with kat, chris, and angela but decided earlier this week that i wasn't feeling up to it. good thing i cancelled before. i didn't get paid again.i spoke to the guy from the provincial office of education and he told me that there is a new supervisor in gimhae. she forgot to pay us. when i asked what would happen if i forgot to go to school, he told me i would be fired. but this woman is allowed to forget to pay me. WTF??!?!?! this is the third, maybe fourth (i'll have to check) time that this has happened now. every time i tell them the same thing - you must pay me on time, i have a contract and you are breaking it. they don't ever seem to get the message. i'm so angry right now and there is nothing i can do. nothing.anyway, i told the guy that if i wasn't paid by monday at four that i was going to the labour board. i guess i can do my research over the weekend since i have nothing el
a day at the beach 2007-03-26 12:42:00 yesterday was - as far as i'm concerned - the first day of summer in korea. yes! summer. technically it's spring, but it felt like the first summer day would if i were in montreal... of course summer in montreal only starts in about two months time... anyway, it was over twenty degrees and the sun was shining as only it can. it kind of made me think "if it's this hot in march, what's it going to feel like in july?!?" but it was a lovely day.ahh... the sea...we (Abbey, Kim, Emma, Andy, Kelsey, Nate and I) spent the day at haeundae beach in busan. the water was too cold for swimming, but there was no problem with dipping toes and hangin' out. my nose is a little pink today - no sunscreen or hat :( - i wasn't my "prepare" self... i just wasn't expecting it. anyway, no real harm done... i hope.our little friendwe made a 'little' friend when we were hanging out by the water. she was adorable, except for when she threw a handful of wet sand in the air and hit kim straight on! (wonde
a first. 2007-03-27 11:40:00 i started punishing kids today. i need to set an example and i need to do it early. they are so often out of control. i thought that my revised sticker program would be a good incentive, but it's only doing so much.the program: every class has five stickers at the start of each period. if they are not ready in their groups when i arrive, they lose a sticker. they continue to lose stickers throughout class for not obeying the rules, of which there is really only one: when i count down from three to zero it's time to be quiet. if they are not quiet at zero, they lose a sticker. i repeat the countdown until everyone is quiet... i've had a couple of classes actually lose three stickers in one countdown. (i counted three times before they were quiet on the fourth.) every month, the class with the most stickers wins prizes. at the end of the semester the class with the overall most stickers wins a party of some kind - pizza, cake, cookies, whatever we decide when the time comes.i think it
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