I'm eating WHAT?!

Wednesday I taught my first class of the new year at Geumcheon. It was with my 3rd graders, who I had last semester. They all know me and were excited to see me, to talk to me and tell the class that they saw me eating lunch in Naju. I have a new co-teacher, which I'm really excited about. I was shocked/impressed/excited that my first class was so well behaved. They listened, the answered questions, they volunteered. Having a new co-teacher who CARES and who has authority is going to be a tremendous change. I have a feeling that my students might actually learn and won't spend the entire class talking, in Korean. I'm also teaching from the same book as my co-teacher, which will be much easier for me to work off of what he teaches and a lot less work of trying to decide what the best lessons would be for them. I get one page out of each unit, the speaking page. I've read mixed reviews about this book, but I suppose if the grammar is terrible I can always use the idea and make my own lessons.

After teaching my first and only class of the day I made my way back to the office. My co-teacher stopped to stare at the board that lists the classes of the day and information. He then says "dinner at 5 pm". I always love the "heads up" I get. 3 hours before school ends I find out there is a dinner party, awesome. Anyway, I tried a few times to find out where this dinner party would be, but all I got was that it was to welcome the transfer teachers to the school.

At 5 pm I was pushed into my co-teachers car and driven to the restaurant, which turned out to be just across the road. It was a bit hidden which I found a bit strange, but I didn't question it. There was a picture of chickens on the door, so I thought "hey meat for dinner, win!" Usually we go out for sashimi and beef stew. I sat down with my fellow teachers. We have a new part time teacher, his international name is Jude, he's my age, too! Jude is a really friendly guy and I enjoy talking to him. Yes, he speaks English and it is a really nice change having someone in the office or at lunch that can and does talk to me. Anyway, back to the story. So, Jude starts cooking the meat on the bbq as more staff and teachers begin filing into the restaurant. He looks at me and says "do you know what this is?" I guessed pork, it looked like it. "No, it's DOG meat. I think it's healthier than pork and it makes you strong." .... wait, WHAT? You took me to a DOG restaurant. DOG. I ate DOG. After the initial, "wait, what?" reaction I got over it. I wasn't getting out of eating it, they don't take no for an answer here (unless of course you have an allergy). It honestly isn't all that bad. A bit of a different taste then pork, but when you cover it up with ssamjjang you can't really tell what you have.

This dinner was much better than previous ones for the simple fact that I know have someone to talk to! Jude and I had a lot of good conversations and he would translate things for me or tell me what everyone was talking about. There was a lot of smiles and pointing at the two of us and comments made that weren't translated to me and everyone kept saying "ah obba" and point to Jude (that means he is older so I call him brother). Some of the female teachers said they are happy that I finally have someone that can speak to me so I'm not so lonely. It is nice. You have no idea how isolated I am day in and day out. I don't see many foreigners in Naju, so I go home and am alone and all day at school I'm alone, no real conversations. Which is one main reason I'm on facebook ALL day. I need to have chats with friends, I don't care if it's not face to face, it is still a conversation.

Anyway, at the beginning of the meal there is always a toast. The people I sat next to usually drink water or soda. Thankfully I wasn't too close to the gym teacher, who drinks a lot of soju with a few of the other male teachers. As the toasts began the soju bottles were being brought out on the tables and not 3 or 4, 10 or 12 per table. As the meal continued, so did the flow of soju. The principals face was bright red, but more and more soju was still poured for him. A few minutes before we all stood up to leave, the very drunk gym teacher (barely holding himself up in a sitting position) leans over and says something in Korean, while saying my name and pointing at me. Jude said that he wants to drink with me twice a week, beer and soju. I just laughed but he was persistent. Jude told him I prefer wine or whiskey to beer and soju. He thought about this for a moment (wine is really expensive her, a bottle of whiskey is $5). And then said, "one night a week drinking!" I said okay, knowing that it'll probably never happen. But it made him happy.

Naju weekend

This has been an interesting weekend. Friday morning as I headed off to school, I passed an adjosshi (elderly man) near my apartment. I don't really know this man, but I see him everyday at the school. He usually ignores me when I pass him in the school driveway or when I'm in the office. However, when I passed him near my apartment he had a huge (surprised) smile on his face. I bowed to him, said hello and continued on my way.

Saturday morning I was hungry for eggs so I ran out to the 24 hour store near my place. I usually see a man there who on the street will smile and say hi to me. It was a lady this time and despite having seen her many times there today she felt like talking to me. She proceeded to ask if I was an English teacher and I replied that I was and what school (in my very basic knowledge of Korean). A few hours later as I was leaving my apartment to head to Gwangju, I passed 3 men sitting outside the convenient store near my place. I smiled at them and one of the man waved and started talking to me. I took out my headphones to hear what he had to say. He immediately grabbed my hand and shook it after I bowed to them. He just stood there holding my hand talking to me or the men he was with, after awkwardly putting my hand against his face he let me leave. I bowed to them and not sure what he should do he threw his hand in the air to say hello again. It made me laugh even though it was a bit strange. I've been here for 6 months and this is the most that random Koreans have talked to me, especially in one day!

Today was market day. I love market day. It's always fun to just walk around, checking out all the different kinds of fish or seeing the many different kinds of kimchied things. It was a dreary day, but I attempted to get some pictures at the market. As I was heading there a few children noticed that I was a foreigner. One, still in his pajamas, began pointing and jumping up and down exclaiming "waygooken, waygooken" until his friends arrived. I'm sure I'm not the first foreigner he's seen, but he was excited nonetheless.

different types of kimchi

Last day of deskwarming..

It's officially my last day of desk warming. The oh-so-fun job of sitting at the computer, doing whatever I want for a full 8 hours. Fulfilling my duty of being at school after my month long vacation. It's been boring and honestly doesn't make sense why I'm here. The teachers/staff are always surprised when they walk in the room and see me. Everyday for the past month, the same response "OH! Megan?" Yep, it's me, just sitting here. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not complaining. I've quite enjoyed being paid to do nothing. For the past month I have been teaching, 2 students, 3 hours every morning. It's been fun. I had 2 girl students, who are really very smart and entertaining. There was a lot of conversations, which is exactly what they need to practice, tv show watching (hey it was in English!), food making (they taught me to make kimbap, directions in English). Yesterday my one student spent 30 minute talking about boys. It was really funny, she's always sad that she doesn't have a boyfriend (join the club, sweetheart!) I posted on my facebook status that I was enjoying listening to her talk about boys and how giddy she was about it. My former Middle School English teacher commented about how she remembers me and my friends doing the same. haha

I will miss leaving school for 2 hours to go home, take a nap, eat lunch and watch some tv before heading back to school to do my duty of keeping this desk warm. I'll miss quietly walking out of the office and going home whenever I want for the day, especially on absolutely gorgeous days, like today!! It's been nice getting lunch whenever I want, packing a lunch, going out for lunch or even whatever teacher (usually Mr. Han) buying me delicious meals.

I am, however, excited for school to start again. I miss the teachers/students at my country school. I've been trying to meet up with the one teacher, Ms. No. But it hasn't worked out that I have free time when she does. She called me last week and told me to not show up for school and meet her in Gwangju. On Monday, I showed up for school and was surprised to see all the teachers coming into school. We ended up going for lunch in Naju, all the staff and teachers were there. There are 4 new teachers at my school. I will now have 2 new co-teachers. I'm excited for the new teacher at Geumcheon. I got along with Mr. Kim, but he was a terrible teacher. The new teacher, Mr. Roh, seems very kind and like he'll be a decent teacher. I'm not excited that my country school English teacher, Mrs. Im has moved to a new school. She spoke excellent English and was really friendly, plus she gave me rides to and from school. Guess I'll be riding the bus and getting up early on Mondays/Tuesdays. However, I believe the other teachers will give me a ride home, which will be nice.

Well, it's a beautiful day and I've wasted enough desk warming. Time to escape. Keep it real, folks.

Soju and beer, practice (drinking) everyday

Today an ajumma (older lady) was seriously impatient and apparently couldn't wait a whole 2 minutes for the green light to cross the extremely busy (not to mention scary) highway. I am not a fan of the location of my school. The road is kind of scary. Cars, buses and trucks drive at top speeds through this intersection. Sometimes they stop at the red light, sometimes they continue driving at their top speeds. I always give it a few seconds and watch the cars to make sure they are stopped before walking across the road. When school is in session, the students see the green light and immediately step out in the road. They are busy playing on their phones or talking to friends, ignoring the cars. I'm always scared that one of these days I'll witness these kids getting run over, since they seem to be careless when crossing the street. Back to today, I was standing patiently waiting for the bus to arrive. Across the road was the ajumma. I saw her jogging to make the light, but she was too slow. She waited for a few cars to pass and then began slowly jogging across the road. Instead of stopping in the middle by the median to let the car and truck fly by, she decided to continue across the road directly in front of them. Their were 2 other ajummas yelling at her, 2 students in front of me not even paying attention and me exclaiming loudly "OH MY GOD!" Mere inches was all that was between this lady and the fast moving cars. She made it, unscathed and it didn't even phase her. 

On a lighter note: I've been teaching 2 students for the past 2 1/2 weeks. The students are on winter vacation, but 2 students have signed up for winter camp. I still have a week and a half left of camp with these 2 girls. I chose to do Glee camp with them. I found workbooks and powerpoint presentations online (a great site for foreign teachers to use). I've been teaching them new words and phrases, adjectives, verbs, giving advice, asking questions. I play music videos for them and they have to fill in a worksheet with the missing words. Then we watch an episode of Glee each class. After we watch Glee they answer questions about the show and ask me questions about school, culture, life in America and they finish by writing in a journal. I wasn't sure how well this camp would work out with just 2 students. They love watching Glee and have really been talking a lot more and asking more questions after each episode. It's really funny to watch how giddy they get when Mr. Shue (the glee director on the show) comes on. My 15 year old girls have a huge crush on his character, it's really cute to watch them. I really enjoy reading their journals, too. Usually it's about the show or how tired or hungry they are. On Monday and Tuesday I brought in chocolate chip cookies for them. They devoured probably 2 dozen cookies on Tuesday alone. My one student, Soe Jin, who is much quieter than Soe Yeon, wrote on Tuesday "I'm very sad because I didn't say thank you to Megan. Thank you Megan. Cookies are delicious. I love cookies. Megan is very good cook. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry Megan." haha. It was really cute. I like those girls. 

Last week the students were in school in order to prepare for graduation. Graduation happened on Thursday and perhaps a ceremony on Friday. I'm not too sure, you know, I'm never told anything. I just sit at my desk until someone tells me it's time go. On Thursday I was let out of school at 2 pm, which was totally awesome. But first I went out to lunch with all my co-teachers. They love sashimi, so we are always going out for that. I'm not so much a fan, but I hide the taste with spicy sauce. The gym teacher kept offering me beer and soju. It didn't happen once, maybe 4 times he offered to pour me either beer or soju. At noon on a Thursday, I wasn't interested in either. I think he felt that I didn't understand him. He called my co-teacher over to ask if I wanted beer or soju. I said I didn't and was okay with water. He then preceded to say "Korean's drink a lot, the gym teacher says every night you need to practice drinking soju and beer. Every day practice!" ... um, okay? 

The next night I was driven to Gwangju with my co-teacher and the computer guy for a 'dinner party.' Of course, true to Korean fashion, I was told that morning. I had no idea what this dinner party entailed. We showed up at a nice hotel and walked into a banquet room with a buffet and the karaoke machine being plugged in. Turns out it was a retirement party for the principal and a few teachers. I really like the principal and am sad he is leaving. He is always so friendly to me and it really makes the atmosphere at school much better when he walks in and sees me with a huge smile "Miss Megan, good morning!" or "Miss Megan, let's go home!" I hope the new principal will be as kind as this principal. One of the teachers in my office also retired. He is a super friendly man as well. He was always the one to tell me it was lunch time, talk to me, offer me snacks and anytime I walked in the room in the morning he was the first to look up and nod at me. As he was leaving last Friday he came to me and said "Miss Megan. I retired this month. I'm really going to miss you!" It was sweet. Back to the 'dinner party' speeches were made, food was served, people began eating and with the eating began the soju pouring. For those that don't know, in Korea the custom is to pour someone else's drink or shot for them. You don't pour your own beer and if you want soju, you'll offer a shot to someone else so they can reciprocate. The principal began his rounds to pour soju for each table and one person would pour him one. He made his way to my table and poured a shot for the other teachers and when I offered to pour him a shot, he said no. "No Miss Megan, we do love shot!!" I can't say no to the sweet man, so a little shot of soju was poured and we did a 'love shot' to cheers and of course, pictures being taken. The singing began and I was able to escape out to get the bus to my apartment. As I stood up and put my jacket on, across the room the principal noticed me and began yelling (most of the men were pretty drunk from the abundance of soju shots!) "Miss Megan, bye! Goodbye Miss Megan! Goodbye! See you Monday? No Sunday? Monday!" 

Malaysia!

After my relaxing, yet wonderful week in Singapore it was time to pack up and head out for my next adventure, Malaysia. I took the a bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, it was relatively cheap for a 5-hour bus ride and seemed to be the best option, instead of the hassle of flying. It takes about an hour to get to the Singapore/Malaysia border. It was a quick process getting through immigration in Singapore (early morning we were the only bus there!) We made our way to Malaysian immigration where we had to get our luggage out to have it checked and get our passports stamped. As I put my bag on the machine, I took a look around to see that not a single immigration worker was in the building, instead they were sitting outside having a smoke break. Good work guys, this should have been my first indication about how helpful the police/immigration in this country would be...

After a tiring day of traveling on the bus, with only a bottle of water in my bag (stupid me I didn't pack any food!) I made it to the KL. The bus driver pointed out the bus terminal and some friendly young girls assisted in me getting there and also offered to help me if I needed it, so generous of them! I realized that I didn't exchange my money before I left Singapore, so I was hoping to find place to do so. I didn't see anyone in the information booth so I headed to (what I thought) was the next best thing, the police. WRONG. After standing in front of them for about 2 minutes they acknowledged me. When I asked where I can exchange money, I got a shrug of the shoulders and then he pointed down the hallway. Come to find out, because it was Sunday, this place was not open. In a panic I walked back and the guy just kept shrugging his shoulders. He didn't know. I also was unable to get a map. On top of being really hot and humid out, I was tired, hungry, it just put me in a bad mood. I bought my bus ticket, the bus was really late.. but thankfully another kind stranger assured me I was getting on the correct bus.

Another 5 hour bus ride, 40 minute ferry ride and a 15 minute taxi ride I was at Anjungan Resort on Pangkor Island. So far removed from the hustle and bustle of city life. Streets filled with friendly food vendors (and good food, too!). A friend from orienation and I were spending the week on the island together. I checked into our room... All my frustrations from the day simply melted away once I walked into the awesome room, saw the pool, nature. Paradise. It was a long week on the very isolated island. But I enjoyed the food, the sunsets on the beach, laying by the pool, reading, watching the monkeys playing in the trees or stealing the trash, watching Hornbills feeding in the wild, interacting with the locals. It was a great week.

After another week of relaxation and sun, I was off to Kuala Lumpur. Repeating the taxi ride, ferry ride and then the 5 hour bus ride I made it to KL. Again, having eaten no food (except some cashews). I was starving, hot and tired! I walked, and walked, and walked and walked and for some reason could not for the life of me find the hostel. Finally some kind locals and fellow travelers directed me in the right direction and I made it! It was one of the best hostels I stayed at during my vacation, the beds were comfy, the staff was amazing (one of the guys remembered my name and anytime I walked in he would talk to me), the people were cool, they had a large patio to hang out on and a living room.. it was great. My first evening in the hostel I met a friendly girl named Ronnie from the Netherlands. We ended up going out for dinner together in Chinatown and wandered around. After the walk and food we made our way to the hostel where we sat until 1 am chatting with a couple from the UK named Laura and Tim.

I spent the day with Ronnie, checking out the bird park and then going to a famous shopping area (for no other reason then wanting a/c and delicious food!). It was a really good day and nice to hang out with a fun person. Ronnie, Laura, Tim and I went to Trader's Hotel to the 33rd floor to watch the sunset and have a drink together. It wasn't really that great of a place to watch the sunset, but the view of KL at night was spectacular! It was also really cool to hang out with fun people for the evening. As we sat talking we spotted a pool on the roof of another hotel and so began our plans to use the hotel pool. The next day we were all up and ready in the morning for operation swim at fancy hotel's pool (rooftop pool with a great view, how could we resist!). We stuck out like a sore thumb as we walked into the lobby and realized their was a conference about some Islamic thing. ooops... We made our way to the pool, put our things down and thought wow we did it and are getting free towels! Unfortunately we all froze when asked what our room number was and towel boy kicked us out. Guess we did set our sights a little high with that one... it was a REALLY fancy hotel.

I spent a day hanging out with Tim and Laura and awoke early the next morning to say goodbye to them as they continued their travels through Asia. It was really awesome meeting them and being able to just sit, talk and laugh withe fun people. As I still had 2 more full days in KL, I tried to figure out what was worthwhile doing. I walked to the Hibiscus/Orchid Gardens. Another really hot day, made me pretty tired. The flowers were gorgeous and I really enjoyed the peace and quiet there! I decided to sit and write in the shade... I noticed that there were 2 models being photographed and apparently right where I was sitting was prime location for their clothing changes? They didn't care that I was sitting there and I didn't care to move. Eventually I began my walk again until I was so tired I couldn't walk anymore. I made my way to my favorite food court and had another amazing meal. ah, I love food. My last day was spent mailing post cards, getting my bus ticket to the next destination, shop for some souvenirs and food!

I wasn't overly enthusiastic about Kuala Lumpur. It was okay. I had good food, good laughs, saw some pretty cool things.. but I just didn't particularly like it. I guess you either love a place or hate a place. For some reason or another, I just didn't care too much about it. Anyway, on to Melaka.. which means another 2 hour bus ride (seriously, so much bus riding!) Now, for the whole trip I had been booking things last minute and not really planning much. I was surprised to find out that the weekend I was spending in Melaka happened to be Chinese New Year. Which meant all the good hostels were booked up and I, unfortunately, got stuck in this terrible (TERRIBLE) hostel. That right there set my mood for the next 3 days. Melaka is a super small town. There really is not much to do. But it is absolutely gorgeous, so many old buildings, beautifully decorated and of course, delicious food. After an afternoon in Melaka, I felt like I would be okay leaving there is that little to do. But I stayed and kept myself busy and was really excited to catch the 9 am bus back to Singapore (earlier than expected). Which meant 1 night and 2 extra days in Singapore. Okay by me!

While I may not have loved Malaysia, I really did enjoy my vacation. 3 weeks is a long time to be traveling alone, but I was faced with some annoying problems that I had to overcome by myself. There was no one but myself to rely on and I enjoyed the independence and knowing that I can get through anything in a foreign country.

My flight left Singapore at midnight on the 24th. I arrived to the airport at 3 pm since it was raining and I had nothing to do. I spent the day reading and met a friendly older couple heading to Vietnam. They told me great stories and made me laugh. I'm not going to lie, I was getting annoyed sitting alone at the airport. They sat down next to me at the perfect time. They told me about all the traveling they have done through Europe and about the train trip in Croatia where the soldiers with guns constantly demanded to see passports. To which the lady leaned over and said "those guns were just penis extensions..."

I made it safely back to my FREEZING cold apartment on the 24th. My bedroom was a cold 46 degrees.. It took a good 12 hours to heat my apartment to a normal temperature. It's good to be back. :)

A Fine City: Singapore

The beginning of 2012 started off much different than previous years, with a 3 week adventure through Singapore and Malaysia. I love traveling. I can't get enough of it. When I think of the future and the possibility of moving home, I remember the little possibility to explore foreign lands. Traveling, exploring, meeting new people, being faced with new challenges... it's so exciting. I don't want to be stuck where I don't have the opportunity to go somewhere new (okay, I haven't been to every state yet.. but that's not foreign!) I've seen pictures here and there from my friends' adventures during winter break and I can't wait to have the opportunity to go there. To explore those places, see those sites, try those foods.... there's so many places left!!

There's so many things I love about traveling, even traveling alone. While it does get lonely and sometimes places are best experienced with good friends, it's still really awesome to BE THERE! On my way to Singapore I met a really awesome family. The man, his wife and 3 daughters were traveling home from China. We talked almost the entire way from Shanghai to Singapore. He was so helpful and kind. Giving me ideas of places to go, what to do, or not do. I really enjoy meeting new people when I'm traveling. I love to hear about their travels or whatever stories they want to share with me. It makes me smile. It makes me appreciate their country more. It makes me appreciate people more. I'm always surprised with the kindness of strangers when I'm traveling. Without asking for help, someone always manages to step up and help me without me asking and I really appreciate that.

My week in Singapore was really nice. The weather was phenemonal, sometimes a little too hot (I would LOVE that heat now so my fingers weren't frozen). The hostel I stayed at was okay. The staff was super friendly and helpful when I needed some information, but as far as the other people staying there.... They didn't seem very interested in hanging out, which is why I spent the week alone without making friends there. Too bad!

Anyway, my first full day in Singapore I was so excited to see the sun that I grabbed my book, my music and headed to the Chinese Gardens. I spent the afternoon just relaxing in the sun, reading. It was glorious. No computer, no kids, no Korean, just me and the green landscape. I was told to eat at food courts for cheaper (yet delicious) food. So, when I wasn't relaxing and reading I was in search of good eats. I spent 2 days on Sentosa Island at the beach. It's gorgeous there. The island has a lot of touristy things, like Universal studies and such. The beach was really clean and the water was inviting. Sentosa Island is also where the Southern Most Point of Continental Asia is :)

I went to the Bird Park, the Zoo and did the Night Safari at the zoo (which left me completely unimpressed). When I didn't know what to do I would pick a stop on the subway, get off and just walk. Or I would find a bench, to sit and read and just enjoy life. I indulged in foods that I can't get in Korea, like ruffles chips, ham, cheese and avocado wraps, prezel m&ms.
While in Singapore I was overly cautious of what I was doing. I wasn't entirely sure of all the rules of Singapore, but I knew that it was known as the "Fine City" for a reason. There's a long list of things you could get a fine for and they aren't cheap! It was a great week in Singapore and I really loved it there.

Elephant statues 

hanging out in the Chinese Gardens

the beach!

Happy New Year

On Thursday on my way to school I ran into the high school English teacher. For weeks we've been trying to get coffee after school is over, but every time we make plans she gets to go home early. Thursday we discussed coffee plans on the bus. I sat down at my computer and began finding things to occupy me for the day. Around 10:30 my friend walked in with her things. I started laughing and she just smiled and said, I guess making plans with you helps me get out of school early. We had a little chat and my co-teacher walked into the office. He shook her hand and said hi to her and then asked her plan. She took the opportunity to say the high school let her out early and I should be able to go too so we could get coffee. His facial expression was hilarious. I think he was shocked that he just kept saying "yes go early, yes go ahead!" I made sure he was okay with it and he just kept staring at her, shocked, saying yes. I quickly gathered my things (and in the process forgot things behind...oops!) My principal then walked in. He had already said his goodbye's to my friend. So he began giving me the same speech. Have a great vacation, be safe, enjoy your time off, Happy New Year and ended with... please take tomorrow off, too! Clearly this has been an awesome start to my month long vacation.

I spent Thursday cleaning my apartment in preparation for my vacation. I then headed to Gwangju in the evening to have a movie night with a good friend. We ended up watching 4 movies, which seems a little crazy now but at the time we weren't tired so we just kept watching. On Friday we met up with 2 other friends to see, yes you guessed it, another movie. We watched Sherlock Holmes 2, it was a really good movie!

I came back to my apartment so I can get as much rest as possible since I won't be sleeping in my bed for the next 2 nights... or a bed at all! I will head to Gwangju this evening to ring in the new year with all of my friends (well the ones who are here and not on vacation). On Sunday I'll make my way back to Naju to rest up for the day and make sure I have everything for my trip. Then I'll head back to Gwangju. I'm going to have dinner with a friend and wait for my bus to Incheon airport. My bus leaves at 2 am. My flight to Shanhai leaves at 9 am and I'll be to Singapore by 6:30 pm. I'm so excited and hoping that it won't be storming for my week there!!

Happy New Year everyone. New post after vacation!