Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I guess I'm Korean after all...

Hey all! Just listing a few random things that have me more Korean-ized (who would have thought that was possible):
  • I brush my teeth in the bathroom after dinner.
  • I get into the front seat of the taxi.
  • I have Nate-on (messenger service, basically the Korean version of AIM).
  • I have a Cyworld (Korean version of Facebook).
  • I like going to the Norebang (kareoke).
  • I wear heels almost every day.
  • I watch Korean dramas and TV shows... without the subtitles! But I don't understand everything. Actually, I don't understand most of it. Haha.
  • I have no problem letting a guy hold my purse.
  • I buy stuff from Gmarket.com.
  • I have said "Aigoo" more than once... today.
  • I always have some poppy Korean song stuck in my head.
  • I send so many text messages. (Mainly because calls are so darn expensive... 36 cents a minute for foreigners!)
  • I have bangs.
  • I eat Kimchi every every every day.
  • I go to the Jimjilbang (despite my first experience there...).
  • I've been eating outside of my comfort zone - I have tried soondae (blood sausage) and it was so yummy! I'm probably not brave enough to try 산낙지, San nak ji (live octopus). But... I think I will probably try dog meat before I leave. Sorry!
  • I use very Asian emoticons, like ^^, *^^* (one of my favorites.. looks better in a text), ㅠ.ㅠ, ^^;;, o_O, ㅜㅜ, -.-, ^.~, and so much more. Not to mention, I laugh like this now... ㅋㅋㅋ (translated to kekeke).
Hmm, what else is there? I'm sure the list will continue to grow as I spend more time here!

Side note: It's freezing here! Actually it's below freezing. Right now, at 5:40 pm, it is -1 degrees celsius! Below ZERO!!! Brr....

Saturday, November 8, 2008

It's All About the Benjamins

Well, more like the Korean won.

Last last Friday, on Halloween, one of the head Korean teachers took me aside and directly told me that a few of the students from my elementary classes want to quit the hagwon because of me. She said to me, "They think the material is too difficult and they are complaining that there is too much work." Well, surprise, janius, of course if I assign them homework, and they don't want to do it, they're going to whine and complain saying that they don't want to go to this hagwon anymore. Of course, they are going to run to you and say that they don't want to do the homework, and complaining that I'm giving them too much. Think about it, why are they only complaining about the classes that I assign them homework for? The classes that I teach Reading to have no homework, but you don't see them complaining. Hmm, I wonder why.

Now here's the funny part. I am not the one who decided on the elementary students' homework. The two Korean teachers chose the book and gave me very specific instructions about how much we have to cover in class, and then what pages are assigned for homework. And, they specifically told us that if the students do not complete their homework, then they have to stay after and they cannot leave until they finish. When Judy and I first heard this, we said, "That's a lot of homework! All the kids are going to have to stay after!" But the Korean teachers just insisted that it was necessary.

Also, that Friday was the first day that I actually was strict about and enforced this policy about staying late. I'm normally pretty lenient about it, but it's just been weeks of them all not doing any of their homework. If their books are empty, then I'm the one who gets in trouble for not making them do their homework, so I made them all stay late to finish. And well well, what happens? The kids run directly to their Korean teacher and complain. But hey, I guess it worked because she comes to me and this is what she tells me. "You have to just go easy on some of the kids (specifically the ones who are complaining). They are just not as motivated as some of the other students. It's okay if they don't do all their homework, just go easier on them." WHAT???

She later goes on to tell me that I don't really understand because I'm not a Korean teacher. Of course I understand, part of her duties include calling the parents, making sure the parents are satisfied with the education they're paying for, maintaining the reputation of the school, and to keep the students in the school. I do understand. But that's NOT NOT NOT what I came to Korea for. It's not part of my duties as an English Teacher here. I did not come to Korea to help a hagwon make money; I came to teach children English.

Anyways, that happened last last Friday and I was quite peeved. Two of the students actually quit and to be honest, the class is running a lot smoother. I haven't been easier on any kids in particular, but then again, I haven't been making any students stay after, even though they don't finish their homework. I'm not really sure how to run my classroom then...

Sorry it's been awhile. I've been really busy with studying for GREs and work and trying to have a social life. I took my Psychology subject test today and I'm really disappointed. Knowing that I couldn't bring all my college PSC class notes to Korea to study, I bought a Kaplan prep book thinking that it would be enough. So I thoroughly studied that book, but to my dismay, when test time came, there was so much information on the test that the book did not cover. It was a lot of information that I recall covering in my PSC classes, but I didn't have any of that information to study. At least not with me here in Korea. So, I don't think I did as well as I wanted to on that test, which is a bummer, because then I don't really know what to do about next year. I still am going to apply to grad schools, but if I didn't do that well, my chances of getting in to grad school go down...

Well, I'm exhausted and tomorrow I plan to start running again. It's been awhile because I've been so busy studying and eating junk food. Haha... but definitely want to start running and getting some exercise before the rain and snow come. SNOW! SNOW! I can't wait!

How is everyone doing back at home? I miss you all. I've updated some pictures... Oh! My bruise... I got it because I was too lazy to walk from my bed to the countertop to get my hairtie. So I kept on reaching thinking that I could reach the edge of the counter without getting off my bed. It was dark and I thought I got the edge, but nope, just missed and fell flat. It was kind of funny; I guess you had to be there. Oh, and the hairtie was around my wrist. But I'm all right, it'll go away. Sorry there aren't that many interesting pictures - haven't been able to go anywhere too exciting. Hopefully more adventures to come! Enjoy!

LOVE

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Homesick

So to be honest, I have been here in Bucheon for more than a month now, and haven't been homesick yet... until now.

It's 추석 (Chuseok) tomorrow here in Korea. Chuseok falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month and simply put, it's the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving (without the Native Americans and turkey). Chinese also celebrate this holiday as the Moon Festival (think moon cake!). Many Koreans travel back to their hometowns to pay respect to ancestors, and the streets are strangely quiet. Last year, my dad and I had a long layover at Incheon Airport on our way back to the states from Hong Kong, and Asiana Airlines provided a complimentary tour of Seoul. I remember the streets were deserted and quiet, as if no one even lived here! And that's what it will be like tomorrow...

Thanksgiving is a time spent with family and friends, and enjoying each others' company (and of course, the good food, hehe I love food)! So I wish I could do that this weekend. The Korean people I know have all headed back to their hometowns and many of the expats I know are out of the country (because of the three to five day weekend). I opted to stay in Bucheon this holiday for a few reasons. First, Momma also has a layover from HK on Sunday, and I will be going to the airport to pick up/give her some stuff. Secondly, I only have a three day weekend, and plane tickets are god-awfully expensive. Lastly, and probably most importantly, is that the first part of my dreaded GRE test is on Tuesday. I figured it would give me some time to study (read: cram) for my test. Luckily, this is only the writing portion of the test (two essays in two hours); and besides, I don't think there is much one can do to prepare for writing essays. I'm just going to look over some previous examples, the types of essay required, some practical tools (thanks to Kaplan), and hope that my undergrad writing experience from being a Psych major and History minor is enough to help me get a good score!

Anywho, my weekend has been going well so far despite the minor homesickness. Today, I went out to Seoul to find the test site, just to make sure I knew where it was, to ensure that I wouldn't get lost on Tuesday morning before my test! I came back home, cleaned a little, and walked over to HomEver to buy some food! Bought some lettuce, bananas, rice, and snacks. Tomorrow, I plan to study, meet my mom at the airport, and then go to Korean class at night. Monday, take it easy - get in a good jog at the nearby park, and mentally prepare myself for this stupid standardized test!

To make a long story short, I'm fine, you guys don't have to worry about me - just wanted to be with the ones I love the mostest this weekend, eating moon cake and other yummy food, but we'll have to save that for some other time! I'd better get back to "studying" - talk to you guys soon!

XOXO

By the way, pictures are up from Momma's visit last weekend (warning: there are a lot) and I added a few pictures to the September folder. There is a link (PICTURES!) on the left side of this blog.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Is there CHLAMYDIA in that pancake?

So today my mom and I spent the day with some relatives in Seoul; we went all over the city, hit up a lot of famous sights. A lot. I'll write more about it and upload pictures later. I'm so exhausted right now, but just wanted to share something with you all.

We were at dinner and ordered Octopus Pancake (something along those lines). Anyways, my mom was asking me if it was green onions or chives in the pancake, and I wasn't sure so I was asking my distant cousin if it was green onions or chives. She didn't really understand what I was saying, so I took her cell phone and started typing in "chive" into her English-Korean dictionary. I typed in chive, clicked enter, showed her the phone, and asked her if that was in the pancake. She looks at her phone and just bursts into laughter... I look at the phone, and it translated CHLAMYDIA! The word chive was not in her dictionary and so it went to the next word in the dictionary, which just so happened to be chlamydia. Hilarious!!!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Three Weeks Already

Me: Awww, Larry, Andrew's leaving and I won't see him for a long, long time...
Larry: You will miss him, yes?
Me: Yes, a lot.
Larry: Awww, Jessie, that's okay (gives me a hug). But you have me, yes? You forgot, yes?

Man, I miss the little monster, but thank goodness for webcams! I've been lucky enough to chat and webcam with everyone back at home, and it's made my transition to Korea so much easier. I'm so grateful for my family and friends. Can you believe that I've been here for three weeks already?! Today, Tuesday, marks exactly three weeks.

Random things I've observed/experienced:
- people get into the front seat of the taxi (me too now!)
- almost everyone sleeps on the subway
- they don't say "bless you" - my kids laugh at me when I say it
- the bus stopped at a gas station to fill up in the middle of the route!
- when seated, girls don't cross their legs (I've seen more guys than girls cross their legs)
- you have to pay for plastic bags from the supermarket (which I think is a good idea)
- garbage: you have to buy specific garbage bags and then just dump your garbage onto the sidewalk
- Koreans drink so much! they stay out until 4 or 5 am in the morning every night and then during the day, it's dead quiet because they're all at work! maybe that's why they're all sleeping in the subway...

Anyways, there's a lot more, I made all these mental notes, but it's not coming to me right now. My work schedule is tiring - working afternoons and nights. I'm not a morning person but I would much rather work the normal nine to five. There's so many things to do though - study for GREs, graduate school applications, running - that I'm sure I won't have any trouble keeping myself occupied during the day.

More another time, toodles!

Monday, August 25, 2008

More Pictures

Hey all! I've been so busy lately, no time to blog, but just added some pictures online, check them out:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jessicajanehu3/AYearAwayFromHomeInPictures

Start at picture 69 for the new pictures!

More later, I have to go teach phonics now.

XOXO

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Picture Time!

Hello everyone! How are you guys doing? Hope you all had a good weekend. :)

So, Friday was actually a national holiday in Korea, but for some reason, the 학원 (hakwon: school) I work at was open and the majority of the kids were there. After work, the head English teacher and I took the bus then subway to 부평 (Bupyeong), which is just a few subways stops from where we live. There were a lot of different restaurants, nightclubs, stores, karaoke clubs, and bars around there (just like every other popular part of Korea). There were a lot of 닭갈비 (chicken) restaurants so we decided to try that. It was kind of like chicken stir-fry; there are many ingredients that you can choose from to mix in, but we kept it simple and had spicy boneless chicken, with rice cake, and some cabbage. Oh, it was delicious! After dinner, we walked around for a bit, went back to the Bucheon station near our place and walked around there for a bit. From there, we decided to walk home. It was about a 30 minute walk.

Saturday, the head English teacher and I took the subway out to Seoul, specifically 강남 (Gangnam), supposedly a nicer, richer area of Seoul. I can’t remember how long the subway ride took, I think about 30-40 minutes – will have to pay closer attention next time.

Anyways, we wanted to eat some kind of stew or soup because it was rainy and chilly, so we decided on
부대찌개 (Budaejjigae). Literally translated, I think it means Army Stew (at least that’s what Andrew once told me – he said that in the army, they didn’t have much food, so they just mixed everything they had to eat into one stew). In ours, there were vermicelli noodles, spam, sausage, tofu, and kimchi, but there are so many other things that you can add in… cheese, ramen, etc. Again, so yummmyyyy!

The rain put a damper on walking around outside so we took the subway a few stops to the COEX mall. There were a lot of people in the mall; it had a variety of stores including the big Western brands to Asian/Korean stores and small stands. We even went inside a little art gallery. Here are some pictures from COEX mall:

We also sat down for some kind of performance. I didn’t know what or why this event took place (something about bridging China and Korean culture together because of the Olympics?), but the performance was really entertaining. It started off with an electric violinist. He was really good, and played one of my favorite Korean songs. Up next was some kind of Chinese mask-changing performance. It was really interesting to say the least, here’s a short clip, check it out:



Lastly was a lion dance. Also very entertaining. After the performance we headed back to Bucheon, and grabbed a bite near the Bucheon station. I had 회덥밥 (hedobab: rice, raw fish, seaweed, tobiko, veggies - mix it all together). It was… can you guess? Yep, suuuperrr!

Sunday, I was at the PC bang before heading over to Won Jong Dong to meet some new foreigner friends. It was nice - we grabbed a bite to eat, and did some walking around the area. It's nice to meet some people who are going through the same things I am!

Monday - not that exciting. Class, then came home, cleaned, and did a little bit of laundry. Tuesday (today) - I got internet installed in the morning before work. Today was an easy day for me, only four classes. I like Tuesdays and Thursdays' classes - the students are more responsive and are easier to engage with. But as their English teacher, its my responsibility to get them to start to understand English. Right now, I think most of the classes are using textbooks that are way too hard for them; the students are so clueless, especially when it comes to listening. Another downfall is that the textbooks are culturally specific to Western culture. For example, there was a question about sending the elderly off to senior homes, and none of the students understood it. Lastly, the English teacher before me was fired and had to leave abruptly, and a lot of the students didn't even know he was gone so there was no transition period for me. Well, I guess this is it! I just walked into the classroom as the new teacher, and that was that. This year is
definitely going to be a challenge (that's an understatement... it's like saying Phelps is a pretty fast swimmer), but it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to this year!

The pictures take forever to load onto this website and it's hard to format, so I just chose a few. I'm going to upload the rest onto this website: PICTURES (If the link doesn't work: http://picasaweb.google.com/jessicajanehu3)

Miss you all, keep in touch!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Work Begins

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for all your encouraging comments, e-mails, and messages - really, they mean a lot to me, so by all means, keep them coming!

So the last few days have been more productive than exciting. Yesterday, Wednesday, I planned to explore and walk around my neighborhood, but to my surprise, it was dead quiet! What was a bustling and lively place the night before completely transformed into this deserted and quiet area - there were barely any people in the streets and most of the restaurants by my house were closed! I guess the people come out at night... So, I walked over to the department store and had lunch (some kind of Bibimbab) at a restaurant upstairs. It was yummy!

Later that night, my meeting with the head principal went well. He was friendly and I don't anticipate any problems with the school. After that, the head English teacher (who also lives in the same building as me) took me to E-mart, a big supermarket near the subway station, because I wanted to get a bunch of cleaning supplies. Korea is so expensive!!! I bought an air freshener for about 5 dollars! And toilet paper was about $10 for about 12 rolls! Ridiculous!!!

Today, Thursday, was my first day of work. I was nervous at first beacuse I didn't have any training at all, just the textbooks, but everything turned out well. I had four 55-minute classes today with kids ranging from 12-16 years old. The classes were small; the biggest class I had was with four girls. Each class is different, but they either focus on speaking, listening, or writing. After work, I had complimentary dinner at the cafeteria in the building. Nothing special, just some side dishes, rice, seaweed soup, and a little bit of pork, but good enough for me. Even though I've started work, it still feels like I'm on vacation!! :)

After that, I headed home to do some serious cleaning. I rearranged some furniture and cleaned for almost three hours straight! Let's just say the bathroom was NOT white before I got to it. Anyways , I'm still not done cleaning, but enough for today. Now I'm at the PC bang responding to some e-mails and what not. I'm going to get internet installed at my apartment next Tuesday. It's later than I would like, but it was the only meeting time that worked with both the company and I. The only thing is... internet is so expensive too. It's about 30 something US dollars a month, for internet only. It's because I'm a foreigner and the price is doubled. Bummer. I do have my own computer and internet access at work, but won't be able to webcam with you there. So, I'll post up some pictures once I get internet installed at my apartment.

I'll update again probably, at the latest, the beginning of next week. Don't know what plans I have yet... maybe head out to Seoul for the Saturday. Miss you guys much!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Greetings from Bucheon!

Hello! 안녕하세요!

I'm here, in Korea! I'll be in 부천 (Bucheon) for the next year teaching English; it's a decent-sized city located somewhere in between Incheon (the airport) and Seoul. Right now, I'm at a PC방 (PC Bang) - literally, a room full of computers! I haven't set up internet at my apartment yet, so until I do, I'll be here. Internet's $1 for one hour.

I love it here! Despite the long Visa process, and at times thinking that I wouldn't be able to make it to Korea on time, I'm here and looking back, it was all worth it. The neon lights illuminate the sky; it's really beautiful. (Pictures soon, don't worry!) The lights are ten times brighter than Hong Kong and maybe even brighter than the Las Vegas lights. The streets are lined with restaurants, shops, and more... I can't wait to walk around and do some exploring tomorrow.

My apartment is a lot bigger than I expected - there's even a built in washer/dryer! That was definitely a nice surprise. The school that I'm going to be working at is about a five minute walk from my apartment. So convenient!

I'm exhausted... going to head back and unpack a little before passing out! How are the Olympics going? I miss you all, keep in touch!