One Month!!!

April 16 officially marks one month (again) in Korea. Time really flies - it felt like just yesterday I was sleeping in the cold without any blankets. Haha, but in all seriousness, I can't believe that I've been in Korea for one month now. It seems like it was just yesterday I got here, but at the same time, it feels I've been in Korea forever. Am I making sense?

Anyways, what have I been up to... Went to Namiseom last Saturday with some friends (honestly, it wasn't that fun). I'll put up some pictures soon, when I get a chance. On Sunday, saw some cherry blossoms in Bucheon and then played some volleyball. Oh! When everyone saw me, the first thing they said was that I gained weight! And to try to make things better, one of the guys says, "Oh, no no, you look more healthy." Uhmm yeah...... In other words, I look round and plump. Hahaha! But I know it's true, I don't fit more than half my clothes that I left in Korea!

So on top of balancing work and a social life, I have to add losing weight!! More specifically, to lose the blubber that I put on in the last six months. It didn't help that the months before I first came to Korea I was part of running groups (and even ran a half!); and when I got to Korea I just wasn't as active anymore (but still continued to eat the same amount, if not, more!!). Or maybe it was not having a job or money and it being below zero the last two months I was in Korea that really helped me pack on the pounds. As someone had so nicely put it: I was getting ready for winter hibernation. -_- Then being back in the States for those three months, eating everything I could, and having about 5 meals a day! I don't regret it one bit though, that Kobe beef my dad made once a week, mmm, to die for.... I'm hungry now.

Unfortunately, I'm on a diet now. A C-food diet, you know the one where you see food and you have to eat it. Yeah, we all know I'm not going to be able to stop eating, so... I have to be more active to burn all those calories I'm taking in. So to remedy this, my friend Yuri and I found a dance academy in Bundang and might start taking dance classes three days a week. Great way to kill two birds with one stone, eh? Work on my dance moves (even though, we all know all the dance classes in the world can't help my dancing - after witnessing my performance at Babee's wedding) and start fitting into my old clothes. I don't want to be super skinny anorexic-like the Korean girls, I just really don't want to have to buy new clothes!!!!

Bored yet?! Haha, anyways, here are some pictures of my neighborhood, the school, and some things I've been talking about.

On the third floor is POLY School.

Area around my school is pretty busy.

So that's the area near my school. For the picture below, I'm standing at a big intersection near my school looking in the direction of my house. In the distance, there are some smokestacks; I live right before those. It looks far, but it's not too bad; it's about a ten minute walk to work.

Still at the same intersection, looking away from my home towards the subway station. Can't see it too well, but there's the subway station. The little pathway leads to it. This is the pathway I was talking about. I runs behind my place and I heard it goes all the way into Seoul, I might have to try that out one day.
Still at the same intersection - Lotte Mart (almost like Walmart, without the Everyday Low Prices).


I took this picture while waiting for the bus to Bucheon. It's hard to see, but one of those buildings is my home. It's not the apartment building in the distance, but it's the 3-4 story high ones right on the main road. That bus stop is where I get dropped off coming back from Bucheon.

Will post more pictures soon... later! ^^;;

Field Trip Time!

Work has been exhausting! I'm at the school almost fifty hours a week; and man, the ten hour days are just killer. BUT... I'm not going to complain - I came to Korea to work and save up money, so I gotta do what I gotta do.

On a good note, the old hagwon that I worked for finally paid me! Finally! As time went on, it seemed that I wasn't going to get paid from them and I was pretty disappointed that I didn't save any money the first time around. But hey, whattayaknow, a turn for the better, and now there's actually money in my bank account! And even better, the exchange rate has gone down - $1 is roughly 1330 won. That sure is better than $1 to 1500 (when I came back to Korea). Hopefully, over the next year it'll continue go down even more. Knock on wood. That way, I'll be able to reach my goal of saving at least $20,000 this year.

Anyways, to the fun stuff and picture time! This time will be pictures of the kids at my school, next post will be of my 'hood. So today POLY School students went to the Bundang Police Station. The kids were so cute in their little yellow POLY sweats that they all wear on field trip days. When we got to the police station, they went for short rides in the police car, some got to fire a gun (simulated ?), watched a short video, had snacks, and tried on some hats. They were just so darn cute! Maybe it was just a lot better than teaching lessons...

Kids antsy and waiting to go inside
I know I'm not supposed to play favorites, but the boy on the left - hands down, my favorite!

He's adorable!!!

Brave being silly!

Some of the kids in my class playing dress-up

Waiting to see the officer fire the gun

The kids sitting are my class - Rose Class

Aren't the kids cute?! I really love teaching Kindergartners!

Oh! Since I got paid, I was thinking of getting a new phone (since my older phone is quite old, and the touch sensors always go beserk on me). How does the LG Ice Cream look?

In pink! ^^;;

There's actually the Ice Cream 2 out, but it's more expensive. I'm not really sure what the differences are either. I read somewhere that the Ice Cream 2 has a bigger screen, but is not yet unlocked. When I looked at the phones, they looked the same to me. I'll have to do a little more research since I can't even get the phone until I get my Alien Registration Card (in less than two weeks). I did check out the Ice Cream though and I liked it!

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday! TGIF! Looking forward to a good weekend - going to Namiseom Island on Saturday, then planning to go to Bucheon on Sunday to play some volleyball and get together with some friends. I should get some sleep, long day tomorrow!

Take care!

POLY School

Hello all!

As promised, this post will be about the hagwon that I work at... first things first though, I finally got internet set up at my apartment. So it's time for webcamming! But actually right now I'm in Ilsan/Goyang City, another satellite city outside of Seoul. If you look at the map in my previous post, it's north of Bucheon, and under Paju. I came here to visit Judy (my old co-worker from Bucheon) and stayed the night. She's sleeping now... -_-

Anyways, Suji POLY School (the branch that I work at): http://sj.koreapolyschool.com/?ck=yes

You can check under About Us > Our Teachers and on page 2, there's a little bio about me. Embarassing picture and I have to get the director to fix the typo that he made!

POLY School is a huge franchised English language academy here in Korea. Each academy is privately owned butI think that all POLY schools have the same curriculum, books, websites, and what not. The first week after I got there, it was the bi-annual POLY workshop. All POLY teachers are required to come and basically there were many different workshops about POLY, the curriculum, the classes, etc. Although it was semi-helpful, it wasn't too fun spending my first Saturday back in Korea stuck inside a convention center.

POLY Schools are normally from Pre-Kinder to elementary school. I teach Kindergarten and elementary classes. Between 9:50-2:15, I teach the Immersion portion for the 4 Kindergarten classes. Each class is only 40 minutes. Working with younger kids is really draining and really tests my patience sometimes, but I really like it. The kids are so adorable and some of them are really bright. Their accents are adorable and they really do say the darnest things! The last two weeks, I taught them about Kongi and Patji (a Korean folktale similar to Cinderella) - we learned new vocabulary words, we play games, and we learn about stories and other random things. Haha. Now we started a unit about proper ways to act in school - like following rules or speaking in a loud, clear voice. Sometimes I feel more like a babysitter than teacher, but when I see that the kids are really learning, it's really rewarding!

My afternoon classes (3:00-7:30) consists of students about 8-12 years old. Throughout the week, I teach Reading, Grammar, Speaking, Debate, and Math. Personally, I think that the kids are harder to manage; they often get fiesty and talk back. However, the students in my highest level class, I think they're 3rd graders, are really bright and their English skills are really good. Many of them have lived and studied abroad. They're a fun class to teach and a good way to end the day.

Well, there's a lot more about POLY, but I should wake Judy up so we can grab a bite before I head back home (long bus rides), then out to Gangnam to meet some friends. More later!

Oh! Look who it is! Lee Min Ho, from the hit drama, Boys Before Flowers! He's everywhere (and I don't mind ^^)!



Peace out!