I am an "Englishee Teecha"

Yes thats right folks..that is my official job title. There are also a few other things I go by around here. " Beautiful Yellow and Br own Hair Teecha" just plain " TEECHA!" and my favorite, "No Wedding Teecha?"( which in 8 year old Korean terms means: you are an old woman and you no marry? " Why Teecha, Why?" Honestly ,you want to get upset but then you realize that this 8 year old has been in school longer today than you have been awake,( and he still has 4 more hours to go,plus another 3 hours of homework) and you begin to feel much better about yourself.

So I have noticed that in my last 3 blogs I have mentioned at least once that everyone here is in a hurry...so no more mention of that, because honestly I am over it. Now I am starting to get settled and truly become an inhabitant of this country and to be honest it never fails to amaze me.

Lets start first with the CCTV. Does everyone know what CCTV is? OK well it is a "hidden" camera in the ceiling of EVERY ROOM IN South Korea and someone , in most cases no one really knows who , but someone watches every move that you make. Oh and it includes audio as well. At my school it is in the classrooms and the Head Instructor's job is to watch your CCTV's everyday and make sure that you are doing everything that you are supposed to do.That includes sticking to the strict time and class structure that CDI trains you on. But in a perfect world with 10 screaming 6-8 year olds, can you really complete the Dialogue exercise in 6 minutes?

Today we had an early meeting that included myself, the 2 other foreign teachers, the Head Instructor, the Director and the Owner/Manager. Can anyone guess what we did for the entire 2.5 hours??? Thats right we watched our CCTV's! Then we exchanged comments. Although I cant complain because I did get a free lunch out of it.


So on a lighter note I went to the Korean Folk Village today which is the only Korean thing that I have "done" here besides eat Kimchee and drink Soju.



That is a traditional rice field. Notice the scarecrow..very nice. Dont you just want to hang your laundry out to dry when you see this photo?


This is traditional Korean "sleeping quarters". This is also where the traditional Korean weddings are held but we were a bit late for that.



EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

Thats yours truly on the shortest boat ride ever, in the amusement park with in the folk village. You are not going to believe this but I rode the pirate ship there" my fellow kennywood fold from back home know what that is" and I was hoping for a candy apple...but I had to settle for chicken on a stick instead.



This is self explanatory I hope. It was absolutely beautiful! You had to take off your shoes before going in..and once inside you just stand there...and feel instantly at peace. This was also a Korean "nap" hotspot.One of many in the Korean Folk Village.

All in all...I am really just taking it all in and enjoying the constant paradigms that I stumble into. Its as though the county is still trying to catch up with the "consumer revolution" that swept this country 60 years ago, and it makes for good dinnertime conversation.



things to remember:
SOCKS!!!( more to come next blog)
Drunk Korean men on scooters blasting 50 cent "lollipop"
Soju is liquid xanax
You are supposed to drink coffee after every meal
"black black Barakobama"

You got to let your Seoul glow!

Well, here I am! Finally all settled into my new apartment, which I LOVE by the way. It is a studio with hard wood floor, very modern kitchen area, with modern appliances, bed, TV, and desk. The bathroom though, is something that I am not used to as a newbie to Asia. There is a sink ( which I have a few friends who don't even have that) and a toilet..but the shower isn't a "shower" at all. It is a removable shower head that sticks out from the wall, and is just slightly to the left but above the toilet. SO basically your entire bathroom is your shower, but it does come with a certain sense of freedom. You know the way that brushing your teeth in the shower feels so much better than it ever can confined to your sink alone? Well if feels like that. Although I have allot of great things to say about my experience so far..I have a few things things to get off my chest ( travelers bad luck mainly).
After flying for 48 hours to get here, I rested..bought myself a converter and plugged in my computer only to have the motherboard crash right before my eyes. ( hence why I am typing this a PC cafe- of which there is one on every block on Seoul, some blocks have more than one) Then I was hit with the worst jet lag, followed by a cold/cough that lasted for 2 weeks..mixed in with bed bug bites ( or mosquito bites as the doctor called them but I have never seen mosquito's bite in perfect lines of 3 and 4) then last but not least a wicked rash on both of my legs that wont go away. Although the best part about being sick here in Korea, is that you can get ANY RX drug that you need here for ANY ailment over the counter.

Including.....birth control. On our Saturday pilgrimage to Itaewon( where I received my best tattoo yet)Shadiyah and I were able to purchase birth control, over the counter, for $7 simply by asking for it.

Shadiyah " Do you have birth control"
Korean Pharmacist ( with head nodding yes) " contraceptive?"

Shadiyah ( while looking at Wesley and I) " If she comes back with condoms Ill die"
Koren Pharmacist ( hands Shadiyah 2 different kinds of boxes) " this one 7,000 won- this one 10,000 won."

and so we each walked out with a pack of birth control pills for one month.


So about the tattoo...it is a Japanese cherry blossom that I have wanted for an incredibly long time, and I figured Asia would be the best place to get it. Although the attitude here toward tattoos and people with them are not welcoming at all. I already get stares quite frequently just because I am a westerner, but when I am wearing a tank that shows my tattoos ( especially my new one which is quite big) Koreans stop dead in their tracks and point and stare. I am pretty sure that when one of my students came up to me at the Home Mart..her mother looked at me grabbed her and pulled her away. ( but I am really just pretending that it didn't happen)


You also have to be on your toes here 24/7. Everyone is in a hurry hurry hurry! There is also no "western" notion of holding the door open for the person behind your or single file line. You know how in the states if someone cuts in front of you, a fight usually breaks loose? Well here, it is just a way of life. It started when I was boarding the plane to Beijing, and it has become only more apparent with daily life.

~Did I mention that my first week here I almost had to ride the subway one stop passed mine because a wave of 30 or so koreans bum rushed the subway as soon as the doors opened and only the strong willed and tiny Koreans whom could duck under people were able to get off? I was so astonished ( of course at never having seen such a thing occur not even in New York City) that I gently pushed my way through like a polite foreigner until this very drunk,very sweaty Korean man helped push me off. and I mean litterally pushed me. I felt like cattle....but afterwards I just laughed. You just cant get that kind of excitement anywhere else in the world..that my friends is Korea.

The other "Asian" thing that I found most fascinating( but IN a truly wonderful way) is that Asia truly is ASIAN, 100%. There is nothing Latin, Greek,European or even American about it. They have their own way of doing things, they always have and they like it that way. Everything that we know as "Westerners" somehow relates back to greece, latin and for Americans it is Western and Eastern Europe, while South and central American have the Spanish to thank, etc etc...anway way what I am trying to say here is about the only " influnce" you will find in Korea is Japanese and that is only because they were occupied by Japan for so long but it is still minimal.
You become aware of the non-desire to influence or be influenced one day while you are serving yourself water from the watercooler, at the $1 kimbob place after work, and you just smile.That is the other thing about this country, it is litterally cheaper to eat out here than it is to eat in.

I have made quite alot of friends from all over the world..and I must say that I am excited about what the future holds. I start korean language classes in October, there are already plans in the works to go to Japan, and Bangkok just to name a few and I feel truly blessed to be able to live this life. I am one of the few westerners here who have never traveled before, for 90% of them it is a lifestyle, and this is just another entry on their facebook " where have I been in the world" application. But for me it is the beginning and I hope that along the way I dont lose sight of my plans..and I keep moving.

and ps...as soon as my motherboard gets here..there will be pics

Phrases to remember:
" drunken old korean men swerving in and out of people on their scooters on the sidewalk and almost falling over -at 4 am."
" now; you cant get that anywhere else in the world" but actaully mean it...
"wow the frozen yogurt acutally tastes like FROZEN YOGURT"
" The line 2 subway reaks of morning after soju near the gangnam station"
"Old Korean ladies in VERY VERy large visors"
" story on"

Straight from the book of a tired man

When I typed "s" into the title section of the blog the phrase " straight from the book of a tired man" popped up so I decided to go with it. Ok so tomorrow is my final day of training. I am also meeting with the guy whose apartment I am moving into tonight around 8 pm. He is moving out on Saturday and I will be following him shortly afterwards on Sunday.I opened my bank account today! yay! The funny thing is; is that I would have done it a week ago but I " heard" through the grapevine that I needed my alien registration card in order to do so.Well I cant get my alien registration card until I get my medical exam back ( which I wont get until tomorrow a.k.a. 2 weeks after I have been here) and I cant get paid with out a bank account. Oh I also forgot to mention that the ARC takes 10 days to come back AFTER you apply for it. It seemed hopeless until I just walked into the Hana Bank today and opened an account with just my passport and my visa. The entire process took about... 3 5 minutes.

That is the thing that I have been finding out about Seoul, Korea. No one really knows anything, everything and everyone is in a hurry. You can buy virtually anything that you want in the street, and everyone is dressed to the nines. So basically I am living in an Asian version of NYC.

I went to a traditional Korean bath house two days ago. It was an amazing experience-- totally out of my comfort zone, but that is what living abroad is all about, right?

So I go into the locker room where I am instructed by the woman working there ( via hand motions) to undress myself, completley. So I do and then she takes me by hand into the " bath house" area. Inside there are 3 tables to your right where women are receiving Korean massages that are done with exfoliating mits, sea salt and water by a half naked korean woman who scrubs every inch of your body until al that remains is your former self. I didnt take part in this but maybe next time. So then I take a shower in the shower room which you must do before you can be allowed to get into the baths. The first bath is about 24 degrees Celcius and bubbling. It is similar to a large hot tub. The next one is a still water bath ( smaller than the first) that is about 45 degrees celcius. This one takes about 15 minutes to get all of the way into because the water is SO hot. Then you take a cool dip in the 22 degree celcius bath before heading into the first of 3 saunas; the stone sauna @ 48 degrees celcius. The second is wooden " box" sauna that is around ( get this) 74 degrees celcius. Do you have any idea how hot that is? I only lasted about 2 minutes in there. The third is a sauna " hut" made out of stone and clay. You have to duck down to to get into the door, and inside you sit on the floor with legs crossed and wait for the sand dial to drain, and then you get out. One more dip in the cool bath and you are on your way. Typically Koreans bring their own products and follow this with a VERY LONG shower and they exfoliate their entire bodies fro about an hour or they pay the naked ladies to do it for them..I just went back to my hotel room and ate some ramen noodles.

Sorry no pics yet! right now I am using a 35 mm camera that my grandfather gave me. I have one roll left ( out of a 3 roll pack) and once I finished these 3 I am going to get them all developed and then I will have a TON of photos. Lets just hope that by then I will have a computer to upload them to.
I still cant believe that I have only been here for 1.5 weeks. it seems like I have been here much longer. I know that once I actaully begin teaching and living in my own apartment everything will settle in.

Cheers!

a little game I like to call just the tip.........

I made it! I am here in south korea. I am in the gungnam district of center Seoul. Sounds like a mouthfull,right? Well in a city where 10 million people live, work, and play you have to be specific about what area you are in. So thanks to CDI I had this week off to roam about the city and get used to the time difference. ALthough I have to be honest, I havent been doing much roaming. It is monsoon season here in Seoul and thats makes things very rainy and wet. On top of that the people that I am rooming with ARE all in training this week, so I have been completley on my own. Since not as many people speak english here as I had " heard" the thought of roaming too far away from the hotel, by myself, with out a way to ask for directions to get back- is just a little intimidating. The severe jet lag that I have been suffering has also contributed to my agoraphobia. It took me until Thursday to feel even %75. I was extremely fatigued , nauseous , and ironically was suffering from insomnia. I kept telling myself to get some valerian root before I left, but of course I forgot.

The food is amazing!So far it is has been the best part of my experience here.The people are friendly but pushy...everyone seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere..and the side streets at night are like something out of a movie! Street vendors, street food, the sound of mopeds scooting passed you and weaving in between the crowds of people, the neon signs. I have to admit though that the desire for a deli style turkey hoagie with cheese lettuce tomato onion and mayo has hit me once or twice..but I know that what I am about to experience will far surpass that desire.

I am just happy to finally be here..it seemed like it was never going to happen. I missed kloee first bithday!! I miss my friends and family back home and hope that we will all REALLY stay in touch and not just talk about it..but I know that I will be meeting some incredible ,lifelong, friends here as well.

Would you like to go out for a frozen yogurt or maybe an entire meal of food?

So yeah Im still here. just hanging around various parts of allegheny county. Causing trouble, and making it. I have to admit that having this summer off, while unexpected, has been quite fun. I have relaxed, organized, read loads of books...and with all of this extra time I have even been able to blog!

I am shoving off to NJ/NY area August 2nd to start the fist leg of my trip. From there I will fly out of JFK on August 16th..and then spend a week with a friend in Seoul( well actually a friend of a friend- hey it pays to have lots of friends) and then I will go to the Coatel Hotel in dowtown Seoul where I will stay for one week during training. I officially begin working at CDI April school in Joongrang on August 25th. I am told that my apartment will be near the school so that means that I will be living in Joongrang which is in the north east part of Seoul city.Think of it as a Brooklyn to a Manhattan. I wanted to be a bit more " in the action" but I think this may be better for me. I will be just a 20 minute train or cab ride to downtown.

I was just thinking that someone should give me a TV show...not because I deserve one but then again does anyone really?

Creative spontaneity

" If you lived here you would be home now"

yet another rainy crappy day in the burgh

I just re-read my last post..and I had to laugh out loud. Razor replacements, shampoos? I am the person that is always preaching " if you are going to go out of the country yet expect all the comforts of home..then you should stay at home". I think that I had just finished reading someone else's blog who had also gone to korea; and they recommended taking an abundance of toiletries. Spoken like a true traveler..when i confronted my best pal Hoagie with this idea she scoffed! Stating " I have been living out of a backpack for 6 months." ....and she really has.


I leave in 1 month and I have not saved up any money toward my trip. But I will tell you what I have accomplished. I have squashed a few qhosts, paid off a few credit cards, and learned alot about myself in the meantime. This includes the realization that I really dont need a whole lot to be happy....and that ex's are like bad milk. They are not recyclable or compostable. I am hereby resigning my position on the " sustainable lovers" team. I will focus all of my "green" energies where it actually can make a difference

" im over it"

More importantly, I am better than that. and so are you.

Back to work in one hour. Hopefully I make some money tonight. I am going to leave you with this quote:


“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow”

---I once had a very handsome young gentlemen recite this quote to me on my front steps in the tenth grade; while my grandpa was watching from the window.