So I'm waiting for the bus now. I figured it would be efficient to start "guerilla blogging" to save time.
I have two weeks off from work, so I planned a little holiday fun for myself. I'll be visiting 4 countries (well, 2 depending on your stance of what belongs to China) and having fun along the way.
I flew out of Seoul this morning and landed in Taipei this afternoon. It smells musty, like a cabin at summer camp. The Taipei airport is actually in Taoyuan, a city next door to Taipei. So, from the airport I took a bus to the high speed rail station in Taoyuan, where I then took a bullet train into Taipei Main Station. First impression: Taiwan is warm and humid right now, which compounds the heat. In the evenings it isn't too bad. Thankfully there has been a light breeze all day. On the train ride, I could see the, what I'm assuming to be, typical Taiwanese countryside. To be honest it looked pretty rundown which was not what I was expecting. Maybe it's the humidity that does that to buildings....but the rain should wash them up well... Regardless, that wasn't what I had in mind.
Anyway, I made it to Taipei Main Station, got lost trying to figure out how the labeling system works here, but eventually found my way. I walked by a kiosk selling (what I'm assuming was) stinky tofu. It literally smelled like a big fat ripe poo.
By this time, I was thoroughly sweated and disheveled. Good thing I had booked a hotel room nearby. I decided to go there first, even though it wasn't time to check-in. At least I could drop off my bag :)
Got to the hotel and chatted up the concierge. She told me I could use the lobby bathroom to change if I wished. I did. However, it was an unpleasant experience because that washroom had the foulest odour ever... When I came out and chatted up the concierge again, she told me she was upgrading my room and it was ready for me to enter. Alright!
I then Skyped with my folks for a little bit, took a shower, and then set off for today's itinerary. I have this entire trip planned out, but I like travelling alone because of the flexibility it offers. And I needed it too, considering the late start I was having.
First stop was the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Grounds. I walked around the impressive complex, looking at families blowing bubbles with their kids, old people lounging on the cool grass in the shade, and romantic young couples walking hand in hand or arm in arm.
After, I walked down the road to a really famous Xao Long Bao (shau long bao are dumplings) restaurant. They make them all by hand and perhaps from scratch too. Well worth it and deserving of its international reputation. They even paid special attention to me because it was my first time (and maybe white privilege too).
I had planned ahead to visit Elephant Mountain around this time because it would be sunset and because the sun would be at a good angle for photographs. Elephant Mountain is a famous spot for great views of downtown and Taipei 101. It's several hundred meters in elevation and it was a monster to climb all those stairs..I was huffing and puffing but it was well worth the grueling effort. The view was priceless. Many people had staked out a spot already and were enjoying themselves with Chinese food.
I then caught another bus to Core Pacific City which is a shopping mall on the north side of the city. I had seen this architectural curiosity in a city-building computer game I own, so I wanted to see the real thing. Didn't disappoint. It's a mix between the Death Star and an alien hive. It was really interesting.
I walked to Raohe Street Night Market (Taiwan is famous for night markets) and plodded along with the crowd--listening to the vendors hawking their wares, smelling the sometimes sweet sometimes nasty odours coming from the food. I stopped by a Buddhist store which was kind of cool but I can't read Chinese so I don't know what any of the stuff was saying :( I ordered some sort of cake bread thing and enjoyed it while checking out the rest of the market.
I caught another bus to my final destination tonight: Daija Riverside park. I had to walk about 20 minutes to get there, but I got to go through the Taipei Lantern festival on the way. I was going to this place because I saw on Google Maps that it would be the perfect place to snap a photo of the Taipei Grand Hotel, another architectural landmark. It also happens to feature prominently in one of my favourite computer games: Alpha Protocol. Bad news though: when I finally got to the spot, the hotel was almost completely dark :( I guess they turn off the lights at night? How disappointing. I tried to take the best picture I could without a tripod, but I'm not sure if it worked.
Finally, I went back to the hotel. It was midnight when I finally returned. My itinerary specified that I was to take a 7:20am train the next day, but I couldn't handle that, so I changed it. However, reworking the schedule took some more time and the Internet connection was going in and out so it took longer than necessary. I finally went to bed at 1:30.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
Affirmation and Revelation
Affirmation: Yesterday evening after school, I boarded the bus back to Gwangju and happened to be boarding at the same time as my mentor teacher. We sat next to each other and we chatted on the way back to Gwangju. It was a really encouraging conversation. She told me that the school was very happy with me because I prepared a lot of stuff for the students and that I took my job seriously. She said sometimes Korean people don't like foreigners in their school because they slack off and only stand at the front of the class and expect to get paid just for speaking, not teaching. However, they appreciate the effort I put into my classes, and she said I am ready to be a good teacher. I was positively beaming. How can one not?
Revelation: I was talking with the male English teacher yesterday, and we were talking about the books I had brought with me from MCC. When I told him how much I paid for them, he was astonished how inexpensive they were. Of course, books in Korea are horrendously expensive. Now, however, I know why.
He told me it's because Korea is small and has so few loggable (is that a word?) trees! I didn't even think of that.... I guess the import on lumber would be expensive...
But then that doesn't explain why copy shops are so ridiculously cheap here... food for thought I guess.
On a similar note, in the news a long time ago I remember reading a story about how South Korea was planning to move to digital textbooks. Everyone was impressed that Korea was so forward thinking, but now I understand this issue further. Korean educational bureaucracy is actually quite wasteful with paper, and this is shameful. Schools receive a new textbook every year, for each grade! My English classroom has several valuable shelf spaces completely taken up by old textbooks (we're talking maybe 1 or 2 years) that haven't even been used. Perhaps that's why Korea needs to spend so much money on education... Even so, when the students do receive their textbooks, they treat them very poorly. Many have ripped the covers off and then basically lacerated the whole thing into oblivion. It's disgraceful really.
Revelation: I was talking with the male English teacher yesterday, and we were talking about the books I had brought with me from MCC. When I told him how much I paid for them, he was astonished how inexpensive they were. Of course, books in Korea are horrendously expensive. Now, however, I know why.
He told me it's because Korea is small and has so few loggable (is that a word?) trees! I didn't even think of that.... I guess the import on lumber would be expensive...
But then that doesn't explain why copy shops are so ridiculously cheap here... food for thought I guess.
On a similar note, in the news a long time ago I remember reading a story about how South Korea was planning to move to digital textbooks. Everyone was impressed that Korea was so forward thinking, but now I understand this issue further. Korean educational bureaucracy is actually quite wasteful with paper, and this is shameful. Schools receive a new textbook every year, for each grade! My English classroom has several valuable shelf spaces completely taken up by old textbooks (we're talking maybe 1 or 2 years) that haven't even been used. Perhaps that's why Korea needs to spend so much money on education... Even so, when the students do receive their textbooks, they treat them very poorly. Many have ripped the covers off and then basically lacerated the whole thing into oblivion. It's disgraceful really.
The First Week is Through
Hi All,
I just finished the first week of being back in Korea :) It started off rough, but got better and better. In fact, I'd say it was a downright nice week. At first I was very lonely teaching again because I was without my trusty co-teacher, Seon Ha. The kids couldn't understand me and it was very frustrating for both them and me--I felt like I was looking around in the dark for something. However, as the week has gone on, things have gotten better. Granted, my sentence structure has reduced a little bit and I can't use the awesome vocabulary that I've amassed over the years, but the kids are able to understand me more and they seem to like me, which is always a plus. In fact, if you ever come to Korea (especially if you are a male) be prepared to get treated like a rock star a little bit. Try not to let it go to the head :S
This morning I went with my previous co-teacher Seon Ha to sign a preliminary contract for the apartment I will be moving into at the end of the month (Feb. 28 is possession day). I'm going to be a neighbour to Irene, which I'm looking forward to, and I'm going to be seriously 5 minutes or less to the bus stop. I'm so excited :) It's not within walking distance to McDonald's anymore (perhaps no more weekend breakfasts with Harry Potter :( but there's a bus stop on the main road which will let me get to Mickey D's by the number 26 or 30. That same bus can go to the bus terminal too, which is also a big plus.
I've been eating at the cafeteria every day this week because I've been co-teaching with the other two English teachers in the mornings. I'm supposed to log 60 hours this month, and since there's only 2 weeks of school, we've had to smush them all into 2 weeks, which means I co-teach in the mornings and then do my regular after-school classes in the afternoon. I don't mind it actually, it's nice to see all the students who dropped out of my class again, lol. Some of these kids are seriously crazy though. I feel bad for their homeroom teachers.
It's been a bit of a game, trying to disguise the fact that I don't speak Korean. The kids always (naturally) try to speak with me in Korean, but of course I don't understand what they're saying. Sometimes I can, but sometimes it's too fast for me. When they ask me a question though, I usually say "try it in English" in Korean so that it looks like I'm a firm teacher, and it works as a nifty cover up I know enough Korean to drop a line here and there or respond to one of their questions to fake it though. However, I will be addressing this come March.
I've signed up for two Korean classes at the university in March, which I'm pretty excited for. As a side note, I just want to mention that I received the course timetable on Wednesday and I was expected to pick and register by Friday. Nice. Good thing my elementary school knows whether or not they'll schedule me for co-teaching in the mornings this semester (read: I'm being sarcastic. They won't make my schedule until March). One of them is with the same professor that Irene and I had last semester. Coincidentally, that was the same class where we met Miyuki and Yu and Karla and Calvin and other international students. I'm hoping I can make some of the same type of friendships through these new classes. One of my students asked me today (in Korean) why she should have to study English if I don't study Korean. Good question! This reminds me of something Celeste-Tina said in class back at UFV. She said, "Never give your students something you haven't done yourself." In fact, she even asked us at the beginning of the year if we were studying another language, or had already learned one. She urged us to sign up for classes or get involved in a community group, because as teachers, we're nothing without credibility.
I heard through the grape vine that there are four more North American students coming to CNU next semester! One is from Missouri I believe and I think one is from New York. I can't remember where the third one is from, but the fourth is from good ol' University of Alberta! Time will tell whether the American exchange students will be of similar character and behaviour as the American TaLK scholars.
One student said I look like Woody from Toy Story.
Finally, I just want to write about one of the other English teachers here (the middle-aged, broken English, male one). I think he's hilarious (not in that he's a comedian, but he's just a funny person. Kind of like Mr. Bean). He sprained or broke is ankle a while ago, so he was on crutches for a long time (but he of course came to work. In Korea, a sick day only counts if you're an inch from death) and had brought a foot bath/massager to work. He would go use the "hospital" in our under-used English village for some good R&R.
He brought a big heater to school the other day, but yesterday it stopped working. He was fiddling with it, then he prayed, and then it worked again! Then he asked me about whether I believed in "the God" or not and then showed me a cool video (in Chinese, lol) about how they found Noah's Ark on Ararat.
I like this guy :)
Anyway, after work yesterday, we were walking to his car because he usually takes me to a bus stop in Gwangju. All of a sudden, he wheeled around and sheepishly asked my other English teacher (the 30-something, demure female one) if he could borrow 10 bucks because he was out of gas. ;)
Today he told me he was going to fix his heater over the weekend, because he's MacGyver.
And that's my week in review :)
I just finished the first week of being back in Korea :) It started off rough, but got better and better. In fact, I'd say it was a downright nice week. At first I was very lonely teaching again because I was without my trusty co-teacher, Seon Ha. The kids couldn't understand me and it was very frustrating for both them and me--I felt like I was looking around in the dark for something. However, as the week has gone on, things have gotten better. Granted, my sentence structure has reduced a little bit and I can't use the awesome vocabulary that I've amassed over the years, but the kids are able to understand me more and they seem to like me, which is always a plus. In fact, if you ever come to Korea (especially if you are a male) be prepared to get treated like a rock star a little bit. Try not to let it go to the head :S
This morning I went with my previous co-teacher Seon Ha to sign a preliminary contract for the apartment I will be moving into at the end of the month (Feb. 28 is possession day). I'm going to be a neighbour to Irene, which I'm looking forward to, and I'm going to be seriously 5 minutes or less to the bus stop. I'm so excited :) It's not within walking distance to McDonald's anymore (perhaps no more weekend breakfasts with Harry Potter :( but there's a bus stop on the main road which will let me get to Mickey D's by the number 26 or 30. That same bus can go to the bus terminal too, which is also a big plus.
I've been eating at the cafeteria every day this week because I've been co-teaching with the other two English teachers in the mornings. I'm supposed to log 60 hours this month, and since there's only 2 weeks of school, we've had to smush them all into 2 weeks, which means I co-teach in the mornings and then do my regular after-school classes in the afternoon. I don't mind it actually, it's nice to see all the students who dropped out of my class again, lol. Some of these kids are seriously crazy though. I feel bad for their homeroom teachers.
It's been a bit of a game, trying to disguise the fact that I don't speak Korean. The kids always (naturally) try to speak with me in Korean, but of course I don't understand what they're saying. Sometimes I can, but sometimes it's too fast for me. When they ask me a question though, I usually say "try it in English" in Korean so that it looks like I'm a firm teacher, and it works as a nifty cover up I know enough Korean to drop a line here and there or respond to one of their questions to fake it though. However, I will be addressing this come March.
I've signed up for two Korean classes at the university in March, which I'm pretty excited for. As a side note, I just want to mention that I received the course timetable on Wednesday and I was expected to pick and register by Friday. Nice. Good thing my elementary school knows whether or not they'll schedule me for co-teaching in the mornings this semester (read: I'm being sarcastic. They won't make my schedule until March). One of them is with the same professor that Irene and I had last semester. Coincidentally, that was the same class where we met Miyuki and Yu and Karla and Calvin and other international students. I'm hoping I can make some of the same type of friendships through these new classes. One of my students asked me today (in Korean) why she should have to study English if I don't study Korean. Good question! This reminds me of something Celeste-Tina said in class back at UFV. She said, "Never give your students something you haven't done yourself." In fact, she even asked us at the beginning of the year if we were studying another language, or had already learned one. She urged us to sign up for classes or get involved in a community group, because as teachers, we're nothing without credibility.
I heard through the grape vine that there are four more North American students coming to CNU next semester! One is from Missouri I believe and I think one is from New York. I can't remember where the third one is from, but the fourth is from good ol' University of Alberta! Time will tell whether the American exchange students will be of similar character and behaviour as the American TaLK scholars.
One student said I look like Woody from Toy Story.
Finally, I just want to write about one of the other English teachers here (the middle-aged, broken English, male one). I think he's hilarious (not in that he's a comedian, but he's just a funny person. Kind of like Mr. Bean). He sprained or broke is ankle a while ago, so he was on crutches for a long time (but he of course came to work. In Korea, a sick day only counts if you're an inch from death) and had brought a foot bath/massager to work. He would go use the "hospital" in our under-used English village for some good R&R.
He brought a big heater to school the other day, but yesterday it stopped working. He was fiddling with it, then he prayed, and then it worked again! Then he asked me about whether I believed in "the God" or not and then showed me a cool video (in Chinese, lol) about how they found Noah's Ark on Ararat.
I like this guy :)
Anyway, after work yesterday, we were walking to his car because he usually takes me to a bus stop in Gwangju. All of a sudden, he wheeled around and sheepishly asked my other English teacher (the 30-something, demure female one) if he could borrow 10 bucks because he was out of gas. ;)
Today he told me he was going to fix his heater over the weekend, because he's MacGyver.
And that's my week in review :)
Thursday, February 7, 2013
February Update
Hi all,
So I had written two previous blog posts, and I had stored them as drafts on my iPhone. Unfortunately, they were somehow deleted which infuriates me to no end because they were really good posts and I wanted those memories :'( oh well, it happens I guess.
So I'll tell you what's going down in the big Gwang these days.
- Recently I spent two weeks in Canada visiting my family and friends. It was an excellent time to see everyone again and I'm so glad I was able to come home for such a long time. I have read on Facebook how some other scholars decided to have some time at home but could only spend a week or even less time there.
- I am teaching more than ever now because these first two weeks in February are the only ones this month where school is in session. That means I teach in the morning and also after school in order to fulfill my hours for the month.
- This weekend is Lunar New Year here in Korea, which means lots of people will be going to their hometown to register. Josh and I want to do something this weekend... Maybe we will go to a theme park or something.
- Two days ago I received an e-mail from the university which included the much anticipated course timetable for the coming March semester. They told me to look through it and pick my courses and send it back today! How's that for advance notice/forethought eh?
- I recently made contact with an MCC SaLTer here in Korea and will be going to Gapyeong to meet up with her in a few weeks time. I believe she's from Morden.
- Big news. My co-teacher helped me find an apartment and tomorrow we will be going to sign the contract so I can live there for the rest of my contract! It's in a great location and the price is right. I'm excited to move in. I will be moving at the end of this month.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Happy New Year
Dear Reader(s), I'm so terribly sorry that I haven't written in so long. As a result, I have a million things to write about, but I don't want to drown you in text, so I'll try and break things up.
Here's some quick updates since I last posted:
- My extended contract will go from February 1st to July 31st. At the moment, I plan to return to Canada after my contract ends, so I can finish school.
- I'm trying to move out but I don't know if it will happen until January. I'm on the waitlist for a single room in another dormitory, but unfortunately, hardly anyone at the residence office speaks English, so I doubt this will come to fruition.
- Irene's in Japan right now, she comes home in a few days.
- Josh is in Japan also right now, he comes home also in a few days.
- I'm sick :( I'm pretty sure I've passed the apex of this virus and am winning the biological battle right now.
- Getting pretty stoked to come home for awhile!
- I was supposed to attend a teacher's event that my school invited me to. They were going on a teachers-only field trip to Muan, and asked me to come along. The morning of, I waited for the bus to get to Damyang for a full 30 minutes and it never came. Surprisingly, the teachers were leaving on schedule, so I told them not to wait for me. Unfortunate that I couldn't go along, but in the end, it might have been a better thing (can you imagine spending a whole day on a field trip with Korean speaking teachers? They're nice people and all, but I had a fair amount of dread about this event).
- I saw Les Mis and Wreck it Ralph (excuse me, "Fist King Ralph" over here) recently. Both very very good movies. Unfortunately, South Korea has a nasty habit of either not showing the movies with subtitles, or showing them in the mornings for a few days and then pulling them. Either way, it makes it difficult to enjoy the cinema.
- I found out recently that I have two weeks of vacation in February. My supervisor had told me about this before, but she said I would have to be at school for those two weeks, even though my students weren't there. However, recently I talked to her again and she said I didn't have to come to school those days (and I reconfirmed a few times just to make sure). As a result, I'm planning some trips in the near future.
- Recently I came back from my trip to Tokyo. I will write about that in a new post, as I'm still editing my pictures from said trip.
Happy New Year!
Here's some quick updates since I last posted:
- My extended contract will go from February 1st to July 31st. At the moment, I plan to return to Canada after my contract ends, so I can finish school.
- I'm trying to move out but I don't know if it will happen until January. I'm on the waitlist for a single room in another dormitory, but unfortunately, hardly anyone at the residence office speaks English, so I doubt this will come to fruition.
- Irene's in Japan right now, she comes home in a few days.
- Josh is in Japan also right now, he comes home also in a few days.
- I'm sick :( I'm pretty sure I've passed the apex of this virus and am winning the biological battle right now.
- Getting pretty stoked to come home for awhile!
- I was supposed to attend a teacher's event that my school invited me to. They were going on a teachers-only field trip to Muan, and asked me to come along. The morning of, I waited for the bus to get to Damyang for a full 30 minutes and it never came. Surprisingly, the teachers were leaving on schedule, so I told them not to wait for me. Unfortunate that I couldn't go along, but in the end, it might have been a better thing (can you imagine spending a whole day on a field trip with Korean speaking teachers? They're nice people and all, but I had a fair amount of dread about this event).
- I saw Les Mis and Wreck it Ralph (excuse me, "Fist King Ralph" over here) recently. Both very very good movies. Unfortunately, South Korea has a nasty habit of either not showing the movies with subtitles, or showing them in the mornings for a few days and then pulling them. Either way, it makes it difficult to enjoy the cinema.
- I found out recently that I have two weeks of vacation in February. My supervisor had told me about this before, but she said I would have to be at school for those two weeks, even though my students weren't there. However, recently I talked to her again and she said I didn't have to come to school those days (and I reconfirmed a few times just to make sure). As a result, I'm planning some trips in the near future.
- Recently I came back from my trip to Tokyo. I will write about that in a new post, as I'm still editing my pictures from said trip.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Garlic Lady Returns!
I saw her again on the bus yesterday. This time, without a hint of garlic!
She still wanted to talk to me the whole way to Damyang, and this time she was so bold as to sit. right. next. to. me.
However, she shared her bag of goguma chips (sweet potato chips, but I thought they were made from some sort of nut. Either way, they were delicious) with me. In fact, she even fed some of them to me (a little strange, but I'll file it under "W" for "When in Rome").
On the university front, I wrote my last final yesterday. I think it went well, and I'm looking forward to the break from studies. In Korea, the universities have huge vacations--school starts in September and goes until December. Then it doesn't start again until March! Yes, they get 2 whole months of vacation here!
On the elementary school front, things are going well. I'm getting excited about teaching my kids about Christmas. I had wondered if I was going to be able to bring Jesus into the classroom (as in, teaching them about Jesus--I try to show them grace like Jesus would on a regular basis, but it's trying) since He is the reason for the season. To be honest, I don't know how athiest-militant the atmosphere is in school, but my impression is that it's more relaxed than in Canada. I asked my pastor about it, and he advised me that it would be okay to talk about Jesus. After all, he said, a lot of the kids in my class probably go to church with their parents or grandparents, so they would already know the Christian holiday of Christmas.
Now for a bad story :(
Here's some preface:
- Two nights ago, my roommate went to his hometown for a few days, so it was just me here.
- My roommate has a printer, his friend Junseong does not. My roommate has given Junseong free access to his printer, along with the passcode for our room so that he can use it when he needs it. Fine with me, it's not a problem. Junseong is a nice guy.
But this takes the cake...
At around 01:00am, I had just finished studying for my finals, took my shower, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed. No sooner than 1 or 2 minutes after closing my eyes, I hear a knock at the door.
"Oh, it's probably Junseong wanting to use the printer. But it's 1:00am and I'm going to sleep, so he can come tomorrow," I thought.
Another few knocks. Then the beeping sound of my door's keypad being activated.
"Are you serious!?" I thought.
Junseong came into my room, used his phone as a flashlight, turned on my roommate's computer, turned on his printer, printed several pages, and then left.
I was shocked and very angry. What gall! I'm sure he was rushing to meet some sort of perfectly ordinary 1:00AM deadline to hand in a physical copy of his assignment--except that he's not even enrolled in any classes here!
Yeesh. Now I'm angry again just from writing this. I'm going to have to discuss this matter with him later.
------------------
Oh, also, a sad story. Today is the day that most of the international students at CNU leave for their home countries. At least, that's what's going on with our (Irene's and my) good friend Miyuki, who returns to her native Japan tomorrow afternoon. We're going to miss her :(
Oh, and a big news story!
My application for contract extension was approved! That means I will be in South Korea for another 6 months after January, which means I could be coming back to Canada in the middle of July. I'm pretty stoked about this, since I love Korea.
Also, another big news story:
I'm coming to Canada for a visit in January! I'll be there between January 18 and February 1st. Looking forward to seeing family and friends. People are assuming that I'm lonely here (in South Korean culture alone equals lonely)... but it's not the case :)
She still wanted to talk to me the whole way to Damyang, and this time she was so bold as to sit. right. next. to. me.
However, she shared her bag of goguma chips (sweet potato chips, but I thought they were made from some sort of nut. Either way, they were delicious) with me. In fact, she even fed some of them to me (a little strange, but I'll file it under "W" for "When in Rome").
On the university front, I wrote my last final yesterday. I think it went well, and I'm looking forward to the break from studies. In Korea, the universities have huge vacations--school starts in September and goes until December. Then it doesn't start again until March! Yes, they get 2 whole months of vacation here!
On the elementary school front, things are going well. I'm getting excited about teaching my kids about Christmas. I had wondered if I was going to be able to bring Jesus into the classroom (as in, teaching them about Jesus--I try to show them grace like Jesus would on a regular basis, but it's trying) since He is the reason for the season. To be honest, I don't know how athiest-militant the atmosphere is in school, but my impression is that it's more relaxed than in Canada. I asked my pastor about it, and he advised me that it would be okay to talk about Jesus. After all, he said, a lot of the kids in my class probably go to church with their parents or grandparents, so they would already know the Christian holiday of Christmas.
Now for a bad story :(
Here's some preface:
- Two nights ago, my roommate went to his hometown for a few days, so it was just me here.
- My roommate has a printer, his friend Junseong does not. My roommate has given Junseong free access to his printer, along with the passcode for our room so that he can use it when he needs it. Fine with me, it's not a problem. Junseong is a nice guy.
But this takes the cake...
At around 01:00am, I had just finished studying for my finals, took my shower, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed. No sooner than 1 or 2 minutes after closing my eyes, I hear a knock at the door.
"Oh, it's probably Junseong wanting to use the printer. But it's 1:00am and I'm going to sleep, so he can come tomorrow," I thought.
Another few knocks. Then the beeping sound of my door's keypad being activated.
"Are you serious!?" I thought.
Junseong came into my room, used his phone as a flashlight, turned on my roommate's computer, turned on his printer, printed several pages, and then left.
I was shocked and very angry. What gall! I'm sure he was rushing to meet some sort of perfectly ordinary 1:00AM deadline to hand in a physical copy of his assignment--except that he's not even enrolled in any classes here!
Yeesh. Now I'm angry again just from writing this. I'm going to have to discuss this matter with him later.
------------------
Oh, also, a sad story. Today is the day that most of the international students at CNU leave for their home countries. At least, that's what's going on with our (Irene's and my) good friend Miyuki, who returns to her native Japan tomorrow afternoon. We're going to miss her :(
Oh, and a big news story!
My application for contract extension was approved! That means I will be in South Korea for another 6 months after January, which means I could be coming back to Canada in the middle of July. I'm pretty stoked about this, since I love Korea.
Also, another big news story:
I'm coming to Canada for a visit in January! I'll be there between January 18 and February 1st. Looking forward to seeing family and friends. People are assuming that I'm lonely here (in South Korean culture alone equals lonely)... but it's not the case :)
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The First Snowfall and the Garlic Lady
It started snowing yesterday! Just for a few minutes, but it was pretty magical. I've never lived on a floor higher than the ground floor, so living on the 10th floor is pretty special--it's a nice view.
I went to do a few errands the other day and noticed that the local Shinsegae department store had put up its Christmas decorations! Christmas decorations aren't a big thing in Korea, unfortunately, so it's always nice to see a bit of Christmas wherever you can find it.
Today my grade 3 kids were being naughty, but my grade 4's were pretty nice as usual (although the boys were really rowdy today), and grade 5 was awesome.
Because the grade 3s were insanely late, I gave them the option of staying in with the grade 4 lesson or they could leave if they wish. Surprisingly, they all stayed, which aggravated the grade 4s...I'm not sure why...
Even the one's who don't like my class chose to stay.... Seriously?
Anyway, I hope tomorrow's class goes better. It was a bit of a disaster having a combined class.
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Now, you might be wondering, based on the title of this post, who the Garlic Lady is. Well, let me tell you!
I can't remember if I wrote about it previously, but one day a few weeks ago, I got on the bus to Damyang and was quickly waved over by a Korean woman sitting near the back. I had never seen this woman before, and I certainly had no idea why she waved me over to sit near her. Anyway, she handed me a map/brochure/booklet of Damyang and all the cool things you can see and do there and then talked to me a little bit. By "talked to me a little bit", I mean she spoke Korean at a normal (read: fast) pace and expected me to understand perfectly. Anyway, I thanked her for the map, tried to go along with this horribly broken and one-sided conversation and then put my earphones in so I could listen to music and de-stress on my way to work. She wouldn't have it of course, and kept trying to talk to me. To be honest I was relieved when she moved to the front of the bus to sit.
Anyway, fast forward to today. I got on the bus and who happens to be there? It's the same woman! This time there was a really strong scent of garlic in that section of the bus, so I'm going to call her the Garlic Lady. Actually, she told me her name today, it's Mi Ok (as in, "me oak" like the tree).
Regardless, we had a very similar conversation to the one before, except this time she was ferociously munching on her gum like a rabbit and using her phone like a radio and playing her music really loudly at the back of the bus. I again tried to put my earphones in and pulled out a notebook to do some work before school, but she wouldn't have it. She interviewed me rapid-fire and then asked for my phone number so she could connect me via KakaoTalk (an insanely popular instant messaging service all Koreans use), or have me as some sort of exotic trophy on a list of friends. Either way, I freely gave out my information due to a combination of wanting to be a good ambassador for foreigners in Korea (remember, Korea has only recently been opened to non-Koreans, so there's a fair chance I am the first white person quite a few Koreans have seen), and that I judged her to be a low-risk, if somewhat odd, person.
The rest of the bus ride was somewhat tense, as she would look over at my notebook all the time to see what I was scribbling down and then ask me questions that I could partly understand.
The smell of garlic was everywhere.
It's the Garlic Lady.
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| Gwangju has some of the warmest weather in Korea, so it doesn't get much snow. The morning after yesterday's minuscule snowfall these mountains had a light dusting. |
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| A cute little Totoro display at Shinsegae's Christmas stand (Totoro is a well-known Japanese cartoon character) |
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| They put up a Christmas tree by the cafeteria at my school! It's small, but also precious and beautiful. Irene and I both feel very emotional about this, so we both took pictures :) |
Because the grade 3s were insanely late, I gave them the option of staying in with the grade 4 lesson or they could leave if they wish. Surprisingly, they all stayed, which aggravated the grade 4s...I'm not sure why...
Even the one's who don't like my class chose to stay.... Seriously?
Anyway, I hope tomorrow's class goes better. It was a bit of a disaster having a combined class.
--------------------
Now, you might be wondering, based on the title of this post, who the Garlic Lady is. Well, let me tell you!
I can't remember if I wrote about it previously, but one day a few weeks ago, I got on the bus to Damyang and was quickly waved over by a Korean woman sitting near the back. I had never seen this woman before, and I certainly had no idea why she waved me over to sit near her. Anyway, she handed me a map/brochure/booklet of Damyang and all the cool things you can see and do there and then talked to me a little bit. By "talked to me a little bit", I mean she spoke Korean at a normal (read: fast) pace and expected me to understand perfectly. Anyway, I thanked her for the map, tried to go along with this horribly broken and one-sided conversation and then put my earphones in so I could listen to music and de-stress on my way to work. She wouldn't have it of course, and kept trying to talk to me. To be honest I was relieved when she moved to the front of the bus to sit.
Anyway, fast forward to today. I got on the bus and who happens to be there? It's the same woman! This time there was a really strong scent of garlic in that section of the bus, so I'm going to call her the Garlic Lady. Actually, she told me her name today, it's Mi Ok (as in, "me oak" like the tree).
Regardless, we had a very similar conversation to the one before, except this time she was ferociously munching on her gum like a rabbit and using her phone like a radio and playing her music really loudly at the back of the bus. I again tried to put my earphones in and pulled out a notebook to do some work before school, but she wouldn't have it. She interviewed me rapid-fire and then asked for my phone number so she could connect me via KakaoTalk (an insanely popular instant messaging service all Koreans use), or have me as some sort of exotic trophy on a list of friends. Either way, I freely gave out my information due to a combination of wanting to be a good ambassador for foreigners in Korea (remember, Korea has only recently been opened to non-Koreans, so there's a fair chance I am the first white person quite a few Koreans have seen), and that I judged her to be a low-risk, if somewhat odd, person.
The rest of the bus ride was somewhat tense, as she would look over at my notebook all the time to see what I was scribbling down and then ask me questions that I could partly understand.
The smell of garlic was everywhere.
It's the Garlic Lady.
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