Hey hey it's Pepero Day

So while everyone in the States is observing Veteran's Day (thank you for your service!) over here in Korea it's Pepero Day.

Pepero itself is a snack made from sticks of cookie dunked in chocolate. It's the same as pocky essentially. There are a bunch of varieties- strawberry dipped, almond, chocolate filled, etc.- and they're available year round. However, November 11th is always Pepero Day because of course when you write 11/11 it looks like a bunch of sticks of pepero.

Pepero Day is pretty equivalent to Valentine's Day and White Day. The stores all put up massive displays and you can buy extra big boxes of it or the bakery made variety with sprinkles or "I Love You" written across it. If you've ever watched a Korean game show you may have seen pepero before when it's used in a kissing game. They play it a lot in We Got Married (우리 결혼했어요) which features a variety of Korean stars who are paired up for the show. Each person in the couple takes one end of pepero in their mouth and then begins eating it so that they get close to kissing, à la Lady and the Tramp. Of course since they're so shy about that here (take a drink every time a Korean drama fades out or cuts away from a kiss!) the game is basically to see which couple is willing to get close enough for a kiss before biting off and therefore have the shortest stick of pepero at the end. So Pepero Day is definitely a holiday that couples can indulge in but there is plenty of pepero exchange between friends too.

Walking to work I passed a bunch of students heading home and saw them carrying boxes with bows on them and gift bags and even one girl who had to use both arms to carry a heart-shaped pepero box display. At work one of the students in my first class gave me a box of pepero, the chocolate filled kind which is the best obviously. Then in my second class one of the students brought in extra large, individually wrapped sticks for everyone in the class. Another student even gave me a big box of pepero from Paris Baguette which is slightly fancier and probably cost much more. Very sweet!

I am for any holiday that encourages the eating of cookies dipped in chocolate so long live Pepero Day!

Trivia of the Day:  "The Liancourt Rocks, also known as Dokdo or Tokto (독도, literally "solitary island") in Korean or Takeshima (たけしま/竹島, literally "bamboo island") in Japanese, are a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan (East Sea). Sovereignty over the islets is disputed between Japan and South Korea. The islets are currently administered by South Korea, which has its Coast Guard stationed there. The Liancourt Rocks consist of two main islets and 35 smaller rocks. Two Korean citizens—an octopus fisherman and his wife—are permanent residents on the islets. A small Korean police detachment, administrative personnel, and lighthouse staff are stationed in non-permanent supporting positions on the islets. Although claimed by both Korea and Japan, Liancourt Rocks are currently administered by the Republic of Korea. Both nations' claims extend back at least several hundred years. Significant arguments supported by a variety of historical evidence have been presented by both parties, which have been challenged by counter-arguments with varying degrees of success. North Korea supports South Korea's claim.

The Liancourt Rocks are a point of heated contention*, alongside other Japan–Korea disputes. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers its position "inalterable". South Korea, for its part, maintains a nationwide educational program which sends the students of 62 elementary, middle, and high schools on field trips to the rocks on a regular basis. The government has also written a textbook about the rocks, intended to be used in elementary schools across the country, and manages a year-round national educational tour. When Japan's Shimane prefecture announced a "Takeshima Day" in 2005, Koreans reacted with demonstrations and protests throughout the country, extreme examples of which included a mother and son slicing off their own fingers, and a man who set himself on fire. In 2006, five Korean "Dokdo Riders" embarked on a world tour to raise international awareness of the dispute. Another notable protest featured South Koreans decapitating pheasants in front of the Japanese Embassy."

*The Dokdo debate is serious business! My students get all worked up about it (although this is true any time Japan is mentioned) and it's been used several times during their end of class project. Most recently I had a group who drew a picture of the Korean peninsula as a buff person who was punching Japan and saying, "Dokdo is ours!".

Then.... some idiot turned on the lights

So despite my best intentions to actually stay on top of blogging this month, I've had a lot of other things on my plate and on my mind and so my little adventures have been moved to the back burner. But! This was Halloween month, possibly my favorite time of the year, and that means that some sort of post is entirely necessary.

Halloween in Korea was much better than I was expecting. My local Lotte Mart put out a pretty decent Halloween display that included decorations like pumpkin lanterns, glow-in-the-dark skeletons, banners, and window decals as well as kiddie costumes, masks, accessories like wands and pitchforks, and a range of witches' hats. It was nice to decorate my apartment since I always do the decorations at home and missed out big time this year for holidays.

This weekend I went into the city to celebrate and naturally the areas that are always crawling with foreigners were decorated up and there were tons of people in costume. I went as Minnie Mouse which was very easy to pull off and meant I could wear my red sneakers which made dancing for three hours a much more comfortable experience. We got some looks on the subway ride in but hey, as a non-Korean I get stared at all the time here anyway so I'd rather for once it be for an interesting reason.

At work yesterday we celebrated as best we could by wearing either costumes or at least funny ears or hats (our boss isn't big on anything that involves either teachers or students or staff enjoying themselves so we were lucky to even get away with that). I gave my students treat bags and they went crazy. You should have seen them with the candy corn. They've never had it before and had no idea what to even do with it. I had to explain that yes, it's edible and no, I have no idea what it's actually made of (I'm afraid to read the ingredient list to be honest, some things are best left a mystery). They really liked it though.

Probably the only flop of the Halloween season was carving a jack-o-lantern. A few weeks ago I managed to track down pumpkins at a local vegetable market but man, Korean pumpkins are not a pretty picture. They're a dull orange-brown color and very squat and awkward. I made the mistake of waiting too long to carve it (as well as leaving it on my coffee table which sits directly in the sun) and found it molding pretty fiercely when I finally decided to take a stab at it. Blech. So I didn't clean it out and put a candle inside because it was too nasty but I did still carve a face just for fun.

And then I promptly took it outside and threw it in the trash.

Now I'm just recovering from a candy coma and trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's November. November! Almost a year exactly since I came to Korea! It's been a big year, an amazing year, and sadly a year that is quickly coming to a close. I'm officially leave at the end of this term and I have mixed emotions about everything. I had wanted to stay on for an extra six months but things didn't quite work out with my contract renewal so on November 28th I'll be on a plane home to Massachusetts. I'm so excited to see everyone at home! But I'm in love with Korea and I'm going to miss it here immensely.

Recently I've been buzzing around between trying to clean and pack things up here, establish work and school plans for my return home, and experience as much of Korea as I can before I have to say goodbye. It's been exhausting and I've been feeling guilty about not being a better blogger because I think it's a great outlet for me but you know, priorities. Besides, I started this blog before I got here so I may just hang on to it for a month or two when I return home and have some time to share pictures and things that I didn't get a chance to post before. And post my version of the ultimate Korean packing list because I must have read dozens of those before coming here and they were really useful.

Stay tuned!

Trivia of the Day: Korean horror, sometimes referred to as K-Horror, is the term given to horror films made as part of the cinema of Korea. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it wasn't until the late 1990's that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the gory "blood and guts" aspect of horror.

Adventures in Vietnam: Part III

I should probably admit that even though I did enjoy Vietnam, it took me some time to warm up to it. One major reason for this was the weather. Vietnam is hot and brutally humid during the summertime. High humidity is probably the kind of weather I have the least tolerance for and I was pretty crabby when we'd be walking for a couple miles or even just a couple blocks between museums and such. We were both drenched in sweat as soon as we stepped outside and showered  at least twice a day just to get rid of that sweat/sunscreen/bug spray film inevitably building up on our skin. There are places in Vietnam I would love to go back to and places I would still like to explore but I would definitely do so in the fall or winter next time.

Another thing that made the first few days tricky was the lack of good food. It's not that there aren't tons of delicious restaurants in Hanoi, it's that were weren't finding them. With a couple exceptions, the places we did eat at were either overpriced, delivered very small portions, or just weren't that tasty. One night after finally tracking down a place for dinner, I ordered pasta with plain marinara sauce from an English menu and upset the waiter when I tried to explain when he brought it out that I hadn't realized it would have seafood in it. I felt like an idiot for the confusion and in the end the dinner wasn't very good anyway. And I know that I'm so lucky to be able to travel like this and shouldn't be whining about bad dining experiences but I'd be lying if I didn't say that despite that they didn't put a slight damper on the first couple days.

So it wasn't until Monday night that I think I finally started to enjoy myself. After taking a rest in our gloriously air-conditioned room, we finally managed to find the street on our tourist map that supposedly has the best Italian restaurant in Hanoi. Or was it that after eating there we decided it's the best Italian restaurant in Hanoi?  Well either way it is!

The Little Hanoi Pizza Inn on Dinh Liet St. serves up some delicious pizzas and pastas (and a very tasty chocolate mousse for dessert! Actually this area has lots of good restaurants so if you're in the city and looking for some good eats then head this way. There are also tons of souvenir shops on this street selling everything from paintings to handbags to jewelry so I really can't recommend enough taking a walk down Dinh Liet.

As we were eating dinner it started raining and since we were sitting close to the balcony (not actually on the balcony though since it looked like it was hanging on by a thread) and enjoying our meal so much that we decided to order a few more drinks and just wait out the rain.

Except that that hot and humid weather I mentioned is also a sign of monsoon season. So the steady downpour soon turned into torrential rain. We watched the shopkeepers across the street first extend their awnings to prevent the rain from coming in, then saw them move their wares closest to the street inside and finally noticed that everyone was simply closing up shop. Further down the street the road itself started flooding and several scooters that went by had water almost completely covering their tires. We realized it was time to head out before the water could get any further up the street. But in the few minutes it took us to get downstairs our end was flooded too!

We managed to get partway up the street by sticking close to the edges but at the main intersection there was really no avoiding having to wade through several inches of water. I didn't have my camera and was regretting not getting any pictures of how insane this flood was but at the same time I'm glad I didn't risk ruining it in that weather. The storm drains in the road had massive amounts of water bubbling out and if we didn't have umbrellas I think we would have been soaked through in about 10 seconds.

Weather like that can be pretty scary but we knew that Vietnam experiences this kind of thing and that it wouldn't last all that long. So actually it was kind of fun running back to the hostel through that craziness. I did notice that night and other times when it began to rain that what most people do is find an overhang or something close to the sidewalk and just wait it out. Usually though the rains would last for a good while so this was surprising. In Korea you'd be hard pressed to find someone not carrying an umbrella in the summertime so that they can keep going on with their day despite the weather, same in the US basically. Maybe we're just in more of a rush though? It wasn't like the Vietnamese I saw waiting out the rain didn't have umbrellas, they just chose to wait for it to stop instead. Just a different mentality I guess.

Tuesday began with a walk to Quan Thanh Temple.

I liked this temple a lot. It was small and quiet but in a peaceful way and the few other people there weren't hurrying in to get their prayers over with but relaxing and taking their time. It was nice. 

Since coming to Korea and doing a bit of traveling I've been to a lot of temples and have seen lots of offerings left on the altars. Usually it's fruits and such which is why I was so amused to see the following items at this temple in Vietnam. It's not so much the fact of someone leaving boxed goods that I find funny because hey, food is food right, but that it's a box of Choco-Pies.

Choco-Pies are like the Twinkies of Korea. They are super popular and super disgusting. They're similar to Moon Pies or Zebra Cakes with a chocolate coating over cookie and marshmallow. Whenever we bring snacks into school for the kids we bring in Choco-Pies and they devour them. Last term when I gave them to one of my older classes I asked my students why they liked them so much and they were like, "Choco-Pies are a Korean National Treasure!". Apparently this photo is proof that they're held in high esteem in Vietnam too.

(At least the folks getting the items at this altar got something a bit stronger)

Across the street from the temple is a small park right on a lake and we discovered there a fleet of paddle boats and decided to take one out for a ride!

It was so pretty on the water and we kept ourselves turned so that we could get a reprieve from the sun. I hadn't been on a paddle boat in years so I was pleased we got to squeeze this in.

 (I tried not to consider the likelihood of these life jackets actually working as flotation devices...)

When our hour was up we paddled back in and had lunch at the restaurant next door.

Mike tried pretty much all of the local beers during our trip and I want to say that this was one of the better ones? I don't remember too well and this might not even be an actual Vietnamese beer but I know for sure Vietnam has better beer than Korea! Not that that is such a difficult feat to manage.

Afterwards we had a nice walk back to the hostel. One cool thing about Hanoi is the enormous sidewalks canopied by huge trees. The shade is so welcome on a hot day and it makes for a pretty stroll.

Except for when a car suddenly comes along on the sidewalk. Rude.

I had thought Taipei was land of the scooters but I was wrong. Hanoi beats them any day of the week, it's scooter city. I was sure we would die trying to cross the street there but the travel guides said to just walk across without hurrying or stopping and the scooters will just expertly avoid you. It's true too.

That night we said a brief goodbye to Hanoi and headed down to Hue for a few days. The trip there was an adventure in itself though and will need to wait until the next post when I have the energy to mentally recount it!

Trivia of the Day: The Saola, Vu Quang ox or Asian unicorn, also, infrequently, Vu Quang bovid (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), one of the world's rarest mammals, is a forest-dwelling bovine found only in the Annamite Range of Vietnam and Laos. The species was "discovered" by science in 1992 in Vu Quang Nature Reserve by a joint survey of the Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The team found three skulls with unusual long straight horns kept in hunters' houses. In their article, the team proposed "a three month survey to observe the living animal" but, more than 15 years later, there is still no reported sighting of a Saola in the wild by a scientist. In late August 2010, a Saola was captured by villagers in Laos but died in captivity before government conservationists could arrange for it to be released back in to the wild. The carcass is being studied with the hope that it will advance scientific understanding of the Saola.

This... sounds like a made up animal. Or at least a made up Wikipedia article (shocking). Discovered "by science"? Kind of sort of no actual sightings? However, the pictures on Google images seem legit enough and honestly I could not resist a piece of trivia about a creature called the "Asian unicorn". 

September I hardly knew ye

Cripes! The start of a new term at work, my internet throwing successive tantrums, a recent trip out of the country, and my general laziness and tendency to say, "Naw, I'll write something tomorrow" has led to an unintended two and a half week hiatus. Whoops. So I figured I needed to sit myself down and get something out before this month just completely passes me by.

First and foremost: Fall is here! It arrived exactly thirteen days ago on a Monday morning. How do I know this? Because fall is just that awesome. It comes with a crispness in the air and a coolness that you can feel even under the remaining summer heat. It's not pushy though like Winter which comes barreling in to set up camp for four months. It pops up, gives you a quick wink to let you know it's in town, and then lets Summer fade out. When I came downstairs that Monday morning I paused for a second and oh hey, there it was. Fall is the best season ever and I'm so so happy I'm abroad in a country that experiences a beautiful Autumn like the one back home.

And to ring in the harvest season, Korea celebrated Chuseok (추석) this past week. Chuseok is a three-day holiday that you'll hear most foreigners describe as the Korean Thanksgiving. Everyone goes back to their hometowns (or as most of my kids said to "grandma's house" wherever that may be) to spend time with family and in the words of my students to "eat yummy foods". It's one of the most important Korean holidays.

The holiday this year was from Sunday the 11th to Tuesday the 13th so a group of us girls from work took the opportunity to take a mini-vacation to Shanghai. You'd think that considering we'd only just started the new term we wouldn't be in need of a break yet but those first couple weeks are tiring so it was a more than welcome stay away. More on that adventure soon! That is when I actually finish up on Vietnam. Heh.

CDI always makes up missed class days though so I had to work both days this weekend which was not too fun. Luckily I only had one class today though that was out by 1:30pm so I'm spending the rest of the day relaxing and catching my breath. Literally. Somehow I came down with bronchitis and I have a real nasty cough and that obnoxious chest pain. Dr. Google and her associates however recommend basic home treatment like liquids and rest so I'm holding off on a trip to the pharmacy just yet. So far sitting next to my humidifier is helping a lot actually. In the event of needing more than just charades and coughing at the pharmacist though, this site seems to offer a decent Korean-English dictionary for medical terms. Or at least it's a Korean-English dictionary for medical terms. Whether or not those terms are accurate I haven't a clue...

So that's that in my life right now. I anticipate the next few months being pretty busy but I want to make sure to share some more of what's been happening lately. My first ever K-pop concert! Flying in style and delicious food in Shanghai! A visit to a house shaped like a giant toilet!

At least one of those adventures means I forever have the perfect ice breaker for awkward situations at parties. This really has been a successful year.

Trivia of the Day: Ganggangsullae (강강술래) is a 5,000-year-old Korean dance that was first used to bring about a bountiful harvest and has developed into a cultural symbol for Korea. It incorporates singing, dancing, and playing and is exclusively performed by women. The dance is mostly performed in the southwestern coastal province of Jeollanam-do. It is often associated with the Chuseok holiday and Daeboreum. Traditionally, this dance is performed only by women at night without any instruments. Young and old women dance in a circle at night under the moonlight. They go outside in traditional Korean clothing, hold each other's hands, make a circle, and start rotating clockwise. The lead singer sings a line and everyone sings the refrain 'ganggangsullae'. The song tempo progressively becomes faster. They sing about their personal hardships, relationships, and desires. During the dance, the women play a variety of games. The dance can last until dawn.

Things!

So it seemed about time I take a breather and check in. We've been keeping real busy these past two weeks and it hasn't left much time for blogging. I'm actually not sure how long it typically takes most people to put an entry together but I've always been slow about it. I like to mull over what I'm writing and I take awhile picking out pictures to post and I'm easily distracted so more often than not my blogging sessions are interrupted with side trips to Oh No They Didn't! and Facebook. And when I sit down to write I want to get it all out in one go, none of that saving-to-finish-later business. That means usually I'm sitting at the computer for let's say about 3-5 hours when I'm assembling a typical entry. Also I like to write at night.

Since we've been doing a lot of early days to get the most out of a trip into the city and since my new schedule means I'm not home until 11 o'clock every night I really haven't had a chance to sit down and work on anything. Work has been a bit stressful and I have a lot weighing on my mind in regards to what my plans will be when I'm back home in the US. On the plus side though we've been up to some great stuff lately so eventually (I promise!) there will be lots of new pictures and stories. Plus that full Vietnam recap! I know those entries will pretty much take me twice as long as usual so I'm waiting for a long, do-nothing-day to get going on those.

In the meantime, here is a random list of goings-on on my end recently:

- Rain. Torrential rain. Drizzly rain. Plain rain. Just-enough-drops-to-warrant-opening-that-umbrella-rain (the most annoying kind, to be honest). My introduction to the Monsoon season began in Vietnam and is continuing in Korea. It is an extremely damp experience, I have to say.

- My Friday afternoon class (my five girls who I absolutely love) met my boyfriend when he came in to see the school and they went crazy. One of them started bringing in her friends who are in other classes so she could point at him and say "Boyfriend!" before they all started screeching. They were discussing us in the hallway and I heard both "handsome" and "beautiful couple". Also when we came back from Vietnam a few of them asked "How was your vacation?" but one of them asked "How was your date?" haha.

- I have not gone grocery shopping in three weeks. A few needed items have been scooped up at the downstairs convenience store but mostly this is just a testament to how much we have been eating out/grabbing breakfast on the way out the door. Oh well, Lotte Mart and I needed a serious break from each other. $13 for a box of strawberries? Girl, please.

- In September I'm going with four of the girls from work to Shanghai for Chuseok! Chuseok is roughly the equivalent of Thanksgiving and we'll have at least a four-day weekend. Our flights are booked and now we're working on getting visas. I'm thrilled about all the traveling I've been able to squeeze in during my time here and this trip falls nicely in between my summer vacation and possible departure in December. I know when I go home it will most likely be some time before I can plan any more big trips so I'm happy to be getting my fill now.

- A new pizza place just opened downstairs so we tried it out on Sunday night. It wasn't bad and the wheat crust was pretty good, albeit a legit shade of purple. They even gave us a few freebies to assure we'll come back and I was excited because next to the bottle of Coke in the bag looked like three of those mini containers of Parmesan cheese but of course it was actually three containers of sweet pickles. Ugh, I'm always fooled by the sweet pickles here.

- I recently walked past a girl wearing a shirt with Karl Lagerfeld's face on it and it was the best shirt ever. I know she bought it here because the markets are overrun with weird clothing designs and celebrity faces (hello, there was one featuring a collage of Sponge-Bob, Michael and Janet Jackson and someone who may have been Taylor Swift) and I have made it my mission to track it down. Don't fail me now, Korea.

- Tomorrow night Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 debuts here and so ends my childhood (actually I will never let this happen, who wants to grow up and admit they're never getting that letter from Hogwarts? Life's more fun this way). I'm especially excited because the past few HP movies came out later in Korea than the US and it would be a bummer to have to wait when so many people have already seen it. So after work we're going to catch one of the late shows and I already know it will be amazing. I haven't missed an opening night since Goblet of Fire (or maybe it was Prisoner of Azkaban, though these days opening night means "midnight") and I'm so so excited to have one last Harry Potter premiere to watch with awesome people :)

Also, I am assigning "Go see the new Harry Potter movie" as homework for all my classes this week. If only our school took field trips...

Trivia of the Day: Dokkaebi (도깨비) is a common word for a type of spirit in Korean folklore or fairy tales. Although usually frightening, it could also represent a humorous, grotesque-looking sprite or goblin. These creatures loved mischief and playing mean tricks on bad people and they rewarded good people with wealth and blessings. Dokkaebi are described as the transformed spirits of inanimate objects. The most common objects said to become Dokkaebi are usually useful everyday implements that have been abandoned by their owners or left in perpetual disuse, and include such wide-ranging objects as brooms, fireplace pokers, pestles, flails, and sometimes even trees smeared with maiden's blood. They are different from ghosts (귀신) in that they are not formed by the death of a human being, but rather by the transformation of an inanimate object.

Most Korean legends have Dokkaebi in the stories. They are about Dokkaebi pranking on mortals or punishing them because of their evil deeds. One of them goes like this:

An old man lived alone in a mountain when a Dokkaebi visited his house. With surprise, the kind old man gave the Dokkaebi an alcoholic beverage and they become friends. The Dokkaebi visited the old man often and they had long conversations together, but one day, the man took a walk by himself in the woods near the river and discovered that his reflection looked like the Dokkaebi. With fear, he realized that he was gradually becoming that creature. The man made a plan to prevent himself from becoming a Dokkaebi and invited the creature to his house. He asked, "What are you most afraid of?" and the Dokkaebi answered, "I'm afraid of blood. What are you afraid of?". The man pretended to be frightened and said, "I'm afraid of money. That's why I live in the mountains by myself." The next day, the old man killed a cow and poured its blood all over his house. The Dokkaebi, with shock and great anger, ran away and said, "I'll be back with your greatest fear!" The next day, the Dokkaebi brought bags of money and threw it to the old man. After that, Dokkaebi never came back and the old man became the richest person in the town.

Work stuff

Wednesday nights this term have very quickly become my night of the week to survive.

The day starts off pretty well with a 4:30 Reading Par class. I have only six students and they're all amazing. Five of them I taught last term and they all leveled-up from Bridge to Par. I was psyched to get them again for both Reading and Listening class. They're all bright and willing to do work and we have lots of fun. And since it's the exact same Par class I taught my very first term (the books only change every other term) and I have my old copy, it's completely prepped already which means I have little to do in order to teach that class besides print hand-outs and vocab tests.

My second class is a whole different story though. See within Level 1 and Level 2 all the classes are basically the same except for varying degrees of difficulty. So even if the highest level class in Level 2 has a few added components, the class structure is essentially the same as all the others so it's easy to adjust to. I'm teaching two Eagle classes this term (the order being Bridge, Par, Birdie, Eagle, Albatross, Albatross+) and it's the highest I've done so far but since the structure is the same it's not too bad. I knew I would be teaching Eagle since they had me observe an Eagle class last term and I was ready for it but then they threw me a curve-ball.

In addition to Level 1 and Level 2 classes, CDI also offers iBT courses- iBT being the Internet-Based Test for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). For students who want to study at American schools or universities they may have to take this exam and so many CDI students start preparing for it early. It's broken into Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking. Since we already cover those first two in our regular classes there is a separate course offered called iBT Speaking & Writing. The format of the S&W class is completely different from all the other classes and takes a while to get used to.

And Wednesday nights at 7:30 this term that's my class.

Last week, the first S&W class of the term, I could have accidentally set a student's hair on fire and it still would not have been any worse than I was already doing. I was totally unprepared for how different it would be and the sheer amount of paperwork involved. Like, multiple grading rubrics, all sorts of student evaluation forms, note-taking papers for speaking, note-taking papers for writing, hand-outs, syllabuses (shush, both plural forms are correct), essay sheets, homework papers, etc. etc. etc.

I had a stack of papers half a foot high and no way of organizing them yet. I'd been so concerned over the new Eagle class I was doing that I under-prepared for S&W and practically went in blind. Since the class I observed in week 13 was the last of the term, the format was different from week 1 of the new term and I was so confused about what I was supposed to be doing. The MP3 files for playing lectures wouldn't work and I had to read out a conversation in "Girl Voice" and "Guy Voice" so the students could differentiate. It probably doesn't sound so bad but really, when you are messing up left and right and making a fool of yourself it's frustrating and embarrassing. I was mad at myself for not being better prepared and mad at the administration for throwing me into this at the last minute without much guidance. I ended up crying in the break room and again when I was leaving for the night. Such a disaster.

So yesterday I prepped my Eagle class early and then before work hit up the stationary store on the first floor of our building for some much needed supplies. I got myself all organized last night and then went in early today to prepare. Two and half hours, a bulging accordion folder, a take-home-paper-grading folder, and two post-it-noted books later I was ready.

I wouldn't say the class went wonderfully but it wasn't the failure I produced last week. I was crazy organized and even had a little clipboard all set up like I was friggin Dolores Umbridge so I could walk around while the kids were responding to questions. The MP3 files worked and I didn't babble at them at 900mph which I'm pretty sure is what I was doing last week. I even got them to laugh a few times! Which is not unusual when you're teaching elementary kids but much less likely in a room of 15-year-olds (which it is).

I'm hoping that at some point this class will make sense to me and the kids will actually learn something but for now all I want is to survive each Wednesday night without another disaster class. That isn't asking too much right?

Here's to hoping that all potential future educators start off with baby steps.

Trivia of the Day:  Hanbok (South Korea) or Chosŏn-ot (North Korea) is the traditional Korean dress. It is often characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines without pockets. Although the term literally means "Korean clothing", hanbok today often refers specifically to hanbok of Joseon Dynasty and is worn as semi-formal or formal wear during traditional festivals and celebrations. Modern hanbok does not exactly follow the actual style as worn in Joseon dynasty since it went through some major changes during the 20th century for practical reasons. Throughout history, Korea had a dual clothing tradition, in which rulers and aristocrats adopted different kinds of mixed foreign-influenced indigenous styles, while the commoners continued to use a distinct style of indigenous clothing that today is known as Hanbok.

Non-adventurey

I realized that most of my posts on here are basically just a round-up of pictures and stories from things I did over the weekend. Saw a temple here, went to a museum there, got stared down on the train by a two-year-old boy who was also pointing his plastic cross-bow at my face and alternating arms so I wouldn't think I was safe, etc. You know, that sort of thing. Though I enjoy sharing the more interesting ways that I spend my time, it probably doesn't really paint an accurate picture of my life here.

Most nights, like tonight, I get back from work, put on my pjs, eat dinner, and just hang out for a few hours. When I wake up in the morning it's lather, rinse, repeat, except with putting on clothes for work and having lunch. Sure, there are nights when I get dinner with coworkers or we go out for drinks and there are mornings when I'm much more productive, hitting up Costco for deli turkey and provolone cheese (oh my god I miss deli meats and good cheese so much) or hiking the mountain or going shopping somewhere. But even on those days it's a pretty regular routine. Yeah I'm in Korea but I'm probably doing the same sorts of the things someone would be doing at home- just living their life. That's not to say I'm not loving it here and having a ball, just that I don't usually write about my regular routine and what's happening in the day-to-day.

I'm just a day or two shy of my 6-months-in-Korea mark. It's pretty amazing to me, how the time has gone. And I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for having made it this far. I didn't really think I would ever be the type to cut and run but you never know until you're knee deep in it, right? Half-way through though and I'm feeling good.

So we're in the middle of week 12 at work right now. Next week is our last of the term and once again there are some kids I'll be sad to see move on to other teachers and some kids who I will be soundly shoving out the door. Like the kid who sleeps during class and is all attitude when he's awake or the one who signs his vocab tests "God of Brian" instead of just Brian. He's so weird. I'll miss my angel class though with my student who loves Friends and writes her homework sentences about "Rachel" and "Chandler" and my elementary Memory class with the kid who had the biggest smile on his face when I told him his word for Pictionary was "Voldemort".

Next week then means summer term schedules come out and I can't wait to see what I'm teaching. I had to observe one of the higher level classes recently (well, one class above the highest level I teach now) so I'm expecting that's either because I'll be teaching something higher next term or in the future. That's a good sign as far as how I'm performing at work goes but mostly I just want to know when my two breaks off during the week will be! Girl has her priorities.

Just this past weekend my boyfriend booked his flight to Korea and will be coming in late June to stay for a month! To say I'm excited would be an understatement. I have a week off from work at the end of June so we're going to Vietnam. We finally decided this morning after bouncing between a couple different countries and as the planning process begins I'm getting pretty excited for it. I spent this evening searching for flights and hostels and trains and things to do and think it will shape up to be a great trip.

This morning I finally got around to setting up wire transfers at my bank so I can send money home. I probably should have taken care of it a while ago but it hasn't really been necessary yet. I've decided to go ahead and purchase a DSLR though, not in small part because my point-in-shoot is essentially dead, and want to order it from home through my account in the US. Anyway, the whole process at the bank was pretty easy. I went in with all my bank info- account and routing numbers, address, etc. and the teller spoke enough English (plus the form was in Korean/English) for me to explain what I wanted to do. Now, each time I want to send money home I can take care of it from an ATM which is nice and convenient. Okay so that isn't particular exciting news to anyone except me but I'm still new enough to managing real grownup-y type things in a foreign country that I feel good after taking care of something like this.

In an attempt to get myself on a better sleep schedule and be awake early enough to chat with my 5am riser back home before he's in bed, I've instituted an "Up before 11" rule for myself each morning. That probably sounds pitiful to most but for us night owls hitting the hay at 4 or 5, 11am is still prime sleep time. So far I'm adhering to it and was actually awake by 9:45 this morning. Incoherent, groggy, and not sure why the guy who drives a truck with speakers blaring "Would you like to buy some lovely bananas?" wasn't driving down my street waking me up like always yet until I remembered he shows up around noon... but still, I was awake. This will take some getting used to.

Trivia of the Day;  Thundersticks, sometimes known as cheerstix, bangers or bambams, are long, narrow plastic balloons that are used as promotional noise makers. The noise is created when two thundersticks are struck together. They are most often used at sporting events, political rallies and concerts. Thundersticks were first created in the Republic of Korea, and thundersticks gained popularity in the United States when used by fans of the Anaheim Angels during the 2002 World Series. Today thundersticks are used by fans of many sports teams in order to show their support.

Haha this trivia is for you Mom, since I know how much you hate Thundersticks and mentioned their use at the Wyverns game you saw here. At least you can now say you experienced Thundersticks in their original habitat!

Happy White Day!

So I was more or less zoned out during February and completely forgot to mention anything about Korean Valentine's Day. Luckily today though Korea celebrates what basically amounts to Valentine's Day Part II so I'll just cover it all now.

How it works here is that on February 14th, Valentine's Day, women give chocolate to men and then on March 14th, White Day, men return the favor by presenting women with candy. I was grocery shopping on Valentine's Day and there was a big display in the middle of the store with bins of chocolate and such (I was tempted to treat myself to some Hershey Kisses but they are super overpriced here). The local bakeries had decorations up but aside from that I didn't really see too much of the holiday, probably because I just worked that day. I asked my kids in class if people were giving out chocolate for Valentine's Day at school but was careful not to put them on the spot since even when you're an elementary kid that stuff can be touchy. One of the boys said, "None of the girls gave us chocolate so we will not give them any candy" but they're fourth graders so really they didn't care much either way.

Today I wished my students a happy White Day and some of them said they'd brought in treats for their friends. Then when I walked into my second class one of my students, who is usually a little punk, was like, "Here teacher, catch" and threw a candy at me. He had enough for the other kids too but they were all so surprised that when he threw them they thought he was throwing the candy at them and kept dodging out of the way. One of the girls was all, "When did you become so nice?". I think he was trying to pretend like it was no big deal but seemed pretty pleased with himself.

White Day originated in Japan but at some point became something that Koreans celebrate too. Actually as Grandma Wikipedia tells it, every month in Korea there is a love-related holiday celebrated on the 14th:

January: Candle Day
February: Valentine's Day
March: White Day
April: Black Day
May: Rose Day
June: Kiss Day
July: Silver Day
August: Green Day
September: Music Day
October: Wine Day
November: Movie Day
December: Hug Day

I'm not sure to what extent all those other random love ones are celebrated but after Valentine's and White Day, Black Day is probably the only one really worth further mention. Black Day is basically a Korean Singles Awareness Day. Following right after Valentine's and White Day, Black Day is a time for single folks to get together and eat jjajangmyeon, which is noodles with black bean sauce, and commiserate/celebrate being single. I like to think that it's more of a celebration because a bunch of people sitting around being depressed and eating black sauced noodles sounds miserable.

I like to think of Valentine's Day as a time to celebrate the people you love, whether it be friends or family or a significant other. Korea really pushes the whole "couple" thing though so I can appreciate why they would have an actual holiday here for those who aren't part of one. A lot of the couples here are extremely cutesy, it's sort of just the nature of things. They often say "I love you" very early on and you can find all sorts of "couples" items from matching rings to underwear and pajamas. I'm kicking myself that I don't have any pictures of the couple outfits in action (often matching sweatshirts or t-shirts) but I'll be on the lookout.

Trivia of the Day:  Seoul, the capital and largest city of South Korea, has been known in the past by the successive names Wiryeseong (위례성, Baekje era), Namgyeong (남경, Goryeo era), Hanseong (한성, Joseon era) or Hanyang (한양). During the period of Japanese colonial rule, Seoul was called Keijō (in Japanese) or Gyeongseong (경성) (in Korean) . Its current name is Seoul, and this name has been in use since at least 1882, at times concurrently with other names. Seoul originated from the Korean word “seo'ul” meaning "capital city". An etymological hypothesis presumes that the origin of the native word “seo'ul” derives from the native name Seorabeol (서라벌), which originally referred to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla, then called Geumseong (금성). Also believed to be the origin of the name Seoul is "Se-ultari," which literally means "new walls" or "new castle." Seoul was a walled castle city from its construction in the early 15th century until most parts of the walls were destroyed during the Korean War.

The power of a fresh start

The last full week in February was the end of our winter term at CDI. There are a lot of kids I'm bummed about not having again this term but overall I was just ready for a fresh start with new students and new material. By the time the last class rolled around on Friday night I was real burnt-out. The term ended pretty well though. I tried to fit in lots of games during the week and brought snacks for all my classes and donuts for my two Friday classes which were my favorites. Here are some of my Level 1 kids on their last day:

These were my Memory Mega kids. We had a rough start but by the end they were probably my second favorite class. Kids come and go so frequently at academies that if you have problem students there is a decent chance they won't last for long. This class lost a few of those trouble kids along the way and managed to pick up some really great ones. (Notice the room being distinctly divided into a "boys" side and a "girls" side. Oh kids). 

And these kids were in my Wednesday/Friday Memory Giga class. I called them my dream class because they absolutely were. If you have a crummy class then the four terms with new sets of students can be a real blessing but it's too bad to lose a group you enjoyed so much in the process.

Haha I love this last picture the most. In all the other pictures I got smiles and then there's this. Thanks for playing boys.

So far I think my new classes are going all right. My schedule is pretty decent and I don't repeat too many lessons which is great because when you end up having to teach a boring ass lesson (I'm looking at you "Christopher Columbus" lesson) more than once it can be draining. I only have one night off this term (Wednesday again which I like) which is good for my bank account though I do miss getting out early on Monday nights.

Mostly I've been a lot more confident already this term than I was last. It's hard when you start of brand new and all the kids know the schedule better than you do. I'm sure they could all tell my first few weeks that I was clueless. All my first new classes last week went smoothly though and I have better ideas for making my class more fun. There are tons of new faces but a few students from my old classes and that helps with the transition. Plus it makes for that many fewer new names to memorize which is always, always good in my book.

I have a few posts backlogged and some recent pictures I still haven't gotten around to sharing so hopefully those will be up soon!

Trivia of the Day:  The Unification Flag is a flag designed to represent all of Korea when both North and South Korea participate in sporting events. The flag was first used in 1991 when the two countries competed as a single team in the 41st World Table Tennis Championship in Chiba, Japan and the 8th World Youth Football Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. The two countries' teams marched together under the flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha; however, the two countries competed separately in sporting events. The flag was not used in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, due to the decision made by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), that the two teams would enter separately. The flag represents North and South Korea. The background is white. In the center there is a blue silhouette of the Korean peninsula, including the island of Jeju-do to the southwest and Ullung-do to the east. The flag has no status as the official flag of either country.

Previously in my life...

I feel like I haven't talked too much about what's been happening at work lately, or how classes are going. Since it's such a big part of my week and my whole reason for being here after all let's remedy that.

So I've talked a little bit about how my schedule looks but to give you a better idea I'll just break it down:

Monday
Memory Giga 4:30-7:25pm

Tuesday
Memory Mega 4:30-7:25
Par Reading 7:35-10:30

Wednesday
Memory Giga 4:30-7:25

Thursday
Memory Mega 4:30-7:25
Par Listening 7:35-10:30

Friday
Memory Giga 4:30-7:25
Par Listening 7:35-10:30

In the world of CDI, Memory refers to a part of the curriculum that covers three levels- Mega, Giga, and Tera. Mostly these classes consist of 4th-6th graders, the elementary school kids. Memory classes are preceded by EC2, EC3, and EC4 though I don't teach any of those. After Memory there are Reading and Listening classes with the levels Bridge, Par, Birdie, Eagle, Albratross, Albatross+, and Masters. Reading and Listening is mostly for middle schoolers.

The kids come for two classes a week so with this schedule I'm teaching six different groups of kids throughout the week. My Monday Giga class I only see that once and then another teacher covers their second class of the week on Wednesday. My Tuesday/Thursday Mega is the same bunch of students and so is my Wednesday/Friday Giga (I tried color coding it, if that helps explain at all). For the middle school kids they have Reading class during the first part of the week and Listening class during the second. I have some students that I teach for both but mostly it's a new group each class.

So classes have been going all right and sometimes I actually get to teach some interesting material. For Memory we basically just have a storybook and we spend the class reading the story together and going through the workbook and answering different questions, filling in blank portions of a story summary, determining the meaning of words from the context, etc.

Usually the stories are lame and the kids are disappointed at the end because nobody died but for Reading and Listening it's better. I got to teach a Reading class recently on Lord of the Rings which I absolutely loved although the students were mostly only interested because apparently in Korean, Tolkien sounds like "dorky" so they thought that was funny. Then in Listening we had a lesson on gender imbalance and the problem with China's one-child policy which I could go on for ages about. It makes it much more enjoyable to teach when the lesson is something I'm already familiar with and talk about anyway. Sometimes the subject is totally new and I do a little research beforehand but so far this term it's been all right.

Currently we're preparing for the Level-Up tests which all CDI students take during week 10 of each term. Their performance determines, obviously from the name, whether or not they can move on to the next level. The tests take up all of class so for us teachers we just spend the whole time proctoring/surfing the internet. I am more than okay with this.

For this term though the week of Level-Up tests coincides with Lunar New Year, which is the celebration of the first day of the lunar calendar, as opposed to the solar New Year on January 1st. In Korea this holiday is called Seollal (설날) and everyone gets three days off, woo!

This year those days are February 2-4 which is Wednesday-Friday. Level-Up tests were bumped to week 9 and because CDI is crazy, we have to make up two of the days we're getting off by working one weekend. So before I even arrived in Yeonsu the big question at our branch was whether or not our boss would make us work the weekend following Seollal. Three days off is pretty nice but five days, especially five days when you rarely get any vacation time, is so much better.

So it was a pleasant surprise when we finally find out that we do indeed have a five day break from work! The only downside is that we're working the weekend before the New Year which means a nine-day work week but since that's the week of testing and we don't do any teaching anyway it's really not all that bad. A very reasonable trade-off in the end.

And I'm going to be spending those five days taking a trip to Taiwan! I'm going with two of the other teachers and we'd been considering China and Japan as well but on such short notice Taiwan ended up being our best bet for a flight. It's more than I'd wanted to pay but we're flying business class and hey, I'm young and I only live once right? I won't be getting another vacation until the summertime and Taipei is a heck of a lot warmer than Incheon this time of year so there are enough perks to justify the spending. I'm excited to get out there and see a little bit more of the world!

Despite it being freeeeeeezing this weekend I'm going to try to plan some sort of sightseeing expedition or something for tomorrow so hopefully there will be fun shiny pictures to add to my next post to make up for the wall of text. Stay tuned!

Trivia of the Day: Yoido Full Gospel Church is a Pentecostal church on Yeouido (Yoi Island) in Seoul, South Korea. With about 1,000,000 members, it is the largest Protestant Christian congregation in South Korea, and the world. Founded and led by David Yonggi Cho since 1958, it is an internationally visible manifestation of Korean Christianity. Cho still conducts two services of the seven the church holds a day; they are so heavily attended that people often must arrive an hour early to have a seat. In the heart of Seoul, the Yoido Full Gospel Church sits directly across from Korea's National Assembly. The building is large enough to seat 26,000 people, with overflow sent to nearby buildings who watch events in the main church on telescreens.

Baby, it's COLD outside

Though technically it's still Fall until next week, if the weather is any indication then it's safe to say Winter is in full swing here in Korea. It was freeeeezing on Wednesday. When I left work at 7:30pm the temp was down in the teens and the wind chill made it feel even colder. It looks like it's supposed to bounce back into the 30's and 40's which would be nice because I'd like to be out and about this weekend.

Despite wanting to stay bundled up inside watching Christmas specials all day, it's been a pretty productive week. I now have my Alien Registration Card (I filled out the application and the school took care of the rest) and a bank account with a nice chunk of change in it because Friday was payday, holla! After helping the other new teacher and I set up our accounts at the bank, Kevin, who works in the office at school, also helped me get a cell phone at one of the SK Telecom cell phone stores that pepper every street in Korea. The phone we picked out was the one that I could get for free and the plan gives me something like a hundred texts a month for the next two months at which point I can change it if I want. It's nice having a way to easily get in touch with people again, I was feeling pretty weird without a phone.

Also I have legit internet now which is a beautiful, beautiful thing. I've been snagging wi-fi from surrounding areas since I moved in and for the most part it's worked fine but the connection has been slow and the quality of Skype calls less than stellar. I paid my first utilities bill as well which was not such a beautiful thing, but now I know where and how to take care of that each month so I feel more comfortable about the whole living-on-my-own thing. I've never lived in an apartment before, let alone by myself, so a lot of this is brand new to me.

Work itself has been fairly good this week. This is my homeroom by the way:

It's pretty barren because they just cleaned out all the old books leftover from the previous teacher but I'll add a few things eventually. I don't actually teach in here because our classes are in all different rooms but it's where I prep all my materials and everything before classes start. It's a bummer not having a window but at this time of year probably more like a blessing because most of the windows leak air anyway.

My first class of the day yesterday was a group of elementary kids, 4th-6th graders, that I see twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They're good kids but it can be a potentially awful class if the boys are acting up. Today they were fine though. The story we were reading involved someone stealing something to sell for money. Whenever we're talking about prizes or money I always like to ask them what they would want for a prize or what they would buy with the money. Class can be kind of boring but they get all excited to start yelling out the crazy things they'd buy so it breaks things up a bit and wakes them up. Here's an excerpt from our class discussion:

Me: So what would you buy with all that money?
Kevin: An island!
John: A house!
Alex: Harry Potter's house!
Me: What, the one he lived in with the Durselys?
Kelly: The USA!
Me: I don't think it's for sale. 
Alex: I would buy Hogwarts.
Me: I would buy that too. What other things would you get?
Alex: I like Ron Weasley.
Kelly: The Earth!
Me: Okay so Kelly wants to take over the world, what else?
Alex: You know what a firebolt is?
Me: It's a broom.
Tom: Neptune!
Alex: I like Sirius Black.
Jennifer: Space!
Alex: I would buy Voldemort.
Me: You can't just buyVoldemort.
Lily: I would buy Dumbledore, he's nicer.
Me: Okay we seriously need to get back on topic...

They can give me a run for my money when they're acting out but times like these when they are saying adorable things that make no sense remind me why I'm here doing this.

And just a note on their names since perhaps you're wondering why my class of Korean students is filled with Toms and Johns and Jennifers. The majority of the kids when they start at CDI choose an English nickname to go by in the classroom. It's basically like Spanish class in junior high when you can pick a Spanish name for yourself. They aren't required to do so and I have a few kids who I just call by their given names. When new students come in during the term you can pick a name for them or have the class brainstorm to come up with something. I've had three new students so far and none of them wanted a nickname. That's totally cool with me however I was a little bummed that I didn't get the chance to make suggestions. I was hoping to nudge a few kids into going by the everyday names of superheroes. In one class two boys just started and sit right next to each other and if I could have gotten one to go by "Bruce" and the other "Wayne", well, it would have made me happy during roll call every class.

It's finally Friday and it's snowy and wet today and tonight after I'm out at 10:30 I'm going to see The Deathly Hallows again with a bunch of people from work. A nice end to the week and good start to the weekend I think.

Movie Trivia of the Day: The Host: The event described in the beginning of the film is based on an actual event. In February 2000 at a US military facility located in the center of Seoul, a US military civilian employee named Mr. McFarland was ordered to dispose of formaldehyde by dumping it into the sewer system that led to the Han River, despite the objection of a South Korean subordinate. The government attempted to prosecute Mr. McFarland in court, but the US military refused to hand over the custody of Mr. McFarland to the South Korean legal system. Later, a South Korean judge convicted Mr. McFarland in absentia. The Public was enraged at the government's inability to enforce its law on its own soil. In 2005, nearly five years after the original incident, Mr. McFarland was finally found guilty in a court in his presence. However, he never served the actual prison sentence, and there have been no sightings of a mutant creature in the Han River - yet.

Happy December 1st

I'm halfway through my first week of teaching and so far so good. It hasn't been perfect but I'm slowly finding my feet and I think given a few more weeks all the kinks should be worked out.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Korean education system, the school that I teach at is called a hagwon (학원). Hagwons are private academies that students of all ages can attend after their regular public school day is over. Competition is fierce in Korea and there are hagwons for all sorts of subjects. Chungdahm Institute (CDI) where I work basically manages the largest group of hagwons in the country that are geared at teaching students English.

During the week I teach classes from 4:30pm to 7:30pm and again from 7:30pm to 10:30pm. Luckily I have the second class off on both Mondays and Wednesdays but as you're probably realizing, these kids spend a hell of a lot of their time in school. They might attend CDI classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays but it's likely that the other days of the week they're taking courses at other academies too. Pretty crazy right?

So I've now taught four classes since starting on Monday and I feel like I'm holding my own so far. Each teacher has different levels and different materials that they teach and I'm pretty comfortable with what's on my plate. In training they tried to prepare us for a real classroom setting by role playing student management scenarios. You know, Johnny is doodling so what should you do? Or Sandy is a chatterbox so how do you handle that? Or Fabio has fallen asleep at his desk, will offering him real butter wake him up? (These kids really will fall asleep sometimes, I wasn't kidding about how much time they spend in school)

But there's really no preparing for a room full of fifteen 11-year-olds. The wonderful and frustrating thing about working with kids is how unpredictable they are. For the most part the classes have been pretty good but it's a process. I've worked with kids for something like ten years now but upper level elementary and middle school were never my specialty and teaching is new for me. Yesterday my two classes were pretty shaky in terms of getting the kids to participate and actually keeping the class from imploding during the final hour's group project.

My class today though was a horse of a different color. Angels! Every one of them! They all listened politely and were eager to answer questions and one kid even stuck close to my "Raise your hand when you want to talk rule" which honestly I don't even follow. If my life were a movie right now it would be Toy Story 3 and my classes yesterday would be the Caterpillar room and I the plastic space ranger getting bonked endlessly over the head. Today though was the Butterfly room all the way. Sweet relief. Each class has its perks but I won't deny that having a dream class like today is anything but a blessing.

I'm also incredibly lucky to have been placed where I am. The other teachers are so great and it's a very comfortable environment to be working in. I still feel like the new kid in town and will for a while but having been welcomed in so warmly is helping ease my worries.

On the way to work today I managed to snap a few pictures of the area between my apartment and the school:

Actually this is the daytime view from my apartment. It's uh, prettier at night, as you can imagine. Also I had no idea if the haze today was fog or smog...

Sidewalk area outside my building.

Everyone and their mother is wearing these right now in Korea. Actually more accurate would be that everyone and their mother, father, siblings, grandparents, children and great uncle Bilbo are wearing these right now. They are everywhere and in every color and most of them are super shiny. The family that bundles in astronaut coats together stays together I guess.

A peek down a side street. It's pretty stark weather for picture taking but I just wanted to offer a glimpse of my neighborhood.

Ah yes, the local one-of-a-kind malt shoppe.

In Korea it is illegal to own a gun so police carry these light up orange baton thingys. I am more than okay with this. If you hunt you have to keep your gun at the local police station and check it out when you want to use it. These laws make so much more sense to me.

I love that they celebrate Christmas here! Well, sort of. I'll talk about that more as the month goes on as well as about the local department/grocery store where this big sign is hanging outside of.

There's a handful of public schools along the street that I take to get to work.

The local fire station. 119 is the emergency number. 911 to 119, easy enough to remember!

Look at that badass bird. I feel safer already.

I've already heard it said many times since I've been here that Korea builds "up, not out". There just isn't room to build out so there are tons of buildings like this that have restaurants and stores on the upper floors.

One of the two subway stations closest to me. The other is Woninjae Station.

Weird pillar statue thing in a park across from my school. That's all I got. I don't know what it represents and haven't had a chance to check out the park yet but at some point I will solve this mystery. I'm hoping the park will be really pretty come spring.

And last but not least, the totally friggin creepy Samsung claymation ad that I pass just before the entrance to the CDI building. Forget the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, these are the faces you will see when the world is coming to an end.

And just so we're clear, he'll be the one riding the pale horse. You have been warned.

Trivia of the Day:  The crowns of Silla (신라) were made in the Korean kingdom of Silla approximately in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Common Era. Of the ten fully golden crowns in the world, eight are from the Korean Peninsula. Out of these, six are from Silla, and two are from the neighboring Gaya (가야) confederacy. These crowns were excavated in Gyeongju (경주시), the former capital of Silla, and are designated National treasures of South Korea. The Silla crowns are very fragile and weigh more than one kilogram. The Silla kings probably did not wear the golden crowns like hats. They were probably used only for formal and ceremonial occasions. Some scholars believe that the crowns were never worn at all but made specifically as burial goods.