Christmas in Korea

This year marked my first Christmas celebrated without my family. A very merry skype Christmas was had, but it just isn’t quite the same virtually. Now I am a holiday person, I got it from my mom, and Christmas is the big one. Presents are planned out months in advance, and when the first store decorations get put on a spectacular commercial display my insides are warmed. Well, that was in Canada. Things became a bit tougher in Korea this year because here it is a COUPLES HOLIDAY. That’s right, like a second Valentines Day. Couples spend the night together on some fancy date night and get a nice gift for each other. Where’s the milk and cookies? The tree in all its lights and decorative glory? The Santa’s, the reindeer, the gifts, the mistletoe??

As an English Hagwon we made a decent attempt at getting some Christmas spirit together. For my part, I dressed up in antlers, Christmas nails, festive socks, and anything else I could find (for a good week). Lessons also became Christmas themed by the beginning of December. On Tuesday the 24^th we dressed our co-teacher Kasey up in a Santa costume and helped him give out gifts to the younger kids at our school (which the parents had generously provided for each of their kids). There were Christmas carols sung, candy canes and Hershey kisses galore (thanks to my mother’s box she sent me), and lots of merriment. And afterwards probably a lot of parents struggling to explain to those kids where their Christmas tree and gifts are. I also bought a small card and made a little Christmas treat package for my gym. The manager (my bud) freaked out, showering me with hugs and thank you's and "whooaoooa"s - the sound that comes up when they show shock or awe but can't use words because they're outside my limited vocabulary. A very cheap gift for me, but very touching for them!

My Christmas Eve was spent in metropolitan Seoul, raging on until 5am. Itaewon is the Foreign Town of the country, and here was where I finally felt a bit more in the spirit. There were lots of foreign restaurants with Christmas trees and decorations in the windows, and little late night kebab shops I memorized for later. The whole area was bustling with Santa and elf costume pieces, and a whole lot of foreigners. We bounced from pub to pub in the beginning, trying to find a place we could even sit down at. Eventually found some festive places to begin the night at, and later made our way over to Hongdae: trendy bar/club district, also hot foreigner spot. Spent my first Christmas Eve at a couple clubs and bars, and had an all round great night before crashing. It was a strange feeling from the casual-calm Christmas Eve's I'm used to back home.

Christmas Day we got off of work (though still have to work Thurs and Fri before we can begin our week-long winter vacation). In my city of Cheonan we had a big foreigner Christmas party at our highly frequented Banana Bar. The entire bar stand  was covered in delicious homemade items and other favorites for our potluck dinner, and everybody was stuffed. All dressed in our finest Christmas-themed clothes, we belted out Christmas carols for awhile before doing our gift exchange. The rest of the night we worked our way up from bailey coffee’s to mix drinks, and stayed out far too late for a night of fun celebrating our friendships and new local friends. Not bad for my first Christmas without family, just have to connect with the other foreigners that are all feeling the same way!

Santa bar crawl: weekend before Christmas we dressed up and ran from bar to bar in Korea, taking pictures with Koreans in the streets and giving free Christmas hugs

Christmas Season: Quotes from the Kids

Jerry: My sister wants to buy expensive makeup, but my mother says she’s too heavy

Teacher: Um, do you mean too young?

Teacher: If you had 24hrs to yourself, to do anything you want, what would you do?

Sophia: Run away.

Annie: Sleep. Maybe eat, but sleep again.

(My severely dishearted middle schoolers)

Kids: No Christmas teacher. But couples have Christmas. Do you have a boyfriend teacher?

Teacher: Mmm nope. Too much work.

Girls: No teacher! But you’re beautiful!

Teacher: So I need a boyfriend?

Girls: Yes. Probably. Or else no presents and no Christmas.

Emma: I have older brother! How old are you teacher? He's 16.

Now on that subject…

Teacher: So I don’t have a boyfriend. Do any of you have a boyfriend or a boy you like?

Noa and Janice: (sigh) No teacher

Sunny: Lena likes Lloyd! And Lloyd likes Lena!

Emma: (whispers to me) I like Lloyd too.

Sunny: Me too! I like Lloyd too!

Teacher: Lloyd, in the spirit of Christmas, you should share some of that love.

Lloyd: I like the girls too

Teacher: So what do we think of the snow?

Kids: So much snow teacher! I want to play in it and snow  jello

Teacher: You mean snow angel?

Teacher: One little piece of snow…it’s a…

Alex: Snow face!

Teacher: Snowflake.

Teacher: Repeat after the song: jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh.

Kids (singing with the song): Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all way. Oh what sdfkdg ghjfhsjkdfkj dhf ONE HORSE sdfhjasd

(they're only 6, so we'll work on it)

Teacher: Alright, Christmas time. Who’s birthday is on Christmas?

Terry: Santa’s!

Lena: Nooo, Noooo, Not Santa’s birthday! Rudolph’s!

Teacher: think of religion, it’s a Christian holiday…

Lena: we know it’s at Christmas. Rudolph’s birthday!

Teacher: Why does Rudolph have a red nose?

Dave: a reindeer hit him with a snowball?

Alex: He's cold, he's always outside.

Teacher: On Christmas Eve in Canada and America, what do we put out for Santa and the reindeer to eat?

Answers: Supper? Beef? Kimchi? Rice? Presents? (that’s not a food Lloyd)

Teacher: We actually put out cookies with milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer.

Kids: Eww, poor reindeer

Sunny: I like cookies! Teacher if I was Santa I'd want cake.

Lena: But then you be SOOO fat.

Sunny: (sad) say nice to me Lena.

Teacher: Now we’re going to make our Wish List to Santa. We write about what we want for Christmas.

Terry: Snow

Kids: Ya, lots of snow!

Terry: And snow fights!

Teacher: (during BINGO) sorry, actually there’s normal cake and then that brown one is called fruit cake. No BINGO. Not the same.

Juno: Why? Normal cakes can have fruit sometimes. Then fruit cake?

Teacher: No, different kinds of cake. Made differently.

Juno: I like Korean class more.

Teacher: This is a picture of mistletoe. People hang mistletoe on the top of their door like this. When two people are underneath the mistletoe, they have to kiss.

Kids: (freak out, yelling, laughing, making kissy faces) Teacher, you do??

Teacher: No mistletoe here.

(End of class I’m standing guard at the door, and when the kids walk past, 3 or 4 shake their hand above my head and say “mistletoooooe” before running)

Teacher: It’s red and white….striped….minty taste…

Kids: candy!

Teacher: (draw on board) candy….

Kids: Yes teacher, we say candy!

Teacher: candy what? Candy c-

Kids: candy candy! Candy cake! Candy mint!

Teacher: My favorite performance at the circus is the trapeze artists. It looks dangerous! Ok, repeat again Jerry for the 5^th time…

Jerry: My favorite…perfume at ….circus is traps. It looks dangerous!

Teacher: Ya ok, just go back in the classroom

Teacher: So now that we’ve gone through all this, who can tell me, in just a few sentences, what happens in Harry Potter?

Sophia: Ok, Harry Potter is a wizard, and Voldemort keeps try to kill him. But Harry has a wand. But Voldemort has a wand. And he can fly.  And, um, there’s a giant snake. And a diary. Then Service Black dies, that was his uncle. And OH the elf!

Teacher: Right, good job, but let’s get back to the problem and solution. So Voldemort keeps trying to kill Harry, what does Harry do?

Sophia: He runs away. (coaxing from me on the board) Oh ya and his friends Ron and Herald help him. They’re smart. But not Ron, he just has a car.

My first Jjimjilbang: Traditional Korean Bath House

Jjimjilbang bath houses: female bonding or couples date spot? The answer after much consideration is both. Today my friend Tasha and I spent our Saturday at my first public bath house, and I can say without a doubt that we have discovered a spot of serenity. Particularly after a long week with the little monsters.

It's a good thing I grew up for years as a lifeguard, getting to see my fair share of naked women. And getting to witness my fair share of nakedness from my cottage family in the summer months, because the jjimjilbang is a whole lot of naked. It begins with women going into the ladies area of locker rooms and undressing. The public area is for eating some boiled eggs or snacks, sitting around and doing your hair. Usually naked. Next is the pool room. Rows upon rows of ladies, of all different ages, scrub each other down at little shower and bucket stalls to remove the dead skin. After that you get to relax in the different stone pools. The one we went to had four different pools of varying temperatures to jump between, with stone frogs spewing out the water. I was bracing myself for the stares we foreigners get everywhere, but after the initial stares we were pretty much left on our own. Some ladies come alone, some socialize in groups, and one was even with her children. In between we went into a hot, and I'm telling you HOT sauna room. One entire wall looked like a giant wall of flames ready to squish us into flames. Also, the Korean ladies were using little pink suction cups on their body, we think to relieve pressure points, but couldn't find the source. Next time.

Almost two hours later we made our way into the comfy, oversized pink jump suit we were given upon entering the bath house and made our way upstairs to the unisex floor. There's a snack bar as well as a little Korean restaurant where we got some great lunch stews for about $5. All around this floor Koreans lie around on mats, sleeping, relaxing, or just chatting on the smooth wood floors. There are a few TVs on the walls, a PC room, a video game room, and a little Korean library for entertainment. Then there are the heating rooms - four in this bath house. One room we enjoyed was mint scented with gorgeous white stone walls and little snowflakes and other rock designs. The next room we tried was warm and cozy, with a giant furnace and a floor lined with soft Indian blankets. The last one was hoooot and wonderful, with a dark mood light going on. People go in to lie down or sit quietly, and if you are a newbie like Tasha or I, you stare at the gorgeous mosaic walls and ceilings made of colourful stones. The windows are circular, and the walls circle into the ceiling as well, giving the idea of being in a cave-man submarine. One large room holds all the sleeping pods: little cave-like, circular holes in the walls where people can sleep (during the day or overnight). Goodbye hostels, hello bath houses! The only issue is that with all the people sleeping in the same room it can apparently get quite loud. But seeing as the two of us were falling asleep in our heat rooms during the day, I don't think we'd have a problem sleeping at night.

Come on Canada, join in on the bath house craze! Hours of relaxation for $6-11 :)

Opening up and letting all your gooey out

One thing I'm still growing accustomed to is how open Koreans are with their emotions and feelings. Maybe with other things they may be conservative (still no short sleeves?) but in terms of their feelings, they're quite happy to express and share them. Even more so on soju nights.

The first I noticed was little girls showing their love for the boys and vice versa. I have a class of eight six year olds, and three of the girls are in love with one boy named Lloyd. Who (like all of them) is adorable, but apparently there is some allure about Lloyd that makes him very desirable with the ladies. One class, the girls wrote his name on little slips of paper with hearts and threw them at him during class. Or they draw him pictures. I’ve had two of the girls come up to me and whisper they like Lloyd, with a knowing look into my eyes that conveys it is not the I-like-him-like-a-girl-friend way. In recent events, Lloyd has reciprocated interest in Lena by way of his beach picture of “What I like to do at the Beach.” Because in his picture two people are embracing in a fury of limbs and Picasso-style body parts. So I asked Lloyd what was going on, and he said it was him and Lena. Next beach picture of him and a girl he erased his eyes after a bit of thought and replaced them with giant, red hearts. Apparently it ‘s just American children that go through an “ew cooties” stage, because I teach all ages of children in Korea and they all act the exact same around each other. They will choose boys or girls as partners, but often like the Battle of the Sexes when it comes to high competition games. 

 Lloyd's beach drawing. He erased his eyes and replaced them with bright red hearts.

"What do you like to do at the beach?" Look closely at the two figures entwined (young Picasso). I asked Lloyd what it was and he said him and Lena.

This opening up about love and affection doesn’t get outgrown in adulthood. My coworkers love complaining with us about men and 'where are all the men', and 'oh I want a boyfriend, I'm lonely.' They're very interested in commenting on people's relationships we know about, but they don't criticize in public. When I went with Callum to another big city last weekend we were asked five times in barely 24hrs there if we were boyfriend- girlfriend. When we sort of shrugged our shoulders and smiled, they pressed the issue: are we boyfriend-girlfriend? 'Beautiful and handsommme' (eyebrow raising). 'Banging' (cue drunk Korean man and hand gestures)? Thank you all for your concern on our status, you’ve given us much to ponder.

Even in daily conversation it differs. When you ask a Canadian how they’re doing, they’ll almost always say good or not bad. When you ask a Korean you open a floodgate of how you're  really feeling today, and I actually find it refreshing. It’s such a simple question and answer in Canada, but here Koreans find it a great time to unload and personally answer. They can be very direct communicators at times, and will often follow up their question of 'how are you' with more questions about why you feel that way. Koreans find it polite to show interest in each others opinions and important to talk about feelings. However they are also known to use white lies or heavy sugar coating whenever they have to say something offensive or they know what they have to say will be bad news. 

They also aren’t afraid to let you know how you look that day. My co-teachers and I were taken out to a fancy thank you dinner one night, and from across the table of ten the director asked my friend if he bit his nails. Uh, no? She giggled and said they were very short and very dirty. The other ladies just nodded and agreed, as everyone waited for Kasey’s response. He chose to laugh too, because how else do you end that? Very openly I've been asked if I was on a diet depending on my portion choice (they ruled that out), if I'm still single (depending on my stories from my previous night), how I honestly like each of my classes and job, but was also told some of the kindergarten parents thought I was beautiful (to which I modestly protest). Compliments and questions come at you every day, but you have to remember to be modest and not to criticize someone in public.

One Month Anniversary in Korea

Whoo hoo! It is officially my one month anniversary in Korea. And I have celebrated with four nights of Halloween and costumes. BALI! This sums up my first month in Korea perfectly. It means hurry. Hurry to enter school the first day and teach kids, hurry to get your groceries, hurry your walking, hurried driving, hurry and drink more you’re too slow, hurry and plan a million things into every day (which I fit into very well since I do that in Canada). Hurried eating however, that is a no-no as eating is often a two hour, leisurely and social experience that I always look forward to. These are a few of the more interesting things I've learnt about here.

My Apartment
My apartment is alright, especially since it’s being paid for by boss Steve, but there are a few things I would like to change if I had the power. First, there is no oven. In the past year at home I had become more interested in cooking, and was actually becoming an alright cook (put away those shocked expressions family and friends). Now I’ve got no oven, which means no cookies or cakes, no spinach healthy mixed pancake things, no stuffed mushrooms, or anything else that should be cooked with minimal effort. Secondly, I have a monster washer that sometimes cages my clothes in and refuses to open. But I have no dryer, so to the dryer rack the clothes sit, and often means I am drying off with a wet towel due to poor planning. Lastly I miss the simplicity of hot water that stays hot. I have to push a red button to turn on the hot water, wait, and eventually shower. In the mornings and evenings when I wash my face I’ve given up on hot and settle for cold.

Expat Community Closeness

The expat community is extremely close with one another, and very connected. I never thought I would experience the kind of social opportunity university provided again, but living in Korea as an expat has given that to me again. Most days a week I message our huge group of friends to go to a bar, coffee, or to a restaurant. Weekends we usually visit another city on an adventure. The best part is that everybody values making more friends, so each night out we find ourselves expanding our friend group and getting invited to even more different events.

Bars Closing Time

Several bars in the downtown areas don’t really have a closing time, they just shut the doors when the last people decide to leave. Often on the weekends this means they’ll stay open until 3 or 4am. The best part of the nightlife may be how completely safe I feel. Getting robbed or attacked is something that nobody ever thinks about. Even leaving a purse or phone at a bar or restaurant isn’t really a cause for concern I’m told by the Koreans because most Koreans are very honest people.

Traffic Lights = Guidelines

By a certain time of night, most of the lights just blink yellow or red (with the exception of the very busy roads) and cars just use their discretion. Ie. they career through the lights narrowly dodging each other. If someone is in a hurry and are stopped at a red light you'll see them sorta turn right and then dodge back into the direction they were  going.  

What's Cheap?

 Not as much as I had imagined. Clothing can be quite cheap in some areas. Restaurants can be very cheap! The most I think I've ever spent on a dinner was 10$, but usually it's about 6 or 7 even with some soju or beer. The generous portions of samples you can get whilst wandering around E-mart to do your grocery shopping may just fill you up for your next meal (like a Wal Mart). At restaurants, multiple different side dishes accompany every meal. Better yet, most restaurants allow unlimited refills for these side dishes! Rarely will I go out for supper and not be well fed or even stuffed by the end. Busses move pretty quickly here, but if you’re a group of 3 or 4 people you may as well just get a cab because they’re very cheap. There is also no tipping or tax added onto prices in Korea, so what you see on the tag is what you pay. Smokes are much cheaper here, apparently lower than half the prices in America, so nearly everybody I know smokes. Gotta stay strong and hold my ground!

Google's Inefficiency

Bad: google maps has not reached Korea. Some locations can be found on google maps, but the vast majority can’t. A lot of businesses aren’t even online, which shocked me, and made me realize how much I relied on google to find locations, opening & closing times, and prices of businesses. My boss finally helped me get my phone this week, and google actually works a bit better on that, but I'm working on using the Korean version, naver.

Interesting Manners

Little boys whip out their junk to pee in the back streets. And not so little boys do sometimes. Koreans also don’t say excuse me or sorry (which coming from Canada let me tell you is something you get used to). People ram into you on every street and through doorways with nay a second glance or sorry murmur.

I've loved the whirlwind of a first month, but it’s a bit sad to have the opposite schedule of family and friends. It means waking up even earlier on school days (or worse, post-drinking days) to skype in and keep in touch. Sometimes I convince people to wake up earlier on their morning for me. Skyping home will be even easier now that I've got a real person phone. Loved my first month, and I can happily say I am falling in love with Korea.

Lessons Learnt from the First Month & Halloween in Korea

I will start this off by saying that sadly, Halloween is not a celebrated holiday in Korea. Little brown snack stick day is highly recognized by the various stores here, but rarely can you find the little Halloween accessories you need to create a costume, let alone an actual costume anywhere. I managed to put together a Zombie Ballerina costume after much thought and investigation (*cough, interrogation) at the malls and of Koreans on the street. My English school decided this year we would have our first Halloween party though! So director Steve not only spend a great deal of time and effort decorating the whole school, buying loads of candy for the kids, and creating a spooky haunted house in one room, but he dressed up in some dress with makeup, green hair, giant ball boobs and lots of lipstick. The kids loved it. He led us all in a costume parade around the neighbourhood, where to the kids delight, parents stood at each corner to load up the kids bags with trick or treat candy. The kindergardeners were horribly traumatized by the dark, spooky haunted house they were thrown into by the teachers - crying, screaming, turning over desks in their haste to escape; but in the end they have now experienced Halloween.

My friends and I went out that night to a great Halloween party, then worked all Saturday with parents and their kindergardeners for Sandwich Day. Although weekend working is the worst, the kindergarden director then invited a bunch of us out for a fancy sushi dinner because our director told her we liked sushi. Although we had plans to bus to Seoul (hostel already booked), saying no would have been beyond rude. So that is how I had my most fantastic sushi, sashimi, blowfish, jellyfish, tempura, multiple soups and side dishes dinner that stuffed me to the brim! After the long meal, we finally made out way to Seoul - face decorating myself in the dark on the bus to save time. Unfortunately, we missed out check in time for the hostel by the time we made it there at after 11. But what did the Korean employee I talked to arrange? He apologized and took us around the corner to their sister hostel, giving us the large apartment family area downstairs. 100,000 won a night (100$), but he slid me 60,000 and told us we just had to pay the 40,000 the original hostel was supposed to cost the three of us in total!

The bars highly populated by foreigners, which for us is Dolce and Banana Bar in Cheonan, both decorate and celebrate with a costume party, but only because we celebrate the holiday. Seoul on the other hand was full of costumes in the downtown! Hongik University Park is an area downtown that is always packed to the brim with foreigners and Koreans alike, all extremely friendly and socializing to just make friends and have a good time. Never once have I seen a fight or real argument break out, there or anywhere else in Korea for that matter. We're happy to just drink some cheap soju and save money at the bars.

Tidbits of Learning
Swastika's: not the hail Hitler kind. I was taken aback when I hiked to the giant Buddha and Gakswona temple to find the large swastika on the outer wall. I learnt that the symbol is actually pointed backwards, and that in Buddhism, the symbol means peace.

Eating dog: it's actually quite rare to find a restaurant that serves dog in Cheonan, and I've never seen it. But I learnt something gruesomely interesting about the way it's prepared. Traditional Koreans believe that dog meat tastes better when the blood is full of adrenaline, so some shiktang's (restaurants) hang the dog and beat it to death before quickly cooking and serving the meat as a form of delicacy. Enough to make you go vegetarian??

Garbage: why are there no garbage bins in Korean streets? Where does it all go? Something my foreigner friends and I have consistently wondered about. Mini piles seem to build up outside convenience stores, but other than that there's not a whole lot of garbage, yet no public cans to put it or recycling in. A mysetery...

Drinking in Korea: always something new I learn on this subject. One thing I've really noticed is the common number of drunk Korean adults passing out on streets and around subways in the city. They just lie there laughing or passed out. In North America that may be worrisome for passerby's, and they'll likely get thrown in the drunk tank. Not so much here, because heavy drinking is part of the culture. It turns out, a common question in job interviews is whether you drink or not. According to a teacher I talked to, she wouldn't hire someone if they didn't drink because it means they can't let loose. In addition, work conflicts and business deals are usually settled over supper and drinks. It's a common form of conflict resolution!

The Homeless: in any North American big city I'd say it's impossible to walk down the main roads and not be saddened by the homeless and beggars you see on the streets, trying to put together a bit of money. But one thing I've noticed in Korea is their absence. I have seen one homeless person in downtown Seoul, sleeping outside a subway station and that's it. No others, and none in Cheonan (my city) as of yet. I'm not sure why but it's definitely something to ponder.

First Week Teaching in Korea

I have officially completed my first week teaching at my Hogwan, Trinity Academy, in Korea. I teach all ages, from classes of twenty little 5 year olds to tiny classes of four 14 year olds. Usually I come home drained, try to go for a run or some sort of crazy exercise like that (nobody exercises here), but I usually think better of it and instead watch some tv and crash. Here is a typical day in the life of Jessica Teacher:

Wake up to alarm and grab a coffee from the convenience store with Ashley and Kasey, my friends from America who live below me. Walk 10 min to school. There are no shoes allowed in school, so you either walk around barefoot or grab one of the slippers. Sit around in the teachers lounge with the Korean co-teachers, and print off worksheets for the day. Have door constantly opened from little kids peeking in. Go through morning classes of little kinders downstairs, where they scream, run around, and sometimes the girls stroke my hair cooing "beautiful, beautiful. Yellow barbie." Sometimes I get a sticker from a girl, sometimes they just come smack me on the bum. Bathroom stalls in Korea don't have toilet paper, and instead when you walk into the bathroom you have to grab paper from the dispenser at the entrance. Many times I forget. But I never forget my notebook...which is now a few pages less. The school provides pretty good lunches that mostly consist of rice, kimchi, and other side dishes. In the afternoon I teach loads of classes, play games, and try to convince everyone English is a grand language. For a lot of kids, they have classes from 9:30am-7pm, followed by an instrument class somewhere else and tae-kwan-do. By the time we and the kids get home, we're totally wiped. In the coming weeks we have great events to look forward to: a field trip to the Bear Zoo, a Halloween party (most of these kids first), and Speech Day (every class has to sing a song or perform a short play. We have lots wanting Bieber or Backstreet Boy songs...but they neither know the words nor try very hard to memorize the lyrics).

Spicy, smokes, and soju. That is the shortest description of Korea by night. Street stalls are all over the downtown, and we usually hit those up for some spicy food and predrink with the liquor soju outside a convenience store. The Korean version of sushi is called kimbap, but it uses a variety of little veggies and sauces and meats that doesn't really include the delicious fish we in Canada usually think of. 10 pieces of kimbap is about 1$ at convenience stores and 3$ in the restaurants! A water bottle size of soju is about $1.50, but drinks in the bars are often $5 or more. Most nights we go out we begin the night in the old, main downtown of Shinsegae and meet up with foreigners in Banana Bar - the unofficial hangout. Then we often taxi to the new downtown, right by us. Taxi's are much cheaper here than in Canada.

Other New Facts I've Learnt About Korea....
- No houses. There are apartments and homes on top of stores, but houses are not common
- No running or exercise. In the time I've been here I've seen maybe 3 runners? Basketball courts and tennis courts go unused, and I haven't figured out the gym situation yet
- Churches here are big and look very church-like, with a giant neon cross on the top. It looks like the churches in movies where people go to elope in Vegas
- People love to hold hands. Whether it's a couple (which is the ONLY public displays of affection I have seen), friends, or even a group of 6 adults walking through the downtown drunk - taking up the street
- People are incredibly helpful, and will go very far out of their way for you. We've had people walk us to places 5 or 6 blocks away from the store we found them at, just to lead us there. On a bus when I asked the guy beside me where a location was and he didn't know, he went online on his phone to try and find it...then his friend started doing the same...and the girl beside them! 3 people!

Korea: The blonde has arrived

I think I had a sign announcing my blonde arrival to Korea on my forehead.

Four hrs after my flight was booked, I finished off packing and left our family home in Waterloo by about 3:30am. Freaked out all four hrs of my night, tossing and turning, stumbling downstairs in the middle of the night to pack some flax seed only to drop and explode it all over the floor. Flew from Toronto to NY where 20 min before my flight to Korea I got called over the gate loudspeaker, immediately thinking back to Greece and wondering what I could have screwed up this time. I understood there was some luggage and paper issue between the muttering in Korean and calling higher ups, but finally got on the 13hr flight.

Never take a that long a flight. Unless absolutely necessary. Or you're coming to see me. By the halfway point I was in a semi-conscious state of naps, tv and music. An employee got me onto a bus to Cheonan, and then the school director, or "Monster Steve," picked me up from the bus station to show me my apartment. Some English, but not much. Now Cheonan was built around a huge, brilliantly bright downtown area, but then a lot of people ended up moving to my area, and a newer, trendy downtown has been created around it. The apartment isn't huge, but it's definitetly big enough for me. Below me, I was introduced to an American couple, Ashley and Kasey, who started at Trinity Academy two days before me. Instead of catching up on my huge lack of sleep, they invited me out for supper and drinks since my first day in Korea was a national holiday! No school! There is an unofficial expat hangout called Banana Bar where I got to meet more English teachers. We all had a great night out, wandering the streets and eating out at one of the many windowless downtown restaurants. We are quite the spectacle in Korea, and as we walk down the streets it's nearly impossible to not be started at or called at in broken English. Discovered the shower that night. When I got home, trying to turn the cold water tap to hot, it turns out that the tap blasts the shower on, which hangs overhead. I was still in my going out clothes, now totally soaked.

Jessica Teacher started her first day of school with no training, no knowledge of my classes and no preparation. My first class was a group of little kindergartens who spoke absolutely no English. The best a few of them could do was robotically sing and bop along to the ABC's on youtube. And some knew BINGO. We played with flashcards and read an alphabet food book.... but I honestly think they've never seen or eaten most of those American foods. All the kids run around the little school like crazy, screaming and laughing. Some follow me around in packs, some hold my hands or run up to me and grab my waist, and some younger girls like to touch my "yellow" hair. Kids don't have much discipline in English classes I learnt after I followed Steve to his classes I'll be taking over, and co-taught a bit with him. On breaks, the teachers prepare for their next class, printing quickly and chatting.

The food culture is incredible to say the least. We frequent the millions of coffee shops or the 7/11's, and in the evening have gone out for suppers. Food is community oriented, so you order one dish for the table that ends up being a huge spread of god knows how many different kinds of foods. There's usually a stove top in the middle of the table for us to roast our veggies and meats on, or into a stone black bowl to boil it into a giant soup. Always with slippery, metal chopsticks. The coolest restaurant so far had the meat & veggies hanging in big chunks above our table by a rod. So when you want more goodies, you stand up and slide a few down the rod onto the pan below. Food is spicy, tasteful and delicious!

At school, our Korean co-workers invited us foreigners on a lounge night out. We jumped on the chance to actually go out with Koreans and bond with them. Ohhhhh boy. Korean drinking culture is similar to American binge drinking, since they don't generally do any other kinds of drugs. We started off by predrinking in the streets with soju (THE liquor there, smells like vodka, 20%) and then were hustled off to the lounge. Up high on a building, we opted for the patio overlooking the city on lounge chairs. When I commented on the chilliness of the evening, the waiter said "I give you blankets." Which I did not take literally, but sure enough he comes out with a stack of blankets for us. Again, community oriented, the co-teachers order a bottle of vodka and some juice for the table to share. Also, all drinks come with food. When we were predrinking, a family outside the 7/11 walked over and handed us 4 oranges, smiling at us. After the lounge, we were told it was clubbing time. NEVER have I been on a night out in this much style. We walked up a giant glittering staircase with security men all over, and the Koreans led us to one of the lounge booths. The entire floor is all divided into individual booths, fitting about 10-12 each. Again, bottle service, but this time some kind of gin. And 2 giant platters, one of fruit and one of beans and chicken that go along with the bottle. We danced to the live DJ and male dancing number, the girls asking me anxiously which boy I liked, and proceeding to knock me into one any time I glanced at one for too long. I also experienced my first, second and third booking!!! Ok so the way this works can be creepy or not. For us, it involved guys dancing with us and inviting us up to the 2nd floor. What looks like a lavish hotel floor with mood lighting is where the bookings are. Each room has a big circle couch around a table, tv, and lots of food and alcohol. The guys led us into their room where we socialize with them for a bit, and then out of the blue one of the co-workers says "OK, we're leaving now" and that's the end of it. The guys smile, say have a good night or nice meeting you, and the interaction closes. Two of the Korean girls and I were dancing together, and ended up going through three bookings in this way. Crazy night out, and not one I or my budget could handle for a long time again, but what an experience into Korean drinking culture!

View from the bus ride to Cheonan

My new apartment!

My bathroom turns into one giant shower stall...it's a bit strange

First day of school, first day of school!

Right outside our apartment

The only famous Korean the kids seem to know...Psy is all over