Saturday, January 30, 2010
Another week is over. This week we received all the pieces to the puzzle. Cell phone, wireless internet, and our first pay cheque. We took it easy this week, last weekends ski trip did us in. Britt and I "enjoyed" a Korean massage. Let me just say their little Korean hands are strong. We both came home with bruises, but the facial that went along with the massage was very nice and relaxing. The weekend brought more late nights and drinks. Friday we hit up Waegook Cook for drinks after work. A couple friends we met on the ski trip had a going away party, so we joined them for drinks. They are from South Africa and have been here a year. They are going home for a visit, but will be back to Gumi in March. Today we spent most of the day in bed. We took a walk to McDonald's for some home food, and to the grocery store. Tonight we are going to supper and bowling. Should be fun, yet low key. Britt and I have been trying to put together a trip for the long weekend in February. We originally thought we would check out Jeju Island, but it looks like we will be going to Seoul now. I am excited to start traveling and seeing other things. Time goes by so fast here, its hard to believe its been a month already. 1 down, 11 more to go.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
High 1 Love
Selfie
Mountain Top Photo Shoot Begins
High 1 Mascot...Workers are even dressed up in a costume like this.
Mountain Top Love
Photo Shoot with a Korean who told us to wave
Gondola
Britt and some Koreans in the outfits that are super bright and busy...but everyone has them.
Heading to the Baths
Bar with some of the crew
Early Morning Bus Trip
Lunch with Tim...supporting the "peace signs"...very popular here, but they do it for "V for victory" not peace.
Market in Gumi
Hello Kitty Everywhere
Matching sets are a popular choice with couples in Korea...girls feel free to put in your orders for Valentines Day.
Gumi Train Station
A Very Korean Experience
Its been a busy week. Tim got back from China, this week so we were excited to have him back to show us around Gumi. We all met up on Thursday after work for some drinks, and then on Friday he took us around town and showed us some places we could check out on our spare time. We all went out for lunch and Britt and I bombarded him with our 101 questions about the city, life, food, and things to do/ see. Friday was also a big day for us, we finally got our alien registration cards. The A.R.C. is pretty much our key to the country, without it we really didn't exist here. We now have our bank accounts set up, and this week we will be getting our cell phones and Internet.
This weekend was a great time, Britt and I ventured to High 1 Ski Resort in Jeongseon, South Korea. The foreigner bar here "Waegook Cook" plans a bus trip every year, so we decided we would join in on the fun. It was a great opportunity to meet people who work here in Gumi. We left at 6:30am on Saturday, some people came straight from drinking/ partying to the bus. It was a pretty funny bus ride with lots of sloppy people. It kind of reminded me of pub crawl trips from Wolfville to Halifax. The resort was about 4 hours away, and those who didn't show up to the bus already drunk were drunk by the time we got there. Britt and I decided we wouldn't ski so we spent the day lounging around the lodge, and at the pizza parlor on site. Saturday night we drank and went to the casino. The casino was packed with Koreans who were very into their games, so after about 10 minutes we all made our way to the bar. For some people they were just too drunk to be in the casino and got kicked out/ breathalyzed, then showed up at the bar with us for further drinking. Needless to say the evening turned into quite a party. We had two condos rented for sleeping, and we all slept traditional Korean style...on the heated floor. I have to say, that by the time I was ready to go to bed, it didn't matter that I was sleeping on the floor. Sunday was a big day for me in my cultural journey here in Korea. I braved the public bath, and yes it is exactly what you think it is. You walk into a changing room, get naked and go bath with all the other women. There are 4 pools (hot, cold, warm, and massage). Women just lounge around naked in these pools and relax. We were calling it "mermaid land". They pretty much sit on the edge of the pools naked while bathing and looking at themselves in mirrors. After you are done in the pool, you can shower. Let me tell you Koreans take GREAT care in cleaning themselves. I personally was in and out. In total, I would say I spent 10 minutes in the pool and shower. Apparently it is relaxing, and I suppose once you get over the fact that you are naked in public it is. Very different culture, but an experience I felt I had to try. Britt and I also went to a Jimjilbang. You are given an outfit (shorts/ t shirt) and you walk into a room where you find men and women lying all over the floor sleeping and watching TV. There are smaller rooms that are set at different temperatures, and you can spend the day laying on the floor relaxing. Britt and I opted for the room set at 47 degree Celsius. We were the only two in that room, so we lounged and rested for awhile. It was pretty relaxing, especially after a night of drinking. We also took the gondola to the top of the mountain for a little photo shoot. Keep posted for picture updates, I hate to disappoint but there are no pictures allowed in the Casino or public baths so some of my weekend adventures are not photo documented. All in all a fun weekend, and a very Korean weekend...from public baths to sleeping on the floor. Its all very different from the culture I am use to, but I do enjoy experiences.
This weekend was a great time, Britt and I ventured to High 1 Ski Resort in Jeongseon, South Korea. The foreigner bar here "Waegook Cook" plans a bus trip every year, so we decided we would join in on the fun. It was a great opportunity to meet people who work here in Gumi. We left at 6:30am on Saturday, some people came straight from drinking/ partying to the bus. It was a pretty funny bus ride with lots of sloppy people. It kind of reminded me of pub crawl trips from Wolfville to Halifax. The resort was about 4 hours away, and those who didn't show up to the bus already drunk were drunk by the time we got there. Britt and I decided we wouldn't ski so we spent the day lounging around the lodge, and at the pizza parlor on site. Saturday night we drank and went to the casino. The casino was packed with Koreans who were very into their games, so after about 10 minutes we all made our way to the bar. For some people they were just too drunk to be in the casino and got kicked out/ breathalyzed, then showed up at the bar with us for further drinking. Needless to say the evening turned into quite a party. We had two condos rented for sleeping, and we all slept traditional Korean style...on the heated floor. I have to say, that by the time I was ready to go to bed, it didn't matter that I was sleeping on the floor. Sunday was a big day for me in my cultural journey here in Korea. I braved the public bath, and yes it is exactly what you think it is. You walk into a changing room, get naked and go bath with all the other women. There are 4 pools (hot, cold, warm, and massage). Women just lounge around naked in these pools and relax. We were calling it "mermaid land". They pretty much sit on the edge of the pools naked while bathing and looking at themselves in mirrors. After you are done in the pool, you can shower. Let me tell you Koreans take GREAT care in cleaning themselves. I personally was in and out. In total, I would say I spent 10 minutes in the pool and shower. Apparently it is relaxing, and I suppose once you get over the fact that you are naked in public it is. Very different culture, but an experience I felt I had to try. Britt and I also went to a Jimjilbang. You are given an outfit (shorts/ t shirt) and you walk into a room where you find men and women lying all over the floor sleeping and watching TV. There are smaller rooms that are set at different temperatures, and you can spend the day laying on the floor relaxing. Britt and I opted for the room set at 47 degree Celsius. We were the only two in that room, so we lounged and rested for awhile. It was pretty relaxing, especially after a night of drinking. We also took the gondola to the top of the mountain for a little photo shoot. Keep posted for picture updates, I hate to disappoint but there are no pictures allowed in the Casino or public baths so some of my weekend adventures are not photo documented. All in all a fun weekend, and a very Korean weekend...from public baths to sleeping on the floor. Its all very different from the culture I am use to, but I do enjoy experiences.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A Korean Meal
Today Mr. Moon treated his staff to a traditional Korean meal. Britt and I were the only foreigners in the group, but we were good sports. We tried everything, and even went a little outside our comfort zone when we ate RAW meat (beef). I thought the texture would get me, but I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I will also say I will not be eating it on a regular basis. For our main meal we had Korean Bulgogi, which is like a beef soup/ stir fry. It was delicious. We haven't been very adventurous with our meals here in Korea, but this was defiantly a good one. Korean meals are served with many side dishes, my favorite being soy bean soup. All in all a successful meal. This weekend Britt and I plan to go out and meet more people. I am sure that will involve late nights, and soju.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Gumi
We have survived our first couple days of teaching. I teach the higher level students, and I have to say they are pretty good at speaking English. Besides a few grammar errors and some pronunciation they are good and can get their point across very clear. We are working in a new branch so the class sizes are very small. The most students I have in one class is 3. The parents really love this because they are getting the most for their money, and their child gets lots of attention. The owner of the company Mr. Moon has hopes to double the size of the school in 6 months, and judging by his business skills he will be successful.
Friday night Britt and I ventured "downtown" Gumi. I say "downtown" because we are not exactly sure if it is downtown or not. We were told it is kind of downtown, but to us it is downtown and has everything we need. We got off work at 10, came home and got ready. By 11 o'clock we were downtown trying to find a place to eat, but a lot of things close down early here. We eventually found a bar called Waegook Cook which we were told was the popular hangout in Gumi for all the westerners. We are the newbies in town so when we arrived at the bar all heads turned to look at us and see who we were. It didn't take us long to fit in a find people to party with. The bar has a great ice breaker game in involves hitting a nail into a tree stump. Each person gets a shot or two if you are a girl at hitting their nail, and who ever gets it all the way in first wins, the loser has to buy a round of shots. We had supper and drinks, which including a picture of soju (watered down vodka), and many shots. The owners of Waegook Cook also set up an annual ski trip in Kangwando Casino and Ski Resort, which is about 4 hours from here. 45 forgieners and a weekend of drinking, partying and skiing. Britt and I signed up to go to that as well, so that will be something for us to look forward to at the end of the month. The bar is a great place, by the end of the night we were even playing flip cup. At 4am we made our way to another bar called Corona which also had a large group of foreigners. The US has a military base here so a lot of the soldiers party there on weekends. We ended up partying until 5am, which for me is a bit of a push. In Wolfville the town shuts down at 1am, so to party until 5am was a very late night for me. Here in Korea most people party all night until 8 or 9am, go out to breakfast then home to bed. Britt and I will have to take baby steps towards the all night party. Last night we went to Waegook Cook again, but we didn't drink as much and were home in bed by 3am. Still a late night, but more low key than most nights out will be I feel.
My Korean Experiences
The culture here really confuses me. Somethings are so advance and amaze me, well other things are VERY under developed and 3rd world country. Wireless internet here is amazing and very fast. The heated floor are genius, and the cars here are very nice. While some of the following things make me wonder. There is no happy medium here, its one extreme to the next.
1. Korean laundry. My washer is so high tech, and works amazing. It measures the water level according to how many clothes are in it, and it looks very "space tech", BUT they have no dryers so the laundry which I did on Wednesday night is only now dry...4 days later.
2. Korean toilets. My apartment and school have a traditional western toilet, but the school we were observing last week had a "Korean" toilet. I have no idea how to use, or who every thought the design was good. I would rather squat in a bush somewhere. (See picture)
3. Lotte Mart. I ventured to Lotte Mart alone on Saturday. I was the only foreigner in the whole store (which is huge). Everyone was looking at me, and what was in my cart. I was also chased down by a Korean man who was giving out samples of garlic juice. He REALLY wanted me to try some, so I did. I almost threw up on the floor, who would every want to drink hot garlic juice...apparently it will make you strong.
4. Korean "showers". The Korean bathroom is completely tiled (floor and walls). You have a shower head that runs from your bathroom sink and the water just runs into a drain in the floor. There is no tub or shower curtain so everything in your bathroom gets wet.
5. Korean beds. It is only as of late that Koreans have slept in beds. Traditionally they sleep on the floor, which is heated and wouldn't be so bad if you were use to it. Britt and I do have beds, but no sheets. We have a comforter and a bed skirt (which we are using as a bottom sheet). Actual bed sheets are a hard find around here.
I am sure I will get accustomed to the way of life here. The adjustment has been easy, and Britt and I both feel luck is on our side. From talking with other ESL teachers we have a great job, great pay, great living arrangements, and great vacation time. Everything is falling into place very smoothly, we just keep knocking on wood, giving high fives, and enjoying our luck.
Friday night Britt and I ventured "downtown" Gumi. I say "downtown" because we are not exactly sure if it is downtown or not. We were told it is kind of downtown, but to us it is downtown and has everything we need. We got off work at 10, came home and got ready. By 11 o'clock we were downtown trying to find a place to eat, but a lot of things close down early here. We eventually found a bar called Waegook Cook which we were told was the popular hangout in Gumi for all the westerners. We are the newbies in town so when we arrived at the bar all heads turned to look at us and see who we were. It didn't take us long to fit in a find people to party with. The bar has a great ice breaker game in involves hitting a nail into a tree stump. Each person gets a shot or two if you are a girl at hitting their nail, and who ever gets it all the way in first wins, the loser has to buy a round of shots. We had supper and drinks, which including a picture of soju (watered down vodka), and many shots. The owners of Waegook Cook also set up an annual ski trip in Kangwando Casino and Ski Resort, which is about 4 hours from here. 45 forgieners and a weekend of drinking, partying and skiing. Britt and I signed up to go to that as well, so that will be something for us to look forward to at the end of the month. The bar is a great place, by the end of the night we were even playing flip cup. At 4am we made our way to another bar called Corona which also had a large group of foreigners. The US has a military base here so a lot of the soldiers party there on weekends. We ended up partying until 5am, which for me is a bit of a push. In Wolfville the town shuts down at 1am, so to party until 5am was a very late night for me. Here in Korea most people party all night until 8 or 9am, go out to breakfast then home to bed. Britt and I will have to take baby steps towards the all night party. Last night we went to Waegook Cook again, but we didn't drink as much and were home in bed by 3am. Still a late night, but more low key than most nights out will be I feel.
My Korean Experiences
The culture here really confuses me. Somethings are so advance and amaze me, well other things are VERY under developed and 3rd world country. Wireless internet here is amazing and very fast. The heated floor are genius, and the cars here are very nice. While some of the following things make me wonder. There is no happy medium here, its one extreme to the next.
1. Korean laundry. My washer is so high tech, and works amazing. It measures the water level according to how many clothes are in it, and it looks very "space tech", BUT they have no dryers so the laundry which I did on Wednesday night is only now dry...4 days later.
2. Korean toilets. My apartment and school have a traditional western toilet, but the school we were observing last week had a "Korean" toilet. I have no idea how to use, or who every thought the design was good. I would rather squat in a bush somewhere. (See picture)
3. Lotte Mart. I ventured to Lotte Mart alone on Saturday. I was the only foreigner in the whole store (which is huge). Everyone was looking at me, and what was in my cart. I was also chased down by a Korean man who was giving out samples of garlic juice. He REALLY wanted me to try some, so I did. I almost threw up on the floor, who would every want to drink hot garlic juice...apparently it will make you strong.
4. Korean "showers". The Korean bathroom is completely tiled (floor and walls). You have a shower head that runs from your bathroom sink and the water just runs into a drain in the floor. There is no tub or shower curtain so everything in your bathroom gets wet.
5. Korean beds. It is only as of late that Koreans have slept in beds. Traditionally they sleep on the floor, which is heated and wouldn't be so bad if you were use to it. Britt and I do have beds, but no sheets. We have a comforter and a bed skirt (which we are using as a bottom sheet). Actual bed sheets are a hard find around here.
I am sure I will get accustomed to the way of life here. The adjustment has been easy, and Britt and I both feel luck is on our side. From talking with other ESL teachers we have a great job, great pay, great living arrangements, and great vacation time. Everything is falling into place very smoothly, we just keep knocking on wood, giving high fives, and enjoying our luck.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
We have arrived in our final destination!
Last night we moved from the love shack in Daegu to our apartments in Gumi. We have heard all week how "small" Gumi is, but in reality it is about the same size as Halifax. Compared to Miramichi or Wolfville this place is huge and has everything. We arrived last night, and got to see the school where we will be teaching and meet the boss. We are working with the owner of the company....Mr Moon himself. We have also been given lots of good luck wishes on that from other Moon Kkang employees, but we find him very nice and generous. He bought us supper and had it delivered to the school, has sat down with us and got to know us, and has been thrilled with the energy level we bring to school. The company set up our apartments for us. Everything is brand new, sheets, mattress, pillows, fridge, sofa, microwave, TV, dishes, etc. The apartment is also new and VERY nice. I am excited to post pictures for you all to see, it has by far surpassed my expectations. We even get free cable....most of which is Korean but there are 2 English channels. There are no keys, everything is opened and locked by a PIN number, the floors are heated, and there is air conditioning for the summer. Free laundry, and lots of space.
Today Britt and I ventured to E-mart to pick up some essentials. Food, toilet paper, and a few things to make our places feel like home. Not knowing Korean is always an adventure, people look at us like we have 2 heads, but kids love us. Even babies realize we look different and are very curious.
I also started my first offical day of work. What a joke. Two classes, one was a presentation class so I just sit, listen and mark them. In that class I only have 2 kids. My other class has 3 kids and is a writing class which is a work book type lesson. In total 100 minutes of work with 5 kids and a full days pay. Life can't get much better.
Today Britt and I ventured to E-mart to pick up some essentials. Food, toilet paper, and a few things to make our places feel like home. Not knowing Korean is always an adventure, people look at us like we have 2 heads, but kids love us. Even babies realize we look different and are very curious.
I also started my first offical day of work. What a joke. Two classes, one was a presentation class so I just sit, listen and mark them. In that class I only have 2 kids. My other class has 3 kids and is a writing class which is a work book type lesson. In total 100 minutes of work with 5 kids and a full days pay. Life can't get much better.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
For the past couple of days we have been in training. I have to say that it's been nice to see how things run with the company, but having experience working in schools back home is going to be a great help. Compared to some classes/ students I have seen at home this is going to be a joke. There is a maximum of 13 kids in a class, and they all are very competitive which makes them eager to learn. The biggest concern is when they make fun of each other for having "black eyes". Hellooo they are Korean they ALL have black eyes. It's also funny that some children choose to pick their own English names. Some of them make NO sense like "vegetable" or "alien" and some are common English names, which I find it funny to relate people from home with. The kids also wear some pretty funny things. Animals are a popular item around here so many kids wear big panda bear hats that look like something from a Halloween costume. Hello Kitty is huge here so a lot of kids wear Hello Kitty gear including Hello Kitty H1N1 masks. We have seen a lot of people here wearing masks, apparently it was for the H1N1 scare but now it is part of a fashion statement.
Yesterday it snowed here. We only got about 5cm of snow but it was a big deal. People here are not use to seeing snow and have no idea what to do with it. Kids were collecting snow off the sidewalks in grocery bags, people were driving super slow with their 4 way flashers on, walkers were sliding all over the place, and kids were bringing snowmen which they had built into school with them. They soon discovered that snow melts. We also taught them that in Canada most people build snowmen with 3 balls, here they only use 2. We said it was because we had A LOT of snow.
Last night we ventured to the grocery store. I love just looking around and seeing all the different things. I have been practicing my Korean letters so I can read the labels, but a lot of things we just had no idea about. We walked around empty handed for a while. There's a lots of things I would never eat (dried whole fish which they eat like beef jerky) but we did manage to find a few things we like (Korean "Mr Noodles", soup, chips). Mostly snack food, but once we have an apartment with a stove and oven I will explore the grocery store in depth.
Tonight is the last night in the "love shack", we will be moving into our apartments tomorrow. It will be nice to get set up, and we are excited to see them. We have heard good things, but just to arrive in the town we will be working and have our own space will be great. Our next adventures will be in Gumi. We start teaching our own classes on Thursday which I am looking forward to. I'm sure in the next week I will have plenty to update about my apartment, work, and life in Gumi.
Yesterday it snowed here. We only got about 5cm of snow but it was a big deal. People here are not use to seeing snow and have no idea what to do with it. Kids were collecting snow off the sidewalks in grocery bags, people were driving super slow with their 4 way flashers on, walkers were sliding all over the place, and kids were bringing snowmen which they had built into school with them. They soon discovered that snow melts. We also taught them that in Canada most people build snowmen with 3 balls, here they only use 2. We said it was because we had A LOT of snow.
Last night we ventured to the grocery store. I love just looking around and seeing all the different things. I have been practicing my Korean letters so I can read the labels, but a lot of things we just had no idea about. We walked around empty handed for a while. There's a lots of things I would never eat (dried whole fish which they eat like beef jerky) but we did manage to find a few things we like (Korean "Mr Noodles", soup, chips). Mostly snack food, but once we have an apartment with a stove and oven I will explore the grocery store in depth.
Tonight is the last night in the "love shack", we will be moving into our apartments tomorrow. It will be nice to get set up, and we are excited to see them. We have heard good things, but just to arrive in the town we will be working and have our own space will be great. Our next adventures will be in Gumi. We start teaching our own classes on Thursday which I am looking forward to. I'm sure in the next week I will have plenty to update about my apartment, work, and life in Gumi.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Britt and I have been on our own for the weekend, a true test of our skills. Saturday we ventured to E-mart, which is similar to Walmart. We tested the Korean skills we have learned so far with the taxi driver, which I have to say went very well. When we got to E-mart, our Korean skills were not so good. We were looking for converter plugs, but the guy who was helping us really had no idea what we were saying. He eventually told us to try Hi-mart, so we tested the Korean skills with another taxi and arrived at Hi-mart. The guy there REALLY had NO idea what we were looking for, but after about 30 minutes or searching we found what we were looking for.
After what we deemed as a successful afternoon outing, we decided last night we would try to venture to Pizza Hut. We tried the skills with another taxi, going to Pija Hut (Korean's don't have z in their alphabet). We thought we were on a good track, but when the taxi stopped we were at Outback. Not really sure how you get Outback from Pizza Hut, but we eventually found our way to Pizza Hut (approximately 3 blocks up the street on the other side of the highway). The pizza was the same as home, they had some funky ones but we stuck to veggie. It is pretty interesting to watch Korean's try to use a knife and fork. They are so use to eating with chop sticks that they pretty much use their fork and knife the same way. Also meals here are very communal. One person will get a plate and everyone will pick off of it. Drinks are the same way, if there are 3 people at the table there will be one drink with 3 straws. I have to say I enjoy the "picking" off other peoples plates.
Today, Sunday we stayed pretty low key. We had lunch at a little cafe, and organized our luggage a little better. Similar to home, not everything was open today and the places that were opened at noon. We will be in training Monday - Wednesday, and then relocating to our actual apartment in Gumi. We start work on Thursday which I am pretty excited about. So far from what I have seen it should be a joke. No more then 13 kids in a class, and all the kids are very well behaved. They are pretty much robots. You read a sentence, then they repeat in sync.
Pretty low key weekend, but it was nice to rest and get organized for the week coming. Things should get busy for us starting tomorrow.
After what we deemed as a successful afternoon outing, we decided last night we would try to venture to Pizza Hut. We tried the skills with another taxi, going to Pija Hut (Korean's don't have z in their alphabet). We thought we were on a good track, but when the taxi stopped we were at Outback. Not really sure how you get Outback from Pizza Hut, but we eventually found our way to Pizza Hut (approximately 3 blocks up the street on the other side of the highway). The pizza was the same as home, they had some funky ones but we stuck to veggie. It is pretty interesting to watch Korean's try to use a knife and fork. They are so use to eating with chop sticks that they pretty much use their fork and knife the same way. Also meals here are very communal. One person will get a plate and everyone will pick off of it. Drinks are the same way, if there are 3 people at the table there will be one drink with 3 straws. I have to say I enjoy the "picking" off other peoples plates.
Today, Sunday we stayed pretty low key. We had lunch at a little cafe, and organized our luggage a little better. Similar to home, not everything was open today and the places that were opened at noon. We will be in training Monday - Wednesday, and then relocating to our actual apartment in Gumi. We start work on Thursday which I am pretty excited about. So far from what I have seen it should be a joke. No more then 13 kids in a class, and all the kids are very well behaved. They are pretty much robots. You read a sentence, then they repeat in sync.
Pretty low key weekend, but it was nice to rest and get organized for the week coming. Things should get busy for us starting tomorrow.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Downtown Daegu, in the park.
Our first trip to E-mart (similar to Walmart), the sloped escalators are magnetic, so your cart doesn't roll.
Privacy curtain at the "love motel"
Hello Kitty EVERYWHERE, even at the cake store.
Happy New Year's. 13 hours ahead of all you on the east coast.
Our new friends that we rang in the new year with. Downtown Daegu at "Who's Bob", a bar full of foreigners.
My first shot of Soju, and I am sure it will not be the last.
Our first Korean meal. Korean pork BBQ, there is a table top grill where you cook the meat yourself.
The raw pork that we cooked on the grill.
Downtown Daegu, on our first night here.
First stop, McDonald's. Pretty much the same menu as home. No apple juice though.
Arrived in Korea with all my luggage.
First "Korean" meal on the flight. NOT good, but it was airplane food, so probably not a good thing to judge off. Cake was delicious though.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)