SOMETIMES WE NEED

FANTASY

TO SURVIVE
REALITY

 

 

 This week's book recommendation is a lovely series called Ranger's Apprentice by  Australian author John Flanagan. I LOVE this series! I have yet to finish it (no time or money to purchase and read the final three books before I left for Korea), but I fully intend to once I actually have the time and money to put into it.

 

The first book is The Ruins of Gorlan and revolves around a young man by the name of Will. Will is one of a few orphans who reside at Castle Redmont. As is customary, at 15, the orphans are expected to become an apprentice to one of the masters at the castle. There are a variety of trades to choose from: military, culinary, etc. Will's friends find places with little trouble, but Will can't seem to find an apprenticeship that suits him. That is until Halt, a ranger, comes along and takes Will as his apprentice. Will learns all about the rangers and their mysterious trade from his new master, and finds he not only likes it, but is quite skilled.

 

Now these wouldn't be any kind of decent fantasy books without a little fantasy to them. There's a good old fashioned villain (Morgarath) who needs defeating, along with his ugly minions, the Kalkara. I won't go into any great detail so as not to spoil it for my amazing readers out there, because these books are totally worth the read.

 

Flanagan is amazing at what he does. His fantasy world, though obviously based upon cultures and histories from our world, is a unique and refreshing addition to the fantasy genre. His characterization is very realistic, and everything just works together perfectly to make an all around amazing series.

 

For those who enjoyed or will enjoy this series, Flanagan also has a second series currently in the works called The Brotherband Chronicles, based in the same world, which I started reading as well before I left for Korea. I must say it is off to a wonderful start. Once I've gotten further into the series, I'll probably be doing another post about it. Until then, pick up his Ranger's Apprentice series, sit down, and read! 

 

 

 

Fantasy is a necessary

                           ingredient in living, it's a way

of looking at life through the

                           wrong end of a telescope.

 

                      -Dr. Seuss



THE JOYS AND WOES

OF TEACHING

 

Oh my word, have I already been here a month?! Crazy!!!

 

Anyway. Teaching. What can be said about it? So much, that's what. I'm not sure what being a "normal" teacher is like, but being an ESL teacher is one crazy ride (at least it has been for me so far). Let's just say I came into this like many probably do: dreaming of epicness. Now, I wasn't foolish enough to believe everything was going to be hunkey dorey right from the start. I knew there would be challenges (many, many, many challenges), but I wasn't entirely sure what all of those challenges would be. I knew I'd have some trouble adjusting to teaching children seeing as all my experience has been with adults, and I knew it would take time to adjust to a new schedule and learn the ropes of the school. So I decided to come in with as open a mind as I could possibly muster. Let me tell you how much that has helped. Being able to let go of preconceived ideas has kept me sane these past couple weeks. It is sooooo different than what I thought it was going to be like (okay, not everything, but still...). I guess that means my first words of advice to anyone planning on getting into ESL teaching is to be flexible in your thinking. Rigidity will only break you in the end (or maybe in the beginning because that's when everything's at its worst).

 

So let's give an example. One thing I wasn't expecting was to have the entire school be based upon learning English. I was anticipating a school that had Korean curriculum with a few English courses offered (obviously to help attract more students to the school). But the hagwon I work at (I have no clue if this is the norm or not) is entirely based upon English curriculum. There's not just an "English class," there are many classes including Science, Math, Social Studies, and Music taught in English. Upon arrival, I was informed I would be in charge of teaching the basic English Time course to my main class (Universe) as well as teaching the Global subject (kind of like social studies) to two other classes (Infinity and Ocean) in addition to my Universe class. In a typical day, I teach three different courses: Reading Skill Builder, English Time, and Global. I also help out with Arts & Crafts and teach two afterschool courses for older children (9-10 year olds). So I'm not just teaching English, I'm teaching social studies, art, reading, speech, writing, and English.

I'm not complaining about this. I actually love teaching different classes. For the Global class, we're learning about China. I've had the kids do some coloring worksheets and in the next week or so I'm planning on introducing our first craft project! This is the planned project, so we'll see how it turns out.

Projects do take a bit of extra planning, mostly because if the students need to bring supplies from home or they need to do something at home for the project, I have to have a Korean teacher make a note for the parents (few if any of the parents speak English). For this project, the students will need egg cartons from home which means a note needs to be sent, etc, etc, etc. It should be fun though. The kids love projects like this and so do I!

 

Alright, so I'm going to post a few pictures of my classroom and whatnot (just because I like to brag). Because Global is considered the main subject I teach, my classroom theme is supposed to be geared toward that. But obviously because the classroom is mainly for the use of my Universe class, it is also decorated to help them learn English (class rules, calendar, birthday chart). It's still a work in progress (I've only been here a couple weeks after all).

This is where I hang projects they do in class.

I put up pictures and flags of a few different countries for my Global class.

Here's the birthday chart!!!

And here we have the classroom rules and a clock (the students are learning
to tell time).

And here we have one of my favorite parts of the class. Each student has a
miniature library. Each time he/she reads a book, they get to add a little wooden
book to their library shelf. At the end of the month we tally up how many books
they've each read.

This is a stereotypical school lunch. There's always rice,
kimchi, some kind of soup, and two side dishes (called
banchan) which often consists of some kind of meat
and/or vegatables.

And not to stray from the subject, but I wanted to add in just a couple other experiences I've had apart from teaching. I go to church (I think I've mentioned briefly before that I'm LDS). I ride the subway a grueling one and a half hours to church each week (okay, it's not actually gruelling). I do this so I can go to the only English speaking branch in the area. I have a roommate from college who also teaches here and she goes to the same branch!!! Here we are, reunited once more :)

As with the LDS church, the meetings are all the same, so not much is different. Because there aren't too many people, there aren't enough to have an English YSA ward, but there are a few singles. A few others are English teachers like me, and most of the rest are here because of military service. I made a few friends and was added to the different groups on Facebook so I could keep up to date on activities and such (linger longer next week!!!). It's been nice to go to the English branch though. It feels like a break each week from the foreignness of Korea.

On a similar, but separate note, my director took me to immigration today to finish up everything for my visa. We ran into a bunch of sister missionaries (because they have to have visas too). My director was caught a bit off guard when I said hello and I started chatting with the sisters like we were old friends. He asked if I knew them, and I said I didn't. I took a little time to explain about our church, but pretty soon he had to leave to fill out some paperwork, so I spent another half hour or so talking to one of the sisters who was from Australia. We had to leave soon after that though, so I said goodbye. But on the way back to the school, my director started asking questions about the church (some of the stereotypical ones about missionaries, polygamy, and about the whole no drinking and smoking thing). By the time we got back to the school he asked if I could find him a Korean copy of The Book of Mormon! I was super excited :) I don't like to feel like I'm forcing my religion or my views on anyone, so I rarely bring the subject of religion myself, but if someone asks me questions, I'm more than willing to share!

And last, but not least, I'm starting up Insanity (again). I've always struggled with keeping up with my workouts, and each time I swear I'm going to do better. Well, it's time to try once again. I did the first workout today (I'm going to be soooooo sore tomorrow), and I feel great! I don't know why I stop exercising because I love the way I feel after a good workout, and I love seeing my progress. Something I need to work on I guess.

Okay, I think that's it for this post (much happier than some previous posts). I've been smiling so much. It's been one awesome day! Today I love my life :)

Love yourself and

be proud of everything,

even your mistakes.

Because mistakes

mean you're trying.



IN A LAND FAR FAR AWAY...

TALES OF DRAGONS, ELVES AND DWARVES ABOUND

 

*I'm assuming everyone reading this post has either read or seen The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies/books so for those very select few who haven't, there may be spoilers.

 

This week we're going back to one of the fathers of modern fantasy, the man who defined wizards, dwarves, and elves as we know them today: Tolkien. There is a special place in my nerdy little heart for Tolkien (as there probably is for any decent bookworm). I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy back in middle school. I can't say—as I so often can with other books—that I have

read these books many times. I've read The Hobbit maybe four times and The Lord of the Rings only twice each. While The Hobbit is a fun, short, easy read, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is anything but (though I promise it is worth it to read them at least once). For those not interested in reading The Lord of the Rings and sticking with the movie versions (I love the movies too!), I would still recommend you read The Hobbit. It can more than stand on its own; in fact, it was originally going to be a stand alone until Tolkien decided to venture further into the world of Middle Earth with The Lord of the Rings. As an interesting side note, Gollum was not (in the original published version of The Hobbit) an evil creature at all. When Bilbo wins the riddle game, he has no ill will towards the hobbit and actually gives the ring to Bilbo as a reward in addition to leading him out of the tunnels. It was only after Tolkien decided to continue his story with The Lord of the Rings and figured out Gollum would make a fairly decent side villain that he decided to make the almost innocent creature more sinister.

 

A quick note on the movies (because we can't do a whole post on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings without even mentioning them), while I love the adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, I am not quite so fond of the adaptation of The Hobbit. Most of my dislike is probably due to the amount the movies stray from the book. They could have fit the entire book into one, maybe two movies. You know they're just trying to extend it for the money they'll make. I admit, I've only seen the first of the three planned films, so I won't judge the other two until I've seen them. But movies is not our topic today, so I won't say more than that. And now back to the books.

 

The Hobbit is a fairly quick read and few parts are slow paced. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is a much longer read and has many more slow paced sections. I'll warn you in advance that The Lord of the Rings can be a bit difficult to get through, especially if you're not used to reading epic fantasy. Keep in mind that these books were written back in the mid 1950's. The writing style back then was very differet than the writing style of today. A lot of time and space was

given to description of both setting and people. So be prepared to read about a lot of flora and fauna. Though, I just have to say that I don't think the movies would have turned out nearly so well if Tolkien had not put in all that detail. Everything in the movie is detailed down to the smallest button. I believe that is due in part to the awesome team who was in charge of costumes/set design/etc for the movies, but a bigger part of it was Tolkien and his descriptions in the books. So be forgiving of the pages of description when you read them.

 

One thing I love about Tolkien is his mix of imagination and logic. He was not only an author, but he was a linguist (he made up the language of the elves himself), and he was a professor among many other things. He loved trees (you can see that love come out in his book in the form of the Ents). He delved so deeply into Middle Eartch, its history, its folklore, the different cultures, and how everything tied together. He has written an unbleivable amount about Middle Earth. Another book you may want to look into if you love Middle Earth is the Silmarillion (which I have yet to read myself).

 

There is so much more that could be said on Tolkien, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings, but I will leave it here for today. Just one last note and I'll be finished. If you love Tolkien, you should check out the podcast The Tolkien Professor. It's amazing!

 

 

I do not read for

I have renounced life,

 

I read because one life is just

not enough for me.

 

-Abbas Al-Akkad

LOST, LOST, LOST...

I'VE LOST MY MARBLES!

 

Living alone, I have found, is not to my liking at all. It's not that I can't find anything to do. I have plenty to do at home to occupy any free time I might have: cook, clean, read, do laundry, sing, dance, watch TV, workout, write blog posts...But I miss having people there, not even to talk to, but just to be there. I miss coming home to find either family or roommates (sometimes they're one and the same) laying in bed reading a book or doing homework. I don't have to talk to her, she doesn't have to talk to me, but it's nice to know there's someone there. And if you do so happen to have something on your mind, you have someone to discuss it with. You can be doing absolutely nothing together except sitting in the same room (or just the same house) and it's soooooo much better than being in the house alone.

 

Now I'm the first to admit that time alone is good if not even necessary for some (like me). And there are merits to living alone (not having to clean up after roommates is a perk), but even just a couple weeks of living alone has me wishing for a roommate. As an introvert, I need quiet time away from the crowds and hussle and bussle of the outside world to recharge on an almost daily basis. If I don't get that time, my emotions go haywire. This little fact means I spend a lot of my free time at home. I don't like to go out and party every night, or even every weekend. Parties I reserve for once every two or three weeks to once a month (lame, I know). That being said, the time I spend recharing, doesn't have to be alone. In fact, I find it helpful to have one or two, even three people home who I can vent about what went wrong that day or discuss a problem I've been dealing with. As much as I sometimes deny it, I am, like all other human beings, a social creature. And, let's be honest here, having roommates makes being social a whole heck of a lot easier for an introvert than living alone. If you live alone, you actually have to leave the house to have any kind of social interaction. And now I sound like a hermit. I don't mind leaving the house; it's just not something I like to do every day. If you're an introvert, you'll understand. If you're an extrovert, you're probably not understanding a word of this post. It's okay, you can just skip the rest and wait for my next post.

 

I decided I wanted to make a list of the pros and cons of living alone (that apply to me at least). Keep in mind that means living in a foreign country as well, where my closest friend is an hour and a half ride into the big(ger) city.

 

Pros of living alone:

 

• don't have to clean up after dirty roommates (if they happen to be dirty)
• not having to deal with neat freak roommates (a few tend to lean in that direction)
• singing and dancing anytime I want without fear of judgement
• I can watch what I want when I want
• no fighting over washer/dryer
• no unwanted guests at all hours of the night
• I can wear whatever I want without having to worry about said unwanted guests
• no alarms going off before 7am

 

Cons of living alone:

 

• no one to vent to (overseas calls are expensive)
• no one to cook for (plus I only have a stove, no oven)
• no pillow talk
• no workout buddy
• no one to be crazy with on a daily basis
• no one to grab and spontaneously go to a movie with
• no one to go on a late night walk with
• no one to play with my hair or scratch my back
• no one to ride with me to church
• no random acts of kindness (like finding my wall covered in hearts on a particularly bad day)
• no one who knows every tiny aspect of what's been going on in my life (like who I have a crush on)

 

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can come up with on the spot. So I'd like to leave with a question to all my readers (introverts and extroverts alike): what do you like or dislike about your living situation (whether it be with roommates or without)?

 

 

A friend is one who knows you

and loves you just the same.

 

-Elbert Hubbard

 

 

 

 



RANDOM RANTS...

AND MY NEW APARTMENT!

 

 

Random rants:

 

First off, once again, keep in mind this is me ranting on frustrations (some cultural and some not), so please don't be offended (especially if you're Korean). I understand not every Korean is the same and many of the things I find frustrating at this point in time are simply because I was not raised with Korean culture. I'm hoping (I might even venture to say expecting) I will grow used to and perhaps eventually accept these differences I currently find so frustrating.

 

...And I'm probably not going to have many Korean fans out there, at least for this post and maybe a couple others (we'll see how often I need to rant).

 

Alright, so I've had quite a bit of stress this week. Not from the students, surprisingly enough. The students, although not perfect little angels (far from it if truth be told), are the least of my worries at this point in time. They like me, I like them. No problem.

 

Problem number one: the school organization. Ever since I arrived, I've had different directions being thrown at me from all sides (some of them conflicting). You can only imagine what this does to my already high stress level from trying to cope with situations I've never had to deal with before (i.e. teaching and working with young children). When I go to ask a question, I get an answer and follow through. But afterwards someone else tells me it was either outright wrong or part of it was wrong and that I should be doing it this way.

 

Problem number two: Korean mothers (again only the trouble I've seen with some not all). I heard before I came that Korean mothers can be, in short, overprotective and a bit intense. I came to learn in my first week of teaching that that is a gross understatement. My first day teaching, one of my students got a tiny little scratch on his nose during gym class (I'm talking not even half the size of a small papercut, probably closer to an eighth the size). After school, the principal receives a call from the mother demanding to know where her child got the cut. Really? He's a child! Children play rough, and children get hurt. Fact of life, lady. I might understand if the cut was an inch or even half an inch. So the principal came to me and asked where and how he got the cut. Thankfully I'd heard the gym teacher commenting on it, so I told her he got it while in gym class, though I didn't know how it happened. We've recently been instructed to write down any injury (even papercuts) a student receives in our daily reports. Not even kidding. Though it is necessary, I admit. The korean mothers are the ones providing all our paychecks. This comes along with working in a private school, and is one of the reasons I can't wait to transfer to a public school (that and the kids are older and will be a little easier to handle).

 

I know not all Korean mothers are this way because I work with a couple and they are always exasperated over some of the hoops they have to jump through to keep the students' mothers happy.

 

Problem number three: expectations. The school (or hagwon as private schools are called here in Korea) I work for is short two teachers. It's only a small school, so right now we have a total of six full time teachers plus the principal (who teaches when necessary) and, I believe, one part time teacher (who might possibly be turning full time...cross your fingers!). Because we are short two teachers, our work load is heavier (the "our" includes the Korean teachers as well). All the teachers, though we're supposed to be done with the work day at 6:00pm (an hour after all the students have left), stay until at least 7:00 but usually 8:00 and sometimes 9:00. I've been teaching less than a week and already I can feel certain individuals are frustrated with my performance, or lack thereof as the case may be. Sometimes I feel like I should wear a sign saying "new teacher" just to remind them because they seem to have forgotten. The other two English teachers came to the school with at least a year of teaching already under their belts. I'm not that kind of new. I'm never-taught-children-in-a-classroom-before new. They expect me to remember three dozen things they've only mentioned once in passing. Then you have planning lessons (which I actually can do, thank you very much) and creating homework. At first I would assign homework from the book because it went right along with what we were learning, and the students were more than capable of doing it. But that was shot down by the principal becuase the students weren't remembering to bring their books back. Okay, valid point. Well, after that I started making worksheets they could take home, but each and every one was, once again, shot down for one reason or another (I admit to my fault in that). Keep in mind, though, no one had trained me on "the art of creating homework," and my experience as a tutor in the past did nothing for that either. In addition to that, I've been trying to throw together worksheets in the limited amount of time I have while trying to leave the office before 9pm (I've actually decided that I will be out of the office by 7:30 at the latest each night unless there is a meeting or emergency that I have to stay later). I don't get paid overtime, so I'm definitely not going to be putting in three extra hours a day. The homework issue only came up this week, so I will be asking for someone to "train" me so none of my worksheets are tossed out anymore.

 

Well...I think I'll leave the rants at that for today, but you'll probably see one or two more in the future...or three or four...And now I need to apologize for seeming like a totally insensitive human being at this point. I promise I'm a nice person! I'm actually quite tolerant as well. Just ask anyone who knows me. And moving on!

 

 

My apartment:

 

Now that all the frustration has seeped out of me, it's time to talk about something happier: my apartment!

 

I live in a small one room apartment located above a pet cafe (isn't that fun?). The cafe allows you to bring your pet (meaning dogs) to the cafe with you. At times it causes a bit of a rucus, but they close before 10pm, so no problem there.

 

Here's the entryway. You have a little area to leave your shoes when you come inside (remember the whole thing of no shoes inside?).

This is what you see as you come in the door: my mini kitchen (and I mean mini). Mini fridge, mini stovetop, mini dish drain, mini everything. My only real complaints are that the fridge isn't bigger (I like a lot of fresh foods) and no oven :( No baking for Maelah unless I go to my friend's house all the way over in Seoul. Oh, and don't mind the dirty dishes; I just made dinner.

 

Next you come to the main room. On the one side you have my bed, and on the other you have my closet, my cabinet (which I've converted into a dresser of sorts), three small storage bins and a random chair (which I have little use for seeing as I don't have a desk or table). There's also a monitor (not pictured) which is connected to some kind of Korean cable network (Kdramas galore!).

From the main room, you have two other small rooms: the bathroom and the laundry room. The bathroom is probably the simplest bathroom I've ever had. A cabinet, a towel rack, a toilet, a sink, and a showerhead. Yes, you read right. Not a shower, but a showerhead. It's connected to the sink, and there's a drain on the floor, so you shower right there without a shower stall. Makes the bathroom a whole lot easier to clean, I must say. Although you also have the problem of wet floors every time you step into the bathroom.

The laundry room is the smallest room in the house, consisting of only a washer. And no, there is no dryer. So I get to hang dry my clothes (haven't done that since Hawaii).

And that, folks, is my apartment. Small, compact yet efficient and homey (pretty much the difinition of anything Korean).

BOOKS, BOOKS...

...AND MORE BOOKS!!!

 

UGLIES, PRETTIES, SPECIALS, EXTRAS

(No, I'm not talking about you. Or maybe I am...)

 

I looked back on my posts and realized it was time for another book recommendation! I've been super busy recently and lost track of time, so forgive me if my posts aren't coming as frequently. I may miss a week or two if things get too busy at the school (very likely). What can I say? I'm human, and humans err.

 

Okay, so on to the book recommendation. This week, I'm introducing (for the first time for a select few of you out there) a wonderful series by Scott Westerfeld. Though he has other books out there (one series I'm also particularly fond of), I will be sticking to the Uglies series. The series consists of four books, as you can see from the title above. It can be classified as Sci-fi, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and YA.

 

So book number one, Uglies, starts us off in a futuristic world in the head of fifteenteen (almost sixteen) year old Tally Youngblood. In this futuristic society, at sixteen, you are given plastic surgery to make you what is termed, a pretty. Once you receive the operation, you cross the river and enter a new society. The operation is looked forward to by everyone...or is it? Tally befriends a girl named Shay, and when Shay begins to talk of renegades, Tally is reluctant to listen. But when Shay disappears a few days before their operation, Tally decides to do as the government requests, and go after her friend. A few days into her search, Tally discovers a settlement of people who never underwent the surgery, yet are happy (a concept foreign to most in Tally's day and age). As always, I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't read it yet. So suffice it to say, Tally rebels against society's enforced conformity, earning herself a place amongst the government's hunted.

 

All the books, except Extras, deal with Tally Youngblood and her rebellion against the forced conformity to societal and governmental ideals. Extras deals with a different part of the world during the same time. For fans of Tally Youngblood, she does show up in later chapters and even plays a major role.

 

So, yeah. Good books. Read them. Love them.

 

The book to

read is not

the one that

thinks for you

but the one

which makes

you think.

 

-Harper Lee

 



THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF

THE STARSHIP...

Psych! Just my trip to Japan :)

Sadly, this trip was not for pleasure. It was to obtain my work visa so I could work (legally anyway) as an ESL teacher in Korea. I'll have to go back one day so I can actually explore (and hopefully I'll be taking someone with me too).

Okay, so first things first, I had to book my flight and hotel. I had a korean friend book the flight for me because she could find cheaper flights on a korean website, but I booked my hotel. My supervisor (I have no idea if that's his official title or not) was going to book my hotel for me, but the cheapest he could find was 100,000 won per night (equivalent to roughly $100). Uggghhh! I was not going to spend close to $400 on a hotel (with taxes and whatnot it would have ended up being around that much). So I took it upon myself to find a hotel, one that was cheaper and closer to the Korean consulate. Success! I found a hotel within walking distance of the consulate and I ended up paying just under $250 total (still more than I would have liked to spend, but much better than the other option). For those wondering (probably not many), I booked my hotel through hotels.com. I was able to look at the hotel reviews and I got the room for a slightly cheaper price. I've heard there are what are termed capsule hotels (facilities like bathroom and kitchen are shared with other guests) that are much cheaper, but being there for a grand total of three nights I felt more comfortable and safe in a traditional hotel (plus the staff would be more likely to speak at least a little English.

Step two: make it to the airport. Now, Koreans are all about work. That being said, it may or may not come as a shock to you that they expected me to come into work the morning of my flight even though I wasn't teaching yet and I would have to leave by noon. I can't say I was entirely pleased, but I also can't say it was entirely unexpected either. So anyway, I left work around noon and took the subway to the Gimpo airport (a different airport than I had initially flown into Korea from). Thankfully one of my Korean coworkers was quite familiar with the route and was able to give me directions and even showed me an app with all the subway lines (very helpful, I must say). It actually wasnt difficult at all to get to the airport—just follow the signs! Once arriving at the airport, I exchanged my korean won for Japanese yen.

 

Exchanging the money was a very simple process. You merely walk up to the counter labeled "currency exchange" or something similar, hand the attendant how much money you want to exchange, and she gives you the amount in the currency you requested (in this case, yen).

The flight was short and soon I had landed in Japan (I'm becoming a world traveler, guys O.o). 

Here's a picture of one of the infamous squat toilets (they had them at the airport). I can't say I used it, though. I opted for the more traditional western toilets on the other side of the restroom. Speaking of which, they were actually quite high tech.

 

I don't think I've ever seen so many buttons on a toilet before...

And apparently you have the option of playing a "flowing soud" to cover up the sound of you using the bathroom...

Okay, back to normal topics again. It was time to try and figure out the Japanese subway. Oh my goodness, all this public transportation!!! At least I wouldn't have to switch lines or anything. It was a straight shot to the Namba station (which was where the consulate and my hotel were located). First I had to buy my ticket, which wasn't at all difficult. There were two options of how to get your ticket: use a machine or talk to someone at the ticket counter. I opted for the second. The subway was right down the stairs (not difficult at all), and all I had to do was sit down and wait for my stop (it took a little less than an hour to get there). Now the more difficult part: finding my hotel. I went to an information desk and showed them a picture I'd taken of my hotel location on google maps and they pulled out a couple maps and drew a route to get me there. I finally made it to the hotel about 9pm or so and decided to crash for the night.

The first thing I did the next morning was head to the consulate. I had all the paperwork in hand, walked past the guards (can you say intimidating?!), filled out the visa application form, and turned it all in. I was expecting to pick it up the next day because everything I'd researched and what everyone including my recruiter and employer had told me, it would only take 24 hours to process. Wrong! I wouldn't be getting it until Monday (the day I was scheduled to officially start teaching). Somehow stuff like this always seems to happen to me. No matter how much I plan and prepare something always goes wrong (see previous posts for confirmation). So I called my boss (not quite yet in a panic, but working my way up to it). He rebooked a flight for Tuesday morning, and I booked my hotel for a few more days (expensive!!!). 

Well, after that fiasco there wasn't a whole lot I could do other than enjoy the  rest of my time in Japan whilst trying not to spend too much money (haven't been paid yet and won't be for another month or so). I spent a good couple hours after that exploring the immediate area.

I did a tad bit of shopping (mostly for food), and then went back to my hotel to rest and take a nice bath :) The next couple days were spent mostly walking around and looking at the sights, exploring different shops, and trying different kinds of food (most of which I can't remember the names to and/or can't pronounce). I also had a lovely Skype session with my momma and the siblings still at home. It's a little strange because sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm halfway around the world, especially when I'm taking to my family. I think the worst of the culture shock is still to come.

Anyway, I went back to the consulate on Monday to pick up my visa. I was a little freaked out at first because when the guy went to look for my passport, it wasn't there. He told me to take a seat and disappeared into the back room for a few minutes (all the while I was praying really hard that nothing was wrong). But he returned with my passport in hand with the visa inside, and all was well. Sigh of relief, let me tell you. I wandered around a while after that, then returned to my hotel and made sure everything was packed and ready for my departure the next day. I planned to wake up at 5:00 so I could check out of the hotel by 5:40 and be on the subway at around 6:00. That would get me to the airport at around 7:00 snd to my gate by 7:30. My flight didn't leave until 9:40, but I wanted to leave a little wiggle room in case of emergencies (which there were none, thank goodness).

So now, here I am at Kansai International Airport waiting for my flight back to Korea. And I'll go straight to work from the airport—at least it'll only be a half day of work...and I get to move into my apartment!!!

So that, my dear readers, was my awesome, yet troublesome trip to Japan. Not the most exciting, but still fun. Next time I travel, I'm definitely taking a friend. Everything's more fun with friends :)

 

 

If your dreams don't scare you...

they're not big enough.

Week 2...And Still Not Adjusted

 

 

Well, here I am, and it's week number two since I arrived on Korea. I can't say it's been an easy ride. Hectic I think might be an apt description. But I'm surviving, if only just. Okay, I'm being a bit over dramatic. But it has certainly been a crazy ride. You probably already read about my Japan trip, so I won't regail you with all the details. But just a quick recap of everything that happened during my first week, I believe, will emphasize the "crazy ride" I'm talking about. #1 arrived at Incheon airport at 6:00 Thursday evening and went directly to the school. #2 got home at 10:00 only to go back to work the next morning (uggghhh, first days...). #3 stayed at work until 9:00 and got home at 9:30 (we're talking pm here, people). #4 had to go into work on Saturday for the school's musical festival performance (helping the kids change costumes was actually fun, though, and was a good way to get to know them). #5 had Sunday off, but went back to work for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning (training time!) #6 Japan for 4 days (Wednesday to Tuesday morning)!!! #7 Work Tuesday afternoon. #8 Move into my apartment Tuesday night (oh hallelujah!!!). And that was my first week minus the nitty gritty details. In regards to the apartment, I'm definitely going to have to do some fixing upping...The guy living in it before was a bachelor, and you could definitely tell that by the shape of the apartment. Plus he didnt clean before he left. It looks like he just packed upand left. And if he did happen to "clean" before he left, he needs to learn how to clan. I'll make sure to do the whole before and after thing for you guys when I'm done fixing the place up. 

Moving on. As you will notice, I've included quite a few more pictures in this post and the last (I'm doing better, guys!!!). The last one was entirely dedicated to my Japan trip, but all theses pictures are from Korea. First up is a picture of a book (get used to it; you'll be seeing lots of books). This book is different from the normal books I pick up, but is very good in its own right. Seoul Survivor is about exactly what you think it's about: surviving in Korea. Going back for just a tad bit of background here. Before coming to Korea, I did some research and found this cool website: thearrivalstore.com. It is geared specifically towards people coming to Korea. It provides products you may need if you plan to live here or at least stay for some time. This is how I got my cell phone so quickly (normally you need an alien registration card to get a cell phone with any kind of plan). I ordered my phone while I was in the States, and it was waiting for me at the school the day after I arrived. They also have everything from toilet paper to sheets, and pillows to brooms. This book was offered and I thought, why not? It would be nice to have a detailed outsider's perspective on living in Korea, and it was fairly cheap, so I bought it. I haven't quite finished it, but so far it's been very informative. I would definitely recommend it to anyone planning on coming to live/work in Korea.

These next four pictures are just of korean currency (you can find picures easily enough on the Internet, but I wanted to include them anyway). The first two pictures are of a 500 won (that's the name of korean money) piece—equal to about 50 cents. It's not an exact calculation but 1000 won is roughly one American dollar, so it's easier to just move the decimal over three spaces to calculate a price in American dollars.

These next two photos are of korean paper currency (front and back). I'm not sure who the people pictured on the bills are...I'll have to research that. So the amounts are equivalent to (from top to bottom) about $1, $5, $10, and $50.

For anyone not familiar with korean culture (although this applies to other asian countries as well), you wear slippers inside. The first picture is a pair of slippers I use at work. Comfy and cute!
 

This pair is what I wore at the place I was staying while I was waiting for my apartment to be vacated.
 

Here's some korean chocolate filled cookies my host bought for me the second night I stayed with her. Yummy!!!

And here are a couple cereals I've had since coming here. The first is Oreo :D and the second is some kind of chocolate Chex (which was my favorite of the two).

And just a couple views of the city :)

 

You'll notice there's quite a bit of smog—something I am definitely not used to (small town girl, right here). 

And then you have this hotel. This is actually quite common from what I've seen. Koreans—and just Asians in general, I think—love cute things...including hotels it would seem...

And here we have a bus pass (although it works for the subway and even taxis too!). They're also called a T money card. You can buy them almost anywhere apparently. I got mine at a small grocery store.

And now to talk about school—the real reason I'm in Korea. I had very limited training—only three and a half days before I actually had to start teaching, which was quite obviously not to my advantage. All the teachers were busy teaching, so I had no real training. Observation was my main training tool, and let me tell you how much I was lacking in practical knowledge. I didn't know what resources I had available other than the books and my own ingenuity. I saw other teachers using certain programs on a large touch screen computer in their rooms, but I have no idea what they are or how to use them. I didn't even really know what my schedule was or who exactlly I'd be teaching or how many classes I'd have each day until the day before I left for Japan (so basically I'd be preparing an entire week's worth of lesson plans with little knowledge on how or what to teach). Keep in mind throughout all this that, though I've had tutoring experience, I've never actually had any teaching experience. Not to mention I tutored college age students, not children.

It was overwhelmingly stressful to say the least. I was already worried about my trip to Japan and making sure everything went well with that. Add trying to plan and prepare for an entire week of teaching with only a few days of "training"  and trying to plan them amidst a trip to Japan...I was about to lose it. Oh, yeah, I also went straight to work from the airport on Tuesday and straight from work to my new apartment (that was nice at least—I can now do what I want on my own time!). but i spent most of the night cleaning up the mess the guy before me left. I was, gratefully, given a more definite schedule and instruction (though it was still lacking in certain areas—I think they forget I'm completely new at this). I'll let you know how the actual teaching part goes before the week is out. Hopefully it's not too much of a nightmare. My only consolation at this point is the fact that I will have one of the Korean teachers in the class with me (for most classes anyway). And almost all my students are fairly good at English— for their age anyway (5-6 year olds). I was actually surprised at how good their English was. So we'll see how this goes... 

Sorry these posts are so long. Writing has kind of become my stress reliever, and it's basically become my journal. And I should have made this statement earlier, but I apologize if anything I say offends anyone. Nothing is meant offensively. What I write are simply my observations (mostly revolving around differences I see between my culture and the Korean culture).

The real voyage of discovery

consists of not seeing new landscapes,

but of having new eyes...