Guess Who

One of the most entertaining aspects of my new job are the names of the children. They obviously have Korean names, but upon beginning class at Chungdahm, they are instructed to choose an “English” name, just as someone named Joe would go by Jose in Spanish class. Because the Korean to English translation is no where near as simple as English to Spanish, the kids can basically choose any name they want. The winner of the best name choice goes to Elvis. On top of that, I started to notice a strange theme within the name choices. I have several Sallys and Harrys, two Dianes, two Glorias, Cindy, Susan, Lucy, to name a few. These names are not uncommon, but they are definitely not the most popular within that generation. I mean really, when was the last time you met a 9 year old named Harry? or Gloria? Other than that...I saw a pattern: does anyone else think that these sound like the names of the characters from the game, Guess Who? I think that every student at my school thought, hmm, what should I name myself? Let me just look at this popular Hasbro game to pick out the appropriate name. Either that or a trendy name book from 1970.

CRIBS: Korean Edition

So, this is kind of embarrassing that I took a video of myself filming my apartment. It was originally intended for my parents and sister to see because I knew they were curious. I didn't realize videos couldn't be attached to emails...whoops. I decided what the hell and put it up for everyone to see. So anyway, here is my apartment in Incheon.
Warning: if you tend to be envious of really sweet cribs, you probably should stay away from this

Smooth Sailing

I got through my first day of teaching without a hitch, for the most part. Training really built the classroom experience up to be something that it is not. I was under the impression that if I didn’t prepare, I would be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. No. Turns out, not surprisingly, I overprepared. Somewhere between Chicago and here I forgot how comfortable I feel around kids. I decided to put my foot down at the beginning to ensure no problem kids. Let me tell you, I really know how to lay down the law.
In my first class, the kids began to warm up toward the end and really became responsive and enthusiastic. My second class, I had no such luck. Apparently, the older the kids, the more difficult it becomes. We’re talking 6th graders, here...yea, what a pain. In their defense, I would not be too keen on sitting through more class in addition to public school from 740-1040 pm. Students in Korea usually go to 4 or 5 academies (such as CDI--my employer) after school. Their schedule runs something similar to this: wake up at 6am, go to public school at 7am-230pm, return home for lunch, then go to academy or institute classes (like English class, math and science class, etc.) until 10 or 1030 pm. They then return home and do homework. The average grammar school Korean student gets around 4 hours of sleep! Oh and by the way, this is 6-7 days a week. If I don’t get 8 hours of sleep I am a miserable waste of life. So, I am trying to keep their stressful and exhausting lives in mind when in the classroom.
The branch that I am working at seems great so far. My two bosses are extremely kind and laid back. The first thing my branch manager said to me was “do you drink? good, do you eat meat? good.” Sounds like my kind of man. They are throwing me a welcome party on Friday so I will be able to get to know my coworkers a little better. Also, most branches work on the weekends, but Mark, my boss, vetoed that. So no weekend work, plus I don’t have an evening class on Fridays, meaning I am off early. Things are really looking up for me....I’m making millions, remember.
I do not currently have internet in my apartment, so this is being written from a nearby coffee shop where I get a wireless connection. I have gone to a coffee shop every day since I’ve been here to get my internet fix and maintain my sanity. I am a fiend for the world wide web. I will write and post pictures about the city I am in, Incheon, and my apartment soon.

Mommy, Look What I Did!

Not to worry, I passed my Chungdahm Institute official training. After completing the final tests and final mocks for the classes I am going to be teaching, I signed my life away, so to speak, to a branch in Incheon-Namdong. I guess you could say I have a real job, that is a strange realization. When I come back to the states I will tell prospective employers that my last salary was millions/month (leave out the currency). It was sad leaving everyone from training. Most people that are in Seoul are going to try to get together tonight for a celebration, so hopefully we will all be able to keep in touch.

My roommate, Sophie, and I before leaving (notice the sad bus in the background). As she would say, see you in a few.

감사합니다-giving and More Masks

Happy Thanksgiving! With training, we didn't have much time to even recognize, let alone celebrate Thanksgiving. My roommate and I were just going to grab something, but I was persuaded to go to a Korean bbq a few blocks from the subway so that we could actually have some sort of meal. It ended up being really delicious, marinaded beef and thick strips of pork. Korean bbq basically never gets old because it is always different. The side dishes are ever changing and delicious.

I've had a number of different types of foods, so why I keep choosing to only document barbeque is beyond me. It's hard to remember, and in many cases not at all socially appropriate to whip out my camera. Although, I'm sort of past that point.
I went to a spa-type place the other day to buy some nailpolish and ended up going a little crazy; throwing all sorts of crap I don't need into my basket. I go up to the counter to find out my total was 12,000 KRW, which is about $11! Whoa, I have never spent that little of money anywhere. Plus, the woman behind the counter loaded my bag with all sorts of sample goodies, one of which just read "mask" on the front. Thinking it was some sort of mud mask, I opened it, and found it to be another creepy mask...

My roommate prompted me to pose this way saying that I would look "asian" in doing so. I cannot take credit for her artistic genius. PS check out the sweet vintage sweatshirt I snatched at the subway.
Seoul is said to be one of the most expensive cities in the world, next to London, New York, and Tokyo. But I have to say, I have not found that to be the case at all. Apparently the real estate is really the only pricing that is inflated. Food, clothes, alcohol, toiletries, etc are all priced extremely reasonably. I ordered a bowl of bibambap for lunch the other day which is a compilation of seaweed, rice, fried egg, mushroom, sprouts and all sorts of goodies. It was under 3 USD.

This is not my image, hence the copyright logo in the corner, but just to visualize how much food we are actually talking about here. Grocery stores are not readily available, so most people, in Seoul at least, eat out for the majority of their meals which most likely explains why it is so cheap. Plus, no sales tax, and no tipping, what a steal!

Ride on the Swine Train

Today was the first official day of training where we actually got into the "meat and potatoes," if you will, of the material. It's a lot to take in at once. We have to do a lot of mock teaching and lessons tomorrow. Normally I would be a bit nervous about presenting due to my tendency to break out in hives when faced with a nerve-wracking situation. Anyone who witnessed my breakdown when having to ask a formal date a few years back knows the situation, and it is not pretty. However, with my handy-dandy H1N1 mask, most of my face will be covered!

So chic, I know. It's actually not even embarrassing to wear because it is extremely common to wear the mask. Koreans are particularly concerned about being around westerners because there was an outbreak within Chungdahm--the company I work for. Before Chungdahm, there had been only 3 known cases of swine flu in South Korea. One girl working for Chungdahm contracted the virus in the US, came here, and basically presented the epidemic to the country. Still, there have only been about 45 reported cases of SI. I have noticed a number of Koreans covering their mouths while passing us. Since we are germ-infested freaks, Chungdahm has set a protocol for us to follow including avoiding the stairs, and only taking the elevator that fits 4 people at a time. Rationale? No idea. Since there is about 60 of us training at once, you can imagine how long it takes us to get to the 4th floor. Another Swine avoidance technique is to break us trainees up into small groups in different rooms. Therefore, if someone contracted H1N1, theoretically only those 5 or 6 people in the room would have to be quarantined along with the sick person. The fact that many of us are staying in the same hotel, though, sort of defeats the purpose. Can you say paranoia?

Four people/ride=inefficiency. The elevator is smart too. Once a fifth person comes in, it beeps and refuses to go up!

Egg Roll

I forgot to bring my camera around with me yesterday, so if you're more of a visual person, skip this post. No pics, sorry! Anyway, yesterday I met a few other guys in my program to go around with. One of the guys is a Korean adoptee and apparently came to Korea this summer for a Korean adoption program. While he was here in August, he befriended some locals, one of which, Joon, took us around a bit. We went to the Han river during the day and then to dinner at a local place. We sat upstairs, where we were instructed to take off our shoes, put them in garbage bags, and sit on small pillows. The ceiling could not have been higher than 6 feet and the loft setup actually made it reminiscent of bunk beds, in my opinion. The walls were full of marker writing, some Korean, some English, some Chinese. I obviously jumped right on that... "Chi-town represent" what? embarrassing....
Joon ordered the food for us. The first course was something that is translated literally as "egg roll." However, it was much like a long--about 3 feet, in fact--omelette filled with cheese and kimchi. (Jackie, you would like the half that was just cheese!) They brought it out on a wooden washboard, which was quite interesting. I had my first taste of Soju which is a Korean rice-based whiskey, an alcohol drank throughout the country and often--almost every meal. It tastes like watered down vodka, really. Joon taught us a variety of drinking games that they commonly play when out for a meal which took us a while to figure out. The customary way to take a shot is to pour the glass over your head after you drink the shot to show that you finished it. I followed suit and ended up with some wet hair. Today was the first day of training and the medical exam. We have to wear surgical masks the entire time during training, it's painful. The paranoia about swine flu is rampant. Apparently training is supposed to be pretty intense, so I may not have too many updates within the next week. I'll try and snap a picture of all of us with our masks...pretty cute. The trainer said that the masks are "cool because we look like superheroes." I'm not sure what super hero wears that kind of mask.