I'm sitting in a quiet, dark, almost empty computer lab at a retreat where I'm being "trained" by my provincial board of education. If you ask me, this is an excuse to get all the teachers in our province together for a 3-day, 2-night party where we are required to go to lessons about Korean vs. Western culture and listen to the history of teaching by day but get to meet and make some crazy serious friendships & get drnnnnk off cheap beer by night. Honestly, it's not so bad, I just came from a good run/hike up the side of the mountain cuz we're in the middle of nowhere but its insanely beautiful here, it really takes my breath away. The cherry blossoms have bloomed, and I climbed up a mini version of Grouse Mountain that unfolded in a glorious scene of open water, birds chirping, forest sounds doing their thing, the whole deal. I still have not had an opportunity to upload my hundreds of pics that are stuck on my camera from the last two weeks, but at least I should share an image I found on Google that somewhat represents the absolute stunning beauty I have experienced here so you can get a taste of what I mean.
So I really have about 2 min before I should go back to my room, shower and get ready for another long day of lectures that starts in about half an hour. I'm actually looking forward to presenting my demo lesson today that I planned last night with my partner until 9 pm like true nerds, its about "Who's on first" - as in the Abbott and Costello baseball skit, but its actually only the best 45 sec of the piece using Yoda and Jar Jar as the two main characters :) Please check it out when you have a moment, its pretty funny. Our demo lesson is all about numbers, so we give them the clip then walk them through an AMAAAAZING PowerPoint lesson about going shopping, what else would Koreans want to associate with first floor, second floor, third floor other than the local E-Mart!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT17j0YotDg
Ok, the whole reason of me coming in here (and in true Rosalyn fashion, I leave the meat until the end when I have already run out of time) was to give a quick update on life so far, just to say that I have made some use of this blog site and have kept you informed of how I'm doing. Here are some of my observations on life in Korea:
1. My apartment is one room. It's RIGHT behind the subway tracks, so I hear trains every 5 min when I'm home, except between the hrs of 12 am and 5:30 am, thank GOD. It's getting pretty cozy, I've got almost everything I need; single bed (booo, so many people lucked out with a double bed!), desk (but no chair yet), sweet chocolate leather couch, microwave (which I know how to turn on to 14 min and that's IT), washing machine (which looks a LOT more complicated than it really is, but really you just need to push the big button in the middle then pres Play :), a shower door in my bathroom (but the water still goes under the door and into the floor of the bathroom where it then goes into the drain under the sink, so the floor still gets completely drenched), ample closet space, vacuum, rice cooker (which I have yet to try or figure out, but I finally found rice on a recent quest with my new friend Becca, and had to pay the equivalent of $15!! I mean, C'MON - am I not in ASIA????), the walls are pretty thin so I know when my neighbour is listening to Boyz II Men / Mariah Carey (almost every morning, except for the morning when JUSTIN BIEBER woke me up!!! I'm so incredibly proud of that kid!! you KNOW you've made it in the music biz when you're on Korean radio!!), my floor is heated and I actually like the one room concept, its pretty easy to keep clean :)
2. People wear face masks here. Like the SARS or H1N1 mask. I'm not sure why - might be because of their fear that the yellow dust flowing in from China will make them sick, might be because they are already sick and don't want to pass it around, perhaps they think this will save them from Fan Death (if you are not familiar with the concept, please google it), or might just be because they like the fun and sometimes odd designs....
3. Korea has an excellent subway system, there are at least 9 lines that I know of that connect all of Seoul to many of the suburbs in the surrounding area. All stops are clearly labelled with billingual signage, some even have safety guards on the newer platforms that I really thought were meant to keep anything flying off the train from hitting me, but they are really meant to deter the 35 PEOPLE A DAY who committ suicide in this country from doing so at the subway. Public transportation is meant for listening (to music, or quietly speaking on your cell phone - which works here underground!!) not talking. I have received some seriously dirty looks by talking at a normal decible (well, I'm sure some of my friends wouldn't believe that, but it's TRUE!) from the ahjemmas and other older Koreans who are all about pushing me aside to get out the door before everyone else, regardless of where they are standing on the train.
4. Cab drivers are INSANE. Dangerous at best and downright suicidal at worst; my first clubbing experience on my first weekend here was awesome, and then the cab ride back was deathly scary (don't worry fam - I'm alive and doing just fine, but I will NOT do that again!!) the guy drove through at least 16 red lights at top speed....hmmmm, maybe I should stop explaining that one...
5. LG is serious here - they are involved in some way on EVERYTHING! Buildings, cell phones (hardware AND service providers), computers (obviously), subway platforms, supermarkets, fruit...well, not really, but pretty much.
6. TEACHING! lol I almost forgot to mention that one! well, it's been fun so far. I'm a complete rockstaaaaa at school, they say hi to me all the time, then giggle and run away, even the boys. I teach 14-16 yr olds at a middle school (but they say they are one year older than we do here because they consider the 9 months in the womb as their first year of life) and I already knew who the trouble makers were on the 1st day, many of the kids sleep or aren't paying attention because they are completely drained from going to public school during the days Monday - Saturday and then a private school in the evenings until at least 9 pm, some of them even get home at 11 pm and THEN they start their homework! The Korean teachers and staff at my school are awesome, they are incredibly supportive and love sharing food and Korean life with me; I've already been to a kayugum lesson (traditional Korean instrument) with my Korean co-teacher, the Korean National Institute of Food, a contemporary/modern dance performance at the Seoul Arts Centre (that one wasn't with my co-teacher, but my new friend Harlem), a ball hockey league at the Olympic Sports Complex with a bunch of foreigners - many of whome happen to be of the male persuasion... ok, well this isn't about teaching anymore, but you get the idea that I've been busy lately :P
7. ummm, I know I have a LOT more observations that I want to share with you, however I just looked at the time, and now I am 14 min late for breakfast. POOP.
I better go, its been a slice y'all. My beautiful roomie (and newest friend in Korea) Renee just sat down beside me in this lovely PC Bong to work on her demo lesson because her partner has gone AWOL and she needs to get it done. So that means the shower is free!
See ya :) Until next time, and Kamsa Hamida (thanks for reading!!)
p.s. the following pic was taken of me on my 1st full day in this crazy country at a local Buddhist Temple by my first Korean local friend who I met on the 14 hr plane ride over here. It was the nicest and most touching warm welcome I could have dreamt of having in Korea, because she invited me to join her and her parents to visit this temple and meet all their friends there. She had not seen her mother in 4 YEARS and she invited me to join them. We met up with two monks, one of whome is American, at least 6f6" tall, completely caucasian, who can speak like any Korean you meet on the street and gave me all sorts of great advice on checking out Seoul using my new map of the city!! It was a great day :)
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