Posts
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| my neighborhood, Sanbon, is surrounded by mountains. |
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| Sanbon. |
So, too much time has passed since my last update. I’m sorry.
I am alive and well.
It is easy to fall into a routine here and forget I’m on the
other side of the world. Work takes up a lot of time. Some days I go to work,
come home, relax for a couple hours, go to sleep, wake up and do it again. I need to get better at time
management.
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| another view of Sanbon. The clock tower in the back is where the subway station is. |
I’ve become used to so many things here. I reach for
chopsticks over forks or spoons. I am used to being a foreigner. I’m used to
the subway.
In other ways, I’m still discovering things every day.
Trying new foods, seeing Korean things I don’t understand. Like the other day
there was a parade and a candle ceremony. What for? I don’t know. Yesterday I
found a market a ten minute walk from my house. I had no idea it was
there beforehand, and suddenly I was surrounded by lots of food and noise and
strange smells. In addition to all the fruits and vegetables, there was a lot
of fish and seafood there, so fresh some was still wiggling. So there are
strange and surprising things that remind me I’m actually on the other side of
the world.
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| Korean businesses are built on top of each other. |
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| there are lots of English words mixed in with Korean around here. |
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| I can buy anything I need at E-mart, a gigantic department store. |
Some highlights from the past month:
- The school is going pretty well. My schedule has changed and I’m working less elementary hours which is nice. A new teacher came a few weeks ago so I’m no longer the new teacher. I’ve settled into the routine and I know what I’m doing for the most part. And I’ve been hanging out with some co-teachers a lot and it’s nice to have made friends.
- My school had Family Sports Day on Saturday. That is when the
families and kids from our kindergarden all come in and compete in games. The
school was split into red and white teams. I’ve never seen anything like it in
the States but I thought it was really cool. And it is an example of how Korea
is a collectivist society. Most of the games involved the parents AND kids and
everyone got a turn. In one, the parents carried the kids on a sort of chariot
around a cone, then set it down for the next people to go. In another, the kids
got to run with a parachute flying behind them. There were piggy back rides, a
tug of war and a relay race. I ran in the relay race. Everyone danced a lot, everyone
got prizes, and overall it was cool to observe.
- About a month ago now, I went down to Jeonju to see
Vanessa one last time before she went back to Canada. Jeonju is a small city
and it’s famous for bibimbop, a noodle and vegetable dish, so we had some. At
night, we went to a Korean dance club. I will say, Koreans are much better at
dancing than Americans. I had a good time overall.
- I am borrowing a bike from a friend and have been biking with him to
work and back. It’s really fun. It takes about a half hour.
- The song "Gangnam Style" is so big that walking down the
street you’ll hear it playing four or five times from different places.
- Norabong or Korean Karaoke. I’ve gone a few times and it’s
fun. You get a private room to sing in with your friends and the song book is
huge and contains lots of English songs.
- The food continues to be delicious and I'm used to spicy food now. A lot of times I cook at home but eating out isn't too pricey either.
- I feel very rich after my first paycheck. It is paid in millions of won, so I'm a millionaire in Korean money! Ha. (Definitely not in American money though). Still, I have plenty of money now.
- I'm sure there's more, there's just too much to talk about!
