Cheongsong Sagwa Festival

 

Lots of varieties of apples.

 

Apple arch!

 

My new best friend.

 

Fellow foreigners!

Today I took a two and a half hour bus ride (both ways) to 청송 (Cheongsong) for it's 사과 (apple) festival. I went solo, but found a group of foreigners who were also traveling to the festival. Ironically, they were supposed to meet up with a different Tara, but she never showed. So I happily filled the void and hung out with them for the day. I was really happy to have people to share the event with, because it made it more fun. And they were a really nice group of people! We had lots of free samples of delicious apples and fresh-squeezed apple juice. We also got to snack on bulgogi (bbq), soup and apple chocolate. The festival had a lot going on, with different shows of traditional singing and dancing. I joined in for some of the dancing and was greeted warmly. After the dancing ended, I was showered with free apples! It was so sweet of the people there. I think they enjoyed a foreigner getting in the mix instead of just spectating. One woman in particular (pictured above) was very enthusiastic and kept hugging me. It was so cute! I'm glad I decided to check out the festival, because it was a really good time, and I now have lots of delicious apples to munch on.

In Other News

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Gorgeous! 

Here is another update about the more routine things in my life. I (finally) started Korean lessons yesterday, and I am so excited to learn some of this awesome language! I really hope that I can pick it up quickly so I can start having some form of conversation with my fellow teachers and Korean people in general. I have the class for two hours Mondays and Thursdays at the YMCA. Yesterday we went over the consonants, most of the vowels and a few words. I am really happy to be learning the language, but I'm hoping that I don't get burnt out.
I've also started taking salsa lessons on Tuesday nights from 8-10 (in Korean, so I mostly just mimic what they do until I get the steps down) and I have capoeira from 7-9 on Wednesdays also at the YMCA. So I'll be in downtown Mondays through Thursdays, busy with lots of activities. It will be a lot, but I am happy to have so many things available to do. They are all things that I am really interested in, so it's nice that the schedule worked out to fit them all in. Though I would also really love to take a KPop dance class. I'll just have to find a place that does them on Fridays or the weekend as a once a time thing. Hopefully there is something available! Though I'll be getting busier, I will try to keep this blog more up to date!

Playing Catch Up

Well I have obviously been neglecting my poor blog, so now I am going to do a recap of the past few weeks (mostly about the weekends) of my life! So be prepared for a longer than usual post (no one would blame you if you just stopped reading now!)


Weekend of Oct. 26-28:

Teen Top performing

I attempted to check out the Fireworks Festival in Busan, but the rain foiled my plans... but more on that later. I headed to the city straight from work with my friends to catch the free KPop concert. We arrived about a third of the way into the show, but were able to get in after grabbing some free tickets. The show was pretty good, and I actually knew a few of the songs performed by Teen Top (and by that I mean I knew the English lyrics and swayed/mumbled to the rest of the songs). But it was a lot of fun and makes me want to attend more KPop concerts. Though if I'm going to pay for it, I'm going to see a band I really love and learn all of their songs so I can sing along.
The next day we had plans to see some awesome cliffs in Busan, but torrential downpours forced us inside. So what's a girl to do? Go shopping, of course! We went to H&M, and I stocked up on cute winter clothes. I am so happy to have an H&M so close, but not too close. Otherwise I would spend my whole paycheck on cute outfits. The rain really started to pick up as we were walking back to our hotel, and we got completely soaked. As did my paper bag with all of my new clothes. The bag disintegrated and all my new clothes fell on the filthy, wet street. I was really frustrated but once I got back to the hotel and laid my stuff out to dry, it was funny to look back on. We figured since we were already soaking we might as well walk to dinner and then head to the beach for the fireworks show. But as we were enjoying our seafood paella at The Back Room, we learned that the show was postponed until Sunday. It was a devastating blow (a little dramatic, I know) because there was no way to see the show without returning home ridiculously late on a night before work. So instead we decided to head out to some Halloween parties. I was dressed as a pathetic "Calico" bunny. It was a pretty sad costume, but I didn't feel like spending a lot. The evening was decently fun, but nothing spectacular. Though better than if I had just stayed home.



Weekend of Nov. 2-4:

Opera:

 

Daegu International Opera Festival

 

Don Giovanni's Conquests

 

 Oh, of course.

On Friday night I headed to the Opera House to see Don Giovanni. It was showing as part of the Daegu International Opera Festival. The opera was quite funny and entertaining, but it was a little too drawn out. And the end was basically like a religious smack in the face. Though that certainly is understandable given the time frame it was written  in. Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I was happy to have English translations for the Italian lyrics, because it helped me to understand the opera better. And sometimes, when the translations made no sense, it made the experience more hilarious.

Daegu Arboretum:

 

Autumn!

 

The next weekend I headed to the Daegu Arboretum with my friend Jocelyn. The arboretum had a chrysanthemum festival with a variety of objects shaped out of the flower. And lots of gorgeous, fall-colored trees. It was a really nice and relaxing day. The sun was shining, and it was warmer than it had been the few days previous. So it was the perfect time to go! We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in the open grass area of the arboretum and walked through the lovely paths.  

Palgongsan Cable Car:

 

Going up.

 

Love trails. If your love isn't true, the tiger will bite your hand!

 

On the mountain.

 

After the arboretum I headed to the northern part of Daegu to ride the Cable Car up Palgongsan (Palgong Mountain). It was a 7 minute ride, but about a 2.5 hour journey to take the ride. I was hoping to make it back in time to do some salsa dancing, but the line for the ride was just too long and ate up my time. But I was able to see a beautiful sunset, so it was a good trade off. I was a bit underwhelmed with the view from the mountain--I was hoping for a sea of red, orange and yellow leaves--but I'm happy that I went. Daegu really has a lot to offer, so it was nice to have a weekend at home and enjoy the beautiful areas.

 

Mask Dance Bread Masks

 

Aquarium

 

Skills

The next day I headed to the Daegu Food Expo. It was a pretty neat show and had some free samples. I was definitely hoping for more samples, but was happy to have any. I learned about a few more restaurants in Daegu that I hope to try one day. The best part of the expo was the bar tending tricks show. They performers were really talented and even threw flaming bottles. It was a good show! After I saw the new 007 movie. It was my first time at a theater in Korea, and I loved it. The seats were incredibly comfortable, and the front seats are a good distance from the screen, so you don't have to strain your neck to watch. I enjoyed the experience so much, I went to see Looper the next night. Both movies were really good, but Looper was even better.

All in all, the last few trips and events I have participated in have been delightful.

Scavenger Hunt

 

Take a picture with a child and their parent... duh, I grabbed the baby!

 

Tai Chi

 

Beast mode!

 

Love 146

 

Dance obnoxiously behind an unknowing stranger.

 

Picture with an old guy!

Last weekend was a blast! I laughed and giggled so much. I participated in a scavenger hunt hosted by a charity group that fights child sex slavery. I had really only met one of my team members briefly before the event, so I wasn't sure quite what to expect. Turns out I ended up with a really fantastic group and had a lot of fun with them. We didn't end up placing, but it was great running around downtown Deagu for two hours taking pictures of crazy things. Some of my favorites are highlighted above with the pictures. We had a few Korean people walk away from us with a frightened look, but most people were willing to join in the fun.
After the event I headed to Babalu for another night of salsa. We had a brief bachata lesson (men were lacking, so I led... and was complemented multiple time for being the best leader besides the instructor!) and then a salsa party started. I was again amazed at the talent of the dancers there! They really inspire me to improve my skills. Tomorrow I am planning to try to get in on a lesson, so hopefully it works out well, and I can make it a regular thing for Tuesday nights! But back to the salsa party... It was a great deal. It was only 15,000 won (little less than $15), and beer, food (gimbap, yum!) and dancing was included until 2 a.m. I certainly feel like I got my money's worth!
But 2 a.m. was to soon to call it a night, so I went with newly acquired friends from salsa to two different bars. By the time the second one closed, I only had about half an hour to wait for the first subway home, so I went back to the first place that stays open way into the late night and danced while I waited. Finally I caught the subway home around 5:30 a.m. and made it back to my bed around 6:15 a.m. I was definitely exhausted, but slept in really late on Sunday and had a really lazy day! It was a great weekend.

Jam Packed Three-day Weekend!

This weekend I was lucky enough to have Monday off, because October 15 is our school's founding day, so a holiday is given. I took full advantage of the extra day and crammed a lot of sightseeing into one weekend, starting with Friday night. I met up with my friend Elizabeth in downtown, and then we caught up with another friend and his new Korean friends. The seven of us headed on a trek out of the pulsing heart of downtown, following narrow alleys to a low key Korean bar. We drank makgeolli (Korean rice wine) mixed with cider (basically like Sprite) and played Korean drinking games. It was really fun, especially because it reminded me of the evening my Korean friend from home made a huge dinner for us and taught us Korean drinking games. We played: Sam Yuk Goo (3, 6, 9) a game in which you say numbers out loud in a circle, but have to clap any time a number has a 3, 6 or 9, so 13 would be a clap, etc.; Gong Gong Chil Bang (007, bang) a game where you pretend to shoot people like James Bond, hence the 007, and have coordinating motions to go along; and the Stand Up game, in which everyone has to stand up and say a number, but if more than one person stands up for the same number, everyone drinks. We also learned the song people burst into when cheering on someone to drink, but I haven't quite mastered it yet. After drinking makgeolli and eating lots of food (spicy chicken, pajeon aka onion pancake, tangerines, and other side dishes) we headed to a Norabang for some karaoke. It was the first time I have gone norabanging in Korea, so it was fun to get out and sing! But it's a bit tough with a split group of Koreans and foreigners, because half the crowd really can't sing the song (i.e. we chose English songs, they chose Korean ones). After singing our lungs out, I decided to head home instead of dancing (wait, who am I?... don't worry, here's why) because it was about 3:30 a.m. and I needed to get up in about 4 hours to get ready for our trip the next day.

 

 

On Saturday I went to Jinju with Elizabeth and Lindsey to watch some bullfighting and check out the Jinju Lantern Festival. Sadly, the only bulls we saw were ones pictured on the side of the stadium. My guidebook led us astray, because there were not bullfights every Saturday as it so boldly proclaimed. There had been a bullfighting festival the weekend before, so we had just missed it! It was disappointing, but there was a lake nearby, so we hiked up to it and enjoyed the beautiful view. Later that night we went to the river for the lantern festival, which was indeed happening. It was absolutely beautiful! The three of us made our own lanterns and sent them into the river with our wishes. It was a pretty simple festival and could definitely have been done as a day trip, but we had already booked our motel, so we took our time wandering through the lights and enjoyed delicious pizza at an adorable Italian restaurant. Accommodations for the weekend booked up quickly, so we went ahead and got a two-person room for three people. But we made it work! We slept sideways on the bed and actually had quite a bit of room, though our feet did hang off of the bed. But it was a nice room and I got a good night of sleep. And the best part, the bed vibrated, so we had a nice massage in the morning (obviously that wouldn't be fun to try to sleep to).

 

Sunday we headed straight back to Daegu after waking up and getting ready. We decided to spend the gorgeous afternoon and Suseong Lake. It was a nice area, but for some reason I expected a much bigger lake. But it didn't disappoint, because duck boats abounded, and of course we took one for a spin. It was quite a workout, but a fun way to experience the lake. As we passed fellow duck boat users, we became instant, fleeting friends and shared friendly 안녕하세요s (hellos). Later we went to Ganga for dinner and had tasty Indian food. We had spinach paneer (my favorite!), tandoori chicken and garlic naan. It cost a pretty penny, but it was good. We then trekked over to the airplane turned coffee shop that was overlooking the lake. I've had many a cup of coffee in airplanes, but someone this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up! The coffee was yummy (I haven't come across a bad cup of Joe yet) and it was fun sitting in the cockpit. But the inside was a bit stuffy, so we took our drinks to the patio upstairs and reveled in the delightful weather and stunning view of the lake. After the lake we headed to Camp Walker, a U.S. army base in Daegu, on a mission to find the other gate into the post (I had already found one). We walked around the post, but sadly came to a dead end. I figure army bases have great businesses outside the main gates that cater to foreigners, so I wanted to check out what there was nearby. I actually found some good businesses outside Gate 4, but I still want to find out what Gate 6 has to offer. It was a bit disappointing, but there is still time to track it down. So we just headed on home.

 

Gatbawi 

 

It was quite the hike!

 

Bullo-dong Tomb Park

Today (Monday) I headed up to the northeastern part of Daegu to visit the famous Gatbawi stone Buddha. It was way more of a hike than I was expecting, but I was happy to get some exercise in with my sightseeing. I climbed so many stairs; I didn't think it would ever end. But I managed to make it to the top, and some some spectacular views of Daegu below. And the Buddha itself was quite magnificent. After making it back down the mountain, I went to the nearby traditional market and to Bullo-dong Tomb Park. The tombs are grass-covered hills all congregated in the park. Most have no marker or tombstone, and so just look like an interestingly shaped piece of land. It was a serene area and actually a nice place for a stroll. You just can't think about all of the bodies below the ground! I wrapped up my evening by visiting a recommended Vietnamese restaurant that had really tasty pho. I was also able to buy some cilantro and limes, two things that are hard to find else where. I paid about $1 per lime, but a girl had to have her favorite citrus... and I only got two! I have some avocados and home, so I certainly plan on making some really delicious avocado. I am definitely looking forward to that. So clearly I had a very busy weekend, but it was nice to be able to see so many different places, and to get a better feel for what's in my own city as well.

So ExPSYted

 

I saw Psy perform live!

  

Stadium food... actually quite cheap!

I went with no ticket, no time and a sliver of hope, but I managed to get in to the opening ceremony of Daegu's 93rd National Sports Festival. The festival is one of (if not the) biggest festivals that Daegu puts on, and this year's opening ceremony featured a concert by none other than the fabulous Psy. It was amazing! I loved the whole experience, and I mostly loved that I was able to experience it at all. I stumbled across information about Psy performing from a facebook group only two days ago, so I scrambled to get as much information as I could. Kudos to the Internet and facebook, because I was able to find out everything I needed about the event, including time, location and the free shuttle buses. And I also learned that all the tickets my gu (similar to district) was handing out were gone, and that I likely wouldn't make it on time to get in. But even with no ticket and the slimmest chance I would even arrive before the gates were closed, I decided to venture out and give it a try. I mean, it was a chance to see Psy perform live for free! You just can't throw in the towel for that until you do anything you can to make it.

I rushed out of my office as soon as the bell struck 4:30 p.m. and power walked to the Metro stop, determined and on a mission. I traveled past 9 stations to reach the interchange to get on line 2, where I traveled another 10 stops. Originally I was only going to travel 8 and catch a city bus to the stadium, but moments before getting to that stop, I saw two groups of Koreans pull out their tickets and discuss the shuttle bus location. I only really understood, because I had read the name of the shuttle buss point prior, but I wasn't confident about catching the shuttle until I saw them planning to go. And good thing I did wait, and that I got there when I did! As I stood in line waiting for the shuttle, my excitement was growing, because it was seeming more and more likely. Apparently the 5:30 p.m. shutting of the gates, was not observed, thankfully for me and countless other attendees. As I shuffled along in line, I remembered a tiny detail... I had no ticket. What to do, what to do?! Hello Korean man to my left, do you happen to have an extra ticket? And like that, my entrance was possible! God was definitely on my side and hooked it up. The man gave me an extra ticket he had with no hesitation. It was amazing. I thought he would be the first in an long line of many people I would have to beg for a spare ticket. Turns out, the man (my ticket friend) was their with his friend from church that has an English service and a group of about 100 or so foreigners. I was really excited to hear about that, because I haven't come across detailed information about English services here yet. So I plan to check out the church as soon as I am in Daegu on a Sunday, which should actually be pretty soon.

But anyway, to the main event. I shoved my way on to a crowded shuttle bus and arrived at the marvelous Daegu Stadium. Once inside I grabbed some concession stand treats (a meat stick, popcorn and water, all for only about $4!) and searched for a seat. I lucked out again and got an aisle seat, though it was pretty far from the stage. But I was just happy to be inside the stadium. The opening ceremonies were really beautiful, and included a light show, fireworks, the lighting of the torch and the singing of the national anthem. I realized that was the first time I had heard Korea's national anthem, so it was pretty moving, and I kind of teared up a little. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on, but I clapped and cheered with the crowd and just took in the general splendor. I was so happy to be a part of such a hugely important festival, because I really felt a sense of experiencing the culture.

Of course everyone's favorite part of the evening was when Psy came on stage. I don't know who was more excited, me, the little kids behind me or the adjumas. It was great fun watching Psy perform and watching the crowd's reaction. My favorite part of the evening was when Psy sang gangnam style and I danced it with the rest of the crowd. It was so awesome to dance to a real, live version of the song! After Psy performed, the evening was wrapped up with a beautiful fireworks show. 

Then I had to get home. It was intensely crowded and people were only looking out for number one. I felt bad for the police, because it was a huge crowd to deal with. But after about 40 minutes of waiting in a line that constantly swayed from side to side as intruders pushed their way in from either side of the line, I was able to get on a shuttle bus and make it to the subway. Overall it took me about two hours to get home, but it was totally worth it. I'm so glad I didn't give up before I tried, and that my ticket friend was awesome enough to give me a ticket! It really worked out well and was a great night to experience Korean culture.

Bits of Travel and the Best Sister in the World

 

Hey sexy lady!

 

Getting our massage on.

 

How we do.

I have the best sister ever, because she came to visit me in Korea! Luckily her Moon Festival vacation lined up with my Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) vacation, so we were able to travel to Busan together. We giggled a majority of the trip and had such a great time together! I tried to convince her to move to Korea; she tried to convince me to move to China. But we just wouldn't budge. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful relationship with my sister, and I know that if we ever settle down in the same country, we will certainly have to live close to each other and have ridiculously giggle-filled lives. It was an absolute joy to spend in-person time together after so many months of Skype. And considering we don't even live in the same country and haven't for the past two years, which have actually been able to see each other quite often. It's fantastic! 

We enjoyed the beach in Busan and got Thai massages. We also went to Spa Land, which is a huge bath house with a variety of saunas. My favorite sauna room was the wave dream room. It had comfortable benches and it wasn't as incredibly hot at the other rooms. I really enjoyed the different pools in the women's bath house. It was quite an experience, though, because there were naked women every where! It was actually quite freeing and very relaxing. We also went to Beomeosa Temple. It was very beautiful and in the mountain, which was a nice escape from the city.

Andong Mask Dance Festival

 

The group.

 

Bubbles!

 

Latvia

 

Russia

 

Masks!

 

Andong beef

Last weekend I went to Andong with Elizabeth and Jocelyn to check out the Mask Dance Festival. It was such a fun day trip! We saw many different kinds of masks from all over the world, and Elizabeth and I even made our own as pictured above. The festival had so many activities (Taekwondo performances, music, group dancing, food booths). We enjoyed the main dance performance featuring dancers from Uzbekistan, Latvia, Indonesia and Russia. The Russian dancers were my favorite! They were more like gymnasts, jumping incredibly high and doing back flips one after another. Their dancing is quite a physical feat! The dancers from Latvia were also good and did more of a contemporary style of dance. We finished the evening by trying some Andong beef, which is famous for being the best beef in Korea. We had it bulgogi (Korean bbq) style, and my was it delicious! The meat was very tender and flavorful. It was some of the best bulgogi I have had yet.

Chips and....

Salsa! I've just returned home from my second night of salsaing in Daegu, and I am even more excited than last weekend! The talent in Korea is unreal, and the salsa dancers' skill here far exceeds that of their California counterparts. I am in awe of the magnitude and quantity of the talent I witnessed tonight. Surely everyone at the salsa event must have been dancing for quite some time, because they were astounding! I saw moves I've never seen before, but definitely want to pursue. Even with a mildly embarrassing dip fall, I still had a great night, and I am so pumped up to really improve my salsa skills. I am planning on investing in some real dancing shoes, because my flats just aren't cutting it. And I am hoping to be dancing quite often, so I would love the comfort! Also, I really want to sign up for a salsa club and/or class. The club I went to tonight, Babalu, has lessons on Saturdays taught by foreigners, which is great, because it is in English. But it's all really basic stuff, and I really want a challenge! So language barrier could be problematic with taking a Korean lesson, but dance is all about expressing with your body! Though the basic stuff could be good for a while, because here they do New York style, while I am used to dancing LA style. So I get a little thrown off with the footwork, which is really frustrating, because I basically feel like I am back to square one! Nevertheless, I am looking forward to improving and dancing as much as I can.
Now I need to find a place to go swing dancing and a place that has hip hop dance lessons! I'd love to improve both styles of dance as well, but my focus will certainly be on salsa. And, of course, by salsa I mean salsa, bachata, merengue and (if I have to) cha cha. I am so happy to have such great opportunities in Korea! It's a great way to make the most of my time and get out and meet people. And salsa was a great start to my Chuseok vacation. Though I know the real fun is arriving around 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. I am so very excited that Shanna is coming to visit. It is going to be a blast and absolutely ridiculous!

Learning, Learning!

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8xxgFpK-NM

One of my favorite things about traveling is meeting new people. Because in turn I am introduced to new foods, culture and activities. Wednesday night I headed to the YMCA in downtown Daegu for a free capoeira class put on by fellow waygooks (Korean for foreigner). I had never heard of the martial art style before, but figured it'd be worth checking out. I'm so glad I did! It was amazing... so much fun and an incredible work out! I wish I was going on my 12th year of capoeira practice so I could be really good! I definitely want to stick with the Wednesday classes and try to develop some skill. Obviously only practicing once a week won't get me flipping and flying like the guys in the video any time soon, but it's a start. Martial arts have always intrigued me, but for whatever reason I never really pursued any. Coming here, I played with the idea of signing up for Taekwondo classes, but now that I have found capoeira, I know the martial art style I want to pursue! It's from Brazil and originated with the slaves. They were not allowed to train to fight, and so had to disguise their fighting style with music and dance elements. It's about community and strength, and it really a gorgeous and graceful art. Words completely and utterly fail to describe the intricate movements capoeira masters perform with seemingly little effort. So check out the link to the video for an idea of this new discovery of mine. It's just incredible!

Settling In

Koreans love their coffee shops, clearly.

 

This delightful place is my favorite coffee joint. About $4 for a coffee, but you get a slice of cake and bread included in the price!

 

Lake near Duryu Park in Daegu.

 

Champion

 

Well hello again! I have been in Korea for a month now if you count the time for the flight over. It has flown by, but at the same time I feel like I have done so much in such a short amount of time. Though I have plenty more to do! Starting with really settling in to my apartment. I still need more hangers, decorations, a table for the kitchen and other odds and ends. But payday isn't for about 10 more days, so that will just have to wait a bit longer. I will certainly be hitting up Costco to get many of my supplies and most of my food.
I am so glad to have a Costco here! I will certainly branch out and shop the local places, but sometimes a girl just needs Costco. Especially because they have cheese... real honest to goodness cheese. Any where else you're going to find different flavors of individually wrapped cheese that is essentially just different colors of American cheese, which is fine and dandy for melting on things. But I like my cheese and a variety of cheese at that, so this homogenous "I'm not really cheese" cheese thing would be nearly too much to bear. Thankfully Costco swooped in to save the day!
But I must say I am glad to get my Korean lunch each day at school. It's nice to ensure that I have at least one Korean style meal five times a week. And I am also looking forward to trying out the many different restaurants in downtown. They have everything you could want, from Italian to Mexican (well I mean obviously it's not like home, but I'll take it!) to Indian to Vietnamese to good old American.
There really is a lot going on in Daegu. I plan to visit the tourist information center soon to get a good idea of what I need to see and do while I am here. Last weekend I went to Busan with Lindsey, my neighbor. I am really glad she lives in my building as well, because it has helped me to settle in having a person I can truly communicate with, and she is a cool lady! We went to Busan for the Oktoberfest at the Nongshim Hotel. Last year I was in Germany at the real shebang, so I was excited to check out another "Oktoberfest." The beer, food and atmosphere were all really great. The weizen and pils were quite tasty and really compared to the beer I had in Germany. I took part in the beer chugging competition and definitely won. I got a 20,000 won certificate to use at the event, so I bought some delicious, overpriced chicken with no qualms! It was a fun weekend, and I was happy to travel outside of Daegu.
I am heading back to Busan soon... in 13 days, but this time I will be with Shanna! I am so excited for her to come and visit. It will be great to see her and get to spend a few days together. It's so fun knowing she is only one country away instead of on the other side of the world! I really hope we can hang out often while we are hanging out in Asia. 

Life in Daegu

I have an apartment and a school and students! I am so excited, because orientation is finished, and things are just getting started. So much has happened in just a few days. Orientation was very helpful in preparing me to have an idea of what I will be doing in Korea and what to expect while I am here. I also learned a lot of great tips for the classroom and lesson plans and activities. I think teaching may be in my genes (I mean so many people in my family are in the education field), even though I tried to avoid it for a while. Though I’m not a full-on teacher here (more about that in a bit), I still have the basic responsibilities of a teacher and am happy to say that I seem to have a pretty strong presence in the classroom. I will be teaching 7 classes of fifth grade twice a week and eight classes of sixth grade once a week. I have four co-teachers, and they are all very nice! They seem excited that I am really enthusiastic about teaching and coming up with fun activities for the classroom. I can’t wait to learn more Korean and hopefully be able to have good conversations with them and learn about them.

I have a total of 22 “hours” (really periods of teaching, as they are each 40 minutes, which totally flies by!) and the rest of the time I have for planning. I work from 8:30 to 4:30 everyday, so it is really an excellent schedule... not too early and I don’t get out too late. Though I fear in time after I create lesson plans for the lessons that I might not have enough to do. So my plan is to just try to make the lessons even smoother and more fun for the students. I really want them to enjoy the class so they enjoy the language and really put effort in to learning English not just for the sake of taking some test, but so they can communicate well. This week I have just been introducing myself and getting a feel for how the lessons will go, but next week I will start co-teaching. I really hope I will be able to be really involved with the teaching over time. My principal (who incidentally is also my landlord) is really nice, but is leaving our school to head to another one soon, so hopefully we get a good replacement. All the staff in the school seem nice, so it’s really a great placement. Things have been working out so well. And we also get lunch everyday, which has been really tasty so far. It’s fun to have at least one Korean meal a day. Rice and Kimchi are staples plus some kind of soup, semisweet dessert and side vegetable dish. We finish each meal with some tea. The other teachers are happy that I enjoy the food (seriously, it’s been great!) and are impressed that I can use chopsticks. It’s so fun to get a feel for the culture.

But now to the apartment! It’s a great space in a fairly small building (about 5 stories). Happily I am on the second floor, because there is no elevator but I’m also not on the street level, which would kind of freak me out. Pictures will follow shortly once I get my own Internet. I am lucky enough to have two other GET (guest English teachers) or NET (native English teachers) as they are dubbed in Daegu. One of the girls is on my floor and has been very gracious in allowing me to use her Internet. I have to get my alien registration card, which I applied for today so I should have it within three weeks, before I can get Internet and a phone, so I will be fairly disconnected for a while. Anywho, back to the apartment! One of my favorite things about Korea so far is the lock system. You just have to enter a code to get in to the building, and then another code to get in to the room. It’s so incredibly, awesomely convenient, because I don’t have to lug keys around! How awesome, right?! Ever residence (plus the schools) have a little area to leave your shoes before entering the house. It’s a great way to keep dirt to a minimum. Take a tiny step up and you are in the kitchen! I am so excited to have a pretty good size sink, a really large fridge/freezer, a great cabinet meets pantry and a gas stove! SO glad it’s not electric, because gas is way easier to control the temperature. I have pretty good storage space, but basically no counter space, so I’m planning to buy a table with my first pay check. I have already purchased a toaster oven, because it seemed the most useful item I could add to the kitchen so far. I was incredibly lucky, because the previous NET left cups (so many cups!), a bowl, plate, spoons, butter knives, spatula and wisk. So I really didn’t have to buy my for my apartment to survive.

To the left of my kitchen is my bathroom, which is decently sized. It has good storage area for all the things I need and a nice Western style toilet! The showerhead is attached directly to the sink faucet, so I just leave it selected as the showerhead and brush my teeth/wash my hand in the kitchen. There is no separation for the shower, but it works out well. My toilet paper stays dry and there is a holder to keep the showerhead aloft hands free, so things are quite good! Next to the bathroom (though you enter from the kitchen) is the small room with my washer and drying rack, which hangs from the ceiling, though I may get another for the ground to have more drying space. It took some trial and error, but I can wash my clothes and get the water to drain and the machine to spin to shake off the water. There are a bunch more options that I will have to decode once I get Internet, but the basics work for now! The washing machine plays an excellent jingle to let me know it’s finished, which I thoroughly enjoy.

My bedroom is to the right of the kitchen and is the biggest room in my apartment. It is really quite large and has a table, bed night stand, shelves and a dresser/closet. Again, there is pretty good storage space, though I may get a TV stand for the room to have a little more shelf space (it’s currently living on the shelf tucked in to the back corner of my room, which is hidden by the door when it is ajar). I was also incredibly lucky to have (clean) sheets, a pillow and comforter left behind! So glad I didn’t have to buy any, because apparently they are really expensive and hard to find. I also have a convenient little bedside lamp. I do have a list of some things I want to buy for the apartment, but it is actually pretty small and nothing is urgently necessary. I am really surprised at how quickly I have settled in to my space. I am looking forward to having a little money to spend on some decorations so I can make it a little bit homier. But all in all things have really fallen in to place quite well. I am so blessed. It’s just crazy. I don’t know why I’m able to do these things (both opportunity and desire) but I am so beyond grateful and I absolutely want to make the best of it. Sure I’m still in the honeymoon stage and things are new, but I am very happy so far. Of course, I’ll have to update my status a few months in once things are less shiny and start getting covered with a dusting of snow. Though I have already survived a typhoon! The first day I went to school (Tuesday), the typhoon was at it’s peak, so I actually didn’t have to go to work until 10 a.m. It really wasn’t so bad, lots of rain and high winds, but it was a bit uncomfortable during the walk to work. My apartment is about twenty minutes from the school on foot, so I was pretty soaked once I arrived. But it is actually a pretty nice walk, and I go through the Wolgok History Museum, which has a great display of artifacts. Plus I get at least 40 minutes of exercise every weekday, so that’s a benefit! I am certainly planning to join a gym soon, and want to take advantage of the nearby mountain and awesome outdoor activities that Daegu offers. From what I’ve read so far it seems to be a pretty active city with lots to do. And it’s in the middle of the country and is the main transportation hub, connecting the north and the south. I am very glad that I was placed here. It’s a big city with lots to do, but it’s not overwhelmingly huge. It’s a wonderful balance in every aspect, and I can do lots of traveling from here! Now I need to read up on Korea and my city and what to do!

South Korea

Well hello again blogging world! As tends to be the case, I have neglected this blog during my time at home. Not because noteworthy things weren't happening, but because the events I wanted to share with people were actually happening with them, so a virtual recap of my life wasn't necessary. But now I am back to traveling the world, and so this blog will see more action as I dish about the happenings of my time in my new destination... South Korea.
I am in Korea to work for the EPIK (English Program in Korea) as a GET (Guest English Teacher). It's day three, and there still hasn't been a whole lot going on. Half of the GETs are at Jeonju University for our orientation. Today we have the opening ceremonies and our welcome dinner. Tomorrow we get to do a health check (let's get real, it's a drug test) and then we start in to our classes. I'm looking forward to having a little more to do and to getting a better grasp for what this program and the year I've signed up for will entail. Hopefully I love it enough to do two years, because I certainly packed enough stuff to be here that long! But it is certainly too soon to tell, and I definitely have a lot of greatness to return to at home. So more on that later as I get settled in and get a feel for my life in Korea.
I think I am finally getting over my jet lag, which is nice, because I certainly don't want to be tired all day. I have met a lot of neat people here. It is nice to feel like I have a group of people to rely on who are going through the same thing, so I can settle in nicely. But I am really anxious to find out what school I will be at and what my apartment will be like. I just want to get things going to get a feel for what my life will really be like here. And then of course I really want to get out and travel around. I want to see Korea and neighboring countries and really sink my teeth into the different cultures. Hopefully I can get a pretty good feel for Korean while I am here and learn important phrases. Not much else to report for now.