I'm Rich [insert text]!

Praise Sweet Mary Magdalene for I am no longer living penniless in foreign lands! Yes my friends, a jingle in my pocket is what I have and I am ecstatic [for the time being...until loan amounts are deducted]. Here is how the first paycheck was cashed in (in the past 12 hours):

1.) Curry. I could eat curry every day for every meal but my lack of culinary skills have limited that possibility. After school last evening, a fellow teacher and friend from Minnesota, Carly, and I ventured to pluck our hard-earned won from the ATM nearest to our apartment building. We ran into a restaurant called "Curry Rice," which sounded legitimate and was a good choice. Toward the end of our dining experience, I noticed the fine trinkets they had on the wall...

Please notice that at "Curry Rice," their decor is "pro" Indian culture, be it the culture of those actually from India, as well as American Indians.

2.) I love bufandas (scarves, for the non-native Spanish speakers). After my Indian/American Indian meal, Carly and I roamed the streets of Hongdae (our neighborhood) in search of coffee. On the way, I met Sue peddling scarves sculpted by his own hands. Sue was a man in his mid to late thirties. He donned sparkly stone-encrusted, Bvlgari glasses and had some serious blonde locks. Sue spoke wonderful English and had spent much time in NYC. In time, a young child hopped out of Sue's scarf van. Sue said, "Ah, meet my son, he is so cute, he travels with me to sell scarves!" Wow. I did not see having a child, particularly offspring, as a potential characteristic of this man. Anyway, Korea rocks and I bought two of Sue's scarves.

3.) Gym membership! Yessss. Although I trek it everywhere under the sun over here , I wanted to get a gym membership to use in the mornings before I teach. The gyms provide clothing for members over here... no, no, no. I hold the same view about public clothing as public shoes. I just don't do it. I was the only person in the establishment wearing my own clothes and with obnoxious red hair. I'm sure the people of Korea think I am crazy and from some hidden jungle. In addition to the typical machines that I have ever been used to, this place has a "jiggle belt" contraption. I only use the word "jiggle belt" for that is what my parents have called it and mocked for years. Apparently it was popular and phased out by the 80's in the states, but who knows, maybe that is why Asians are so thin, they use these damn jiggle belts.

Witnessing Johnny Mac and Barack from Afar...

After a relaxing weekend, I'm ready to kick off another week! I actually only have a four day work week due to a national holiday on October 3rd and I have absolutely no idea what it is for, but I'm fine with that.

The weather finally changed on Friday so it is now brisk, which I prefer to sweltering heat. On Friday evening, I laid low and was able to catch up on reading and get to bed early after a long week. I woke up on the earlier side on Saturday to do a Skype call with my friend Anant who is studying in Boston and then to witness the first presidential debate. Although I was not expecting a whole lot other than perpetual slams from each participant, I was excited to be doing something "American" from abroad. I could not see a blantant victor and found faults with both sides. It was interesting to me that McCain did not once look at Obama and that they both put so much effort in painting themselves very different individuals but said many of the same things. However I will not bore you all with what I assume you are already tired of, but it was very nice to see and I found a spectacular stream at www.nytimes.com.

After watching the debate, I wanted to hear what my dear grandmother in Ashland, Ohio had to say (and after calling my friend Anant, I was on a Skype roll) about the election and we had some catching up to do. Grandma filled me in about the new spouses we have in the family. Cousin Brady married a Filipina and his sister, Leah, is headed to Veracruz, Mexico to begin building a house with her boyfriend, Saul. Grandma Shirley said that it is nice to have some "different" ones in the family these days, and it was said in nothing short of a positive context. After that statement, she asked if we would have a Korean in the family too... I let her know that when I do reach the "marrying age," that I certainly hope to add to the diversity on our family tree :) I was also able to catch Grandpa Dick (aka Tricky). He seemed to be in high spirits and asked what the heck I eat over here in Seoul. I let him know that the cuisine is relatively decent although I have not yet taken much of a liking to the national speciality, kimchi. When Koreans ask if I like kimchi, my response goes something like "No. It is rotten cabbage doused in spice," yet then I try to compensate by expressing my love for rice or saying that Seoul is a beautiful city...irrelevant but I'm really working on tact.

After my multiple calls to friends and family in the states, I went for a walk by the Han River. It is very near our apartment building and the weather has been gorgeous! Later that evening, Meredith T., Darcie and I met up with my friends Nam, Lee and Hazel (all of whom I know from D.C.), other teachers from our school in the Mapo area and a friend of mine named Jayoung who I met at a yoga class. We went to a bar in Itaewon called "Bugalow," where the theme is rather tropical, including sand, tiki torches and cabana style structures. It was a very nice time and the drink of choice was the Mojito Diablo. Delicious. Anyway, it was very nice to see my friends because I know they are so busy with their jobs in the banks during the week.

All in all, I had a very nice and relaxing weekend. This is going to be a fabulous week because I am getting paid (I'm really needing the $$$ at this point!) and we are off on Friday. Also, I am not sure how to post photos on my blog, but Darcie is a web genius and that project will be pursued soon, I promise!

A Trip to the Hospital and my Language Exchange

Well it is another "run of the mill" type week for me at work, but I seemed to have neglected all blogging responsibilities for the weekend. I was justified in the fact that I was sent to the hospital by my employer to endure urine and blood tests, in addition to a wonderful EKG scan and chest x-rays. As exciting as that sounds, I was able to check out the healthcare industry in South Korea from a consumer standpoint.

Last week, I arrived to work and saw a map with a Post-it strategically placed to where my eyes would immediately notice on my desk. It was a map to the medical establishment I was to have my examination. For this examination, I needed $92, my passport and a passport photo. This examination is preliminary to all people living in Korea in order to obtain resident-status documentation. The clinic opened at 8:30 a.m. so we got a move on at about 8:00 a.m. to avoid the waiting that I presumed would take place in a less than privatized atmosphere. Of course I didn't have a passport photo so I utilized a photo booth in the metro station near my house. I was a bit unkept(it was a Saturday morning). The photo turned out a notch below "attractive."

Anyway, after my photo was out of the way, Maria and I were on the train to the clinic. After dealing with the language barrier and finally finding the correct desk to deal with our business, I had to change into a cotton candy-pink robe and navy blue sandals. I Hate public shoes. After a bit of hesitation and then a deep inhale, I sunk my toes into the public sandals and went to urinate into two tubes. I hated the public shoes and the cotton candy robe, but I was totally prepared to pee on command. No problem.

I tossed my samples into the basket of everyone else's samples and went to wait in line to have my sight and other measurements taken. In this setting, each patient carried their own information folder to each station and individuals were called accordingly. This system was very efficient, much more than I am used to in the states. In the states, each patient receives his or her own medical examination room, but it seems like I always wait about 20 minutes just for the doctor. After my vision test, I was shuffled over to blood pressure and blood extraction. I waited on a nicely upholstered bench for my chest x-ray to be taken [in my robe and shoes that everyone and his brother have worn]. The doctor was a small and humorous character. I entered the x-ray room and he told me to inhale, hold it and then he took the x-ray before I exhaled. We seemed to have some issues with my hair and so he brought in an obnoxious white and gold trimmed scrunchii to keep my hair out of the x-ray (to all medical professionals: since when do hair cells get in the way of x-rays?!?!). After the x-ray, I was strapped up to an EKG machine and when it was all over, I ran like hell.

Three hours later:

I met my "Language Exchange" partner at the metro station closest to my humble abode. Needless to say, I joined www.mylangaugeexchange.com per the advice of friends and had really no idea as to who I would be meeting on the site. I meandered to the station and I met my friend, Won. Won is in his thirties and is hilarious. It was raining and Won drove, so I went to get in what I thought was the passenger seat of his car and I think he is the only Korean who opts to drive on the right hand side. So after the logistics of his car became clear to me, we went to get a cup of coffee and engage ourselves in conversation. I do hope to learn a bit of Korean in time, but I was more interested in the societal infrastructure, culture and politics of Korea so we talked a lot about those issues. Won wanted to meet with an English speaker to practice speaking and he particularly expressed a desire to maintain it for business purposes. After coffee, we had dinner at a Korean restaurant in Itaewon (the predominantly international area of Seoul). Dinner was interesting for it entailed excellent Korean BBQ, some Merlot and a very old and drunk Korean man who was later taken out by the police. Every town has one of those, regardless, it's good entertainment.

After dinner with my new language exchange friend,Won, he dropped me by my house and of course I had to get ready to go out with my friends. Meredith T., Darcie and I met up with the teachers from our other school branch in our neighborhood. Later in the evening, we ended up at a really great hookah bar called Brickx. It is in the basement and lit all over with mainly candles. It has a great South East Asian feel and very good music ranging from Indian with an electronica twist to downtempo/chill. After such a long day and hookah, we called it a rather early evening and headed home.

All in all, it was a very nice weekend and topped of by a dinner on Sunday night with my dear friend Nam Wang. Nam and I went to Yeti, an Indian and Nepali restaurant. They played Bollywood on a large screen, so it was very difficult for me to concentrate on dining with well-endowed Indian men shaking it on the big screen... Anyway the Tandoori chicken was tremendous and I plan to return.

I hope everyone is having a great week and I will try to update more often!

And This Too, Is My Life

Today we took our children on a field trip. Let me preface this story and define the infrastructure of the institution by which I am employed. Sogang University is ranked as the fourth or fifth university in terms of prestige in South Korea (so I am told). Sogang University developed a curriculum and texts to teach the English language to the youngest South Koreans. Private people begin branches of these SLP (Sogang University Language Program) "hagwons" as private businesses. Mr. and Mrs. Yang opened our school (their second) because so many students were enrolled in their first branch. Our school hosts kindergarten classes from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. each day. Hagwons are schools (aside from the schools which the students normally attend) which specialize in areas such as foreign language, math, science, chess (!?!?!) and art. After our kindergarten ends, we teach older students from from 3:00 to 7:20 p.m. I only teach two kindergarten classes, but I work mainly with older students who have all ranges of English fluency.

My daily work schedule is from 11:30 am to about 7 p.m. (which is so fantastic and I will be unable to last in the real world). I teach two kindergarten classes each day and was asked to come along to help with the kindergarten field trip to "Play Museum" today. I was specifically invited to monitor a wild child, his name is Huey. Ironically enough, Huey is my favorite child in the entire SLP kindergarten. First of all, Huey has the largest head I have ever seen on a child. Koreans are known for their large craniums...but this child is five years old and is growing per ounce of kimchi consumed. Secondly, Huey has the most precious little smile (/hellacious grin). Oh my goodness. While teaching Huey's class, he dances, twirls, sings, scribbles, strategically places stickers throughout his academic materials. Yes, he's a bit on the hyperactive side and that was certainly the case at "Play Museum." Everything Huey could touch, he did it in a matter of 25 seconds. He was so sweaty from running all around the place to lay his stout little fingers on each toy in the museum. He ran over a little Korean boy with an Amish-style bowl cut about five times and it's horrible, but I smiled inside.


An additional highlight of the trip included a little boy named Toby. Each day, Toby's mother dresses him up in suspenders and a tie but he perpetually has a dissheveled appearence and his suspenders hang by his knees. Toby did forgo suspenders today, but wore these dapper little patent-leather penny loafers with blue teddy bear socks...but on the opposite feet. I have already decided that my son will be dressed as Toby, but probably act like Huey.

At lunch time, I settled down with the class of four and Huey was as dossle as a sedated lamb. He lives with his grandparents and grandma packed a sweet little lunch for a hungry baby Huey. He was eating kim bop (basically sushi excluding the fish), Korean "Funions" and Korean "Sour Patch Kids." After lunch, we all piled into our obnoxious SLP buses and shipped out. After all of that fun, I had five more classes to teach and finally ended my day tonight at 7:30.

Thank God tomorrow is Friday.

This is My Life...

It is Monday night of Chusok and as Koreans are dancing in the streets and feasting on rice cakes, I am huddled up in my room at 8 pm and about to eat some delicious Ramen noodles and catch up on reading. Last night Darcie and Meredith took me on a little adventure, which began at a Mexican restaurant and ended with a pack of Turks. The Mexican establishment was a bit on the pricier end, however the tortilla soup was just what I needed to ecscape my rice rut and of course a little margarita to wet my whistle was a must. For dinner we met up with two other girls who teach at a different branch of our school. Of course, one was from Wooster.

Anyway after dinner, Meredith, Darcie and I hopped on a bus headed toward Itaewon. Itaewon is an area of Seoul that is heavily populated with internationals and U.S. Army personnel. Very close to the strip of restaurants, bars and shops is an Army base. Word on the street is that this base has a Taco Bell. Now call it what you must, Toxic Hell, Taco Smell (and I'm sure the list goes on), however after a long and endless night, there is nothing that I want to sink my teeth into than a cheesy rollup. In conclusion, maybe making a military friend or two would not be such a bad idea for reasons which include T. Bell access and protection from Kim-Jong-il's nukes and troops.

So I digress a bit in my writing style but so we went to Itaewon. I was initially shocked because of all the English I was hearing and the people looked different. I was no longer stuffed in the homogenous society and if I wanted to, I could converse with others! We first stopped by a low key bar to grab a glass of wine and check out the scene. Not too much was going on in "The Loft" so we walked down the street and landed upon what is generally more of a lounge environment, but last night they specialized in some crazy electronic beats. The electronica enthusiast inside me advocated our entrance. The first friends we made were Americans, one was from Cleveland and the other upstate New York. I was not captivated by their personalities, so I began speaking to a [who I thought was] Korean. I was thrown for a complete loop when the words that came out of his mouth were all Aussie talk! Wow, that took me about a good ten minutes to digest. His parents were Korean but he was born and raised in Australia, it seemed like a really difficult concept for me last evening...

Anyway after Kyle from Oz, we met some veterinary students from Istanbul, Turkey. Three to be exact (great for a game of three on three). Their English was a bit shaky so I opted against initiating the "Why does Turkey keep trying to horn in on the EU," conversation and kept it light...such as what is your favorite pet to operate on? They were very nice gentlemen and well-behaved, unlike Kyle who was crazy and asked if I was the oldest in my family, who I am voting for in the presidential election and if I thought we were a good match. Peace out.

All in all, the night went very well and of course we all rolled out with some business cards as keepsakes. That being said, this old girl needs to rest up for another week of teaching fabulous Korean children (my favorite is Huey and you will hear about him very soon). I hope everyone is doing well and keep up the e-mails/messages :) I love hearing from you all!

My Friends

I want to tell you about the people I already knew prior to coming to Seoul. As previously mentioned, I know Meredith Thompson. She is a fantastic person and we first met in high school as we wrote on the school newspaper together. Meredith, like myself, enjoys a good time. Another teacher at our school, and fellow citizen of Wooster, is Darcie. While Meredith and I wrote on the school newspaper, Darcie was our Editor-In-Chief. I did not know Darcie very well in high school (partially because she was one WHOLE year older than myself) but we were acquaintances after multiple trips to high school journalism conferences at Columbia University in NY. I really do not understand how the three of us from the same minuscule, rural, Amish-infested town ended up at the same school and with apartments in the same hall, but it has worked out really well and I feel very lucky :)

I would now like to discuss my Korean friends. Nam Wang and Kookno Lee are absolutely ridiculous. While I interned for a semester in D.C., I lived in the same apartment building as these two young men. After weeks of the raunchy smell of kimchi waif down the hall, I thought I should meet these characters. Nam has this laugh. I traveled 5,000 miles to hear this laugh. Even if what he is laughing has no humor value, I lose it. That is all I have to say about Nam Wang. Kookno Lee is just as funny and a little less ridiculous. Kookno Lee loves to imitate the Korean "dog call." This call consists of a two finger (on the same hand) and tongue movement. It is inappropriate and should not be tolerated in any society. I traveled 5,000 miles to see this Korean "dog call." Both Nam and Lee have been nothing less of extremely hospitable since I arrived and they took my American friends and I to dinner the first weekend I was here. Both of them now work in the banking industry so they are generally tied up with adult responsibilities while I go to school and sing the ABC's.

How I Ended up in Asia...

How on earth did Meredith end up in Asia might you ask?

It all began one evening during the Yuletide season at a small, quaint venue in Wooster, Ohio called The Old Jaol. Yes, our aged "jaol" had been revamped and turned into a bar. I rarely mingle with locals, specifically those I went to high school with. I swear to this day that I will not attend a high school reunion without achieving vast success (such as but not limited to: marrying a fabulous rico suave/owning a multi-billion dollar home in Miami). Nonethess, I was out that evening with a few friends that I still remain close to and we [thoroughly] enjoyed ourselves. I ran into my friend, Meredith from high school (irony, yes.) and as we were talking, she told me that she was teaching English in Seoul, Korea. It was near Christmas, I was merry, the vodka cranberry concotions really tickled my fancy and I thought too that Seoul would be my calling.

A few months later, I had been in contact with the owner of SLP (Sogang University Language Program) and got really good vibes. I decided to toss my love for Latin men, my faulty attempts at Spanish and my obsession with Mexico aside (...unless any Pepe locos roam the streets of Seoul) for one calendar year to dabble a bit in Asia. I graduated from John Carroll University on May 18th, lived off my wonderful parents for about 3 months (of course I managed to hustle it south of the border and to D.C. on various occassions) and landed in Seoul on August 25.