The year of the Teacher

So Long, Farewell......

2005-08-29T22:51:00.000+09:00

The final day has come. The elusive day of finishing our contracts has come and I can't quite believe it's already here.

The new teachers: Jim and Tia (from Oregon) are here and we moved into a hotel (paid for by the school) for our last 5 days in Korea. Some parts of my year seemed really long - but before I knew it, I was standing in the staff room, showing my replacement teachers how to write a lesson plan for the afternoon children. The year ended faster than I thought it would.

I'm beyond happy and relieved to be finished and returning home, but (and I never thought this would happen) there is a little sadness in leaving. I liked who I've worked with and Tia and Jim are a great couple, whom I wish I could have worked with longer. And I've become familiar with my surrounding and now Craig and I will be on a 3 month journey that will strip away all feelings of familiarity and comfort that I've become used to here.

So here's the route: China, Mongolia, Russia, Estonia, Lativa, Luthuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, then Toronto bound on Nov 26. Excited isn't quite the word to use. Just in awe that not only did I finish this contract, but that I'm going to experience this trip in the upcoming months.

After some thought, I've decided to end this blog. My title "Mary teacher" is no more and it wouldn't feel right to keep this 'maryteacher' blog going unless I was still in Korea. Fortunately, Craig has started a blog that we will update as we travel along our route. I may post a picture or two of our last days here in Korea in the upcoming month on this maryteacher site, but besides that, I'll put this blog to rest. Hopefully this site will be useful for anyone coming to Korea to teach... and see that after the first confusing, scary, horrible months, this country and the kids can actually grow on you - and you'll leave with a bit of sadness.

We leave tomorrow morning on a ferry to Tianjin, China, and from then on in take a look at Craig's site (trans-eurasia.netscene.org) for travel updates, and mine and Craig's pictures to see all what we will be seeing.

I hope you've enjoyed this site as much as I've had fun making and organizing it. So goodbye Korea - I never thought it day would come and, even more so, with great sadness. It's been a year ...... that I wouldn't change for the world.

Happy Birthday Laura!

2005-08-23T22:14:00.000+09:00

You have to love the beard
Originally uploaded by Waeguk Expat.

Friday was Laura's birthday. To celebrate, the four of us went to Happy (Harry) Liquor Pia for dinner and drinks. Craig even ordered some silk worm larvae, a common Korean street snack. Only Brett and Craig risked the pot of insects - I don't care how unique it is - it's just gross; and if it tastes anything like it smells, I wasn't eating it. Later, Laura found a NoriBang (karaoke room) nearby. After getting good and lemon soju-liquored up, we had a go at singing just one more time before leaving Korea. It's great nights like these that I feel sad about leaving Korea.
Brett took some excellent pictures. If you want to see us looking stupid, have a look. Brett did a good job of capturing the night.

Balcony View Panorama

2005-08-20T22:35:00.000+09:00

Photoshop stitched this photo together for me from some pictures I took this morning. It was a nice day today with perfect weather! Sunny, warm, breezy, and not humid. Also posted on flickr.

Later on, Mary and I went to the tourist area in Seoul named Insadong to do some Christmas shopping. By coincidence or proper alignment of the stars, we also ran into our principal (Mrs.Jang) and her family. They were shopping for gifts to give to Annie's host family; Annie is going to La Crosse, Wisconsin on the 23rd. She is Mrs.Jang's daughter and also one of my students. We stopped to say hi, Annie took our picture with her new camera, then we continued shopping. Here's a pic of a nice rainbow that appeared as the sun started setting.

Most definitely, a good day!

Vacation - July 27

2005-08-19T07:40:00.000+09:00

Seoul isn't Korea - we wanted to show Kerri a little rural Korea, where no one speaks English and you can actually see the mountains. We took a train east to the province of Gangwon-Do. We went to the small town of Gangchon, where we heard there was many dalkalbi restaurants, bungee-jumping, and a huge waterfall in the mountains which you can bike to with one of their million bikes to rent (there were 3x more bikes then residents). Through elaborate miming and the word bungee (same word in Korea), we found out that it was in a town 20 minutes from there. We ate our chicken kalbi, and biked to the waterfall. Our pension for the night had no mattresses (I'm so used to the western luxuries in Seoul), but it had a TV. So when it rained the next morning, we showed Kerri all the infommercials Korea had to offer. It continued to rain throughout the morning, so we took the train home... Here are my pictures.

Vacation - July 26

2005-08-17T22:56:00.000+09:00

Went south of the Han River to show Kerri the 63 Building, to take a ferry on the Han to the Olympic Stadium, and to see the aquarium at the COEX Mall. Enjoy the pictures.

2005-08-14T20:54:00.000+09:00

With new stores and restaurants opening in Ilsan, we always get a constant supply of advertisements taped to our door every evening when we return home from school. Tonight, Craig and I have opened all the windows, opened the door a bit, and turned on the fans to get some air into our apartment. We came out of the living room to discover that someone actually put their hand through the crack to tape an ad on the inside of our door. I would make a sarcastic comment now - but I can't - this is just too silly (and Korean) for words.

Shipping

2005-08-11T21:24:00.000+09:00

We've come down to the final few weeks of our contract and we're starting to pack and get ready for the adventure ahead of us. I had starting packing a few boxes full of clothes, books, Korean gifts that I wanted to send home. Craig and I made the trip down to the post office with two boxes ready to send home via boat. The post office ladies didn't know English and we barely know Korean, so we were a little confused and when they said "No Canada ship" as they gave us the cost of what it would be to send one 14kg box home airmail: $108 US. It would cost us half a month's paycheck to send home our stuff if we had to send it airmail.

Craig and I went home (hauling back the 2 boxes, mind you) ready to investigate why we couldn't boat it home. We looked on the internet and saw that a 14kg box should only cost $36US to boat home. We told the Korean teachers what happened. Julie phoned the post office inquiring why - we quickly learned there is a truckers strike in Vancouver that stopped the trucking of cargo from Vancouver ports to the rest of the country. The 5 week strike has ended, but there is supposedly 6 week worth of goods being stored at the Vancouver port that needs to clear out before anymore goods is shipped in from various countries. Here's an article written during the strike.

What are we going to do? I don't know - but at least we have some time left to figure it out.

Update: Thanks to a very helpful aunt and uncle on Grand Island, I will be able to ship boxes home via boat to the US. Thanks all for the advice - and thank you, Uncle Alfie and Aunt Dorothy, this is a huge help.

Vacation - July 25

2005-08-09T23:04:00.000+09:00

On the 25th, we took Kerri to Everland. Since it was a Monday and the hottest Monday we've had so far, the amusement park part of Everland was next to empty (I'm assuming that everyone was at the waterpark nearby). The heat didn't stop us from going on all the rides and checking out all the animals. We couldn't miss our chance at seeing the liger (photo below) - the lion/tiger, which made it's movie debut in Napoleon Dynamite. We also showed Kerri our well practiced, yet not quite polished, dancing skills, in the nice air-conditioned game buildings. Great day, great photos, check them out.

Vacation - July 23-24

2005-08-06T21:59:00.000+09:00

Over the 23rd and 24th, Craig and I introduced Kerri to Seoul. We took her to Insa-dong (to buy traditional Korean gifts), out for Jjimdak (a spicy chicken, potato noodle, vegetable dish), to Nanta (it was Craig's turn on the stage), Gyeongbokgung Palace, Myeong-dong (more shopping), out for Thai, and then to a DVD bong. The heat was horrid, the hottest this year - and any air conditioned building was our main destination that weekend.

Check out Craig's pictures from the 23rd-24th.

Vacation - July 22

2005-07-30T22:55:00.000+09:00

For Kerri's first full day in Korea, we took her to work for our last day before the holiday. Amazingly, she came with us for the whole 10-7:30 day. The kids were excited to have a girl with "beautiful, yellow hair" who gave out Canadian stickers in their class.
After work, we took Kerri down to La Festa, the bar-restaurant-shopping area in Ilsan, for Kalbi and soju. It was a coincidence that we ran into Blaine, Jamie, and two other friends after the meal. We joined them for drinks and much, MUCH later after a bunch of soju and beer, we decided to go to a Norae-bong (karaoke room). I had sworn them off after our first unfortunate night in Korea, introducing ourselves to Matt, the Korean teachers, and Mrs Jang with our horrible singing.
But, this time, we went to a "classy" one with windows over looking La Festa from 5 floors up. My singing hasn't improved since that first night in Korea, but I definitely felt more comfortable singing around people I knew. Soju also helped.

Kalbi, Korean karaoke and Hite were good introductions to Korea for Kerri - and it was just the beginning.....

Kinderland

2005-07-26T10:08:00.000+09:00

The morning before Kerri arrived, we had Swaton's monthly kindergarten field trip to Kinderland. It's a huge floor filled with Jungle Gyms, video games, computer stations, movie rooms, and karaoke rooms. Our job was to gets the kids shoes off and let them run around. That gave the four of us time to roam around the place.
We saw Ellie (left) playing with these dance games. It's a video game where you have to dance the steps that match the screen in order to get to the next level.
And so that's what Craig, Brett, Laura and I did for the next 3 hours - play on the dance machines. They were quite addicting. And even with all our playing - we still couldn't make it past the second level.....
If you have a few minutes check out Craig and Brett dancing.

Spurs vs Boca

2005-07-24T10:28:00.000+09:00

The Peace Cup (football/soccer) is going on in Korea this month and teams from all over the world are playing in Korea. Last Saturday, Brett ordered tickets for a Spurs (England) vs Boca (Argentina) game that was in Suwon. The four of us travelled down to Suwon, went to Happy Liquor Pia for a mini keg of beer (left) and lemon soju (right) and went to the game.
As the four of us sat watching the game, we had numerous Koreans (kids, teenagers..) come up to us, wanting their picture with us - like the kids who are walking behind Laura and I in the picture. Craig and I guessed that some of these kids had come from towns where there are no foreigners and wanted a picture (?) - and Brett thinks some of the older kids taking pictures were playing games ("who can get the most pictures of a foreigner").

It was a tied game in the end - and while Craig and I staggered home by bus and subway from Suwon that night, Brett and Laura stayed at a "love" motel (the cheaper motels in Korea). Craig still has to post his pictures online; in the meantime, you can check out Brett's photos.

Welcome Kerri!!

2005-07-23T11:07:00.000+09:00

We have a week vacation from Swaton starting today. Craig's sister, Kerri, took a couple weeks off from her busy schedule and travelled 20 hours to visit us here in Ilsan. It's so great to see a familiar face and have her experience all the culture and weirdness that Korea has to offer.

There are quite a few postable things that have happened in the past couple weeks (Suwon soccer game, kindergarten field trip, etc) but due to some serious apartment cleaning for Kerri's arrival and for our departure in a month, we haven't had to chance to do any postings lately. Bare with me - I'll try and post pictures as soon as possible.

Everland

2005-07-13T21:03:00.000+09:00

We woke up to a non-rainy day on Sunday, so Craig and I decided to go to Everland - Korea's largest amusement park. It was a 2 hour ride there, but it was worth the trip. The overcast kept most of the Koreans away; it was a perfect day to go. There were rides, gardens, shows, petting zoos, safari bus rides - enough excitement to keep us there after dark. Here are the pictures.

We enjoyed another Korean experience of losing our apartment key at the park. At 11pm we had to have a lock smith called to break into our apartment. It took longer than we thought, but 40 minutes, 30 000W, and 2 buckets of sweat later, we made it inside. I now know that a stick, a mirror, a roll of duct tape, and a lot of patience can help you break into any Hugok Maeul apartment.

Apt 408

2005-07-07T08:06:00.000+09:00

A view from the teacher's room. Apt 408: our apartment.

Goodbye Mimi/Hello Grace

2005-07-05T22:37:00.000+09:00

Mimi is almost 8 months pregnant now - I can't believe I've been here long enough to witness Mimi get married, then watch her go through 8 months of pregnancy. Mimi's last day was Friday - we had a goodbye dinner for her at a restaurant owned by one of the supply teacher's family. It was a great kalbi restaurant just on the outskirts of Seoul and had a nice log cabin setting (and see mom? chopsticks! left-handed!). Grace (in the blue shirt, above) is replacing Mimi. She lived in the U.S. from ages 4-14 so her English accent is almost perfect. She's not like most of the traditional Korean teachers here. She has her own apartment that she shares with 2 other girls (which is still rare here - most unmarried women live with their parents, even in their 30's). She's my co-teacher for more than half my classes - so far, she's been a great replacement.

More Ostrich Farm Photos

2005-07-03T20:21:00.000+09:00

Here are my ostrich farm pics as Mary promised long ago =) ...still waiting for my computer...

Slideshow
OR
As a set

Ilsan Maps

2005-07-02T21:40:00.000+09:00

We received a free map of Goyang city in the mail a week or so ago (It came with a phone book, but that's only useful for putting under tables and other wobbly objects; maybe Gabe could've used it for the kindy graduation photo).

Anyway, I've scanned the map and posted it on Flickr. Each picture has little notes that appear as boxes when you put your mouse over it and then put your mouse in the boxes to make the text appear. Click the "Zoom In" links in the description or notes to get a closer look. I also put up some satellite photos from Google maps http://maps.google.com.

P.S. I'm a geek.

The Rainy Season...

2005-07-01T22:01:00.000+09:00

...is officially here. Bringing out umbrellas, forcing people to sprint to the nearest shelter, flooding streets (and rooftops - left), giving us wet shoes and pants for a good portion of the morning. It's really not the rain that bothers me.... it's the thunder and lightning that keeps me up til 1am and then proceeds to wake me up at 6am. And for those who know me well, you know that thunderstorms have never been my friend. The one good thing about the rainy season though is that you don't mind being inside teaching when it's a bad weather day. I hated going to work in May and June on those perfect sunny days that disappeared once you finished at 7:35pm.

On a side note, we are in the process of getting our Chinese, Mongolian, and Russian visas for our 3 month journey across those countries and Europe. We have booked our return tickets from Dublin to Toronto for Nov 26th. It's hard to imagine we'll be traveling longer than the amount of time we now have left in Korea (7 weeks - 7 weeks!!!). Craig has started a blog that will cover our journey home.

Smokin Baby

2005-06-30T18:01:00.000+09:00

I bought this cell phone dongle (I use it on my keychain) from Bandi & Luni's Bookstore last weekend. I thought his expression was hilarious, much like Stewie from the Family Guy. Korea has the best little trinkets.
In the same trip, we found an awesome cafe near Gwanghwamun called "Au Bon Pain". We had clam chowder in a bread bowl! A definite rarity in Korea. It reminded me of the old Tim Horton's commercials where the office guy proclaims at the end of his story, "And then I ate the bowl!". Well we ate our bowls and then some! We'd make the hour trip into Seoul just for that place!

Batman Begins

2005-06-29T07:44:00.000+09:00

Grand Department Store

Our once sunny skies have now turned into the gray rainy days that come to Korea in June/July. And Craig's computer has found itself in the hands of Yongsan workers for up to a month (there are hardware problems - and the parts have to be shipped from Canada in order to be covered under warranty). Therefore, we are without a DVD player for awhile and since we got rid of our TV in December, we're without any at-home movie/TV enterainment for the wettest month of the year.

To cope, we have been going to DVD bongs (which we should have been going to more often), watch Korean movies on VCD (most storylines are horrible, but show life in Korea well), and just last weekend, Craig and I went back to Grand Department Store to watch Batman Begins. I'm usually not a fan of the '2hour+' movie, but I was entertained from beginning to end. And Clara's right (I will let her site explain). The only difference though was having to smell the processed squid snacks that the Koreans eat along with their movie popcorn and jumbo coke.

On a side note, I have found that Rick Mercer has started his own blog. I'm delighted in finding this site. It humanizes the Canadian who has made me laugh for over 10 years now.

Jelly Shoes

2005-06-29T07:31:00.000+09:00

Look! Proof of how popular these shoes are. Craig and I were walking through the subway station when an indoor shoe shop set this stand out. The women attacked this stand as if these were the only Jelly Shoes left in Korea. I'm amazed at the power of the Jelly Shoe.

Buy the Way

2005-06-26T10:24:00.000+09:00

After a big meal with Brett and Laura on Saturday night, we decided to go out for drinks. It's that hot and humid time of year in Korea when all the convenient stores set plastic chairs and tables outside their shop. Coming from Canada, I sometimes forget how accessible alcohol is in other countries. We just bought a few large "Prime" beers and a bottle of Korean rice wine from the store, sat, shared stories and enjoyed the night life. And even though I've lived here for 10 months now, I still was shocked as we watched the high school aged kids come out of their private school classes at 11:00pm on a Saturday night.

The 80's are here

2005-06-23T00:53:00.000+09:00

Summer is here and some of my student's new clothes and toys have made me stop, stare and think, "didn't I have a pair of those when I was 8?" Jelly shoes are big right now. At least half of the girls in my classes wear them and brag about them (but it's not just girls; I've seen woman of all ages wear them here). I was shocked and horrified when I had two boys in my class wear black sweatshirts with the arms ripped off (sweatshirt tanks) paired with tight, black, tapered jeans. It was like re-watching old episodes of "Full House" or "Saved by the Bell". I just cringed. Now, I know these are from the early 90's, but Pogs have made a comeback (a start?) in Korea. All my kids have them, trade them. Last, but not least, I have come across kids who have snap bracelets. And not just any snap bracelet - a neon yellow snap bracelet - in it's true late 80's/early 90's colour.
It's like I'm reliving my childhood... in Korea. Please tell me this is only in Korea and not in Canada. Please tell me that jelly shoes and tight,black jeans on men have not filtrated back into the North American fashion scene.....

Ostrich Farm

2005-06-20T21:36:00.000+09:00

It's been a busy week - Open Drama for the parents, report cards, monthly tests, etc, etc..... our week ended with a Saturday kindergarten field trip to an ostrich farm about 2 hours south of Ilsan. The four of us were a little upset when the trip was first planned - it's never fun working 6 full days straight, especially when the 6th day is with 30 kids and their parents. But when the day arrived, we were quite excited to be spending the day outside of the city (and with no real responsibility - the parents took care of the kids; we were just there for 'show'). I can honestly say it was worth going on a Saturday. We all had a great time. My pictures show what we did that day.
I would have Craig's pictures (ostrich and drama) posted as well, but lately Craig's computer has been giving him problems. Luckily, it's still under warranty; unfortunately the only day he can take it in is on Saturday, and we were at the Ostrich farm. ;) I'll post his pictures and video clip a.s.a.p.

Smoking is a cure-all miracle drug!

2005-06-12T23:25:00.000+09:00

Or at least according to the Chinese government. I had no idea that smoking is "a cure-all for diseases and ailments -- from Parkinson's to ulcers. In fact, smoking can even make you smarter and happier...". Time to light up!

Here's an article on how some Canadian docs are trying to fight this lunacy.

Maybe this explains why these guys lit up while climbing Seoraksan.

Gyeongbok Palace - Warrior Country

2005-06-09T22:15:00.000+09:00

Dave McNally, an editor of Warrior Country, used some of my pics for one of the articles! Warrior Country is a weekly online publication for the US troops stationed in Korea. Kinda cool to see the pics elsewhere other than on this blog :) Click here to download the PDF. The article is on page 4.

Dave is an avid Flickr user living in Korea with his wife and child. He posts lots of great photos of Korea.

Memorial Day Weekend

2005-06-05T20:54:00.000+09:00

It's Memorial Day Weekend in Korea. The long weekend is in remembrance for the soliders who have died in battle. First time this year that we've had a holiday attached to the weekend. Brett, Laura, Craig and I took advantage of everyone leaving Seoul on vacation - we decided to hike the mountain that is in all those pictures I have of Gyeongbukgung Palace (btw, here's some newly posted pictures of the Palace). It was overcast, but it didn't ruin our view of the city.

Along with the hike this weekend, we've enjoyed trying different bars and restuarants in the Ilsan area, as well as dusting off our bowling skills at a local alley. And yes, the velcro bowling shoes are just as ugly in Korea.

On a happy note, Craig and I received confirmation that our offical last day of teaching is August 29th. We have bought our ferry tickets to Tianjin, China for August 30th, the start of our Trans Siberian trip home. Only 11 weeks (55 teaching days) left - not that I'm counting. ;) I'm a happy girl.

Seoraksan

2005-06-05T12:04:00.000+09:00

The last weekend in May, Craig and I made the 4 hour journey by bus to the east coast of Korea to check out Seoraksan National Park. We decided to go before this long weekend, which is the start of the tourist season, to save us from waiting in long lines to hike up the mountains. The weather was a little cloudy, but it didn't ruin our stay. The most refreshing part was seeing a group of mountains, not a group of apartments, the whole weekend. Check out Craig's/Mary's photos.

If you have a few minutes, you can download a clip of the park.

Our 15 Minutes....

2005-06-02T08:52:00.000+09:00

It's hard to believe 4 months have past since this photo was taken

Star Wars: Episode III

2005-05-27T00:28:00.000+09:00

star wars coming soon!
Originally uploaded by Frayed.

Star Wars came out today in Korea - so Brett, Laura, Craig and I went to go see the late show on the 10th floor at Grand Department Store. When the movie ended, we attempted to use the elevator, but it wasn't working. We just figured that they shut down the elevator for the night, so we took the stairwell. We were greeted by 30 other people from the movie on the 1st floor all trying to find a way out of the Department Store. Turns out the store was locked up and they must have 'forgotten' that there was a late show going on on the 10th floor. We were literally walking around the equivalent of a Bay department store floor, trapped; no employees, no movie theatre workers... Just us and a thousand watches, perfume bottles and belts. We were finally found by the shipment workers in the back and they led us through a maze of boxes before letting us out the fire escape doors. I just can't believe it. Ten floors full of merchandise and no one figured that at least one worker should hang around for when the late show go-ers come out of the movie. That's Korea for you.

Playground Fun!

2005-05-19T23:27:00.000+09:00

They tore down the rickety old playground next to our apartment last week and replaced it with a much more fun and safe set. So today, I took Mary and Brett's classes out for gym and snapped a few pictures of the kids on the new equipment. Here they are, hopefully having fun :)

Ilsan at Night

2005-05-18T23:26:00.000+09:00

Check it out

Crowded

2005-05-17T23:14:00.000+09:00

This is for my parents - to show how crowded Numdaemun Market in Seoul can get on a Saturday afternoon. Quite a bit different than:

Stevensville's one and lonely stoplight - and with the Tavern recently torn down - it looks even more bare that what I remember.

Seoul Tower

2005-05-15T21:44:00.000+09:00

Yesterday, Craig and I went into Seoul - we wanted to go up Seoul Tower, which is in Namsan Park and overlooks the city. We took the cable car up and was greeted by a sign saying that the tower is closed for renovation until October 31. Hmm. It was a good ride up though. Photos.

Nanta

2005-05-07T19:01:00.000+09:00

Craig and I were fortunate enough to get tickets to see Nanta, a non-verbal Korean musical performance with a cooking theme. Kind of like Stomp with knives. We quickly found out that they pulled people from the audience to help out with the show. I was pulled up on stage to compete in a Mandu (dumpling) making contest. Lacking Mandu-making skills, I was unable to make it fast enough to beat the red team. But I got to keep the Chef's hat. Aside from making Mandu, Nanta was the most entertaining show I've seen in a long time.

Children's Day

2005-05-06T21:47:00.000+09:00

Since May 5th was Children's Day (holiday), we had a party for the kindergarten kids on Wednesday.

(Craig & Sally/Me & Daniel)

Russian

2005-05-05T10:51:00.000+09:00

We are starting to prepare for our Trans-Siberian trek in September and part of that is learning some of the language of these countries. Russian seemed like a good language to start with. A few times a week Craig and I have been trying to learn necessary phrases that could help us. The Cyrillic alphabet is just one obstacle to conquer when learning the language - but the double, triple, quadruple consonant sounds that are strung together seem to be the biggest challenge so far. Try and wrap your tongue around these phrases:

"Zdravstvooeetye. Myenya zavoot Mary."
(Hello. I am called Mary.)

"Mi yedyem v Maskvoo."
(We are going to Moscow.)

"Dobriiy dyen. Oo vas yest nomyer na dvaeekh, na adnoo noch? Stoeet nye sleeshkam doroga?"
(Good day. Do you have room for two, for one night? Cost not too expensive?)

Bukhansan - Volume 2

2005-05-01T11:59:00.000+09:00

Yesterday, Mary and I had our second excursion to Bukan Mountain (here's Volume 1). We headed out at 9 and returned at 6; a looong hike. On our way, we met a Korean man who lived in California for 15 years, named Charles Sohn. He was a senior and stressed multiple times the advantages of being one (free transit, free park entrance, etc). He was very helpful and got us to our starting point in record time; he even shared his tomatos :) The first time, we walked at least an extra hour before the actual hiking began.

We hiked with Sohn for a while, but with us being in our 20s, he couldn't quite keep the pace (taking 5 minute breaks after every hill), so he said to go on without him. It's amazing that he does the climb every weekend!

Mary and Sohn during one of our breaks

This time 'round we took a different route, as started by Sohn, towards the east gate. This way had a gradual incline that was less rocky. We eventually reached a 715m peak (second highest). Here's the full route we followed:

Trail route

Our last point on the route (far east side) before looping back was Daenammun Gate seen from a distance below.

Here are more pictures in a set and as a slideshow.

Kindergarten Train Trip

2005-05-01T07:55:00.000+09:00

On Thursday, we had a kindy field trip to Imjingang, which is the last station before the start of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea). When we were told that we were going on a train trip with the kids, I thought that we would be on a tourist train or a slow train made for field trips, but we took all the kindergartens on a actual train. The other passengers looked at us in horror as we boarded yelling kindergartens onto the train. We walked to the Freedom Bridge and had lunch before returning back home, exhausted. (my pictures/Craig pictures - soon)

If you have the time to download it, Craig took a clip of Tommy falling asleep on the train. It's good for a laugh.

Clock Boy

2005-04-27T22:16:00.000+09:00

Daniel. Remember him? My clock-loving kindergarten? I don't have Daniel for homeroom anymore - but I still have his class for science and show and tell. Normally show and tell is boring with the girls bringing in one of their numerous stuffed animals, while the boys bring in the latest "yu-gi-yo" cards and toys. But Daniel... Oh Daniel .... First, he brought in a calender. Then an alarm clock. Then a stop watch. Then a cooking timer. I thought by this week he would have run out of clock/time things to bring in. How could I have doubted? - this week he brought in a sand clock, in addition to telling me exactly how long he's owned it and how old he was when he received it and how old the clock will be in the year 2010. I have about 15 show and tells left with that class (um... I'm not counting); I'm looking forward to seeing if Daniel can continue bringing in time-themed objects.

Gyeongbukgung Palace

2005-04-27T08:01:00.000+09:00

Went to Gyeongbukgung Palace in Seoul on the weekend.
(My pictures/Craig's pictures)

Cultural Festival

2005-04-24T20:13:00.000+09:00

Saturday night, Craig and I went to the outskirts of Goyang to see the Cultural Festival, which is open every night from now til June. It turned out to be a Niagara-Festival-of-Lights-like display. They were pretty impressive.

There was an art gallery in the park showing art that uses light. The left photo is a 3D image using light and the right photo is a light tree using x-ray photos.

Tight-rope walkers, unicyclists, and dancers performed on a huge stage.
(Craig's Pictures)

Jolly Jumping Jelly Bean

2005-04-24T09:27:00.000+09:00

At the outdoor mall in Ilsan, there was a bungy display set up for kids to jump and have fun (click to enlarge).

Bibbed

2005-04-24T08:48:00.000+09:00

Craig and I stirred up some tak kalbi after searching for backpacks. The ajumma gave each an apron while cooking it, but, as you can see, no one else was given an apron. She probably thought us two foreigners would make a mess of ourselves.

Tak Kalbi: chicken, cabbage, dok, sweet potato, green onions and hot sauce.

Books

2005-04-23T00:59:00.000+09:00

Tagged by Clara:

Q: You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Does that mean a book I would burn? If that's the case, I would bring The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. Reading a Newfoundland accent is harder to understand than listening to it.

Q: Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
I was 10. His name was Gilbert....... I fell for Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables.

Q: The last book you bought is:
Trans Siberian Handbook by Bryn Thomas. Not a novel, but it's thick like one.

Q: The last book you read:
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (now like to see how Sofia Coppola did the movie). And Skinny by Ibi Kaslik

Q: What are you currently reading?
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. Makes me feel like I'm at home.

Q: Five books you would take to a desert island.
Now, is it a desert island so that no one can see what I'm reading - or is it so they are the longest books I can find to occupy the time? Hmmm.....
1)Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - I could read that book over and over
2)Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - an excellent 'lost in a book' book
3)The Lord of the Rings - I've never read it - probably should
4)Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan
5)The Meaning of Wife by Anne Kingston

Q: Who are you going to pass this stick to and why?
Clara, you're the only person I know who has a blog - Wait, unless Matt wants to - I'm sure he's read more books that I ever will.

War Memorial of Korea

2005-04-21T20:05:00.000+09:00

Last Sunday, Craig and I checked out the War Memorial in Seoul. There's a ton to look at outside the museum, and the museum itself is huge (I guess with being one of the biggest war museums in the world, it'd have to be). Inside it had displays on every recorded war Korea has been involved in, with a whole floor dedicated to the Korean War. It was quite interesting. They really went all out on the displays, giving every detail. Didn't realize that it would take us almost 3 hours to walk through, but it was definitely worth going to. Here are Craig's pictures.

Laptop

2005-04-16T14:38:00.000+09:00

Problems arose with my laptop lately. The piece in the computer that connects to the power supply became loose. It was working on and off for awhile; but since last weekend, I'd been offically without a computer (which, by the way, made me very productive).

Even though it was under warranty, I didn't bring the all-important receipt to Korea to prove that.

So Craig and I took it to Yongsan this morning (electronics part of Seoul) to see if someone could fix it for a decent price. Without English, we managed to find someone to look at it. They had to replace it with a new piece - with the price coming to....1,760W (a whopping $1.75). The labour in Canada alone would have cost me $50.

So there's my lesson to be learned. If I ever start complaining about Korea, I will think about the $1.75 which gave me access to 4 more months of emails, eat my dolsot bibimbap and hold my tongue.

Warm Weather and Spring Flowers

2005-04-13T23:10:00.000+09:00

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I can try out my newish camera (Panasonic FZ3) a little more. Here are some spring pics I took during my break between kindy and elementary. You can tell I'd make a pathetic botanist from the titles. Click the pictures for a larger view or go straight to my flickr page.

blooming

feeding bee

white

purple

purple grey

buds

Happy Birthday Brett!!

2005-04-12T23:04:00.000+09:00

Three birthdays in the month of April (Craig, Mrs Jang, Brett). We celebrated by going out for tak kalbi (chicken) and for drinks with the staff.

Brett, Erin, Jei, Mrs Jang, Laura

Ellie, Mimi, Julie, me

Signs of Spring

2005-04-12T23:02:00.000+09:00

Craig took some pictures to prove that winter is officially over.

Blossoms outside our apartment

The path by our apartment

COEX

2005-04-10T07:55:00.000+09:00

It rained yesterday, so Craig and I did what 3 million other Koreans did - go to the COEX mall.

I may have lied, Clara. I thought I wasn't familiar with Lush products, but after seeing this stand, I do recall checking it out when I was in Vancouver - but look! Lush has found South Korea - or the other way around..... I didn't indulge though; I need a proper non-Korean shower (and a tub) to enjoy these products.

The Attack of the Flying Pig

Koreans, Koreans everywhere!!

Huh?

2005-04-04T22:31:00.000+09:00

As we rode the subway, we tried not to stare ....but how can you not?

S-E-O-U-L

2005-04-04T22:28:00.000+09:00

Brett's really into football (soccer) and knows when all the games are here. We travelled into Seoul yesterday to see Seoul's football team go against Bucheon (a neighbouring city). Half the fun was seeing the World Cup Stadium, which was built for the 2002 World Cup. The stadium holds about 40,000 people, so the 5,000 who attended yesterday didn't look like a lot. I've never been to a soccer match before and as the weather gets even better, I'm looking forward to attending a few more games while I'm here.

If you have the time, download a clip from the game - the crowds chanting one of their many songs.

This just in....

2005-04-03T12:58:00.000+09:00

I was talking to my brother today. He works as a marine mammal trainer at Marineland now. He always has great stories - but this one beats them all. I would tell you myself, but Glen is so much better at telling stories. I didn't believe him at first. We've made fun of Jean Chretien's strangle incident for years - and for this to happen - unbelieveable!

Stress Balls

2005-04-03T12:40:00.000+09:00

On the way home from Suwon, there was a man selling stress balls on the subway for a buck. A bunch of people bought one, including Craig. We were both pulling on it, making shapes - and no sooner did we question what was inside the ball, the balloon burst open, sending flour flying all over us. And it just so happened we were on a busy subway car, so everyone stopped and stared at the foreigners who had flour all over themselves. Everyone who bought one of those stress balls soon stopped pulling on it like we were - and laughed at us instead.

Korean Kindness and Toilets

2005-04-03T12:20:00.000+09:00

After the Fortress and kalbi, the 4 of us went to the Miller Bar down the street. We had drank a few rounds already when a Korean speaking excellent English came over with the biggest bottle of Miller I've seen and said that they were celebrating a wedding and the beer was for us in celebration. Days, sometimes weeks go by when you wonder if anyone is friendly in Korea, but days like these remind you of the generousity most Koreans do have.

In the meantime, Laura was telling me about the 'special' toilets in the ladies room at the bar. They had heated seats with buttons on the side. Laura said she has never pressed them, but supposedly they are air fresheners or for making sounds to cover up any "unwomanly" noises going on in the stall. So on my Miller buzz I decided it was a good idea to test out all the buttons on the seat. I quickly learned that one button was for squirting water as high as my standing height. It wouldn't shut off, so I pressed all the rest of the buttons, which set off the "cover up" noise that sounded like a lawn mower (why that sound? is that going to make people less suspicious?). Eventually everything stopped, but it taught me never to play with toilet buttons ever again.

Hwaseong Fortress

2005-04-03T12:11:00.000+09:00

Fortress Pictures

Yesterday Brett and Laura invited us to Suwon, where they used to live. They took us to see the Hwaseong Fortress, a wall that was built around the city over 200 years ago. It's a walk and a half, but we ended it with famous Suwon kalbi......

Happy Birthday Craig

March Field Trip

2005-04-01T21:34:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was our March field trip with the kindergartens. We took them to see the Wizard of Oz at a theatre in La Festa (the main shopping area in Ilsan). It was all in Korean, so Ellie let us four foreigners shop around while the play was going on. I think the play was a little too scary - when we met the kids as they were exiting the play, there were a few that were crying - probably from the witch?

We then bused the kids to a nearby Folk House in the middle of Ilsan that's 140 years old. That was quite interesting. It's amazing that there's this historic building hidden in amongst all the apartments and businesses.

The day didn't go without the odd kid puking or a few tears, but what's a kindergarten field trip without it, right?

Up the stairs at the Folk House

Little doors for little people

Kimchi pots

Having a snack

Brandon

Coupling

2005-03-29T22:04:00.001+09:00

One of the many benefits of having British co-workers is the wonderful collection of 'BritCom' DVDs they have, such as The Office and Coupling. I've seen a few Coupling episodes back home, but now that I'm watching it from the beginning, it's becoming addictive, like coffee.... I see that NBC re-made The Office, using the exact same script. I've seen it done with other programs like Coupling and One Foot in the Grave. Why, why re-make something that is already perfect? It's just not the same - the accent is half the fun.

Jeff

2005-03-28T22:48:00.000+09:00

In one of my elementary classes, I have a boy named Jeff. Lets just say Jeff's not very swift. I make him sit next to me in class, so that I at least get some work out of him. He often likes to touch and play with my pens, books, binders on the table, because he's fidgety. Anyway, I've recently developed a runny nose and I've been carrying a few tissues around to class. So today, in Jeff's class, I left my dirty kleenex on the table while I turned around to write something on the board. When I turned back around, Jeff was actually playing with the dirty kleenex. So I sat down next to him and smiled as I watched him play with it for the next minute. I then said, "Jeff, do you know what I use that for?" as I pointed to my nose. His face turned to green as he quickly put the kleenex back on the table. It was the perfect, non-planned, punishment for him always touching my stuff. And even better, he stays far away from anything that's mine now.

Happy Easter!

2005-03-27T22:44:00.000+09:00

Tim Hortons

2005-03-25T14:39:00.000+09:00

Now Tim Hortons was never really a huge part of my daily life in Canada. When Craig's parents sent us Tim Hortons coffee for Xmas, we never really thought of making it; we didn't have a coffee maker, and it's probably not good for me to start drinking coffee again. But yesterday we bought the coffee maker to make use of the grinds. We made it this morning - and again this afternoon - sadly, we are hooked. I'm sad to say that 7 months into being here, I've unfortunately caved and now added Tim Hortons to the mental list of things I miss about Canada. (Although, Dad, your coffee is just as good as Tim Hortons', so I could just add "Dad's coffee" to the list, thus not admitting to being the stereotypical small town Canadian who's addicted to her Timmy's coffee and her "Rrrrrroll Up the Rrrrrim" cups)

Basket Hopper Game

2005-03-23T22:38:00.000+09:00

Easter's just around the corner. We've been getting ready for our Easter Egg Hunt with the kindergartens on Friday. Got a Easter package from mom, just in time for Easter - filled with stickers and erasers for the kids. Along with it came the "Basket Hopper Game". Craig and I ripped it open on our break today and started playing (well, it said "A Fun Game for Children and Adults"). Maybe disciplining 6 year olds all morning can turn one into an actual 6 year old. Although I blame my giddiness on this great weather we're having.....

Is it a rabbit? Is it a frog?

Earthquake

2005-03-21T18:24:00.000+09:00

Yesterday morning, Craig and I were reading on the couch, when we briefly felt the couch shake. We each thought the other was shaking it, but when we realized that neither of us did anything, we started wondering what it was. We both thought, maybe an earthquake? - and didn't think about it again - until we found out today that there was an earthquake in Japan yesterday morning. Here's the article.

I bit the bullet and braved the Korean barber...

2005-03-20T09:56:00.000+09:00

And I'm never going back. I wanted to find a place to get my hair chopped since my last cut was the day we left Thailand (3 months ago) and my head was starting to hurt from the weight of my hair. So I ventured out across the nearby bridge where I spotted a barber pole. I worked my way through the maze of Korean shops down to a woman behind some glass (seemed high security for a barber). I made a scissor motion and she nodded and told me "e-chon-o-beck-won"- 2500W ($2.50). "Ok", I thought, that's a cheap haircut. She motioned to a door and I went in.

The place was empty besides a kid and two guys. It was actually a sauna-like-mens-club, not just a barber shop. I made my scissor mime again and they shuffled me over to a locker area where one guy mimed an instruction for me to remove my shirt. "What!? Why? I'm getting a hair cut and all but is this necessary? Perhaps they wanted to trim my chest hair..." I would've left, but I had already paid, so I removed my shirt. I think they were a little taken aback by my hair (most Korean men have hairless bodies). The kindy kids will rub my arm hair till the cows come home if I don't stop them - they call me a monkey.

The barber took me over to the haircutting area and sat me down. Thankfully, he wrapped a towel around me. The other man in the place had come over as well and freely felt the stubble on my face (a little awkward) and made some comment to the barber. Koreans don't have very thick facial hair so maybe he was jealous.

So the haircut began....the barber had awful B.O...and he had no inhibitions about farting loudly next to me. I couldn't explain what I wanted so I just let him at it. Miraculously he spared my side burns which most Korean barbers will mercilessly chop off. After the cut, he spread some shaving cream around my neck, ears, and the bottom of my sideburns. He used a straight edge and dragged it down my face, OUCH! I think it needed sharpening. He offered to shave my face as well, but I declined since I didn't want to lose a few layers of skin.

Afterwards, they wanted me to take a shower but I didn't come with that intention so I said no. They gave me a strange look but I just wanted out of there. The barber charged me another W8000 ($8) which was fine, but I thought I already paid. I guess I paid just to get in.

"Kamsa-hamnida, I'll never see you again."

So now I'm left with a little Korean boys haircut, which the Korean teachers at school blatently stated. No tact.

White Day

2005-03-14T23:37:00.001+09:00

After Valentine's Day, most girls wait for White day to receive candy from boys in Korea. This year, White Day is on Monday, March 14, exactly one month after Valentine's Day and is a familiar event for most Asian cultures, especially in Japan as the creator is Japanese.

White day was created by Morinaga, a famous Japanese confectionery company for commercial reasons similar to the custom of giving chocolates on Valentine's Day.

The Morinaga Company created an advertising campaign in 1960 that encouraged girls to give chocolates on Valentine's Day instead of just declaring their love. Yet Valentine's Day was not popular until in 1970, when the girls in Japan became more liberal. Still the company was able to promote their product through their extensive campaign.

After their huge success on their Valentine's Day campaign, they made another advertising campaign to sell their most unpopular item, the marshmallow. The company created Marshmallow Day, so girls could receive a gift from boys as a response to Valentine’s Day. In other words, if a boy was given chocolates from a girl on Valentine's Day and if he is interested in that girl who gave him the chocolates, he should give candy to that girl as a sign that he is in love with her too.

Marshmallow Day changed to White Day because of the color of the marshmallow, and it is still popular event along with Valentine's Day in Korea.

It’s mostly teenagers and those in their early 20s who are obsessed with Valentine’s Day and White Day. The young generation not only gives chocolate and candy but also gives expensive gifts to their boyfriend or girlfriend as if it is an effective way to show their love to them. But most people in their late 20s and 30s don’t really observe these events.

These days, Valentine’s Day and White Day are seen more negatively because they are created by commercial companies and promote over consumption. Despite the criticism, the days are growing bigger each year as streets are filled with brightly colored baskets, boxes and heart-shaped items from February through March.

A lot of Koreans think that this day is celebrated in other countries like Valentines Day. (from www.worknplay.co.kr)

Most of the boys in my classes today gave me little toys, pens, and chocolate to celebrate the day. I started eating the chocolates by 10:30am, felt sick by 11:00, had kids running and screaming from the sugar by 1:00, heard kids throwing up by 4:00 and hated White Day by 7:00.....

....there's a reason why this day wasn't made for 6,7,8 year olds - and why it's not appealing to the 20/30-something year olds who teach them.

March Birthday

2005-03-11T13:56:00.000+09:00

It's Porsha's and Jason's birthday this month. It's weird - we have less than 20 kids now. It makes the birthday party a whole lot quieter.

Laura's UPenn: Porsha, Demi, Tommy, Angela

Brett's Boston: Alice, Daniel, Judy, Jason, Melody, Julie

Brandon: my little terror - I spend most of my mornings pulling crayons out of this little guy's mouth, nose and ears - but he's picking up English quickly

Craig's Alex (in Princeton)

Curious

2005-03-08T22:04:00.000+09:00

I now teach an advanced group of 8 year olds in the afternoon (your old everyday UPenn class, Matt). That class now has four different teachers in the afternoon and I've been picked to teach them advanced vocabulary 3 times a month. I've never taught them before, but as soon as I walked into the class, everyone screamed out my name as if I've been teaching them for months. I'm not quite sure how they know me. A couple of them have brothers or sisters in the morning kindergarten classes, but other than that... I don't know.

These kids talk like there's no tomorrow. Constantly vying for my attention; telling me stories about kids at school who have kissed each other, or who likes who in what class. They love that my name is Mary - and how it's like 'marry' or 'marriage'. They all keep asking who I'm going to marry. 'Am I going to marry Craig teacher? - If not Craig teacher, am I going to marry Matthew teacher? - If not Matthew teacher, am I going to marry Dave teacher?.....' I just pretend I don't know what they're talking about. I don't like to give them anymore ammo than they already think they have.

I tried to carry on with the lesson. I had to teach them about 30 new vocabulary words. So I would say the word and ask them to come up with sentences using those words. Imagine turned into "Mary imagines marrying Craig". An example of description was "Mary is wearing a white dress and Craig is wearing a black suit at their wedding". My favourite came from Basil. No kidding, when I asked to explain curious, Basil came up with "I'm curious about Mary's love life". I can't believe an 8 year old even knew what that was - Matt, what did you teach them? Or should I blame this on Dave? Either way - this class is obsessed with love, kissing, and marriage. Was I like this at 8 years old?

To top it all off, I looked at next week's vocabulary list - and, ironically, all the words pertain to marriage.....

Immigration

2005-03-07T18:21:00.000+09:00

Last month, Swaton had a visit from Immigration; seeing if there were any foreign teachers working there illegally (without a working visa). We had to show our visas and were asked a few questions. Didn't really think anything of it. But just recently I found out that Immigration went to a large number of schools that day in Ilsan and caught 60 foreign teachers who were here illegally.

Brett and Laura don't have their working visas yet. They still have to go to Osaka to get it; Mrs Jang just has to arrange the flight first. But immigration showed up again today, when we were at home on our breaks. Mrs Jang called Brett and Laura telling them to not come into school until she says. But she hasn't called and they've gone the whole afternoon without teaching. I'm guessing that immigration must be suspicious about something - or Mrs Jang wouldn't have called supply Korean teachers to cover Brett and Laura's classes so quickly. *Update* They've been told to stay home Tuesday as well. They'll probably have to make Osaka visa runs right away - so Mrs Jang is free of immigration worries.

Maybe Immigration has just caught on that there are more illegal teachers working here than first thought. Or maybe they've always known, and now they just go from school to school cause they have nothing better to do. :)

Seoul Marathon

2005-03-06T22:58:00.000+09:00

Ran my first 1/2 marathon today. Took it slow, but ran the whole way. But, ya, that's a long run.

There were 10,000 people running in either the marathon (42k), 1/2 marathon (21k), 10k, or 5k. There were 500 foreigners (Japanese, American...) running as well. The marathon was along the Han River, which divides Seoul in half. It was at the park that's right below the 63 Building. Having been in other triathlons & duathlons, I found this race to be so well organized (I guess you have to be with 10,000 people) - Craig and I just loved walking around before the race and watching all the different people prepare. That alone was worth waking up at 7am on a Sunday for.

Here's Craig's photos and commentary of the race.

Craig also took a short video clip of the Koreans warming up before the race. May take a few minutes to upload.

New Schedule

2005-03-04T21:03:00.000+09:00

Today was our new schedule for the afternoon elementary students. Mrs Jang rearranged every class (since there are new students for the new year as well as the new classes made for the kindergarten graduates - who graduated on Friday). New classes - new teachers/students for each class. All day was (and all next week will be) spent reorganizing our lesson plans. Overwhelming.

But poor Brett and Laura. They've been here 3 days and now they've been picked to teach the fresh out of kindergarten kids for 85min each. The thought of having Kenny, Beckham, and John in the same class for 85 minutes makes me cringe. I'm lucky enough not to teach these new kindergarten graduate classes. Laura told me that a lot of the old kindergartens want their English names changed. Barbie changed it to Julie. Matt now wants to be called Denzel. And Ken now wants to be called Cobra Blade. Laura refused, and Ken cried - so they compromised with Blade (- the student formerly known as Ken). I had to pick English names for some my new kids. One boy wanted to be called Finger - that didn't happen. The same boy wanted me to call another no-name girl Sit Down, so that I would have to say "Sit down, Sit Down!" And I have another boy named Stinger.

It's been a bit of a struggle for Brett and Laura. They moved into Gabe and Dave's old place. Before they came, Gabe took one final cleaning of the apartment. And even though Gabe hasn't lived there since December (he's with his girlfriend), he took everything. The dishes, the cups, the sheets - and most of this stuff wasn't his to begin with. He went as far as taking the cutting board, the net that held the recycling and those little plastic cups that hold cutlery after you wash them. Laura & Brett came to a completely empty apartment. It's hard to explain to them who Gabe was, but with him clearing out the apartment and leaving Brett & Laura with nothing, it's a good example of what he was like over the past 5 months.

Found a picture Craig took awhile ago, when we were on the opposite side of the road from Swaton. Here's a shot of work - our 4 floor school, no grass in sight - with a bakery and a kid's store underneath. The apartment you see in the background is 407; we're to the right - 408.

Cornell

2005-03-03T14:19:00.000+09:00

Meet Joon, Sue & Brandon

These 5 year olds are my new kindergarten homeroom class. By day two, I have learned how to get them out from under the table in less than 5 minutes. Small steps....very small steps.

Korean Holiday

2005-03-01T08:46:00.000+09:00

Independence Movement Day (March 1)
This day commemorates the Declaration of Independence proclaimed on March 1, 1919, while under Japanese colonization. A reading of the declaration takes place in a special ceremony at Tapgol Park in Seoul, where the document was first read to the public.

So, we get the day off today.

The new teachers came on Sunday night. Laura and Brett. She's from Glasgow and he's from the Cambridge area in England. They met each other while teaching in Korea their first year here, and have travelled and taught in Korea together since. This is their 3 year teaching in Korea, which is why I think Mrs Jang hired them; they have experience and have stayed for the entire length of a contract before.

Each new kindergarten class will be no bigger than 6 kids. My homeroom is the youngest group (5 years old). They don't know any English at all, so I'm assuming this will be a challenge for the first few weeks, but there's only 4 of them....we will see.

Our new elementary schedule begins on Friday and all the classes we've taught up until then will be changed. Along with Brett and Laura, Mrs Jang has hired another Korean teacher, Peter, to teach in the afternoons. With all the new teachers, she's re-vamping the afternoon schedule. I could use the change.

And - we've officially completed 6 months now. Never thought I'd make it this far, but now that I'm here, the last 6 months should be easy, as we get closer and closer to going home. The warmer weather's coming and with planning for the Trans-Siberian - I'm excited.

Goodbye Dave and Gabe - it's been fun (& interesting) working with you. If you're ever oot and aboot in Canada sometime, give us a call; we'll give you a ride on our dog sled and take you out to Harvey's.

Graduation

2005-02-26T21:19:00.000+09:00

It was Graduation for the kindergartens on Friday. There are 22 moving up to elementary school leaving a big gap in our the morning program. Stella, our kindergarten co-ordinator, is leaving for the States to study English with her husband, so we are left with Ellie as the only Korean kindergarten teacher. We won't have enough kindergartens in the morning to fill Stella's spot. But good news for us. We are going down to 4-30 min classes in the morning, instead of the 4-40 min classes we used to teach. Those 10 minutes makes all the difference in the world when dealing with 6 year olds. *more grad pictures soon*

Parents and their cameras

With their diplomas

Jei & Craig

Sunny & Sally - off to China for 3 years

Brown class & Stella

Look Into My Crystal Ball

2005-02-26T21:09:00.000+09:00

The 2nd floor is a little slow at taking down the Xmas decorations

An American's Guide to Canada

2005-02-25T08:14:00.000+09:00

Ran across this site: American's Guide of Canada. Figured I'd put it in, since it's Gabe's and Dave's last couple of days here. So this is for Dave; for the time he came in wearing a tuque, and when I mentioned it, he looked all over his body and exclaimed, "What the hell's a tuque!?!"

In Canada they say:/In the States they say:

Grade x/xth grade

Write a test/Take a test

Marks/Grades

Essay/Paper

Public School/Elementary School

Supply teacher/Substitute teacher

College/Community College

University/4-year, degree-granting college or university

Residence/Dormitory

Coles Notes/Cliff Notes

skipping/cutting class

chocolate bar/candy bar

homo milk/whole milk

icing sugar/powdered sugar

housecoat/bathrobe

elastic/rubber band

knapsack/book bag

Check out the site for more. I found it interesting to read it through the eyes of an American.

Science with Cornell

2005-02-23T20:49:00.000+09:00

My last science class with this year's Cornell. They were pretending to take pictures of me as I was taking pictures of them: "Smile" - "Kimchi"

Tommy

No eyes, no ears...

Angela

"Kimchi"

IIII

2005-02-21T16:51:00.000+09:00

So, today Gabe shows us his new watch from his girlfriend. And we're looking at it - Roman numerals, very nice, la la la . Then, we notice - IIII. Last time I checked, 4 was IV. Who would make thousands of these without looking into the Roman numeral system first? Yeah Korea! Oh well, it's good for a laugh. And a picture.

Don't Sleep

2005-02-20T18:25:00.000+09:00

Craig and I were at Carrefore today (it's no E-Mart in Madu, Matt, but it's not Walmart), and we found this gum in the candy section. "Don't Sleep" gum. We liked the little car picture up at the top. I'm assuming they're claiming this gum won't let you fall asleep while driving. That's a big promise from 2 little black chicklets. Turns out the gum is like Dentyne's Midnight Mint gum. Really strong and really (in my opinion) gross. No caffeine laced gum here....

Lake Park

2005-02-20T18:15:00.000+09:00

Went for a walk around Lake Park today (still no snow in Ilsan). Craig took some pictures along the way.

Kindergarten Concert

2005-02-20T17:44:00.000+09:00

Kindergarten Concert

Yesterday we had our end of the school year kindergarten concert for all the parents. It's been a long month preparing, practicing, making props for this one evening. It wasn't at the school; we were bused over to a hall/building within the city for the performance. Unfortunately there were no dressing rooms for the kids, so between scenes we had to strip 30 kids down to their underwear in the hall and change them into their costumes. It turned out to be a success, but we were more than tired after that day....and more than happy for the concert to be over with.

Here's Craig's photos.

Tall Tales

2005-02-16T16:53:00.000+09:00

I finally bought Royal Wood's full length debut, Tall Tales CD - I've loved his piano since The Milkweed - Tall Tales didn't come out until after I left for Korea. When I received it (thanks mom), I realized that Valery Gore had done background vocals for some of the songs. Another RCBHS graduate who escaped the small town life.... supposedly coming out with a CD of her own. And today I taught a bunch of 7 year olds how to make a moving turtle out of a paper cup, an elastic band and rubber clay.

*sigh*

Well, at least I have my Royal Wood CD to comfort me as I type up these report cards.

Survived North Korea

2005-02-12T18:25:00.000+09:00

It's been a looooong day! Up at 4:30a.m. and on the subway by 5:30; destination - USO Camp Kim to begin our tour of the Korean D.M.Z.. With a bus load of foreigners, we proceeded to the DMZ with our korean tour guide - John. We hit up three major places: Panmunjeom, Third Tunnel, and an Observation point, and a few stops in between.

At Panmunjeom, we went into the MAC building which has one half in each country - so we crossed the room and were in North Korea; unfortunately they don't stamp your passport. This room is where all negotiations take place and it's been in a few movies - it's quite famous. The tour guide told us an amusing story: when President George W. Bush visited the area, he was in the building and several North Koreans entered, took the silk American flag off the wall and polishd their shoes with it. The flags were replaced with hard plastic flags in a frame.

The Propaganda Village is called so because it used to broadcast propaganda over loud speakers towards South Korea, hoping to get some people to defect - yeah right! The village is actually empty, there isn't even glass over the windows. Some caretakers turn on and off lights to make it seem populated. In the middle of the 'village' there's a huge flag pole with the largest flag in the world on top. The flag itself is 31 meters long and weighs 600lbs dry! There wasn't enough wind to pick it up. Both sides have a flag pole; at one time, the South Koreans built a large pole, 100 meters tall, and North Korea responded with a 160 meter one. Talk about compensating...a similar battle of size occurred with this building (not the blue building). It used to be two stories tall until South Korea built a large reunion building opposite it. Unfortunately, the building has never been used to reunite split families since the North fears defection.

The Third Tunnel was really neat, but we weren't allowed to take pictures :( It's a good haul back up the tunnel; here's Mary, exhausted at the top. Actually, we weren't allowed to take pictures in many places for supposed security reasons. This photo line at the Observatory shows how strict they were and even when behind the line, you couldn't take pictures to the south.

The whole tour was definitely worth the $40. We got back to Seoul at 3:30p.m. Maybe we'll go back when things get greener.

View a slide show of the photos.

Grammar, blah....

2005-02-10T20:32:00.000+09:00

My grammar knowledge is horrible.

It's limited to the days of Stevensville Public School when the last thing I wanted to learn was what the superlative of a word or a reflexive pronoun was. But that lack of knowledge became my worst enemy when coming here.

Last month I was chosen to work one on one with a girl who was in need of being taught advanced level grammar (bad choice on teacher, Mrs Jang). Anyway, I found myself learning English grammar along with her and realized how much I didn't know about the background and rules of, sadly, my native language.

I signed up for an online TEFL course that emphasized grammar. I regretted taking it at first - cause it's work, and work just isn't fun. But now I'm more than happy that I'm taking it; it'll make my last 6 months of teaching a whole lot easier.

And now when a student asks me a question about grammar, I'll be able to give a answer that's more reasonable than, "um.. English is just really tricky, ok?"

Happy New Year!

2005-02-07T20:05:00.000+09:00

It's Lunar New Year here in Korea. The 3 day holiday is normally attached to a weekend, giving us 5 days off, but it works out this year that we only get off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Most schools are giving their teachers either the Monday or Friday off so they can have a long break, but.... not Swaton. Have to work the Monday and Friday *sigh*. But, 3 days off is 3 days off, so maybe we'll do some more exploring in Seoul since no one will be in the city during the holiday, or maybe the DMZ - haven't been there yet.

Rumour has it that Dave and Gabe are going to be replaced with a British couple from London. They've taught in Korea before, and they want to come back to teach. They're coming sooner than we thought. Since the new school year starts in March, Mrs Jang's going to let Dave & Gabe go sooner than the 6 weeks they requested to bring the new teachers in for the new school year.

Craig and I got rid of the TV in December since we didn't get any stations worth watching and to free up some space in the living room. But as the months went by TV-less, I realized I hadn't seen a new (non-Korean or non-Korean-dubbed) movie since Gabe begged us to watch Mystic River months ago. So Craig and I made it a movie weekend and watched Lost in Translation (thoroughly enjoyed, maybe even more so since I'm in Korea now), Napoleon Dynamite (one of the dumbest, yet most entertaining movies I've seen in a long time), Sex is Comedy and the first 4 episodes of 3rd season 24 (help me, I'm addicted once again). Besides watching more 24 (I love you Tony Almeida), I should be set for another 3 months. However, I probably should take advantage of the $1 DVD rentals here more often, so if there's a movie I shouldn't miss, let me know.

63 Building

2005-02-06T13:41:00.000+09:00

63 Building

Dave, Craig & I took a trip into Seoul and checked out the tallest building: 63 Building (yes, the Koreans were original when coming up with a name for this 63 floor building). There's an observation deck on the top floor and below the main level, there's an aquarium and IMAX theatre. We checked all three things out. To look at Seoul from above was quite amazing. Amazing that so many people are stuffed into such a small area.

Here's Craig's photos.

Flat Stanley & the Times

2005-02-04T14:09:00.000+09:00

(click to enlarge)

Mom's grade 3 class had just finished reading the children's book Flat Stanley and one of the activities was to make a big Flat Stanley and send him across the country or world. Mom sent it to me along with the book to show my kindergartens. We hung up Flat Stanley and took a picture to send home. She also sent a copy of the Fort Erie times - so for you avid Fort Erie Times readers, you may see our smiling faces on page six in the editorial section soon. Haha. Dave wanted to be in it; he didn't want to miss a chance at being in a small town Canadian newspaper ... also this may be the only picture I have of all 4 Upenn's smiling. Three missons completed in one picture - it was a successful morning.

Oh Buffalo...

2005-02-01T23:39:00.000+09:00

I finally can say I'm back to a point where I can run with ease; but logging more weekly miles than I have fingers and toes has brought a little soreness in the morning, so I've been reading into how to keep injury-free while training. Runner's World has been a great source of information. When looking up worldwide "on the road" running destinations, Buffalo came up as one of the cities recommended to run in. I had to laugh; Buffalo was where I spent a good majority of my latter teen life, training for rowing. I ran many of the routes which were mentioned in the article. Many many many times. 17 years old, running to Lake Erie Basin Marina's lighthouse, back through LaSalle Park, trying to sneak a peek at the lastest Ani DiFranco concert being set up; having to run in groups due to the scary people lurking around LaSalle......

So:

Worldwide running destination: Buffalo (complete)

77 more to go...

And then there were two...

2005-02-01T08:47:00.000+09:00

Dave and Gabe put their 6 weeks in yesterday. Dave's pretty much sick of Korea and Gabe's very much sick of Swaton. They didn't plan on resigning at the same time (Gabe didn't even know Dave was even thinking of leaving) but now it opens up a lot of questions for the next 6 months. Who will Mrs Jang hire? Will she only hire 1 person due to the lack of kids signing up? Either way, it'll be a very interesting next month.

Happy Birthday Dave!!!

2005-01-30T21:05:00.000+09:00

Jung Kyung's eye-catching creation for Dave's big 3-0 (click to enlarge)

Today's Dave's 30th Birthday.

Hope you had a great one, Dave.

Enjoy the pictures!

Local business opening

2005-01-29T17:54:00.000+09:00

Hmmm, what's that sound? The daily announcements broadcast to the village or apartment? Nope, a local business opening up.

Here in Korea, businesses open with a bang. They hire attractive girls to dance outside and use a loud speaker to announce their opening to the world. At least it seems that way since this pic was taken using the max zoom (12x) on my camera and I could hear them clearly - up 9 floors, through 2 panes of glass, in our living room.

They're dressed for the weather obviously, but the girls in the summer are usually scantily clad in short skirts and revealing tops. They can also be found in Wal-mart pushing food samples. (I'm not complaining, just observing.)

Businesses seem to come and go as frequently as I change my underwear, which is at least once a week. So these events are very frequent. They're also a fan of those freaky air-filled tubes which resemble Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

P.S. Those arcade games on the right can be quite fun after a few bottles of soju.

Craig??

2005-01-29T17:22:00.000+09:00

Don't you think he now looks like Morgan Spurlock, the guy from Supersize me?

Before and After

2005-01-29T16:28:00.000+09:00

Sunday is Dave's 30th birthday! He mentioned that he'd like it (find it funny) if I shaved my beard like this...well I did - temporarily - as a gift. Happy Birthday Dave!

Note: he also got a bottle of Jameson Whiskey :)

It's Not Snowing

2005-01-29T14:12:00.000+09:00

Within 2 hours, the sun came out melted all the snow and now we're back to fall-like weather, walking outside with an open jacket. Not that I'm complaining.

It's Snowing

2005-01-29T10:23:00.000+09:00

Ilsan's first official snowfall since we've been here....

...good thing they have their umbrellas(?).... (click to enlarge)

Sexy Boy

2005-01-27T13:45:00.000+09:00

Gabe's Brown kindergarten class is always an interesting bunch when I have them for science. Today we were making turtle bodies and heads. The science kits give these vocabulary cards with pictures so the kids can learn the new words. This is the picture they used to explain "body". A headless, legless, armless man, with a, uhh, well defined chest. Of course all the boys laughed and all the girls screamed and wouldn't touch the card when I first gave them out. But soon, the girls started looking at it more and starting yelling "Sexy Boy". I asked one of the girls where they learned the word 'sexy'. I should have known - it was Gabe. I can't wait to get complaints from the parents that I give the kids "sexy boy" cards.

"Sexy boy" (click to enlarge)

Puzzle

2005-01-25T09:04:00.000+09:00

1000 pieces to go... (click to enlarge)

Ann sent me a puzzle for Christmas. Craig has no faith in me finishing it. I will prove him wrong. :)

January Birthdays

2005-01-25T09:02:00.000+09:00

Ellie, Craig, and Princeton Class (click to enlarge)

Update

2005-01-22T06:45:00.000+09:00

Up early on a Saturday morning since all the staff at Swaton has to go to a workshop this morning in Seoul. This workshop was kind of thrown on us last minute, so none of us are too pleased.

Blaine's been working at a school down the road from us for a few months now. He returned to Korea, but not to Swaton, after a short stay in Saskatchewan. He came to Swaton to visit yesterday and asked Dave, Craig and I if we wanted to go out after work. When we went out, Blaine told us that he was given his two week notice from his school; they were letting him go. I guess with the sudden drop in the number of students enrolled, they had to let someone go. They told Blaine that he never "fit in" and were going to terminate the contract. So we helped him forget about it, temporarily, with a little galbi and a lot of Soju; which leaves me with a Soju headache now, which is never good for a half-day workshop. I have a sneaking suspicion that someone will be let go at Swaton as well; if not, we'd have 7 teachers for only 17-19 kindergartens. I would love to say that we'd have pretty easy schedules in March, but I don't think we'll be that lucky.

Been going to the gym with Craig for the last couple of months. Started running again, been feeling a lot better, haven't been sick for (knock on wood) 2 months now. Signed up for a half-marathon in March. Would love to go into the marathon, but considering I haven't run more than a 10k in a race, I don't want to embarrass myself. :)

Toying with the idea of going with Craig on the Trans-Siberian Railway trip after we finish our contracts. At first, I never considered going, even when Craig mentioned he wanted to. I wanted to travel/work in Australia for a bit before coming home. But, Craig bought a book on it, and I've started reading it a lot lately. I've become very interested in seeing the Great Wall, Lake Baikal, and St Petersburg. Matt went on it when he finished his contract and the pictures are pretty amazing.