Networking is so EASY in Korea

December 9, 2010
Status: happy, healthy, and safe.

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in the longest time. So much as happened since my last post.  I'm not experiencing anything completely weird enough to post about. I guess I've been occupied because I am meeting so many people. It's so easy to network over here. After meeting someone once, you can exchange numbers right away. I've seriously made more friends here in 5 weeks than I've made in the 14 years I lived in Houston, TX. I don't know if I should be happy or sad about it. I'm happy I have so many people to hang out with but once I go back home, I won't have a big group of friends anymore. I'll go back to being the boring little teacher who fills in the emptiness with extreme video gaming. Lol, just kidding. I'll miss the big group dinners though.

Lets see what has been going on lately... hmmm... I'll make a list so I won't forget what to write about.
1. I met a huge group of Vietnamese people here.
2. I think I have a Pakistani stalker.
3. I'm going to visit a palace this weekend.
4. There's a place called Hooker Hill here.
5. I took a personality test with interesting results.


1) I met Holly, a foreigner from Michigan, a couple of weeks ago. When I first met her she told me she had a Vietnamese boyfriend. She told me that he has a big group of Vietnamese friends and that it would be cool if we could all hang out. She asked me if I wanted to have lunch last Sunday so I agreed. What I didn't know was that the lunch was at her boyfriend's house. Homemade Vietnamese food- not the kind you have at the restaurants like Pho. They bought a chicken, plucked it, chopped it up, and cooked it. It was an interesting meal. More interesting than the meal was what happened during the lunch. I told them I was from America and that I didn't really speak Vietnamese. They believed me so they thought it was safe to talk about me. 50% of the conversations were about me. In the very end I started speaking Vietnamese and they were sooooo shocked. One of the guys turned red and said "You understood EVERYTHING?" It was pretty funny. They apologized and told me they were just kidding and that they knew I could speak Vietnamese the whole time. (yeah right) I didn't know there were so many Vietnamese guys in South Korea. Some have been here for 5 years already so they speak good Korean and Vietnamese but no English. None at all! I found that hard to believe because I thought English was a global/ common language. That's what I get for assuming.
Out of the whole group, there were 2 guys who were really nice and  we ended up bowling afterwards. First time bowling in Korea= 135 points. Wooohoooo. Those two guys text me everyday to tell me "Good morning and have a great day at work" "Did you eat lunch yet? I hope you have a delicious meal." "How was your day? Are you tired from work? Don't work too hard." and things like that. They're so caring that a part of me feels suspicious. I've had bad experiences with Vietnamese people last summer when I went back to Vietnam so I'm paranoid. What if they're nice to me because they want me to marry them so they can go to America?! Sigh, it sucks that I'm so suspicious of everyone.

2) Last Sunday, I was waiting at a bus stop when two Pakistani men started asking me for directions in Korean. I told them I didn't speak Korean and they figured I spoke English. They started talking to me and told me how they've been in South Korea for 5 years now that's why they can speak Korean. I was trying to be polite so I listened and made small talk. Before my bus came, one of the men asked me for my number. I couldn't tell him that I didn't have a phone because it was in my hand and I didn't want to tell him "No" because he would ask "why?" and I wouldn't know what to say besides "Because you're creepy and you look old enough to be my dad." I ended up giving him my number so he punched it in and called me right there. He told me to save his number so we can go hang out sometimes. I wanted to be open minded so I said "sure." I figured he just wanted to build his social network. 2 hours later he called me to ask me where I was, who I was with, what I was doing, and if I was with a guy. What the heck? I told him I was hanging out with a group of friends and that I was busy. On Monday, he called me 5 times while I was at work. He called non-stop so I turned off my phone. Later that night he called me again while I was on my way to dinner with Mary Ann. I picked up and asked him what he wanted. He told me to meet him in 30minutes. He didn't ask me, he TOLD me. I told him that I was going out to eat with a friend so he could join us if he wanted. This is what he said "No, 30 minutes I come to your town. We go eat something but don't bring your friend. Come alone. No friend. Just me and you." He was so demanding that it was scary. I told him that I wasn't going to meet him any where if he wanted to hang out then he would have to hang out with me AND my friend. He kept insisting so I said I'd call him back and hung up. At that point, I was feeling pretty scared. He knows what town I'm from and he works in the next town. He could easily run into me if he wanted to find me.  During the dinner he called another 5 times. I guess he finally gave up because he hasn't called since then. I'm hoping he will NEVER ever call me again. Lesson: forget about giving people a chance. You know the saying "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover?" Well, men are not books. You should definitely go with your gut instincts and just say NO to creepy men. Next time I'm just going to ignore people who look like sexual predators.

3) It's really cold in Korea right now so I think it's the perfect time to walk around. I would never visit a palace in the summer because I would die from a heat stroke. Hopefully I'll be able to capture a lot of amazing scenery. There are several places I would like to visit while I'm here (in Korea). I would like to go to Jeju Island, Lotte World, Seoul Tower, the shopping district in Seoul, the Folk Village, and maybe a bath house. Jeju Island is a small island where a lot of locals go for their honeymoon because it's so romantic and beautiful. It's kind of like the Hawaii of Korea but not as nice. Lotte World is a small version of Disneyland. A bath house in Korea= you get completely naked in front of a bunch of strangers (same gender) and scrub your bodies or sit in a whirlpool. People of all ages come there to relax and everyone is naked. That's just insane! I don't think I'd be able to go naked. I'm pretty sure I'll get kicked out if I walked around with a bathing suit. Lol.

4) Let me explain Hooker Hill to you. It's exactly what it sounds like. There's a street on a hill that's lined with bars where hookers stand in the front. I've heard of the place, never been there, but I just want to know how obvious it is. Prostitution is "illegal" over here but I heard the sex industry is more lucrative than the agricultural industry. I don't know how it's illegal if everyone knows of this infamous hill. Oh yeah, "tranny" hill is located some where close to Hooker Hill too. I can only imagine how trashy this area must be.

5) I went to a meeting for Native English Teachers around this area yesterday. I made a few friends there and we shared ideas for winter camp. During the winter vacation, I have to stay at the school and teach 3 hours a day. There was a personality test that I took and it was pretty precise. The result about my love life was pretty much dead on. My friend administered the test smiled at me and said "According to the test, you love life is nonexistent. You don't care for it at the moment but you definitely know what you want." I have no love life because I'm surrounded by skinny shy boys who can't speak English. That and the fact that 1/2 of the male population over here look very feminine. Who wants to take the personality test?! I would love to see your results! Let me know =)

Other news: New people are coming to town so that means more people to hang out with. Yay. This is James. He got here last Wednesday so I'm no longer the newbie!!!!

P.S. I went clubbing in Suwon, a city near my town, and it was... different. The way they were dancing= hilarious. I went to club TAO. They won't let guys over 30 into the club.  I guess when a guy hits 30 he's supposed to be married already. If he's not then he should be at hooker hill. hahaha.

Funny news: I played Taboo with the students today and they described me as: a person, in the room, English teacher, from America, girl, tall, and.... BLACK SKIN. lol. REALLY?! I'm considered BLACK now?! In the states, I had a student (we will call him "Max") tell me I was white- like him. hahahaha. Man, I love kids. They always catch me off guard with the craziest things. 

Broadcasting Thursdays: I feel like an anchorwoman every Thursday when I have to broadcast for the entire school to see. I'm a celebrity now! Lol. Just kidding. It's getting easier though. I don't feel as nervous anymore. 

My first portrait from a 3rd grade student. Nice to know she thinks I have a big head but at least I'm not round! Yay! Lol.

It snowed yesterday so the city is looks pretty with the thin layer of white snow.

They sell nachos at the bars here but Koreans eat them with chopsticks. Hahaha. Check out the sides that come with the nachos. Fish and peanuts. Lovely huh? Lol.

First Fun Weekend

November 22, 2010
Status: Content and Jolly

Hello readers! I finally had a decent weekend! On Saturday, I went to the hospital cause my throat was killing me and I felt like I was getting sick. The doctor told me I had tonsillitis then gave me a prescription for 12 little bags with 6 pills in each bag. He told me to come back in 4 days for a follow up. I was iffy about all the pills but they actually seem to be working because my throat is fine now. Wooohoooo! Anyways, after I came back from the hospital I went to get my hair done. I took a chance and I love it. It's a light brown that fades into a darker shade of brown. It looks nice. I wish my camera wasn't dead so I could take a picture of it.

I decided to meet up some friends I met through my recruiter in Seoul. They told me to just head up to their place which is about 2 hours and a 1/2 away by subway!!!! I didn't know that till I finally got there. Lol. I took a bus from my town (hangnam- hwaseong) to the closest subway station to me- Suwon Subway Station- and that took 45minutes. It was one long night. The subway system is fairly easy to figure out but I didn't know where to buy my ticket or how to go through the little gate thing. The subway train was packed too! I was standing up for a good hour before I found a seat. 45 from my friends place it got empty so I had a lot of room. I actually made it to his place in one piece! When I got there we all headed to Hongdae, the clubbing district, in Seoul. I've never seen so many college students and foreigners out and about. It's something you'd have to experience once in your life. We hung out at bar B2 all night because one of the guys I was with was the promoter. I met a lot of nice foreigners there and even some cute twins!

We didn't get out of there till 4am. I know, I'm just too old to be staying out like that. We went out for fried chicken which was expensive as usual cause American food is expensive over here. 2 plates of chicken and 4 bottles of sprite costed us $39.00. That's just outrageous because you could probably get the same amount in the states for $25 MAX. We got back to his place at 6am and we walked around looking for a hotel for me. It was freeeeezing cold and we were all tired but we couldn't find a vacant room. They were all booked... he doesn't even live in an exciting city so I don't know how all the hotels were booked. It was frustrating so I took a bus home at 6:20am. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get home and then another 20 ride to the subway station and THEN another 30minutes to get to MY town. I didn't get home till noon. (I stopped for food at the Suwon subway station). I took a shower and knocked out.

Today was another normal day at work. I ordered a converter/adapter online so I can charge all my electronics with american plugs. Hopefully, it will come in soon. I also went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. I saw it on Saturday when I walked to the hospital so I decided to try it today. The owner is Korean. The pho was okay but the goi cuon was NOT authentic. I KNOW the owner made the goi cuon because there was sweet pickled veggies in it and fake crab meat. There were no noodles, pork, or peanut sauce to accompany it. She totally screwed up one of my favorite dishes by turning it into a korean wanna be viet dish! Anyways, I asked her if the chef spoke Vietnamese and she said no. I was really curious who spoke Vietnamese there because all the writing in the restaurant is in clear Vietnamese with the actually accents and everything. I kept trying to speak Vietnamese to the guy but he wouldn't really respond. He asked me for my email at the end and was shocked that I am a Nguyen. Seriously? I've been speaking fluent Vietnamese to you the whole time and I kept saying "I'm Vietnamese. My parents are Vietnamese!" He told me that he thought I was some weird foreigner trying to speak Vietnamese cause I had Viet friends or something. What the heck? I left there laughing cause it was just a funny situation. Anyways, that's all for today. Thanks for reading!

P.S. Oh yeeeeeeah, I forgot to tell you that on the way to the clubbing district I saw an old man in his 70s trying to pull another old man in his late 70s up by his backpack straps. I was so shocked because the old man was unconscious. Everyone was just casually walking by. My response "Oh my god! What's happened?! Is he okay?! Should we call the police?!?!?!?!" and my friends all started laughing. I didn't know what was going on. They said "He's just drunk and passed out. Girl, you're going to see A LOT of that here so get used to it." They were right because at the end of the night, I saw soooo many people passed out in restaurants, on the streets, and every where else. That's crazy how it's okay to drink and pass out in public like that. I kind of understand people in their 20s-30s but 70 yr old men?! No way is that ever going to be normal for me.

P.S.S. As we were walking down the street to buy chicken we saw a couple yelling at each other across the street. The guy punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground. She got up and slapped him in the face and they just kept exchanging fists. That was so wild to witness. I asked my friends if we should stop them and they said "You've never seen that happen before? You'll see it a lot over here because it's not unusual for a guy to slap or hit a girl in public." That's just insane. How is physical abuse of women allowed like that? That's another thing that I will NEVER be able to get used to.

What I've been up to...

November 18, 2010
Status: Alive but feeling sick.

I'm not feeling good today. I have a horrible cough and I think my tonsils are starting to swell. I HATE being sick... even more than I hate being depressed or hungry. I would starve to death before I choose sickness. I haven't blogged lately because I was in such a negative mood. I feel better now though so here I am =)

Anyways, so many things have been going on...
1. I got my passport back and my alien card
2. I opened a bank account AND got paid!
3. I just got a new cell phone yesterday
4. I've been meeting new foreigners
5. I was living off of $10 last week. At 1 point I had $3 in coins for dinner.
Tip: please exchange currency before you get to Korea or at the airport. Don't exchange a small amount. Exchange EVERYTHING cause you're going to need it.
6. I heard some things from foreigners that I didn't agree with and I let it put me in a bad mood. I got over it.
7. The whole school had a talent show yesterday and the kids are so cute.
8. I'm addicted to street vendor food.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!!!!!!!

This stuff is soooo good.

Talent show

The kids

 

My new phone! 

BB gun shooting range.

Parking in Korea is so bizarre. We drove all the way down to the bottom floor to find out that there wasn't an empty parking space. There's no way to turn around once you've gotten to the end because it's too small to maneuver your car 180 degrees. It took us 30 minutes to reverse back... and I was with my Korean co-teachers too. If it were me, I wouldn't have gotten out of there at all. 

School lunch!

Eventful-ish Day

November 11, 2010

Status: Alive but I wanted to be dead this morning.

Hello readers! You know what’s weird? The fact that students in Korea celebrate November 11^th is weird. They give teachers thin breadsticks covered in chocolate called pepero. November 11 is 11-11 so it looks like a bunch of sticks. I asked why students would actually do that and they said it was a celebration created by the makers of the peperos. Lol. That’s pretty funny because it kind of reminds me of Valentines. No matter how silly this day is, I’m glad I got some peperos! That means the students like me! YAY!

Extremely embarrassing news: I stayed out late last night so I woke up this morning feeling like… Blah. I didn’t bother putting on any makeup or doing anything to my hair. I got to school a little early and just checked my emails. 8:35am rolls around and I was thinking “Where is my co-teacher? She’s usually here by now. She must be running late.” Well, 5 minutes later a student came to inform me that my co-teacher was down stairs waiting for me. I totally forgot Thursday= school broadcasting day! That meant I was the one who was late and that I looked like a hot mess! I rushed downstairs and jumped in front of the camera, next to my “news anchor” student. I didn’t know they had already started and that I was supposed to read off the monitor in front of me. I was just looking around while she smiled at the camera uncomfortably. When they finally got me to notice my job I couldn’t read the words because I didn’t bring my glasses! Oh gawwwwwd. What a completely mortifying experience. There I was—late, crazy looking without any makeup, totally oblivious and struggling to read simple English words off the monitor. Did I mention the whole school was watching? They were waiting for me to read key phrases in English so they could repeat it (part of their program to get the whole school involved in learning some extra English) but they saw a confused looking idiot squinting at them instead. I wanted to die when the segment was over. The students felt bad for me and even tried to comfort me by saying “Oh, it’s okay, teacher! It’s your first time so you will do better next week!” Seriously?! Someone just shoot me because I can’t bear looking at the rest of the staff. They’re probably thinking “How exactly is SHE the English teacher again???”

After school, it started raining really bad but I didn’t have an umbrella so my co-teacher offered to drive me home. Jin, a Korean teacher that works at the school, lives down the street from me so we dropped her off too. Jin and I ate dinner together and I told her about my eventful week. Jin’s so nice! I’m glad I met her and Alice.

Tonight: there’s a yellow dust storm warning so I shouldn’t walk around or open my windows. That’s what my co-teacher said. Hmm… I’ve read about the Yellow Dust Storms but I wonder how serious it is. That’s all for today everyone. Hope you guys got some good laughs off of my embarrassing moment x__x  

Interesting Night with Strangers!

November 10, 2010 (night)

Status: Luckily Alive and very…. Amused.

School day- normal

Exception: I went to Osan with 3 students for an English competition. One of the students placed 2^nd. Hooray for John! As a treat, we took them out for burgers at Lotteria. I ordered the Double Cheeseburger, which looked humongous in the picture. That thing is sooooo small. It looked like a kid’s cheeseburger from Mc.Donald’s. Lol. I told my co-teacher how shocked I was and asked her how they can get full off of something so small. She told me burgers are considered snacks and not meals in Korea. Well, I didn’t know that. If I had known, I would have ordered 3 “snack” burgers. Hahahaha.

This is John. He won 2nd place in the English contest!

Anyways, moving on to the good stuff- I got home and took a shower then I decided to go on a candy run. I left my apartment and was walking towards a nearby store to buy candy when I saw Michael buying food in some restaurant. (You remember Michael right? The one that thought I was Korean at Pizza Maru.) I waved and walked in to chit chat for a bit. He got his food and we ended up walking down the street. We stopped at the intersection in front of my apartment and were talking about what we wanted to do this weekend, when another foreigner walked by. Michael said “Hey! I don’t know you! You must be new!” and that is when I met STEVE.

Steve is also a teacher working for a private English academy, like Michael. Michael invited Steve to hang out with us this weekend then they exchanged numbers and Michael left to eat his dinner. I said bye and was walking off when Steve asked where I was going. I told him nowhere in general and that I was just going to walk down the street. (I wasn’t really sure if I was hungry or if I just wanted candy) So, Steve asked if he could accompany me to wherever it was. I said “sure” so we ended up trying a new place I always wanted to try but was too scared to try alone. The meal wasn’t special but it was pretty cheap and satisfying. The conversation, though, was a little overwhelming. Have you ever been presented with so much information that your brain just starts to reject incoming info? That’s what happened. I can’t really remember half of what Steve was talking about but he sure does have a lot to say. He’s quite entertaining and I enjoyed the company.

After dinner, we just started walking again. We ended up walking towards his school which is located on top of my favorite coffee shop (also where I wanted to go to get candy). We got coffee and, as soon as we sat down, his boss called. His boss wanted to go drinking so Steve apologized because he had to leave so abruptly. I told him that it was perfectly fine but that his boss will probably try to invite me along. His boss pulled up in a really nice car with tinted windows. He looked much like a gangster and, sure enough, he invited me along. I know what you’re thinking, because as soon as I got into the car, I was thinking the same thing. You just met this guy 20 minutes ago, now you’re getting into a car with a gangster and this stranger. On top of that, you are in a foreign country and you don’t speak the language or have a cell phone to call for help. My life was in their hands. We drove a couple of blocks down to pick up some woman and then headed to a restaurant. So they didn’t want to kill me for my organs= yay!

The woman, Helena, is the head director for the private academy Steve worked at. His boss, Luke, aka the gangster was very nice. They were impressed to find out I’m an education major and that I also taught. They ended up eating things I would never dare to, like 2 different kinds of grilled intestines, a plate of cow intestines, liver with sesame seeds, and things like that. I was forced to eat one piece of the grilled intestines, so I chewed it quickly and drank lots of water afterwards. It was not delicious to say the very least. Lol. Between the three of them, they had 5 bottles of soju (Korean vodka?). By the time we got out of there it was 11:30pm.

New info I learned: when you’re drunk, you can pay someone to drive you home for about $10 then they get picked up by their friend. That’s what Luke ended up doing. Steve and I got dropped off near his place because they assumed we lived closer to each other. Steve walked me home but then he started talking again for another 30minutes. Remember, it’s about 30 degrees or high 20s outside and he’s just standing there talking about stuff. I finally convinced him to give me his email address because I was freezing to death. He walked me to the bottom of my apartment complex and that was a wrap.

That was the craziest experience I’ve had in Korea so far and I have a feeling this year is going to be a very interesting one. Lol. I am alive and I met some really nice people. However, now that I’m back in the comfort of my own home, I realized how risky it was for me to get in a car with a complete stranger. I probably won’t do that ever again, but just for this one time, I’m glad I did.  There are some really strange but nice people in Korea.

Good Night Korea and Good Morning America! 


P.s. Thank you everyone for reading my blogs and leaving such nice comments! Though, I feel a little self-conscious now, Ms. Choate, because I know teachers are reading my blogs. JK. LOL. 

I'm so HAPPY!

November 9, 2010

Status: Very alive and happy!!!!!

Today was a normal day at school. The students were chatty and lively as usual. I taught my first “teachers” class. We played a game with synonyms and antonyms then we just had some casual conversations. I asked them what they do during the weekends so I could get to know them a little better and to break the ice. They are very shy and self-conscious about their English pronunciation and grammar (like the rest of the Koreans around here). They asked me what I did this past weekend so I told them I hung out with two students because I had nothing better to do. They all “awwwed” and thought it was sad. Hahahaha. I’m glad they share my feelings towards my situation! Lol. As a result, two teachers (they’re both female and 25yrs old) came up to me at the end of the class and asked what I was doing later and if I wanted to go eat with them. HELL YES I WOULD! I was so excited and happy! I felt like a giggling school girl inside at the thought of having someone to hang out with. Of course, in my head I figured this would be the first and last time I would hang out with them because the communication barrier would make things extremely awkward.

We ended up going out for pizza, BLAH! I didn’t tell them how sick I was of pizza due to the fact that I’ve had it so often since I’ve been here. At this point, I didn’t care what we ate as long as I had someone to hang out with. The pizza wasn’t that bad… it was different. There was shrimp, potato wedges, and crab as toppings. Yeah, I said DIFFERENT. Lol. We talked about what there is to do in this small town. They told me there was NOTHING to do around here except eat. They said they have to go to Seoul in order to watch movies or go shopping. Well, I was correct when I said there wasn’t anything to do around here! One of the girls, Jin, told me she knows how I feel. She came to this town a year ago and she said she cried a lot because her family is about 2 hours from here. They both said they live far from their families because when you work for the government, they can send you anywhere and you don’t really have a choice. WOW! Really?! It’s totally different from the states. When you sign a contract as a teacher in the states, you sign with the district not the state. They were surprised when I told them about the difference. I don’t know how I would react if I was actually sent somewhere else without a choice.

At the end of our meal, we made plans to meet up again on Thursday. Oh, they told me they would take me to Seoul in 2 weeks! WOW huh?! I’m soooooo excited! They asked me where I would like to go. Those who know me can already guess where I wanted to go. LOTTE WORLD! It’s like a Korean Disneyland! They said we can do that on the 21^st. I’m so happy right now. I’m still smiling just thinking about it. I’m so glad I’m finally making friends! They’re soooo nice too! Readers, can you feel my excitement? I wish you could! I wish I could share this feeling of happiness with you. It’s such a powerful and wonderful feeling! Oh, I found out Jin lives 2 buildings from me. I can practically see her building if I looked out my window. Yay! Today is one of the best days I’ve had so far =)

Side note to Judy and Jenny: Remember the Korean drama “Boys over flowers”? Well, I told them I pick up some Korean phrases by watching dramas. You guys know the tower that Jun Pyo and Jan Di were on? The one where they got locked in? Well, Jin and Elise told me that they would take me there too! Woooooweeeee! I will take pictures for you guys! They told me it’s always crowded there and the show is not realistic because you could never be alone in there. Lol.

Random side note: I totally forgot to tell you guys about my funny co-teacher. She’s currently reading the Twilight book and she asked me if I found the vampire series to be too cheesy. I looked at the cover and busted out laughing. I asked her why she did that to the cover and she replied “Their eyes are too scary.” Hahahahahahahaha. Seriously?! She’s hilarious! Man, every time I look at this picture I start cracking up.

I'm so LONELY and home sick!

November 8, 2010
Status: barely alive and frustrated

So I taught 1st+ 2nd grade for the first time today and it was a mess. I didn't know what they already learned so I figured I could watch the first class in order to get a better understanding of what to prepare for the next class. Well, their homeroom teacher didn't speak any English at all so she couldn't teach an English class. I winged it and it was really horrible. They were extremely chatty and I had no idea what topics to cover. We ended up going over all the colors, days of the week, weather, alphabet, and I taught them the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. Hahahaha. That was the longest hour of my life.

More bad news: I was informed today that I needed my Residency Certification form in order to get a tax break. Without the form I will not get paid. This is not the first time I've heard of the F8802 form, I read about it a couple of months back but procrastinated and forgot all about it. Now I will be broke and hungry in Korea until I apply for that form and get it back from the IRS. I only have myself to blame.

November 7, 2010

Status: Alive and becoming broke. There’s nothing to do in this little town besides eat and go shopping for household goods. There’s not even a movie theater here! Rawr!

Sunday- I woke up around 11ish today because I didn’t have anything important to do until 3pm. I told one of my students to meet me at 3pm for lunch because I wanted to try a new restaurant but I can’t read the menu. For breakfast I had ramen! It wasn’t too bad but I would rather have a poptart.

I ended up walking around the town again when I saw a white guy. I introduced myself and thought maybe he would like to hang out or something. He didn’t. He looked quite uncomfortable. He said he was also a teacher at some school and told me it was nice to meet me and that he’ll probably see me around then went on his way. Well, at least I tried. On top of that embarrassing encounter, the student that was supposed to meet me for lunch stood me up! It looked like a scene from a sad romance movie. I stood there waiting, looking around, checking the time on my watch… people walked by…. I stood there still. In the end, I stood there alone with a sad look on my face. Lol, I’m just kidding, I didn’t look sad, even though all of that really did happen.

Look at this pole. They're every where around my town but I don't know what they're for. In case you get attacked you should push the button? Then what? By the time someone comes to your rescue you'd be dead or kidnapped! I guess it would help find the person who attacked you. How sad!

After by walk, I went to a local convenient store to pick up some toilet paper and candy. My total: $17. Seriously, toilet paper was like $13 alone. I got enough to last me for a month though so I guess that’s not too bad.

For dinner, I went for some fried chicken. My total: $18. Man, I’m spending way more on food in Korea than I ever did in the states. I guess it’s because western food in Korea is pricey but I don’t really have a choice because I can’t order Korean food unless they have pictures. Ugh!

Shout out: I would like to take this time to thank my mother for buying me underwear before I left the states. I needed more underwear than I originally packed BUT these stop ABOVE my belly button. Thank you, mom, for the granny panties. Lol.

November 6, 2010

Status: Alive and desperate for friends.

Saturday- I don’t work on the weekends but I came up to the school to use the free internet. Yay! The school was opened because the students have to go to school every other Saturday (plus weekdays of course). Afterwards, some students spotted me and asked me what I was doing. Out of desperation for some company and something besides PIZZA, I invited 2 students to accompany me to lunch. They asked me what I wanted and I said Korean BBQ, specifically- Galbi. They were shocked and said “Teacher, do you have money?” and asked how much I had. I asked why and they exclaimed “Galbi, expensive!” I showed them how much I had in my wallet and they told me I was rich. Okay, so I guessed I had enough for “expensive” food. Hahaha. We ended up eating galbi and I got a complimentary lotion. Galbi for 3, total: $23.00. Wow, I should seriously go eat Korean bbq more often.

Dinner: I tried some more street vendor stuff. Fried sweet potato= good. Fried shrimp= not good. The dumplings (I think it’s called Mandu) dipped in some soy sauce= good. After watching the locals eat that fish stuff on a stick, I gave it another try. This time, I dipped the stuff on the stick in some soy sauce and drank the soup separately= GOOD.

Shopping for household necessities- laundry detergent, hangers, dish washing sponge, feminine hygiene products, ramen, nail clippers, a box of jelly mint cookies, and a PedEgg. Grand total: $50!!!! The detergent itself costs $15.

I need to come up with a plan to save money. I should just lock myself in my apartment on the weekends. Lol.

Look Mom! I hung up all my clothes!

Note: you can just walk into a school without checking in at the front office. It is nice to know that it is safe enough around here for them to feel like they do not need procedures like we do in the states. Though it is still disturbing to me because some psycho could just walk in and carry one of the students off!

Still Adjusting

November 5, 2010
Status: Still alive and semi-bored already.

What did I do today? In school, I'm still introducing myself to the students. I've been introducing myself all week to about 600 students. There are about 35+ students in every class and I teach almost every student in the school. They come to me once a week as an elective. Two things get the same shocked reaction from all the students.

1. My height- I am 180cm which is about 5'11.
2. My siblings- when I tell them I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters, they all say wooooooooaaaa!?and talk amongst themselves. They usually only have 1 or 2 siblings so it's amazing to them. It's just funny to me though. Lol.
My school schedule below. It's pretty awesome cause I don't really teach the whole day.

Suwon------------------

My co-teacher took me to Suwon today so I could submit an application for my alien card. It's weird to think of myself as an alien because I've been a citizen of the states for so long. Suwon is wack, it looks kind of like Saigon- Vietnam.  The streets are busy and it doesn't look as pretty as Hwaseong. We went to HomePlus there to find a converter for my appliances but there wasn't one. Oh yeah, HomePlus is kind of like Walmart to them.
Mission: locate converter= fail.

Kim: They have Asics here! Muhahahaha. See the little blue sign? I wonder if they are cheaper here. Probably not the same quality though huh?

When I got home, I went on a search for food. I'm really scared to walk into a restaurant because of the language barrier so I walked around forever, hoping to locate an empty restaurant to prevent causing a scene. No luck. All the restaurants had occupants. I ended up trying stuff at a stand on the side of the street. I just pointed to whatever people were eating. It wasn't too bad but it was pretty spicy.

Street vendor. The sticks in the far back- tastes like fish because it IS fish. Not my cup of tea.

See those corn dog looking things? I asked some high school girls what they were. They told me the outside was batter and the inside was sweet potato and veggies. I thought that sounded cool so I tried it.

It ended up being a CORN DOG with two layers of batter! I was surprised and disappointed at the same time. How deceiving! Rawr! I didn't know they served corn dogs here. Lol.



As I walked home, I stopped by Pizza Maru, my favorite pizza place. Well, I've never tried pizza anywhere else because the owner at Pizza Maru is so nice to me, I don' bother going anywhere else.  I saw a foreigner there and I asked the owner if he was "Jason" (long story about "Jason" I'll tell you about it later) she said no and asked him for his name. He said Michael then she pointed at me. This is what happened:

I smiled.
Me: Michael, oh...okay
He smiled back.
Michael: And what is your name?
Me: My name is Tia.
Michael: Tia? Well, it's nice to meet you.
Me: Nice to meet you too.
He looked shocked.
Michael: Wow, your English is really good!
Me: Uhh?Thank you.
Michael: May I ask where you're from??
Me: Texas.
I started laughing because I knew he thought I was Korean.
Michael: Ohhhhhh! That explains how your English is so good. I feel like an idiot now.
Me: Don't worry about it. The people here assume I'm from here too.

Hahahaha. Yes, quite entertaining. We ended up chit chatting for a little bit and I found out that he has been in Hwaseong for a year and a few months now. He said there's a group of foreigners that meet up every Wednesday night to hang out. He asked for my # so he could call me up to hang out but I don't have a cell phone yet because I can't get one until my alien card comes in. He gave me his email address instead.

Mission: make a new friend= accomplished.

At home: I get so bored without the internet or phone. I can't watch TV because I don't have cable or the cord to watch free TV. I guess it's a good thing because it motivates me to leave the apartment. Oh yeah, when I walk around the neighborhood, I see students and they get so excited. They usually gasp and shout "Tia Teacher!!!!" then start giggling when I greet or ask them something. They get so flustered when I try to initiate a conversation with them because they're self-conscious about their accent/grammar.  

Note: Last night, I finally met my neighbor. She's American! She teaches English at the middle school and she seems really cool. She lent me her converter because she'll be gone for the weekend. She invited me to a party in Seoul on Saturday but I don't feel like getting lost. I would be more comfortable if I at least had a cell phone to call someone just in case I got on the wrong bus or something. Guess I'll just hang around my neighborhood for the weekend.

I'm in South Korea!

Status: Alive and happy!
Location: Hwaseong, South Korea

Okay, so you guys are probably wondering about what I've been doing and how I'm feeling right now. Let me summarize my trip to South Korea. The flight from Houston to Los Angeles was wack because I flew with Continental and they suck in general. Once I got to Los Angeles I had to lug my heavy ass bags all the way across the airport. They didn't tell me it was in another building! I would have found the shuttle if I was warned ahead of time! Anyways, I was rushed to the gate to find out that there was a delay [ x___x ]. The flight to South Korea wasn't bad. I managed to watch 5 movies in a row and sleep for an hour. Once I got to Korea, someone was there to pick me up. It took an hour and a half to get from Incheon to Hwaseong (where I live). They said it's "rural" but it looks kind of like a smaller version of Houston to me. We stopped in front of my school so I would be able to locate it the next day (today).

My co-teacher was waiting at the apartment complex for me. Let me take a moment to tell you about my awesome apartment building. They give you a card to get into the building and the glass doors are automatic. I live on the 2nd floor and the floor is marble. It looks like a brand new building =) You need a code in order to get into my apartment (no keys= i cannot lose them= fantastic!) but my co-teacher didn't know the landlord changed the code. We were standing there trying to figure it out for about 15 minutes. We finally found out the new code and got in. I'll have to post up pictures and a video of my place later. The inside is nice but it's small compared to what I'm used to in the states.

The ac, heater, washing machine, intercom box= all in korean= i have no idea how to work them. It was a little overwhelming because I was tired and I wanted to take a shower but at the same time I was trying to figure out how to work the appliances in my apartment. My co-teacher finally left and I was on my own to unpack. As soon as I started unpacking and had everything scattered every where, someone rang the door bell. I figured it was my co-teacher but when I opened the door it was an old korean couple. They tried to come in and I was like "Excuse me, who are you? You must be looking for someone else. I live here now." They started talking to me in Korean and said something about living upstairs. After 2 minutes I found out it was the landlord and his wife. Lol. They came in and tried to explain how the appliances worked but considering the fact that they cannot speak English, it was a flop. They understood "hungry" though and insisted I follow them for pizza. The wife actually pulled me with her.

The little pizza shop was cute and the pizza was delicious (maybe because I was starving). They serve pickles with the pizza... odd.... but not regular pickles. The pickles tasted kind of sweet and sour. They were really tasty! I then asked them where I could buy some water so they took me to a supermarket. It looked like a typical Hong Kong supermarket. I ended up buying water and shampoo. It was a long walk home because all the water I bought. They were really friendly and they laughed a lot. The whole night they kept trying to speak korean to me in hopes that I would slip up and reply in korean as if I was faking it the whole time. Seriously? x___x

I took a shower... and that in itself was a little strange. I had to push a button in order to get the heater to heat up the water. The converter I brought from the states does not work here so I couldn't straighten my hair the next morning! I haven't cried yet because I'm still in that happy "romantic" stage with the new surrounding and experience.

The walk to my school was amazing. The neighborhood and school looks so nice. There's a huge park behind my school and the trees are changing colors. The weather is about 40-50F. You guys would love it over here!!!!

Do you know how hard it is to convince people that I can't speak Korean? It's like me telling them I'm an alien from Neptune. The students are really cute. They bow and greet me when they see me. Now that they know I'm the English teacher they all say "hello!!!!" "how are you!!!". They're funny kids. There's 33+ students in each class. That's crazy huh? I'm so used to having 24 students MAX in one class. The school is 5 stories high and the students arrive before the teachers. Different huh?

I don't have internet at my apartment yet and I won't be able to get it or a cell phone till I get my alien card which will be a month from now. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload pictures tomorrow through my laptop. Rawr! Man, too much typing... I'm out of here.

I miss and love you all! Come visit! =)

Only 10 More Days

This is probably how you guys feel right now. SHOCKED. Zoey is so cute!

As of now, I am still alive.
I have about ten days until I leave for Korea where I will stay for a year. Yes, I am going alone. No, I am not scared. Yes, I am ill prepared. No, I don't think I'll need life insurance (DAD!). What will I do until then? Probably sleep cause I'm too lazy for much else ( -___- )

What you should know:
1. I made this blog for my family and friends so if you happen to come across it on accident then you probably won't get the inside jokes I will make.
2. I am not a serious writer. Not even close. I don't care to be wordy and descriptive. I usually get straight to the point and if all else fails, I provide pictures.
3. I'm probably not going to reread the things I write before I post, so.... there will be many errors.
4. I'll probably write whenever I feel like it so there will be no consistency.
5. I usually have a bad habit of disappearing or not responding to people so this site is dedicated to all of those that I neglect. At least you'll know if I'm still alive! You won't know if I'm dead because I doubt I'll be blogging about my tragedy in ghost form, but you'll definitely know I'm alive when I post! Lol.