Ajashi Men Scare Me

Finally, an afternoon of freedom. Being able to be out in the sun and  experience  the afternoon tends to be a rarity for me these days. It's always exciting when I can experience the afternoon and feel the warmest part of the day. I think the hardest thing about working 10 hours a day is that I'm never outside. I never get to enjoy the day.

So I'm sitting in my co-worker Kevin's car as I'm sitting here writing  this. Kevin was being so nice and offered to buy me a coffee for the ride home (which by the way, its hard to find just normal green tea here at the cafes, you have to get tea as a latte). Anyway, in the Korean style Kevin parked on the side walk. Parking on the sidewalk is a totally normal thing here, you see it all the time. This ajashi (old man) walked up to the car and started yelling at me through the window! I didn't understand what he was saying so I just raised my hands at him and said, this is not my car. Then he comes over and opened my door! Again, I said, "This is not my car!" This did not deter the old man, he walked to the drivers side and opened the door again, managed to get Kevin's number which was posted to the window. I tried taking it from him and he kept taking in back from me, and finally he got Kevin on the phone and started yelling at him in Korean. I signaled to the guy to close the door and he did. Finally, Kevin came back and said sorry to the guy. He stared us down the whole time we were backing out. Needless to say, he was a scary old man.

HAHAHAHA! Oh, of course on my afternoon off an old man comes to yell at me. Ah, that's funny. Korea, Korea, Korea, you will never cease in surprising me. 

Day 40 something

It's hard to believe I've been here for so long. It doesn't feel like that long. In a typical Kimmie fashion, guess what I did.

Those who know me probably have guessed, I lost something.

DING DING DING! You're right! I lost my Alien Registration Card, ipod, bank card, amex, debit card from home, my drivers license, and some cash. Yeahhhhhh...... go me.

Here the way the banks work, you need an alien registration card to get a bank card (or debit card). You can't get an alien registration card without going to the immigration office. I don't know how to get to the office, or if I can go on the weekend.

However, here people can be kind in unexpected ways. What I mean is that, back home where people wouldn't be so accommodating, here people are willing to go the extra step. On the other hand where people are polite and nice at home, people here don't give you the time of day.

I went to the bank to explain to them I lost my card, and to double check there was no way I could get another replacement card without my ARC (alien registration card). The man looked at my passport quickly, and said "We're not supposed to do this without a card, but for you we do favor." Then he came back with a new bank card for me. Unexpected kindness. I've also heard many stories about people losing wallets, phones, and other thinks and having them shipped to the person. Again, something that would never happen back home. I'm still hoping someone will send me my stuff. It's a possibility!

So keep your fingers crossed internet surfers!!!

What else can we do? Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute...

I thought the MGMT line was appropriate for how I'm feeling right now (the title of this post). It's getting harder and harder to wake up in the morning. I feel more drained at the end of the day. I think the high of being in Korea is starting to wear off. I know the area I'm living in fairly well now. There are still lots of things that are completely new to me, but that is normally explored on the weekends, which feel like they are getting shorter and shorter. The worst part about the hours I work is that I miss the best parts of the day. I go to work in the colder morning and I get home at the brink of night. I miss the beautiful fall sun shinning weather during the day. Fall is my favorite time of year and I feel like I'm missing it.

I got my first set of bills today. The thing that really stinks about it, is that I've never paid for a living expense besides food until now (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!), which is a great and lucky thing. Not only am I unsure how to pay it, since we don't have checks here, but I have no idea how to read it! It's all in Korean, so I know the amount, but not what it's for. One of them, I don't think is for me, but there's no way to be sure. Thankfully I have friends who read Korean and can help me. There are also teachers here who have paid bills who can tell me how.

I love adult life and being on my own, but figuring all out and the daily grind are so taxing. I just find myself more tired than normal. I feel like I did back when I had 3 20 page papers due in a week. Even that didn't last as long as this will. Hopefully, I'll get used to it again. Most of my teachers think I'm a little crazy for going home for Christmas, most think I should take the opportunity to travel. I've done a decent amount of travelling in Asia as it is (though there is still MUCH to see), I think a trip home is needed. I miss my family, normal Cheetos, American t.v. and internet. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Korea. This is truly an amazing country, but I miss my people and my culture.

That's my little existential rant for the night, I'm sure I'll feel more upbeat towards the weekend. At least it's Wednesday - hump day! Only two more days till sweet sleeping freedom.

Lost in translation.

Hello everyone!

Sorry it's been a while. Life here is so busy it's hard to find time to sit and write. More than that, it's sometimes hard to find the energy to write. My first few days here were an experience to say the least. I was wide-eyed and culture shocked. My first morning I was asked to go to the hospital for a medical check. I knew that was coming since they told me this before my arrival here. What I didn't expect was the incredible efficiency and lack of human connection in the process of completing my check. They ushered me from one room to another checking things like my blood pressure, height, weight, teeth, pee, bones, blood, and even chest size (why I have NO idea). I felt like I was being herded like cattle. When I got my blood drawn I sat at a long table with about 4 other people, we were all getting our blood drawn at once. When I mentioned needles make me nervous the nurse looked at me with a blank expression, looked at my arm and just stuck the needle in. I couldn't help but thinking is this what I'm going to feel like in Korea for the next 12 months, disconnected, lost in translation, and a prick in my arm?

Thankfully, I don't feel like that anymore. After the medical check I was asked to go to the school and observe what my day would be like. The school runs not that differently from the hospital. I teach 10 40 minute classes. The morning classes are always the same and they're the ones I really enjoy, but the afternoon classes are different. I teach first graders to fifth graders and I teach subjects ranging from science to reading, vocabulary, and Time Magazine (yes, I have to teach things out of a Time Magazine for kids....for 40 minutes).  I teach in a different room, I bounce from class to class, it's never steady and even after 3 weeks I still don't know all of my students names.

My morning classes really are wonderful though. I teach two different kindergarten classes Reading and Writing. The kids are so sweet and affectionate. Here, if you're not affectionate enough with the students the parents will complain, which is a little backward from America. There's never a shortage of hugs and I love you's so the mornings are great. Plus the kids respect us more than the older kids, I never have to lecture the younger kids about how to respect your teacher. The older kids It's a bit more challenging. Which is surprising because I expected to be treated better, since the culture here seems to have higher respect for teachers. The difference is, I teach more in an after school program. Maybe if I was in a public school it would be different.

I got to out to Seoul a few times, I've gotten to go clubbing a little, but I also got to do my first bit of travelling this past weekend. Seoul is cool, I went to the World Cup stadium to watch a soccer game. It was very cool. Not too much different than going to see the Revolution play at Gillette Stadium. Clubbing was fun, nothing closes down here. I went dancing till four in the morning two nights in a row! In fact places don't really get crowded until 1:30 - 2:00am anyways. That's something still new to me, but you get used to it I guess.

My first travel experience was a fun one. We went to this place called Chiaksan National Park it's in Won-ju  which is where my Mimi was born. Sadly, I didn't really get to experience where she grew up. I thought I might have a more connection to this place, to actually feel the history of my family and know this is a part of me. I didn't really experience that though, which was kind of sad. I think maybe if I wasn't with friends and if I had more time to explore the places my grandma was I would feel that, but then just wasn't the right time.

We went on this hike that was not that long, but it was so steep! There were some places on the mountain that were so steep you needed a rope or a handrail to help you up it. It was definitely one of the hardest hikes I've ever done. The view was worth it though. There were six of us in a group and we found this little motel near the mountain, it took us about 10 minutes to explain that all of us wanted to stay in one big room. Lisa had her little phrase book out, something we used often and there were A LOT of charades going on. Eventually we all got in for 50, 000 won a night (or 50$). Then I asked her (through charades of course) where we could eat. She walked us over to this little Korean restaurant and naturally none of us knew how to read the menu or how to say what we wanted to order, but eventually we communicated that we wanted pork. It was real rustic Korean food and good lord it was freakin delicious! It was Korean bbq style, but i just can't describe to you how delicious it was. If you come to Korea you'll just have to try it for yourself.

I have a lot of other little funny stories and blunders, but it's late and I have work in the morning, but there are many more to come. I'm sure of it. Here are some pictures of the hike, courtesy of Lisa. Getting pictures is hard without a camera! Enjoy!



We're confused as to where the bus was - this was after waiting for an hour. Where was bus 1500-31?!?!



Our sleeping arrangements - mats on the floor. They were much more comfortable in Japan.



Dinner!



The Pork!



A Beautiful waterfall we walked passed before the hike of death. The water was so clear you could see how deep it was and the coins at the bottom.



Another waterfall - not as pretty



The ropes.....



The View part 1



Still 0.3 kil to go.... I wanted to die! But it was fun



The top!



Buddhist Temple at the base of the mountain







Last group shot! Hope you enjoyed the update!