The weekend as an english teacher in Korea can be a time for mundane activities such as laundry, a time to restock the fridge with sustenance to get you through the week or a time for the wonderfully sporadic, exciting and unexpected to occur. Last weekend myself and 4 other teachers from my school decided to make Saturday at time for the latter.
Our mission: head out to the outskirts of the city, find a place called, "Herb Hills" and zipline.
We got started a little late in the afternoon and after waiting a bit longer than expected for a our bus from Dongdaegu Station (the main train station in Daegu) to arrive we were finally on our way to the fantastic world of eco-tourism brought to you by, "Herb Hills" Upon our arrival we were met by an outdoor adventure theme park that was half wonderfully tacky and half completely bizarre. On one side of the path up toward our eco-zipline adventures would be bumper cars surrounded by large, beautiful flowers and on the other would be a singing pirate ship carnival ride with a small bear and monkey leashed up and fighting each other for the park-goer's enjoyment.
We finally made our way to the rope/zipline course where we got suited up with harnesses, helmets and gloves, signed our lives away, went through a 5 minute "how not to die" training crash course and then we were on our way. The course was difficult to quite difficult and lasted about 45mins-1 hr. I didn't bring my camera with so all I have to show you is a video I found on youtube that documents some other people's time at the park. Sorry. Just cut out a picture of me and put it on the screen and you can basically get a sense of me at the park.
It was well worth the journey out and ziplining was a blast. However, one of the funnest things we did was the bumper cars as we were about to leave the park. We were half way out, we saw the bumper cars sitting sadly in the dark under the tent, we all gave each other a look and soon were saddled up and ready to whiplash the heck out of each other. By far the longest bumper car session i've ever been a part of, by far the fastest and most high impact bumper car session i've ever been a part of. Lots of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXdSA7becE
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Pass the lips, through the gums, look out stomach, WELCOME TO KOREA!
It's interesting how travel always boils down to food. When someone goes anywhere food is most likely the first and, if not, second things discussed. Let's face it, we like to eat. Nuff said. So, in the spirit of this human tradition, this post will be all about food.
First off, i'm not Andrew Zimmerman or Anthony Bourdain and nor will I ever parade myself around as either. However, i'd like to think that my pallet is open to most anything served on a plate, in a bowl, in a cup or in a hand.
After arriving in Korea, one of the first things people ask you is, "what have you been eating?" Unfortunately for me, my answer for my first few weeks in Korea was, "bread, jam, and dry cereal." (Context alert!! Although I love all three, the reason my diet was comprised of these "staples" was basically because these items were what the school provided me in my apartment for my first month on the job. And, to those who know me, i'm not a HUGE spender, and waiting for my first paycheck while surviving on the small wad of cash I brought with me was enough reason for me to postpone my culinary adventures until I could support such an expedition.
So, that brings us to today, August 21st, 2010 and I am happy to say that the expedition has begun and has thus far been a major success.
Sampling new food in Korea can be an exciting "to-do" but an intimidating "to-do" when the language barrier is substantial and thrown in your face at every turn. Even back home ordering can be a bit of an ordeal. Now add the element that everything on the menu is in code and you lack the "decoder ring" in which to crack said code. This can make venturing out a bit tough at first. Thankfully for me i've been blessed with some great friends/guides so far that have baby-stepped me through "eating out 101" in korea.
The korean dining experience is quite diverse and adventurous but one thing is consistent. It is an experience. Back home my family and I have broken down the "eating out experience" to something closer to a marathon runner grabbing a cup of water while running at top speed and never looking back. It's not quite drive-thru, but when we're all waiting for the food to come amidst the clearly audible growls of our stomachs we'd be lying if we weren't all wishing it was. Then, ALAS, the food comes! What happens next? We eat. No talking. We eat. Then at the beep of the stopwatch we toss our napkins on the pearly white plates that only minutes prior held the miracle of the chef's long and arduous efforts, we toss some a card at the wait staff and our peeling out before the mere idea of "offering dessert" is even processed by the wait staff.
Ok, a little loose with the facts, but you get the gist.
So now take that entire account and pull a George Costanza reverse psychology action where,"...up was down, black was white, good was bad, day was night."
Eating out in korea is a "dining experience." It includes a HUGE array and variety of side dishes which on their own would stuff you to the brim. There is plenty of the main course in addition to MANY courses that follow the "main" course and one sits and enjoys the experience. Needless to say, my natural instincts to dine, pay of course and dash took a while to control but now i've become completely comfortable with this new practice.
The side dishes that come with almost every big meal in a restaurant are a combination or vegetables (pickled everything), noodle dishes, soups, salads and, of course, kimchi which always enjoyed.
The wait-staff:
First off, they are extremely helpful and accomodating. It's no secret that when they see me or a group of us walk through the door, they say to each other, "ok, who wants to babysit?" But, regardless of their view towards catering to foreigners to the likes of me, they put on a smile and are very kind.
One thing that takes some getting used to is how to actually request assistance in a restaurant. In the more modern restaurants each table has a red circular button at the end of the table and you simply push it and out comes your waiter/waitress. No exactly Larry David's "bell" concept but quite convenient nonetheless. In some of the older restaurants there is only one thing to do when you need some help and this is not for the shy hermit of crab of a diner. When you need help you simply take a deep breath and scream as loud as you can, "YOGEEYO!!!" At first scream you'd think you'd get a look from the wait-staff fired back at you with contempt. However, they simply come out to your table with a smile looking to see what you need. Pretty interesting.
Dining out options:
Well, in Daegu alone there are hundreds and hundreds of restaurants. Western and Korean. So, you can get basically anything you want. Obviously some western fare won't be of the quality from back home, but it'll all get the job done more or less. I've yet to really crave western food but so far i've only had Korean Coldstone. This visit was a reminder of our over-indulgent portion practice back home. At the same price from home, the "like it" (smallest size of cup) was about the same size as the "sample" cup back home. And the"like it" from home is about the size of their "gotta have it" (biggest size for one person).
The most western food i've had was during my time on the army base Camp Carrol where I volunteered for their week long Vacation Bible School. On base I had subway which was a nce reminder of home.
Most of my dining out so far has been korean. When most people eat out in Korea you either go to a sit-down restaurant, or what a lot of people do is grab some food from what us "foreigners" call the "Orange Shop." There are tons of these around the city and you can identify them because, well, they're orange. There you can find some great tasting korean dishes at insanely low prices. The dishes i've sample so far are fried dumplings and steamed dumplings called "mandu," a cold noodle soup which I forget the name of, "kimbap" which is a long role of rice, vegetables and some sort o meat wrapped in seaweed and "bibimbap" which is a mix of noodles, rice and vegetables. All dishes go for 3 dollars and under and the portion is what you'd expect at a restaurant back home. Pretty amazing!
Eating out, a popular type of food is meat grilled on a grill on top of the table. So far i've had pork which is called, "samgyeopsal" and duck meat which I don't know the name of. The pork is served in thick "bacon like" strips of meat. The duck was served in large chunks of meat. Both extremely tasty. I've yet to try the beef ribs on the grill which i've heard are tasty as well.
Outside of the grill I had my first real bizarre foray into Korean cusine. A friend from work took me out to a seafood place that specialized in raw seafood. There I dined on raw sea squirt called, "mungay" which had a very iodiny tast, raw "still squirming" sea slug, raw fish and temporo vegetables. Everything was actually very good and for the price of $9 the portions and quality was unbelievable. With drinks included, it would easily have been over $100 in a restaurant back home.
Probably the strangest thing i've had so far went into my stomach last night. Amongst the company of 3 guys from my school, we all flexed our machismo stomach muscles and dined on pig intestine called, "makchang." We had pork on the grill as well but the main star of the show was the intestine. I'd heard a lot of testimonials about the experience but wanted to try it for myself. The intestine was thankfully grilled, cut up and then served. Upon first tasting it it tasted a lot like the consistency of gristle or fat off of a steak. However, the inside of each little ring of intestinal goodness was soft, squishy and, how do i put this.................rather poopy. Sorry, but there was not other way to put that. When all was said and done and we all successfully all downed our portions of the 30 pieces of intestine, i'm glad I tried it but wouldn't say it worked it's way up my favorite things to eat when i'm hungry list. I'd have it again but might wait a while.
Pizza in Korea:
Pizza and Italian food is surprisingly popular in Korea. When I ask my kids what their favorite foods are, at least 4 of the 13 in the class will say pizza or spaghetti.
In terms of pizza, Pizza Hut and Domino's have successfully crossed the ocean and staked their claim on the asian continent. However, for a pizza the size of a medium back home you're looking to pay about $20!!! Needless to say, my craving for either chain's product has easily been held at bay for the time being. In the meanwhile i've tried to check out some local pie joints. In my neighborhood there are two main pizzerias, Pizza Maru and Pizza Bing. So far i've only had Pizza Maru but have hear that Pizza Bingo is quality as well. The pizza is about the size of a medium/large pizza back home and will put you back $6. Muuuuuuch better.
The pizza was freshly baked and at Maru they use a green tea leaf based pie crust which was pretty tasty. After the korean pizza "mama" loaded my pizza in the box, tied a bow around it like a present and put it in the hands of the hungry pizza fiend, I was on my way to sample some Korean pizza. Overall opinion, quite good for the price. Not my favorite pizza of all time but for $6 it was pretty good. The korean pizza is very light on the sauce and they use a lot of vegetables, especially adding corn on many of their pizzas, and the cheese was somewhat bland. But with that said, it tasted like pizza, I ate it all and was full at the end.
Well, that's all for food so far but i'll keep you updated on more culinary adventures as they disappear from my plate. Love you all.
First off, i'm not Andrew Zimmerman or Anthony Bourdain and nor will I ever parade myself around as either. However, i'd like to think that my pallet is open to most anything served on a plate, in a bowl, in a cup or in a hand.
After arriving in Korea, one of the first things people ask you is, "what have you been eating?" Unfortunately for me, my answer for my first few weeks in Korea was, "bread, jam, and dry cereal." (Context alert!! Although I love all three, the reason my diet was comprised of these "staples" was basically because these items were what the school provided me in my apartment for my first month on the job. And, to those who know me, i'm not a HUGE spender, and waiting for my first paycheck while surviving on the small wad of cash I brought with me was enough reason for me to postpone my culinary adventures until I could support such an expedition.
So, that brings us to today, August 21st, 2010 and I am happy to say that the expedition has begun and has thus far been a major success.
Sampling new food in Korea can be an exciting "to-do" but an intimidating "to-do" when the language barrier is substantial and thrown in your face at every turn. Even back home ordering can be a bit of an ordeal. Now add the element that everything on the menu is in code and you lack the "decoder ring" in which to crack said code. This can make venturing out a bit tough at first. Thankfully for me i've been blessed with some great friends/guides so far that have baby-stepped me through "eating out 101" in korea.
The korean dining experience is quite diverse and adventurous but one thing is consistent. It is an experience. Back home my family and I have broken down the "eating out experience" to something closer to a marathon runner grabbing a cup of water while running at top speed and never looking back. It's not quite drive-thru, but when we're all waiting for the food to come amidst the clearly audible growls of our stomachs we'd be lying if we weren't all wishing it was. Then, ALAS, the food comes! What happens next? We eat. No talking. We eat. Then at the beep of the stopwatch we toss our napkins on the pearly white plates that only minutes prior held the miracle of the chef's long and arduous efforts, we toss some a card at the wait staff and our peeling out before the mere idea of "offering dessert" is even processed by the wait staff.
Ok, a little loose with the facts, but you get the gist.
So now take that entire account and pull a George Costanza reverse psychology action where,"...up was down, black was white, good was bad, day was night."
Eating out in korea is a "dining experience." It includes a HUGE array and variety of side dishes which on their own would stuff you to the brim. There is plenty of the main course in addition to MANY courses that follow the "main" course and one sits and enjoys the experience. Needless to say, my natural instincts to dine, pay of course and dash took a while to control but now i've become completely comfortable with this new practice.
The side dishes that come with almost every big meal in a restaurant are a combination or vegetables (pickled everything), noodle dishes, soups, salads and, of course, kimchi which always enjoyed.
The wait-staff:
First off, they are extremely helpful and accomodating. It's no secret that when they see me or a group of us walk through the door, they say to each other, "ok, who wants to babysit?" But, regardless of their view towards catering to foreigners to the likes of me, they put on a smile and are very kind.
One thing that takes some getting used to is how to actually request assistance in a restaurant. In the more modern restaurants each table has a red circular button at the end of the table and you simply push it and out comes your waiter/waitress. No exactly Larry David's "bell" concept but quite convenient nonetheless. In some of the older restaurants there is only one thing to do when you need some help and this is not for the shy hermit of crab of a diner. When you need help you simply take a deep breath and scream as loud as you can, "YOGEEYO!!!" At first scream you'd think you'd get a look from the wait-staff fired back at you with contempt. However, they simply come out to your table with a smile looking to see what you need. Pretty interesting.
Dining out options:
Well, in Daegu alone there are hundreds and hundreds of restaurants. Western and Korean. So, you can get basically anything you want. Obviously some western fare won't be of the quality from back home, but it'll all get the job done more or less. I've yet to really crave western food but so far i've only had Korean Coldstone. This visit was a reminder of our over-indulgent portion practice back home. At the same price from home, the "like it" (smallest size of cup) was about the same size as the "sample" cup back home. And the"like it" from home is about the size of their "gotta have it" (biggest size for one person).
The most western food i've had was during my time on the army base Camp Carrol where I volunteered for their week long Vacation Bible School. On base I had subway which was a nce reminder of home.
Most of my dining out so far has been korean. When most people eat out in Korea you either go to a sit-down restaurant, or what a lot of people do is grab some food from what us "foreigners" call the "Orange Shop." There are tons of these around the city and you can identify them because, well, they're orange. There you can find some great tasting korean dishes at insanely low prices. The dishes i've sample so far are fried dumplings and steamed dumplings called "mandu," a cold noodle soup which I forget the name of, "kimbap" which is a long role of rice, vegetables and some sort o meat wrapped in seaweed and "bibimbap" which is a mix of noodles, rice and vegetables. All dishes go for 3 dollars and under and the portion is what you'd expect at a restaurant back home. Pretty amazing!
Eating out, a popular type of food is meat grilled on a grill on top of the table. So far i've had pork which is called, "samgyeopsal" and duck meat which I don't know the name of. The pork is served in thick "bacon like" strips of meat. The duck was served in large chunks of meat. Both extremely tasty. I've yet to try the beef ribs on the grill which i've heard are tasty as well.
Outside of the grill I had my first real bizarre foray into Korean cusine. A friend from work took me out to a seafood place that specialized in raw seafood. There I dined on raw sea squirt called, "mungay" which had a very iodiny tast, raw "still squirming" sea slug, raw fish and temporo vegetables. Everything was actually very good and for the price of $9 the portions and quality was unbelievable. With drinks included, it would easily have been over $100 in a restaurant back home.
Probably the strangest thing i've had so far went into my stomach last night. Amongst the company of 3 guys from my school, we all flexed our machismo stomach muscles and dined on pig intestine called, "makchang." We had pork on the grill as well but the main star of the show was the intestine. I'd heard a lot of testimonials about the experience but wanted to try it for myself. The intestine was thankfully grilled, cut up and then served. Upon first tasting it it tasted a lot like the consistency of gristle or fat off of a steak. However, the inside of each little ring of intestinal goodness was soft, squishy and, how do i put this.................rather poopy. Sorry, but there was not other way to put that. When all was said and done and we all successfully all downed our portions of the 30 pieces of intestine, i'm glad I tried it but wouldn't say it worked it's way up my favorite things to eat when i'm hungry list. I'd have it again but might wait a while.
Pizza in Korea:
Pizza and Italian food is surprisingly popular in Korea. When I ask my kids what their favorite foods are, at least 4 of the 13 in the class will say pizza or spaghetti.
In terms of pizza, Pizza Hut and Domino's have successfully crossed the ocean and staked their claim on the asian continent. However, for a pizza the size of a medium back home you're looking to pay about $20!!! Needless to say, my craving for either chain's product has easily been held at bay for the time being. In the meanwhile i've tried to check out some local pie joints. In my neighborhood there are two main pizzerias, Pizza Maru and Pizza Bing. So far i've only had Pizza Maru but have hear that Pizza Bingo is quality as well. The pizza is about the size of a medium/large pizza back home and will put you back $6. Muuuuuuch better.
The pizza was freshly baked and at Maru they use a green tea leaf based pie crust which was pretty tasty. After the korean pizza "mama" loaded my pizza in the box, tied a bow around it like a present and put it in the hands of the hungry pizza fiend, I was on my way to sample some Korean pizza. Overall opinion, quite good for the price. Not my favorite pizza of all time but for $6 it was pretty good. The korean pizza is very light on the sauce and they use a lot of vegetables, especially adding corn on many of their pizzas, and the cheese was somewhat bland. But with that said, it tasted like pizza, I ate it all and was full at the end.
Well, that's all for food so far but i'll keep you updated on more culinary adventures as they disappear from my plate. Love you all.
Hiking, it's what we do.
In my many minutes of cramming on everything and anything "korea" prior to my arrival in the "land of morning calm" I discovered several things. I discovered two main things. First, korean people are extremely generous, kind and helpful. This has been affirmed and validated almost on a daily basis with some exceptions. A few days ago I was on my morning run and on my way home I passed a sweet looking older woman who met me with hands raised in the air and the cheers of a fan watching her country's runner snag gold at the olympics. Needless to say, I returned her support with a HUGE smile and bow. Second, most korean people love hiking and are known to take it VERY seriously.
Back home we toss about "hiking" as a casual weekend day-trip type term that evokes images of a nice day in the wilderness, perhaps a few snapshots, a little sweat and then a tasty picnic perhaps. I've discovered that in Korea, it's more like a showdown between man and mountain.
Apsan Mountain is the mountain I run next to every morning and even at 7am there are men easily in their 50's and 60's who are already making their way back from walking to the entrance (all free, no pass necessary) hiking to the top (1-2 hours intense), hiking down and then passing me.
I made my way to Apsan a few weeks back with my trail-guide, Genie who is worship leader at the church I go to. The first thing I noticed was how well-maintained the trails were. The trail began somewhat gentle but within about 20 minutes we were headed straight up. Along the way we passed groups of women working out at these outdoor workout centers that are all over the city, a group of yoga practioners, some casual dayhikers and then the not so "casual" hikers barreling up the mountain. One man was flying up the mountain with military cargo shorts, no shirt and flip-flops. What!!??!!
After about 1hr and 20mins we made it to the top where we were met by a meditating monk who, listening to his mantra for 5 minutes, began to sound like the hum of my refrigerator. We were also met with dazzling views of our city of Daegu on a surprisingly clear day. And even with that said, it's not that clear. Daegu is surrounded by mountains and this leaves little relief for the smog and clouds to go anywhere but to settle right over the city. Great vistas nonetheless.
We decided to take the cable car down which was a change of pace and then passed an interesting park at the base of the mountain that used to be an old village which was guarded by the two statues of "man" and "woman."
Overall, it was great to get up and out of the city, breathe some fresh air and marvel at the beauty of korea that is often masked by the city feel from the ground that I now reside in. More hiking to come for sure. Enjoy the pics.
Back home we toss about "hiking" as a casual weekend day-trip type term that evokes images of a nice day in the wilderness, perhaps a few snapshots, a little sweat and then a tasty picnic perhaps. I've discovered that in Korea, it's more like a showdown between man and mountain.
Apsan Mountain is the mountain I run next to every morning and even at 7am there are men easily in their 50's and 60's who are already making their way back from walking to the entrance (all free, no pass necessary) hiking to the top (1-2 hours intense), hiking down and then passing me.
I made my way to Apsan a few weeks back with my trail-guide, Genie who is worship leader at the church I go to. The first thing I noticed was how well-maintained the trails were. The trail began somewhat gentle but within about 20 minutes we were headed straight up. Along the way we passed groups of women working out at these outdoor workout centers that are all over the city, a group of yoga practioners, some casual dayhikers and then the not so "casual" hikers barreling up the mountain. One man was flying up the mountain with military cargo shorts, no shirt and flip-flops. What!!??!!
After about 1hr and 20mins we made it to the top where we were met by a meditating monk who, listening to his mantra for 5 minutes, began to sound like the hum of my refrigerator. We were also met with dazzling views of our city of Daegu on a surprisingly clear day. And even with that said, it's not that clear. Daegu is surrounded by mountains and this leaves little relief for the smog and clouds to go anywhere but to settle right over the city. Great vistas nonetheless.
We decided to take the cable car down which was a change of pace and then passed an interesting park at the base of the mountain that used to be an old village which was guarded by the two statues of "man" and "woman."
Overall, it was great to get up and out of the city, breathe some fresh air and marvel at the beauty of korea that is often masked by the city feel from the ground that I now reside in. More hiking to come for sure. Enjoy the pics.
She had me at, "G"
This is my new object of affection, and apple of my eye. Everyone, i'd like for you to meet, "Chunsa."
Saturday, July 31, 2010
pictures to the stories
here are some pictures of my area, apartment, church and some other random things. enjoy.
One month and counting
hey everyone,
this monday will be one month for me out here in korea and i thought i'd check in and let you know how things are going.
a month in and i have successfully convinced myself that i am now living here and my trip out here was not merely a visit. i am comfortable with my area, i am comfortable with my job and with every passing day i am getting more comfortable with being a resident in korea. that's not to say that it is easy by any means, but i can confidently say that korea is now home.
the last few weeks have basically seen me sleeping and working. i signed up for the "summer session" term with the intention of getting more teaching experience in the new school's system and basically just tryin' to be a go-getter. 800 dollars and the loss of a few brain cells, i can now say that i survived summer session. am i glad i did it? yes. i was able to be in the classroom with korean students a lot during my first month on the job and the experience accelerated my understanding of how to teach them and what they are able to do. would i do it again? probably not. 12-13 hours on your feet repeating words over and over at the most booming volume your vocal chords can muster is exhausting to say the least. great pay thought. and that's not to say that the summer session wasn't sometimes a lot of fun. two of my classes had me cracking up in laughter constantly. in one class a pigeon always came to the window sill when the bell rang and stayed for most of our class. and in one class i caused quite the scene when i showed up with the seemingly innocent outfit of a yellow button down short sleeve shirt and green cargo shorts. after some laughter and whispering the following dialogue ensued:
girl- teacher......you're clothes...
teacher- my clothes? what about my clothes?
girl- ummmm.......they are......very interesting....
teacher- oh..thanks so jung (the girl's name). i like your outfit too.
girl- noooo..teacher...you are girl scout.
teacher- .......
at that moment i couldn't be embarrassed. we all had a great laugh. now i'm going back to my original schedule of 6 hour days and could not be happier.
i've been slowly dabbling in korean cuisine when i have time. a few nights ago i went out after work to a seafood place that specialized in raw fish. for about 10 dollars i had 2 beers and an ENORMOUS spread of raw fish, soups, side dishes of vegetables and other cooked fish. i also tried my first "still moving on the plate" delicacy and it was surprisingly tasty. the meal was awesome and the owner was super nice. it is about 5 minutes form my house so i can see that being a weekly staple in my diet. 2 nights ago i went out to a place called "the orange shop" by my coworkers. it is basically a small restaurant that specializes in most current favorites for good quality at outrageous prices. everything is about 3-4 dollars and is plenty filling and tasty. the other night i tried a cold noodle soup and it tasted great. cold soups are very common here in the summer.
over the past 3 weeks i have also gotten really involved in a church out here. it is about 35 minutes from my house on subway and is wonderful. it has a small congregation but i have met some great people there that i could see becoming great friends with. i am now a member of their worship team on sunday, their weekly bible study and the volunteer team that helps out at an orphanage on the edge of the city every month. this month we barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers for them and then had an intense game of ultimate frisbee at a nearby park where one kid (17 years old) failed to understand that it wasn't the XFL and kept clobbering one of the 50 year old men on our volunteer team. the kid was having fun so we were hesitant to really come down on him but after the 3rd clothes-line we had to draw the line.
on the worship team last week i was asked to help lead worship at a small korean church in a small town about 40 mins. outside of Daegu. they didn't speak english i don't speak korean but it was one of the most amazing spiritual experiences i've ever had. moving to see how god speaks to all nations.
last week i got my first paycheck and it felt good to see my hard work pay off. (jonathan, that was for you) first on the purchase list is a guitar. i went guitar pricing today and found that you can get a really nice korean model guitar for under $500 which is my limit. i'll most likely buy one on tuesday. i also just got my internet officially connected so i can stop feeling guilty about hijacking the signal i have been the last two weeks. to whoever was providing me with internet, i thank you and will buy you a beer if we ever cross paths. next on the list are cable and a cell phone which should get hooked up sometime next week. after that, bingo, bango, bongo, my life is in completely in place for the next year.
well, that was more than enough to bore you all to death but thanks for your prayers and i'll keep in touch as much as i can. i love you all and take care. 'til next time.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
sigh........so far
So, two weeks down in this Korean adventure and so far I think I can consider it a relative success.
The first week of classes is done and although it was a crazy and frazzle-filled week I think I came out all together in one piece. For the most part, the kids are well behaved. I have kids ranging from 8-16 years old and the majority are like little robots. The program has "programmed" them so effectively to repeat any word the teacher says in english if the tone and volume is juuuust right that i'll say something to myself out loud not intending to have a chorus of little korean children echo and, VOILA, the echo! I started to give instructions to the class on the next section in the book and said, "Ok, so in section B...," and before i knew it, the 13 eight year olds repeated my instructions like their little lives depended on it. Needless to say I had a great laugh while they all sat dumbfounded as to why their teacher was laughing at their military-like obedience. I've established myself as "their" teacher already and a walk down the hallways of the school between classes rarely escapes a ,"Nathan-Teacher, Nathan-Teacher!!" from an excited little group of korean students which is always followed by a high-five or fist-pound. Just keepin' it real.
The staff has been real nice so far. We all work with a korean co-teacher who teaches are same students but in a class of their own. They work extremely hard and have been very helpful so far. The foreigner teachers have been very welcoming and helpful too. They've helped me navigate through the enormous mountain of resources and materials we are given to teach the classes and have made sure I get to the right classroom when i'm supposed to. I think i'm starting to get the routine down somewhat but it couldn't have been done without their help.
I was invited out to grab some food and drinks with them last week and had a lot of fun. We drank some various korean rice wines, one delivered to each table in a small foot tall bamboo shoot that tastes like apple juice, the other had a milky white appearance, was delivered to the table in a big bowl and was dished out to each person at the table in smaller bowls. Both were tasty and rather potent. To accommodate booze, we had pancake looking dishes that had kimchi and squid inside. Also quite tasty. The korean staff gave me a quick crash-course in the korean writing of "hangul" and I learned that if you need something at your table in a restaurant in korea you simply yell out at the top of your foreigner lungs, "YOGIYO!!!" The staff had me do this as a part of my initiation and I let out the loudest "yogiyo" in my life!
Although their social habits of eating at 11pm and drinking until 3-5am won't exactly mesh with my lifestyle completely, I appreciated their invite and have felt welcomed by the staff over the last week.
Apart from school, life here is starting to become more like "real-life" in korea and not simply a visit. I've managed to live off of $65 per week (including a few nights out at restaurants, drinks, groceries and public transport...not too shabby). However, the fine print is that this has included dinners at home of water from the tap, walnuts from the store, an apple and jam sandwiches. Not exactly fine korean cuisine, but it's helping to get me through this first month without pay. I don't get paid until the 1st of August so i'm sure once I receive the check, the purse strings will loosen up somewhat. However, I do love me some jam-sandwiches and walnuts. Nutritious and fun!
I've done some more exploring of my part of the city and ventured into the downtown last Friday night with a guy from my school. I met a guy who puts on open-mic nights so i'm sure i'll be back downtown again for that but, for the most part, the downtown is filled with foreigners who have boozed up and are looking for a fight, night clubs and then more boozed up foreigners. Not exactly my scene but it was good to see it for myself for the first time. Only so much "Lonely Planet" and "Frommers" can depict in 2 pages on Daegu, South Korea.
Daegu, South Korea is big but with every passing day of me acclimatizing, it is gradually getting smaller. My apartment is still small but very livable for me. Although the knob to switch the sink water to the shower head water has still escaped my memory to switch which has found me ready to head out the door for work suddenly drenching myself in water. Oh well, we live and learn. I've also learned that when it rains here, it rains HARD! It's monsoon season and rain has been a-plenty! I've also learned that everybody uses an umbrella and not a raincoat here. I learned this the first I went out in the monsoon and was the only schlub walking around in a coat, meanwhile getting completely drenched to the bone while an old man in shorts and a t-shirt, but with an umbrella, sat looking at me puzzled to his core what I was thinking, or doing.
I've also been going to a church a few subway stops away where I have met some great people. I'll be helping lead worship next sunday and had a great time with some of the members last night. They took me to a HUGE market place in Daegu called "Seomun Market" where you can literally find anything and then took me to dinner outside of the city up in the mountains where we feasted on duck, grilled at our table, kimchi, rice and sweet potatoes. Best meal i've had yet!
God has been great to me and with the connections i've made so far i'm excited to see where this adventure takes me next. Right now i'm gearing up for my next 2 work weeks where i'll be working double-shifts (9-1pm and then 4:00-10pm) Should be exhausting but for only two weeks and the added pay I can most definitely bite the bullet and get 'er done! I'll have pictures of my neighborhood and apartment coming soon. Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers. I hope this post finds all of you doing fantastic!
-Nate
Friday, July 9, 2010
update
Hey all,
Just sitting on my bed in my official apartment in the Sang-In Neighborhood of Daegu, South Korea and I thought i'd check-in and give you a bit of an update. Well, a lot has happened in a very short time but so as not to bore you entirely to death i'll hit some of the main points. so far my impression of this city of Daegu, South Korea was COMPLETELY wrong. It is huge. Not compared to Seoul but it is HUGE. My "neighborhood" of Sang-In on the outskirts of Daegu is HUGE. I'll post pictures soon. The heat and humidity is not as bad as I expected. Are you sweating when you are outside? Yes. Is it hot? Yes. But, with that said, it is very comparable to the midwest in the summer or northeast. All of the buildings, and thankfully my apartment, have aircon so no worries once you get inside. Today I explored my neighborhood and got my bearings. I realized quickly that I packed WAY too much and most western conveniences you can get here for pretty cheap. Most items in the grocery store are about half what they cost at home. For you beer lovers, western beers are a tad expensive (a six pack of corono extra is 7 bucks) however, the local "Hite" beer is close to 3 dollars for six! Haven't had any yet, but plan to soon. Same goes for general merchandise. Shoes that cost about $100 at home cost about half that here. Pretty amazing.
My town, although extremely cryptic in all of the buildings and advertisements, has some western comforts. Pizza hut, Baskin Robins and Dunkin Donuts seem to be very popular. Last night a coworker helped me order some REAL korean food and for about 3 bucks, it was pretty delicious.
Walking about town today I definitely got that "living in a fish bowl" feel. Westerners stand out here. We ARE different and people can easily spot us. However, that wasn't all bad today because I got my first "wersterner fish bowl/celebrity moment." Three 10-13 year old girls kept following me outside of a department store before finally saying, "HELLO!" Then they laughed heartily and ran away. Kids...gotta love 'em.
I start classes on Monday which I am a little nervous about. The system, while extremely organized, is still different from what i've been used to and most things that are different tend to take some work at the beginning. So, at around midnight, P.S. Time, be dreaming about me totally dominating in my first english class in South Korea. I hope all of you back home are doing well and enjoying the warm spell that conveniently came your way once I got outta dodge. Thank you for all of the well wishes, I miss you all and I will check back as soon as I can. Right now my apartment doesn't have internet and won't for about 2 more weeks, so right now i'm gladly stealing a signal from a neighbor. Pictures coming soon.
P.S.-Did I mention that on my first day observing at my official school and meeting my new coworkers my left eye was almost completely swollen shut and blood red? Oh yeah, that previous night i got some spec in my eye and it irritated it so much that I had to get rushed to an optometrist where he successfully removed the spec and prescribed me two sets of eye drops. Today was my follow up, so considering I know zero korean, except "hello" and "thank you," a lot of hand gestures got us through. The eye is getting better but I have to go in next monday for another follow up. Only to me. Those of you in the pagaard clan know that a story like that was expected from Herr. Nate Pagaard. One more for my autobiography called, "Oh C'mon!!!" coming soon to a bookstore near you.
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