miscellaneous pics

my apartment

mo pictures...

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.

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

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.

more pictures...

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Some pictures to enhance the story...

the eagle done landed!!

9:20 pm and my first day of training and observation is complete.  i've now spent just over 24 hours in Daegu, South Korea and my brain has officially been scrambled.  leading up to my departure I had read and heard many things about South Korea and the Daegu area but waited in anxious anticipation to find any of these interpretations or commentaries validated or discredited.  what I know now is that coming from a western world there are few things that can prepare you for all that comes along with living in a hustling and bustling city in Asia.  picture images of time square but then up the ante on everything from lights, speed, language, smells and the fact that you are now the sore thumb that sticks out strangely from the crowd.  but then again, this is just another commentary and interpretation so you can take from this excerpt what you will.  

the journey to south korea was......how do i put it........long!  It was about 22 hours of travel between 3 planes/3 stops. however, with that said, it went as smooth as a 22 hour journey can go.  along the way i found that alaskan airlines flight attendants don't appreciate it when travelers simply leave their luggage in the aisle for them to care for and stow away (yes, this did ACTUALLY happen), i learned that the korean air first class passengers are treated literally like royalty whereas, for all of us residing in the peasantry class, the seats are still unbelievably crammed together.  but.......there was a lot of food (including my first official korean, albeit an airline, bibimbap...pretty delish), they had complimentary in-flight movies and shows (i managed to watch, youth in revolt, how to train your dragon, she out of your league, the cutting edge, one episode of friends (a cigarette held by the character of estelle was blurred out, interesting), an episode of house (all of the surgery scenes were blurred out, interesting) and a 30 minute segment on the New Orleans Saints' run to the super bowl.  I know......pretty random selection and a lot of screen watching.  But remember, 13 hour flight.  Besides, just before lift off I went to access all of the shows, movies and music on my ever-so-dependable ipod that I had filled so diligently the weeks leading up to my departure only to find that every single item had been ERASED!!  So, thank you Korean Air for saving me from having to stare either at the back of the seat in front of me for 13 hours or at other people for 13 hours (which the lady to my right did to me, THE ENTIRE FLIGHT! She had a window so there WAS another option, but she just decided that watching me watching almost 13 hours straight of tv was MUCH more entertaining.  don't get me wrong, i'm sure i put on quite the show, but I feel like the window might've at least acted as an intermission to the action known as, "Nate."

arriving in Seoul I realized that I needed to retrieve my bags from baggage claim and then re-check-in for my final leg.  sounded like an added stressball, but my bags arrived, it was easy to get through customs and find the check-in desk and I was off to Daegu in no time.  i also got to use my first korean to a legit korean and get their response to this lame whitey cracka trying to act cultured and in with the K-crowd.  the man actually seemed to appreciate my attempt so all was well in the world.

picked up at the airport by a school employee, very nice guy and was brought to my temporary housing.  good thing, i could finally lay down, bad thing, I had a huge pile of documents I needed to read for the next day's training session (9:45 pm), the apartment left a lot to be desired (glad i chose to bring a lot of the things I thought they "might" provide upon arrival) and the tv was not hooked up thus making it impossible to watch the first world cup semi-final match between the netherlands and uruguay.  but, i was safe and had made it.  plenty and then some to be thankful for.

first day of training can be summed up by the five words I kept hearing from almost all school teachers working through the Moon Kkang English School, "the workload is a joke." careful not to count the chickens before they hatch, i'm leary to take those words at face-value, although after completing my first day observations, it seems like the words have some weight to them.  my student teaching term most definitely helped prepare me for this experience in terms of the teaching and classroom management.  so, for that one AND ONLY, thing, I am grateful to Old Dominion University.

after I completed my day I was picked up by another school employee in charge of getting new teachers situated.  very nice guy. (it's interesting how many young koreans have learned slang english but don't always know how to use it properly.  but hey, i just appreciate their effort to speak my language)  we got talking about the world cup and soccer, and i mentioned that I was kind of disappointed I couldn't watch my germans take on espain, and before i knew it I was being told to just get some valuables from my first apartment so that he could take me to another apartment that had just been vacated that was outfitted with cable.  are you kidding me?!  couldn't believe my luck!!

arrived at the new apartment and what I found was complete paradise compared to my first apartment.  it had cable, food in the fridge and soft bed (the first bed i had was literally as hard the linoleum floor, literally) and internet!!  thank you god!

so, that brings me to right now.  taking advantage of some internet time that I might be without for another 2-3 weeks.  this night will find me putting up my feet, drinking a vitamin water given to me earlier in the day at the school, waking up at 3:30am to catch the match, and then starting the whole thing over again.  friday I move to my actual apartment, I get my medical exam taken care of, and i complete my final day of observation before starting MY actual classes next monday.  

so far, I have been dealt the setbacks I anticipated and i've been fortunately blessed by some things i did not anticipate.  i do feel somewhat lost in this fast and foreign world but with every person i meet,  i am reassured that finding ones place in this world is a puzzle ready to be solved.

thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes the last few days.  pictures are on their way.