A Couple Things about Korea...

Well for starters,

• Every Korean thinks that any American knows the song "Because of you" by Kelly Clarkson and will always ask that you sing that one at a Nore Bang. 
• A little known fact by most Koreans is that many/most/all Americans know Journey and will probably sing it every time when at a Nore Bang. ( I have never not gotten a perfect score =p)
• Additionally because the drink is called "Americano" means that it must be what Americans drink. (also if you can read korean all of their drinks have the same names as in english ie caramel macchiato = 카라멜 마키아토) 
• Because it is in English we must like it. This is actually pretty cute when my kids come running up to me wearing shirts with bad  English captions on them asking me to read it. They are so incredibly proud they are wearing something I can read - its so hip.
• You are American and therefore rich.
• Everything in Korean is 'expensive' to Koreans...for example certain milks vs other milk, the electric bill, restaurant dinners. None of these things are truly expensive. What they won't tell you is expensive that really is, is winter coats, average around 300,000 won to 900,000 won this is like $250 - 760 in america terms. Dad said to buy a nice winter coat for Christmas as say it was from him. After finding out these prices I immediately decided to look on Ebay and ship something over instead. Your welcome Da! My electric bill is about $22 for 3 months... in Charleston it was $260 for one. The most expensive meal I have had here has been 11,000 won or just over 8 bucks at a super nice restaurant. Electronics is another thing that is super expensive - particularly laptops and computers. Its cheaper to import it. 
• Their beer here is about 4% whereas american beers I think is 8% Therefore you must watch how much you are drinking otherwise Koreans will think you are a heavy drinker. Also it tastes like crap. 
• Everyone drinks Soju. Including you. Get used to it they clearly no longer know just how foul the stuff is.
• If your glass is half full/empty then they will not try to refill it, but if it is empty you just volunteered yourself for another round. 
• There is this thing called dongship...lets not get into that one
• The FU symbol is not giving someone the finger though they know what that is and minorly appreciate its value, but to them sticking your thumb in between your middle and fore fingers is much more effective. 
• If you are a girl then Koreans will censor just about anything they say around you except for their swear words. But if you swear in any scenario like falling down some stairs its super weird and they will stare at you wide eyed. 
• I don't know about in any other city but in Yeongwol girls are more or less a rarity. They are hard to find and hard to make friends with, no matter your gender. 
• There are churches, many churches, yet I have yet to meet a single person who believes in God. 
• If you dont finish your rice at lunch you are a heretic 
• Also Koreans will sometimes tell you how you are feeling. Oh you are cold today. Oh are you sad today...wt...???

Halloween turns our students into beggars

So Unfortunately with the converter I had, it shocked my power charger for my camcorder battery therefore all of the last videos you will see here are from Halloween. I have ordered a new charger and hopefully it will be here in a week or so. In the mean time please enjoy these old videos I took of our class during our Halloween festival!

OMG Halloweeeeeeeen!!!!

So more to come later but here is our classroom all decked out in Halloween gear that we tricked the kids into making for us so that we could decorate our class!



Song = go away by 2ne1

Coping with Teaching

Hi~

My name is Lauren and I have been clean for 2 months. Or that is what this conference felt like. It was pretty painful to listen and stay awake during and actually not all the relevant to the conditions that are personal to me or my coteachers. The title of the lecture was coping with co teaching - well we actually can't do that bc our co teacher isn't teaching certified so she isn't allowed to teach ( Korean teachers have to be teacher certified where foreign teachers so not) and we can't exactly plan a different lesson with a different teacher for every lesson and everyday. My conditions are more or less a free for all and I have total reign over my class. And they love me. The end. So no co teachers.

On the plus side of this whole shebang, I got to see my first beach in Korea. At night we drank on it with our 'korean co teachers' ( which they feel is too inaccurate/ not pc and prefer the term 'bilingual teachers' this was a discussion of the conference and so far the term isn't sticking. . . even among the Korean teachers) and shot off rockets and fireworks! Fireworks here cost about $2 for a 5 pack and were located right at the convenient mart on location. Nothing like drunken adolescents shooting off roman candles at each other. ^-^ Also the water WAS warm for any one interested. I would say it was equal to the temp of Sullivans Isle in Charleston in May. Yeah it was that nice. Unfortunately I didn't bring my suit. Boo.

Adventures of a Seoul

Oh no you didn't make a super cheesy pun on the name Seoul JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE

. . . yeah I did. These are some video's I took that exemplify ( I am studying for the GRE can you tell?)just how awesome (you mean different? no I mean full of awe - though I am not entirely sure what kind) Korea is.

Let's go Fly a Kite

Under full blessing from both of my wonderful parents who never threatened to come to Korea and ground me, I went paragliding ^-^

The plan was to wake up around noon and go jump off of Bongrae Mountain. Therefore it was to my utter confusion when Kent called me around 9 saying let go flying - meet me in 15 minutes. You see in order to paraglide there are some pretty specific condition's which are optimal at which to fly. Unfortunately Bongrae Mountain's conditions were a bit harsh so we went to a smaller calmer mountain which had shorter flight times and no wind. It was not the best day to fly - but let that be the last thing that stops you. The view was simply amazing and the team that I flew with was simply amazing and super kind to foreigners. They even gave me a lift to and from the mountain saving me the cost of a taxi or bus. So here are some of the videos of my flight, others and the mountain!

Yeongwolians Cultural Field Trip

CN Blue ~Love~

In the minutes before my afterschool class takes off, I sometimes will watch English movie trailers or music videos. This time I gave the reigns to them and to my utter astonishment, I was serenaded to by my entire after school class. This song they are singing is by CN Blue and is called "Love" Below my kids video I have a video of their song with English Subtitles. Also it is now popular in my class for me to say "Love love love, Everybody-" and they join in and we all say "Clap Clap Clap" in order for me to get their attention.


CN Blue

In the name of SCIENCE!!!

The Dajeon Science Museum! You know me and science. It was so fun and we had such a great time!

O World! in Daejeon

Hey! So a couple weeks back we went to the zoo in Daejeon and here are a few videos from our encounters. It is weird how ridiculously small it is and the cages are all really small too.

JimJilBang it up! Daejeon style!

A jimjilbang is a Korean bathhouse that has numerous baths - much like hot tubs and cold tubs all at different temperatures and different features. Some are massage baths some are mineral baths and some are natural hot springs. A word of caution though if you do decide to go to one - before getting in any bath, it is repectable and well expected for you to shower and wash for 20-30 minutes. . . Or else the ajoomas will attack you. haha Not really but they will give you dirty looks and not just the stares you get from being white.

Afterwards you are free to roam the rest of the building which will always have some sort of sauna. My definite favorite sauna was this really awesome salt sauna in the second jimjilbang we stayed in, there were also your usual saunas at varying temps. Another that was present in both that we stayed in was an amethyst sauna - where the power of the crystals ummm helps your chi? As well as an ice room where you kinda just sat in there and froze. But one of the things I would certainly recommend is the Dr. Fish Cafe if you ever happen to go to a bathhouse that has them. They are these sweet feet eating fish that eat off the dead skin your feet possess. These fish do not normally do this in the wild but have more or less been trained to do so. Simply if you give them less appealing food, they will prefer the feet but if there is a lack of customers they can always revert the the feed.

Our first jimjilbang we stayed in is located near the Government complex in Daejeon. It was highly recommended by our co teacher. This one was clearly the larger and nicer of the two, it also had a swimming pool with a side as well as a gym on the upper floors. I am sad I never had the opportunity to go check them out but perhaps there will be a next time. There was also another whole floor of saunas we missed too. However what we experienced was still amazing and I cold probably spend a whole weekend there and not tire from it.



Here our second jimjilbang is located in the Yuseong Spa district in Daejeon and is quite the smaller of the two; however they provided us actual mats to sleep on which is nice if you are not immune to the hard floor. Also they had the essential Dr. Fish Cafe that I was talking about, which was a must as far as new experiences go. They also had my favorite sauna, the salt sauna as well as these amazing kiwi slushies that were simply out of this world!

Sports Day!

Spelunking in Gossi Cave

Here is some of the better footage I was able to take in Gossi Cave.

My Afterschool Kids

There are these flute lessons in the classroom right beside my office and all the kids are really interested in showing off. Actually it seems the teacher might like it when I come in bc then the kids practice more and are more interested in playing haha.


Here is a crazy Korean game that even after watching for about 15 minutes I still cant begin to comprehend haha.


My older Crew.

Chungju NOT Cheongju

This weekend I went to visit my friend Ilya in Chungju. Allow me to stress how important that 'u' in Chungju is - if you do you pronounce it as an 'uh' instead of more like 'you' you end up in Cheongju which is an hour away. Now this must happen often enough such that there is a train heading back to Chungju only 15 minutes after your arrival in Cheongju. Needless to say this happened haha. However I eventually found my way and ended up where I was supposed to be. Here are a few videos of our adventures.

Ilya's apartment


Pet lockers at E-Mart




Korean BBQ


Happy Birthday!


Cutting of the Cake


Ilya puts Kimchi on everything...here let me show you

(at least in the morning he knows - and remembers to - regret it)

The fanciest Noribang I have ever seen


Those deceptive barber shops!


Our last view off the 9th story overlooking Chungju

Bongrae Elementary Outdoor Tour

Here is the outside of my school! It is actually really nice with really good facilities ( I don't think my elementary ever even thought about giving us tennis rackets!) Sorry the camera is a bit shaky! I was on my way to work. I will perhaps get an inside tour up later. ^^

Yeongwol City at Night

Isn't it Beautiful!!?! This was taken from the top of Bongrae Mountain just outside of the observatory.

Typhooooooon

So Silly Me

got caught in the middle of a typhoon outside of Gossi Cave. I met this really nice couple coming out and they took me out for dinner. They really wanted to hear about me and my travels and America as well as practice their English. Mom calls them English Bandits lol. But we stayed at the restaurant a little too long and a typhoon snuck up on us. So what do I do? video tape it - Duh.

Hwajangshil

Hwajangshil in Korean means toilet. There is no better way to ask how to get to the bathroom. It is not like English where there is like 20 different was with little girls room and ladies room and powder room or rest room and everything, it is just one word for both men and women. For those of you who have seen my apartment video you know I have a pretty average toilet. Same with the work restrooms. It wasn't until I went to the Gossi Caves that I witnessed this and since then I have been informed it is not uncommon to see this.
This first video is rather tame and then I was afraid of someone coming in so the second video is separate and without commentary ( I mean how weird would it be if you walked in and see someone discussing the toilet on a video camera??)




So to specify how you use this is you kind of do a super serious squat and crouch over it. The toilet paper is placed so that there is no complication in retrieving it ( it is at an appropriate placement and height). And then you stand up and press the pedal with your foot. When I saw this I laughed myself silly until someone noticed and I had to pretend my little flip travel alarm clock was a phone and I was replying to a text ;;

Edit - apparently men's bathrooms are very much the same to quote my fellow EPIK teacher " squattie potties are against my religious beliefs"

A Crazy Happen Stance

After going to see the Kings Tomb, we all separated for dinner and recommenced at this pretty awesome bar. We had a booth at first but more and more people kept coming so eventually they stuck us in our own private booth in the back. That night I found out that Peach Soju is super tasty. As we were leaving, a group waved at us and tried to talk some English. This is SUPER typical every Korean really wants to practice their English. So then we got to the entrance and realized one of our crowd got sucked into conversation. Oddly Enough we all trickled back in and got sucked into conversation and more drinks. These people are the Korean National Rugby Team. A really lively but awesome bunch. ^^

allow me to introduce:


Here the English speakers are arranging to play with them on the next scrimmage and they are possibly poking fun at one another based on jersey number?

Trip to the Kings Tomb

This past weekend thanks to the efforts of Jen Wilder I was able to meet up with a bunch of the other native English teachers and go hiking. Also Hiking up a mountain is NOTHING LIKE NORTH CAROLINA! Haha I had a great sweaty time. We also managed to pick the hottest sunniest day that there has been in the last 2 weeks to go! So after we scaled the mountain We find all sorts of playgrounds. In the middle of nowhere. At the top of a mountain. Pretty silly and I am sure if I had more breath I would have laughed more. But here is one of the videos I took of these crazy playgrounds.


This is totally the best way to tire a kid out - make them scale a mountain and then play on what essentially is exercise equipment!

So after our mountain expedition we end up at this awesome park called Deer Park ( though why it is called that I would never be able to tell you. I have never seen a deer here and I am not so sure the locals have either) But the park is beautiful and really quite serene.




We then made the much needed stop at a little mart that was just across from the Kings Tomb I think that lady made her monthly living off of us with how thirsty we were!

So here is a bit about the story behind the Kings Tomb. The tomb is of a 17 year old king named Danjong Jangneung who ascended the throne when he was 14, however he was too young ans weak to rule therefore always had advisors. Eventually His uncle, Suyangdaegun got sick of this and overthrew him and sent him into exile. 3 years later there was talk of an uprising in the rightful king's favor, and hearing such his uncle forced him to commit suicide by poisoning ( I am not so certain how that worked) But he is a bit of the town's proud history and many people go to visit his grave for good luck. There is also a festival in April in his honor.





This is the waterfall infront of the Museum of Photography in my town. And  realized this after but there are light embedded in the wall behind the water that turn on a dusk and are a representation of the constellations. We didn't stick around to see them in their full glory but it is pretty neat that they are there in the first place.

Meet my Principal!

This first one is my new principal he started on Wed. and we went out to Korean BBQ in celebration and afterwards a noribang! Who knows even principals and teachers are into that!!!



This second one is my new vice principal. I cannot remember the name of the guy in the blue shirt ( lol probably mister Kim, as we have 3 of those in our chool - and 3 miss's Kim's!!! all unrelated!)

Yeongwol Appartment

Here is an inside look at my apartment. Pretty cozy but over all not bad. I wonder who ran off with my sink and where to put my bed. Right now its just awkward...

School time!

Here is a look at my school. This is the Bongrae English Education Center (BREEC) and it is a separate building from the main building bc it was only built 2 years ago. Under us is the Cafeteria and other classrooms ( we are on the 2nd floor) and across the courtyard is the main building for science and Korean classes and other education as well as other teachers offices. Sometime later I will be sure to get some of the other building as well as the outside courtyards.

Nori WHAT?

Haha For those of you who don't know what a noribang is ( which trust me, I totally didn't!!) it is a karaoke ummm place. What you do is go and rent out a room for probably an hour or so and then you and however many people are with you can sing to your hearts content. Often it is a fun time and people just get silly...very silly...






Also here are more videos of the closing ceremony which feature an a Capella group that sang a bunch of songs for us. They were a pretty sweet group.

My apartment in Yeongwol

This is just an hour after I got my stuff up here, as you can see I have not moved in really yet, so I will have another video up later of a furnished apt, as well as some videos of the town

NOTICE - there totally isnt a sink in my bathroom. I did not notice that at first... ;;

Here is some awesome scenery taken from a my flat and from the riverside

Talent show! Last night!

This is our last night in Seoul and we had a talent show. Now I missed every single practice our class had for the talent show and we were trying to do something with the whole class though only a little over half was actually participating. So was going to skip it....and then I lost in rock paper scissors and had to participate in it. So this is our skit and the formal fan dance as well as the other skit and the other talents.

Korean Folk Village

We went to this super cool Korean folk village and got to tour around. We also go to see a tight rope show, a traditional wedding and a type of musical dance/ parade they put on. There we saw an apothecary and farmers quarters as well as work places looked like. It was pretty much similar to Colonial Williamsburg only older and no AC. Anyways I got some shots of corn mills and the houses where the township overseer resided as well as a practicing Buddhist temple which had some sort of ceremony with incense and food going on. 

Look out for the parade video, there these guys who have long ribbons attached to their hats and would swing their bodies around and do cart wheels without touching the ground. It was pretty awe inspiring ( and a lot like human jumping jacks). Later another comes out with a 20 foot ribbon and practically skips rope with it. 

After that was the traditional wedding ceremony. And me and my roommate kept wispering silly things like ' i wonder if that guy ever gets tired of marrying the same girl everyday' or 'he's way too good for him' and ' i wonder what she will do for her real wedding since it won't be as significant since she practically gets married everyday - she must go to vegas' hahaha ^^. Anyways it was mildly interesting ....especially her makeup!!!! She looked like she belonged in munchkin village in wizard of oz! I wish I got a clear shot of it. 

It was ridiculously hot that day and everyone had to wear these blue knit polo shirts that didn't breath well so everyone's backs are soaked in sweat ( I mean honestly I have never sweated so much in one day in my life!!).

So after that we went to a School for Arts. We first learned the basics of traditional Korean drums. Our class as a whole did a pretty good job ( we had to keep perfect time with everyone and cut off at once). After that we did this really silly dance which was pretty much impossible to learn and we had these flag things on our hands and had to move our back and hips and heads all in since and up and down to a certain rhythm. IT WAS INSANE!!! I felt so ridiculous ^^ but so was everyone else. I will have to see if there are any video's of this on the EPIK disc they gave us.  After that we watched Breakout which was a break dance comedy. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed, which is why I have the youtube link here ^^. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV1Vq47dlFA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-klTFRRL_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajvxp4kHqtM&feature=related

Orientation Dorm!

Here is a small tour of the Girls floor in the dormitory

Here is a view of our campus at NIIED

Night out on the Town!

So me and some of my new friends, Shea, Ilya, Derek and Rob decided to take the town out on a night! So our goal was to check out the city scape and hit up a bar or two and little did we know we would end up hitting five bars much to Ilya's hangover in the morning. So here are a few video's of the night including an interview of the famous basketball player Mr. Derek Rose. 

Ok edit!

Videos will have to come later when I figure out how to upload them here such that everyone can see them. I may just need better internet so that I can upload them to blogspot. Youtube needs 'realname verification here' and facebook video embedding ( which I did with the previous post) you can't see - according to some. 

Day one

Hi Everyone!

I said day one - but I technically arrived yesterday but EPIK calls today day one. There is so much to get used to, starting with above all the jet lag. I keep wanting to sleep right after lunch which I have been treating as my dinner. The life here is pretty dormitory -esque where we have bathrooms and showers shared by the hall the building is coed by floor, everyone has a roommate, the beds are by far the stiffest of beds I have ever been in. So exactly like freshman orientation!!!
The food here ( at the EPIK orientation) is all Korean so lots of spice. But oddly in the morning breakfast is very normal like bacon and eggs normal, with amazing juices to drink. Which by the way Koreans don't normally do - drink with meals. Weird huh. Also in the Cafeteria we have this amazing view of the mountains which are surprisingly closer than I thought.
I will try to get a walking tour of the neighborhood up here later which is super cool with very narrow windy streets and lots of back alleyways which completely baffles me how our bus could fit into. But the city is not too different, just big. and by big, I mean likely bigger than any city you have seen thus far I feel like it is really several cities rolled into one. They have many American places here too. Like Dunkin Doughnuts and Starbucks and Denny's, which has a dance floor on the room, as well as a Papa John's and Smoothie King.
Another thing, its like they don't want to pay for air conditioning for us. For example in the auditorium earlier it was 33.7C!!! and our room is around 28C which is about average. Which definitely takes a lot to get used to and you really have to make sure you wear deodorant which is apparently really hard to come by here. My roommate was told that Koreans don't sweat as much which is why they don't have as great of a need for it.
Anyways I will have more videos up later, but here are a few of our Opening Ceremony which consisted of a Tae Kwon Do demonstration and traditional singing and instrumentation displays.

Goose gets good at Hide and Peek

Goose meets a friend

Hi!

I am starting this blog to document my adventures as a Korean teacher! 

But First

This is Goose is he is my FID and completely adorable.