Ipod Inspiration

"If I could tell the world just one thing it would be we're all ok. And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these...

My hands are small I know,

but they're not yours

they are my own,

but they're not yours

they are my own

and I am never broken.

...In the end, only kindness matters."

-Jewel, My Hands

Namaste

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Walking to work every day requires me to cross the street several times. One such crossing occurring about a block from my school. There is another private school on the opposite corner. A crossing guard helps the children safely cross the road. Every time I see him he gives me a huge smile and says "hello" to me in English. We then proceed to have a short and jumbled conversation until the next green "walk" sign begins flashing and I am on my way. I look forward to this interaction every day. It is such a small gesture and I don't even know this man's name, but it always brightens my day.

People are always wanting to practice speaking English with me because I am a westerner. Most of the time this happens to me on the subway. Often times older men approach me and make me a little uneasy. I realize that more than likely they just want to chat, but sometimes I get a feeling that they may be trying to hit on me... one of the perks of being a 'partial' (fake) blond in an Asian country. Sometimes children will come up and speak with me to practice their English. This happened to my friend Sara and I one time on the subway. These children were 'spying' on us walking around and around us trying to scope us out before approaching us. Sara and I just watched them laughing the whole time. They were not inconspicuous at all. They finally approached us and said "hello". The next time it was a "how are you?" When we got onto the subway car with them they told us their names and asked for ours. With each interaction they would run back to their parents and report what we had said in Korean. I would normally find this annoying, but it was actually quite adorable.

Korean people have no trouble being naked in front of strangers. Public baths here are very popular and no one has any issues striping down and baring it all to others. The locker room in my gym is stocked with naked ajumas running around all over the place. I am always ducking, turning my head, and trying to avoid them at all cost while shyly getting into my work-out clothes in the corner. Trying to work up the nerve to visit a jjimjilbang.

Winter camp is 3/4 of the way done. I thought my fourth grade students' English would be significantly better than that of my third graders, but is not the case. Some students are very easy to communicate with and others are a little more difficult. Luckily I have some great students who help me out as translators. Teaching has been enjoyable, but spending the afternoons in the office with 3 or 4 other co-workers at most has been making my time drag by slowly. I get frustrated sometimes thinking about how all the other Korean teachers are on vacation and I have to sit here all day with nothing to do in the afternoons. Most days they do not keep the heat on and I am freezing. The other Korean co-workers in the office order and pay for my lunch everyday. I feel really bad, but it is just the Korean custom for someone to buy food for everyone. I definitely feel like an outsider when there is no one here who speaks English because I have no idea what is going on in the conversation around me. Sometimes they will ask me things in Korean and I have no idea how to answer. I just smile and laugh a lot. It is really tough sometimes being the only foreigner. I will be grateful to have my regular schedule back at school, but will miss the small, well behaved classes from winter camp.

making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

eating some not-so-hard boiled eggs on Dr. Seuss day

Dr. Seuss day

Frankensteins on 'monster' day

boys with their mummy on 'monster' day

girls with their mummy

Check out the students doing a mummy race on 'monster' day: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100140459983929

Thoughts of my future are always running rampant in the back of my mind, but after 4 months in Korea the 'next step' has really got my head spinning. For Dorothy it was as simple as following the yellow brick road. She eventually make it back to Kansas by clicking her heels together. My wanderlust is growing day by day and I cannot wait for my next adventure, but I do miss family and friends dearly. After all, there is no place like home. Maybe I just need some red sparkly shoes.

Namaste

K-pop Fever

I have been slowing expanding my musical taste while here in Korea and have finally succumbed to K-pop. K-pop is Korean pop music. It is a totally different genre of music all on it's own. I was not immediately taken by the repetitive lyrics and dancy beats, but I have grown to really enjoy this music. You could even say I have caught the K-pop fever. (Maybe I have just been in Korea too long or maybe I have been hanging out with my friend Sara too much- she loves the K-pop!) Either way this bubblegum brand of pop music is something that must be experienced. The heavy make-up wearing, neon and pleather clad teenage singers who bust out these tunes definitely deserve some credit for their originality and Justin Timberlake-like dance abilities. The only way for you to understand what I am talking about is to check it out for yourself. Below I have included several K-pop videos for you to watch. Give it a listen and you just may just enjoy K-pop too. (Or you'll get the cheesy lyrics stuck in your head and find yourself singing them in the shower, walking on the street, riding in the car...)

This is one that my friends and I have been obsessing over lately. The group is called SHINee and their single is "Ring Ding Dong". It is really popular in Korea right now and you'll hear everyone from elementary students with their mP3 players to 20-somethings at dance clubs singing along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roughtzsCDI&feature=fvst

Sadly, we like it so much my friends even want to learn the dance that accompanies it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8M0hRfPRho

I really love this song by Epik High, "One". The video is quite intense, but that is Korean style in general.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0CSTVXSkcA

Brown Eyed Girls has one of the hottest K-pop songs out right now. It's called "Abracadabra" and there is a really famous dance move that goes with it. Often times Korean students will be caught busting it out in school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idlb9-bF2sc

My elementary students love this group, Big Bang. This is one of their songs "Lollipop". I actually think this one is quite annoying, but the outfits and hair styles are too good to miss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIRW_elc-rY

This song is by IU called "Marshmallow". My girl students love when I play this song for them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IBGeI6bQLo

This is the Wondergirls song "So Hot". They are actually really big world wide and becoming more popular in North America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmun5PO54VE

This is 2PM's "Again and Again". They are another huge group here in Korea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUgReo37ECw

Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry" is one that will be sure to stick in your head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QA3m58DQw

This is Rain's "I'm Coming". Rain is one of the biggest stars to come out of Korea and has even made it to the big screen playing a part in the new version of the movie Speed Racer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5B0XItDpSM

G-Dragon sings "Heartbreaker" which has been a hit in Korea for a while now. The Korean students love this guy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOXEVd-Z7NE&feature=fvst

This is Girls Generation. The song is called "Chocolate Love" and again, the lyrics are sure to stick in your head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkP1tCJtGS0&feature=related

If you found yourself tapping your foot to the beat, shaking your head or hips, trying to sing along with the refrain, busting out some of the dance moves along with the video, or even digging some neon threads out of your closet, then you have caught the K-pop fever as well. In this case, a healthy dose of K-pop news from http://popseoul.com/ is just what the doctor ordered.

Namaste

"Yes, sir!"

My third grade Korean winter camp students are about 20% exhausting, 30% confused/confusing, and 50% adorable. Let me explain.

During the month of January public school is closed for holiday. I have to be at work each day and teach a winter English camp. The first two weeks I have third grade students, and the last two weeks I will have fourth grade. I teach 2 eighty minute classes a day. I teach the students by myself without a co-teacher. I have planned different themes and activities for each day.

I began my second week of camp today. Last week had it's ups and downs. The students' English levels are not very high. Being by myself in front of the class can be very frustrating and tiring. I feel like an idiot half the time standing up there making hand gestures and staring into blank Korean students' faces asking "ok? understand?" when I know they do not. This also makes discipline difficult. Sometimes students just tune me out because they get tired of trying to understand me. I can't blame them, but then they become distracting to the rest of the class. This is the exhausting part.

Some of the students and one in particular is always calling me "Sam". I had no idea what this meant and spent the better part of last week's conversation with him saying that my name was not Sam, but Jackie. I finally figured out that he was calling me "Sam" because it is a shortened version of sonsaengnim, the Korean word for teacher. I will give directions for an activity and then walk around only to see the students doing something completely different. I will have contests or games and tell the students that the winners will get candy, give candy to the winner(s), and then all of the other students look at me with puppy-dog eyes when they do not receive candy because they did not understand what I had explained. This is the confused/confusing part.

Most of the students have regular English names, but some have names like Kitty, Rainbow, and Sup. These names make me laugh. Some students with English names also insist on an incorrect spelling. For example, Selly (Sally), Jak-sun (Jackson), and Aarik (Eric). There are lots of things the kids say that make me laugh. I am not making fun of their accent because I know how difficult it is for them to pronounce some sounds, espcially "l" and "r", but I can't help but giggle a bit when they say it. They will say "finishee!" (not finished) when they are done with something. They will shout "Olleh!" when they win a game. They say "Engrishee" instead of English. They will tell me "yes-uh" instead of yes. They refer to me as "jacket" instead of Jackie. They say "yes-uh, sir!" to me when I give them directions on how to do something. I have to tell them repeatedly that I am not a 'sir'. This is the adorable part.

locating places on the globe for 'Around the World' day

one of the funniest kids ever, Kevin

Sung-sup or "Sup"

girls table

Brian with a toothy grin

kiddos outside after playing red rover and tag

playing in the snow

Namaste

Here's to a New Decade

After a fabulous but tiring Christmas weekend, I was in need of a day to relax and spend some time alone. Sam came to stay with me for the week on Tuesday. We had an amazing time and did tons of great touristy things around Seoul. You could almost say the week was perfect minus a slight mishap on New Year’s. Sam’s purse with basically everything (ids, money, phone, camera, I pod) except her passport was stolen and she spent the better part of the weekend trying to figure it all out. I don’t understand people sometimes. If I’ve learned one thing for sure it’s that karma will always catch up with you.

I had heard about these ‘Dr. Fish’ cafes they have here in Korea so we decided to try one out this week. It was a really neat experience. I will let you check out the video I made so you can get an idea of what this place is all about. If I had to sum up this unique pedicure in one word it would be 'ticklish'.

white hot chocolate at Dr. Fish

pedicure

enjoying my visit to Dr. Fish

Check out the video of Dr. Fish: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100128404687839&ref=mf

Sam and I also checked out the aquarium at the COEX mall. It was really well done and totally reverted me back to my elementary days as a kid at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

toilet fish tank

starfish

fishes

gigantic turtle

On New Year’s Eve we met up with a group of friends and headed to Myeong-dong for some drinks. Shortly before midnight we all made our way to Jongno, in the middle of the city to watch the countdown. There was live music, tons of people, and police everywhere ready to take care of business if things got out of control. After shouting down from 10 people began lighting off fireworks from the crowd and there was live music. The only thing I can compare it to would be Times Square in NYC on New Year’s. Such a cool experience. When the crowd died down and we finally made our way to the subway we migrated over the Hongdae to dance the rest of the night away at a club.

the ladies on New Year's Eve

Korean police force in downtown Seoul

New Year's Eve in Seoul

Jack and Sam

Check out a video of the crowd in Seoul: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100128396673899

Sam and I wanted to visit a temple this week so we wandered over to the Jogyesa Buddhist temple. The shrine there, Daeungjeon, is the largest in Seoul. It was a peaceful and spiritual visit. After walking around on our own for a bit and checking out the inside of the temple we walked into the tourist office and a kind older gentleman offered to give us a short tour. He answered some of our questions and explained more about the temple and religion to us. Watching people lighting candles and incense, placing offerings on the tables, and worshipping inside the temple was fascinating. I am intrigued by the Buddhist religion and eager to learn more about it while I am in Korea.

lanterns outside the Jogyesa temple

Buddha statue

not quite sure what this was, but it was really cool

pagoda that you circle three times to the right and bow to after entering the front gate of the compound

lighting my incense- the candles represent lighting up the world and diminishing darkness like Buddha did and the smoke from the incense sends wishes up to heaven

one of the three giant Buddhas inside the temple- each has a specific name and role

lanterns outside the funeral house

the belfry

Sam and I in the belfry- one large bell in the center to wake humans, one to the left to wake up sea creatures, one to the right to wake up animals, and one in the back to wake up flying creatures each struck 28 times at 4A.M. and 33 times at 6P.M.

A group of girls met up in Seoul and walked down Ahyeondong Wedding Street, a famous street with over 200 wedding retailers. As we window shopped we saw everything from the most elegant and extravagant dresses to ones that were strange and tacky looking. There were modern dresses, traditional dresses, and dresses that I would never be caught dead in at my wedding. After browsing we found the wedding café we had been looking for and ordered some milkshakes while we waited to try on some wedding dresses for fun. It was hilarious and we had a terrific time posing for cheesy pictures and pretending like we were princesses/brides for an hour.

wedding street

Korean wedding dresses

my 'wedding' day

the lovely brides

catch

bride wars

with all the cheesy stuffed animals

On our last night of vaca a group of us got together and went to Gangnam for some laughs, drinks, hookah, and a good time. After getting rowdy at a Korean bar we made our way to Rainbow and enjoyed some hookah.

Hyun-jin, me, and Sam

Jackie S. and Jackie M.

Looking forward to the year abroad in 2010. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for me!

Happy January!

Namaste