Buddha's Delight (Feb 27)

• I know I've said this many times, but I really like when people call me "Em" :)
• Today, I saw the tallest Buddha statue in South Korea. It was built in hope of peace between North and South Korea.
• Then, we had an anticlimactic trip to Daegu - but I hope to return soon for more adventures.
• Met my Korean co-teacher! She's very sweet and we really hit it off right away. We talked a lot, were sad to leave each other during lecture and did KPop together...I can't wait to spend more time with her :)
• Did some more KPop dancing tonight! A group of 6 guys from one of the universities came to teach us. It wasn't as fun as last time, mostly because the guy who was teaching us was really timid and I don't think he'd ever taught anyone before ever, even though he was a great dancer. We broke into 6 groups and each group did a different dance, and it was fun to see the other groups' choreography (though none of us really did that well).

Door, Up, Elevator (Feb 25)

• A random fancy thing about Korea: Elevators actually close when you push the “close door” button. Who woulda thought?
• Our Head Coordinator’s family came today and we got to play with her kids! They are so adorable and really smart. We taught them the Baby Shark song: 

They caught on to all of the motions and even remembered it later! So cute. Darryl taught the daughter (age 4) some adorable faces too.

It was so fun and such a relief from lectures (and a little taste of what teaching will be like).

Rock, paper, scissors!

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

• Today has been a crazy day. Filled with lots of emotion. It’s hard to believe that this morning I was waking up in my bed in Jochiwon. I definitely cried at least 4 times, including when Sehee choked back tears as she tried to say goodbye to us in Morning Briefing and when Marcelle gave me a goodbye kiss on the cheek (I think I might not be a robot anymore). I miss it! Although I didn’t know or necessarily like everyone at Orientation, I really liked the atmosphere of it and just being around so many people from all over. Plus, we all know I hate change. And this is a big one, even though many people are fine with the transition and I’m sure it won’t seem big in retrospect. But we left our bubble. And it stinks.
• And we are now at English Village – one of the strangest places I’ve ever been! I will preface this explanation by saying that this is definitely one of the nicest places I’ve stayed, and it could be SO much worse. But this place is just creepy! It’s built as a place for Korean students to attend English camps (it’s one of many around the country, and is the 3rd largest). It is themed like an airport (complete with a fake plane, customs desk, duty-free shop, baggage claim, security check, waiting area and signs) and there are “situational” rooms everywhere...so that the kids can practice English in real settings. It's honestly a great idea! And cool that they value English education so much that they’ve spent this much money on it. BUT when we are here by ourselves, without children around and half the lights turned off, this place is no longer cool, it’s is downright creepy. Like we’ve walked into a modern-day ghost town. Or (as Jeanette put it) that we are in a life-size dollhouse and there is a giant watching and controlling our every move. There also isn't really anything to do. The closest convenience store is a 40 minute walk away. In addition, our coordinators STILL don’t seem to know what’s going on and I continuously feel like they don’t have vital information. I understand that Korea has different values and practices than the US when it comes to planning and carrying stuff out, but TaLK scholars in other POE groups have received WAY more info than we have and are well-taken care of. So we can’t blame it on Korea.

I Be Shopping (Feb 23)

• I taught Set today in class, but no one was as excited about it as Chris and Dan...though I think that will be hard to top anyways. It was kind of frustrating that people didn't care about it, but there have been so many people that I've taught it to these last few weeks that love it, that it's okay.
• After lunch, we had another outing to Seoul - not freezing this time! It was actually pretty fantastic weather: a little cold after the sun went down but not that bad at all. We started by breaking off into groups to explore the area. I took the subway with some other girls to a popular (for locals) shopping area, near Ewha Women's University (apparently, when school is in session, girls will go shopping on their breaks between classes!). There are so many shops and restaurants! I got lots of things that I had been looking for (leggings, tights, a facial mask) and a few other good deals...only spent about $45 altogether :D

Mmm my street food dinner:
chicken kabob thing and "my" yummy egg thing

Giant shoe! (And Jordan) Indicating lots of great
shoes stores, though most don't carry my size :(

So busy and so much to buy! And this was just one
of many corners that looked like this!

• After our free time, we regrouped to attend a Nanta performance. We were told that it was kind of like Stomp but it was so much more! I guess that's how I would describe it too, but it took place entirely in a kitchen setting...so all of their music and performances were with kitchen things - like, cutting boards, knives (so cool!), plates, pots, spoons, brooms, trash can, etc. It was so awesome! They were great percussionists and performers, and they interacted with the audience so much. It only would have been better there had been room for all of us to have floor seats (vs. balcony). But it was great nonetheless and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who visits Seoul :)

And I Am Pining (Feb 22)

• Watching Chris Pine in Star Trek made me feel much better, after a night of getting hit on, taking care of drunk people, not drinking and watching cute boys not talk to me.

Mambo No. 5

Love from Group 5 :)

Five-O

• Lesson-planning workshops were a little hard to get through today. But in the Reading lecture, we got to spend all of our time with our teams and it was a lot of fun. We were told to act like 10-year-old Korean children, so we did. And when we had to make lesson plans or do the activities, we were all on the same page - equal parts putting in effort and not caring :) The other good thing was that I presented/taught part of our lesson and our coordinator told me at dinner that my teaching "was great, just brilliant" (he's British). And a girl in our group came up to me in our hallway to compliment me too. It was nice to hear that!
• K-POP DANCING! This week, our post-lecture classes are K-Pop dancing and kite-making. I was so excited to do K-Pop so, even though there were a ton of people signed up, I was going to be there :) We learned 0:22-1:38 of the choreography from 2NE1's "I Am The Best" and it was so much fun! I needed the movement after all the sitting we've had to do the last few weeks, and I wanted to dance. It was hard and we/I definitely didn't look like the girls in 2NE1. But one of the guys did say to me, "Someone has a dance background"...I love that :)
• After K-Pop, we went bowling with our Awesome Group 5 (lots of love to our Group :)). It was a fun and chill way to just hang out, outside of class.

A Few Quiet Drinks (Feb 20)

• Went out for drinks after dinner with a great group of people. It was really nice to just go and be chill - talking, playing cards, eating snacks - without the pressure or goal of being wasted.
• When I got back, I grabbed my laundry and Set and headed to the basement. I taught lots more people how to play! I love when people like it, because it's such a dorky past-time (esp. when everyone's out to Norebang and the bars) but they like it anyways :) Tonight, we were playing in the basement and there was club-type music in the background, but at least 10 people learned or played anyways. So cute!
• I have to remember to rescue my laundry from the basement in the morning...they close out the basement at midnight, no excuses, and the dryer had 15 more min :/ Oh well, I wouldn't have folded it tonight anyways.

Tower Tall (Feb 19)

• Nam San Tower was the order of the day. We all got a nice nap on the bus ride into Seoul - and then basically got dropped off at the bottom of the hill that the tower is on and were told "Go and be back at 2 pm!" We had no idea where we were headed! And there was literally ONE person in our group of 50 who knew which direction to go. Luckily, it was a pretty straightforward walk. And by "straightforward", I mean metaphorically - it was a REALLY steep walk. But we made it.

• I ate a cheeseburger! I've been wanting one for a few days. It was small, but pretty yummy - and is apparently the Best Burger in Seoul.

Also, there was a Coldstone! And most of us got ice cream, despite the freezing temperatures. Our Kiwi friends had never heard of Coldstone, let alone eaten it before, and they were totally amazed by it. How they made it, how it tasted. Also, Chris tried to test his Korean and ended up ordering 2...oops.

• We got to be a part of a guy's proposal to his girlfriend! Not completely - he was going around the tower getting people to write messages to his gf on a dry erase board. Then he would take pictures of the people and their messages and I assume he's going to put it into a collage. So cute!

• The Love Locks were amazing! Millions of people take their significant others to the Tower and "lock in" their love by attaching a lock to the fences or the designated trees (some people sneak a few elsewhere). It's cheesy and kind of makes a single girl want to vomit (esp. when she's with friends that happen to be an adorable couple) but it's also really cool.

Stop Smoking Because It's Not Good For You

• We had a field trip to a very small farming community today. I'm not sure if it was an actual village or not, but their community leader was really excited that we were there and wanted us to make sure we shared our experience there with everyone we know. We were supposed to rotate through 4 activities, getting an hour at each one, but for some reason we got really rushed through all of them and even ended up leaving early. A little disappointing, because the people seemed like they took a lot of time to prepare for our visit :/ But nonetheless, it was a great day and the activities were pretty cool.
• I didn't realize how "spoiled" I've become, with the Smoking Ban in Michigan. It's terrible being in a place where people can smoke inside and near doorways into buildings! I can't imagine how anyone can smoke anyways, and now, if I go out, I have to smell like it once again >:(

Dance in the Dark

• I miss dance. I know I've never really done it "officially" but when we did a little bit for a video our group is making, it made me miss learning choreography and being challenged. I really want to try to take a class while I'm here.
• In the meantime, I'll just wish I was as talented as Lindsey Stirling.

Up Late At Night Again

• So many bruises on my knees...
• As I was going to bed last night, I watched the last episode of BBF again. It was so amazing (apparently I'd forgotten) so when I was talking to Anna, I told her she HAD to wait for me to be available in order to watch it because I wanted to see her reactions. But she was on 24 (the 2nd to last one) and didn't want to stop...so I stayed up with her. Best decision EVER! She related in all the right places and it was basically like we were together, watching it. And the stupid episode is so darn cute that we both practically cried. It was totally worth it, even if I did only get 4 hours of sleep :D
• One of the lecturers we had today was totally boss. First of all, he was dressed fantastically - he looked very attractive and way younger than 39 (totally shocked when he said that was how old he was). Secondly, he talked about a really fascinating subject: basically, the conventions that we take for granted as English-as-a-first-language speakers can be huge roadblocks for ESL or EFL speakers. Thirdly, he had the best stories:
• He met his first friend and Charles spoke Korean and his friend spoke English, but they just laughed and played together anyways.
• After his family moved from Korea to Hawaii, his teacher read him Where the Wild Things Are. He said that as a 6-yr-old who didn't know English, it was the most amazing sensation...and then clarified: "Up until then...not since. But I won't go into details." Hahaha :)
• On learning semantics over pronunciation: He learned "So?" after an older student came to his group of friends bragging about his new Gameboy. When Charles' bigger friend said "So?" to him, he realized that that was a tough phrase, a good one to know. "From then on, I became a very cocky boy." He also learned "What about it?" when the same older student came back a second time. Charles said "So?" to him, so his friends were patting him on the back and saying to the boy, "Yeah! What about it?" He used it as "Whataboutit?" but used it nonetheless and "became an even cockier boy."
• (At the end of the lecture) Now you might be thinking "'Ah, I have the goodies for the rest of the year!' And yes, you do."

Dance Girl Dance

• I learned to break dance tonight! It was awesome - so much fun - and I can actually do it! And I kind of want to keep doing it...Korean break dance class maybe? I've got all of my winterguard bruises popping up (knees, shoulders, tops of feet, etc.) but it's okay...I hurt way less than any wg practice I've been to (though I was only doing it for a couple hours). Andy (the guy who was teaching me) told me I could be a BGirl because I was learning so quickly :D
• Maishon told me that I remind him of Cate Blanchett, when she was in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, especially when I was doing some ballet. I'll accept her as my doppleganger :)
• Today at lunch, we ate fish that had to be de-boned first. It was kind of gross :P The bones were really pointy and, with every bite, I was afraid that I was going to eat one.

Magic Power (Feb 15)

• We learned magic as one of our lectures today! It was really fun: the tricks were doable, but also the lecturer was a very nicely dressed Asian man and was very charismatic and funny. He kept saying things were "Simple...but effective." And he told us that if we messed up part of our trick, "The next step is very easy. Stand up. Walk out the door." He was also a lecturer today, so it was fun to have him again.
• I hung out with Monique and Richard for most of the day (classes, meals, Norebang) and they are fantastic, which made life much better today :)
• There was an epic Wednesday night party last week so another was organized for this week. Highlights included:
• Norebang - We sang BSB (of course), along with Whitney Houston, Gaga and "Summer Nights" from Grease. Also, after a few beverages, I went into another singing room where there was a group of Koreans. One of the girls kept saying "____, ____!" which means "pretty"...she liked my hair! She even told her boyfriend how pretty I was and he agreed! Then he fed me peaches. We hugged a lot and then I went back to our room.
• Ice cream - FINALLY. And it was ice cream on the top and sorbet on the bottom!
• Dance party/hanging out in the common room - Everyone went down there after returning from Norebang, so there were so many people down there. It was totally great AND...

You know, just hangin with
Daniel Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis ;)

• Finally meeting some people I've seen around but hadn't gotten to talk to yet. Yay for new friends!

My Funny Valentine (Feb 14)

• Happy Valentine's Day!
• I got to open my gift from Dad and Barbara today - it was filled with chocolate, socks, valentines, tea, glow bracelets and a really pretty card. It was perfect.
• Spent extra time with Shelby today. We talked about different things, ate a lot of chocolate, and watched some BBF.
• We also played different card games with new friends. Some people we'd met and/or played with before and others were totally new - it was great. AND everybody loves SET! I mean, they hate it but they don't want to stop playing it. It's so funny!
• Also, Leon wanted to practice piano but a couple was watching a movie in there. He was like, "I don't have the balls to kick them out...Emily, you go do it!" I took that as a compliment :D And someone else told me that I was a good teacher (after I taught them how to play Set).

The Hat

• Random little way that I know people here care about me: someone turned in a lost hat today that looks a lot like mine...4 different people asked me if it was mine or wanted to know if I had gotten my hat. I think they were all from EMU but I also had a little conversation with some other people from Group 5 who were like "Everyone wants to make sure you got your hat! Are you sure you have it?" It was really funny and totally insignificant - but also not :)
• I may move to Australia or Canada for teaching. In Canada, there are a lot of teachers looking for jobs but you can get $200/day just for subbing and earn a starting salary of $50,000. (Monique and Richard suggested I find a Canadian guy to marry so getting citizenship will be easier and their friend offered to help me with that...) In Australia, they need a lot of teachers in the rural areas and offer a starting salary of $57,000 or more. (Thanks to my new Australian and Canadian friends for that info). I mean, I'm not doing it for next year, and we'll see what other years bring - but it's definitely a real possibility! Oh and I might go to New Zealand. But that's just for funsies ;)

Dear Mr. President (Feb 12)

• TaLK offers mini-cultural trips on the weekends and today we went to CheongNomDae, which is basically the vacation home for Korea's presidents. We were able to tour the house (the current president doesn't visit it), along with part of the grounds...Shelby and walked 1.5 (of the shortest) of 5 paths. It was really beautiful. Almost like a forest in MI actually! It also reminded me a little of when PP and I gave ourselves a self-guided tour of the EMU President's House, when no one was living there ;)

The house

A view of the lake

Bridge along the path

Trees by the skating lake

Beautiful statue

High-five for Michigan! (And you know, being in Korea)

The presidents

• I ate my very first corndog at dinner tonight! It's a little weird that that happened for me in Korea...

Tesco Girl (Feb 11)

• We had our medical checkups today - the doctor told me I was too slim and need to eat more :)
• Most scholars went to Seoul this weekend but I skipped out. It was honestly a pretty lame day, but that's really okay...5 1/2 more months of exciting ahead. And I got to Skype with Anna, Carlee and Krystle AND go to HomePlus (a big supermarket). The coolest part about that is that it's owned by Tesco, the grocery store in England. That means that I got a ladybug bag like PP! 3 years later and halfway across the world :) We also interacted with some kids. A few were a little startled that we waved or said hello in Korean. But one came across our path with his cart, held up his hand, and said "Stop!" I put my hand up and said "Okay." He stood there for a minute, kind of in the way of one of the workers, but eventually I asked, "Can I go now?" And he said yes, so I said "Kam-sa-ham-ni-da!" It was really funny :) Finally, we got Korean donuts! They were filled with bean paste (which was a weird taste) but they were also fried and sugary...mmmm.
• We rode in a cab on the way home! We didn't really have to hail it but it was still cool. And really comfortable. And cheap.

My All Time Doll (Feb 10)

We made paper dolls in one of our lectures today.
His name is Lee Min Ho.
Gold star to those who know why he's named that ;)

And now Wario and Lee Min Ho can hang out!

• After dinner tonight, I went to an informal Korean lesson, watched BBF with Shelby and learned a new card game with Christian, Jeanette, Ruby, Aaron and Joey. It was really fun :) Christian is really brave and wants to learn Euchre - but it's so hard to teach! We'll see.

American Standard

• During dinner, we were discussing the lectures and, as I was talking about the Korean Education lecture, Jennifer asked me whether I liked the idea of nationally standardized curriculum. I talked about that, standardized testing, GLCEs, certification, teacher evaluation and the MEAP - after which she and Shelby both said they were really impressed with how much I knew. Yay for forming opinions and putting what I learned in college to use!
• In my optional class tonight, I learned to cook bibimbop, with Shelby and Glenn. It was fun but the best part was that I separated an egg (thanks Dad :)) and flipped each part in the pan (without a spatula)! It was so cool.
• After that, we went to norebang with a bunch of people from Group 3. Norebang is Korean karaoke, but you get to be in a room with everyone you go with, instead of singing to a bar/restaurant full of people you don't know. I sang I Want It That Way, My Heart Will Go On, A Whole New World, and Womanizer with various people. It was really fun hanging out with people from a different group (I'm in Group 5), because the people in my group only casually talk to me and I feel like I'm not making close friends with many of them (like a bunch of the lecturers say we should be doing). I also tried various Korean beverages, including black raspberry wine, lemon beer, and soju. Also also, I learned that  Korean boys in clubs = American boys in clubs...fun.

1st Lecture

• Today was our first day of orientation lectures...this sounds really boring, but they really weren't! It was good.
• History of Korea: This lecture was given by a woman who was a TaLK scholar just last year. She focused on Korea's growth from a 3rd world country in the 1950s to the big economic power it is today. It was really interesting to learn about this country and understand how much change and growth has happened in the last 60 years - really amazing, in fact. She also spoke about the Korean Comfort Women, which were basically a group of 200,000 teen girls who were prostituted to the Japanese soldiers during WWII. It was very cool to hear her pride in her country as she relayed different anecdotes about the history. And she kept it interesting for the whole 2 hours.
• Taekwondo: We got to learn a little Taekwondo today! It was pretty demanding, and we weren't even pushed that hard. The masters were really funny and instructed us well. I would prefer to do something a little more dance-oriented, but if I can't find anything like that, I might do a Taekwondo class in my town.
• Korean Culture: This was a good lecture too, and the guy who did it both spoke well and created a great PowerPoint. He addressed good topics, utilized a lot of public speaking techniques and had a great voice.
• After classes and dinner, we had the option of doing another class. I signed up and went to a session dedicated to learning traditional Korean instruments (the ensemble of them is called Salmulnori). I learned the Kkwaenggwari (a small gong) and the Janggu (an hourglass shaped drum). The rhythm we learned was simple, but the technique was  different from anything I already know and the sound was cool. The most interesting thing about the instruments (there are 4 in the full ensemble) is that each represents a different weather condition: the janggu = rain, the kkwaenggwari = thunder, the jing (a larger gong) = wind, and the buk (a different drum) = clouds. The instructor only spoke Korean - so one of our TaLK scholars translated (so cool!) - but she told us that this was likely the only time we'd get to play these instruments (because of the rarity of instructional studios), so we should really enjoy it. The group we saw at the Opening Ceremony was a Salmulnori group: 

Seoul Music (Feb 7)

• Today, we attended the TaLK Opening Ceremony on the main campus of Korea University in Seoul. We got to see Dr. Koh! It was fun to see someone from the home and to get hugs :) There were some cool things that went on during the ceremony, but the best part (and my favorite) was the group called the "K Tigers", which is made up of about 30 kids, who do a mix of Taekwondo and hip hop dance. It was amazing! See the video to fully understand :)

Right?!?!

• After the ceremony, we did a scavenger hunt around Seoul, which was a pretty cool idea, but it was FREEZING. Therefore, the best part was the great street vendor food we had for dinner - I had an egg baked into cornbread and a chicken kabob. I really can't wait to go back.
• You can read more about my day in Seoul on my post from my other blog.

Letter To Me

• Today, our EMU group went exploring into Jochiwon (the town where we are staying, at Korea University Sejong campus). It's actually pretty big. It's very industrial, a lot of train tracks, some shipping yards, large traffic intersections, and a lot of trash everywhere :/ BUT, there were also some really great things: artwork on the walls around said large traffic intersections, small and large buildings of all different architectural styles, colorful signs, and great people. Great people story: We went into this little resale shop. There wasn't much to interest us but the owners were so welcoming..."Coffee? Coffee? Coffee?" So we sat down and they showered us with coffee, chocolates, choco-puffs, grape juice and questions about ourselves. There was a woman who made the coffee and a woman who served us (I think her name was Kim Mi Soon). The woman who cooked told us about her daughter who was/is Miss Korea - she was so proud! And you could tell where Miss Korea got her good looks. Kim Mi Soon asked us all our ages, what our names were (she was really excited that we have 2 girls named Bianca/Beanka), and if we went to church. It was really interesting trying to communicate when we don't know Korean and she barely spoke English - amazingly, we were mostly successful. It was such a unique experience and a great one to have on our first day here.

• I got my teaching placement today. I will be in Pohang, on the eastern coast on Korea, at Daewong Elementary School. I'm not %100 sure that Pohang is where I'll be living, but it's going to at least be close to there.

•  As I was looking for some things in my suitcase, I found an envelope with my dad's handwriting on it. Now, I had already found a separate envelope with his writing on it yesterday - it contained a collage I made him when he left for a trip in like 6th grade (which he's letting me borrow) and a card. So when I saw this one, I was confused. I opened it and found a letter from my Anna!!! I can't believe it. She's so sneaky and thoughtful. And honestly, I was very proud of her for finishing it before I left ;) It was filled with love and advice and I'm so glad I got it. I just need to find my guard tape now, so I can hang it on my desk :)

Leaving On A Jet Plane (Feb 4/5)

• I took off from Detroit at about 12:15 pm on February 4 and landed in Incheon, Korea at about 4:00 pm February 5. After a bus ride, check-in and a trip to the convenience store, I am ready to crash. Sleeping and relaxing is on the agenda for tomorrow, so that I'm all ready for orientation to start on Tuesday.
• Our flight path today went over/near the North Pole to save time and gas by using the jet streams. I wish I was by a window so I could have seen more - but it was sunny the whole flight!
• There was a lot of excitement among our group, both at the airport and on the bus today :)
• I was super awesome as I checked my bags and wouldn't let the guy charge me for a 2nd bag when my ticket said I could bring 2. And I didn't even cry. It was exciting.

Packing My Bags

• I finished packing today by 3 p.m. Which means I was done EARLY. Really? Me? Woohoo! Also, I fit everything in my 2 suitcases and 1 carry-on, though one of them will have to be overweight. Oh well. I AM going to 6 months after all.
• I got to see Amanda one last time before I left :) It was a nice surprise and I hope we get to talk more soon.
• Barbecue Chicken pizza for dinner - mmmmm, good last American dinner for awhile.
• I'm excited to be going. I feel very encouraged by everyone around me and very comforted that I got to so many (most, in fact) of my friends and family before departing. Not to mention that we have this wonderful thing called Skype :) Now for that 18-hour flight...
• I love my Boyz :)

Brave and Beautiful Soul (Feb 2)

• Being able to see Phil, Kristin, Jane, Katie, Jason AND Charlie was truly the highlight of my day. I had made plans to hang out with Phil, Kristin and Katie, but Jason and Charlie were surprises :) Katie gave me a fantastic card, we got to see Phil and Kristin’s new house (so pretty) and Jason, Charlie and I chatted and played Dance Central (hello, workout).
• Katie, Phil and Charlie all told me tonight that I’m brave for going to Korea and that they know I’ll do really great there. It was really nice to hear that – I will definitely remember it when I’m having a bad day or feeling particularly lonely.

Magnificent Obsession

• Happy February!
• Obsessed with Boys Before Flowers. Can't help it. And can't stop watching it.
• I love it when Jeopardy contestants struggle with or miss questions about the Great Lakes. Also, I answered lots of Qs correctly tonight...I should have auditioned for College Jeopardy, darn it.
• Finished shopping, found some books to bring and printed pictures of my family and friend - good steps towards packing. My dad asked me what my plan was for packing  was. My answer: "To do it."