Sound of Eve

• Happy Birthday Eve to me!
• Went to HomePlus to go grocery shopping tonight. But first, for dinner I had a donut. And then I bought myself a dress that was on sale :) I got some really good things grocery shopping too, including everything I need to make rice cooker banana bread (which is currently baking).
• Missed my bus stop on the way home because I was enthralled in The Help (love it!). Once I realized that, I thought I'd thwart the system and get a free ride back from the next stop, but I forgot that only happens if you transfer to a different bus, not the same one (like I did). But oh well, it was only a $1/20 minute mistake.
• I am now in the process of making rice cooker banana bread! The batter was not as yummy as my BanANNA Bread recipe, but it might be better than nothing...we'll see!
• I have had a realization about reading books made into movies and watching movie versions of books. I have decided that I really like reading books after I've seen the movies about them. Everyone knows the books are always better than the movies (except for A Walk To Remember...didn't like that book). If you read the book first, you are likely going to be disappointed by the movie (though, in cases like Harry Potter, you will appreciate the effort anyways). But if you read the book after seeing the movie, you will be so happy with how good it is! And the book will probably make more sense. This has happened for me with Pride & Prejudice, Eat Pray Love, and now The Help.

Gift for You (Mar 27)

• One of my 6th grade students (Dae Han) gave me music for my birthday! It was just copied from his flashdrive, but the gesture is cute and he was really excited about it :)

• It’s lonely in my apt :(

How To Be A Millionaire (Mar 26)

• Even though Winter ate lunch at home today, I was able to have an actual conversation in English about my trip to Seoul with Office Guy and Girl! It was really exciting. They both know way more English than they give themselves credit for – and I’m glad they are starting to show that to me! It’s taken a few weeks, but if it’s like this now, I can imagine it will only get better throughout the rest of my experience.
• I’m a Korean millionaire! I got my first paycheck and the currency here is about 1000 Won to every $1. Since I’m getting paid about $1500 a month that means there are a LOT of numbers in the amount of my bank account balance…however arbitrary they actually are.
• Had to say goodbye to PP and Anna tonight :( It was really sad for a lot of reasons – but also, this is the closest we’ve been to living together since being in the apartment. And I miss living with them. More sleepovers when I get back.

Soul to S[e]oul (Mar 25)

• We had a fantastic quiet walk through Seoul this morning. We started to coffee that was too expensive, and then moved on to explore the park surrounding Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces, which was only a 15 minute walk from out hostel. We almost made it for the official tour of the UNESCO site (the only way you can see it on a Sunday) but not quite :/ After that, we walked towards Cheonggyecheon Stream, on our way to Gyeongbokgong Palace. 

• As likely the only 20-somethings to not go out this past Saturday night, the streets were devoid of crowds. Except the huge amounts of police officers! After a lot of confusion, a little interaction with some officers, watching them walk around, and the giant banner announcing the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, we realized that they were practicing for the arrival of all the important people who are coming to Seoul tomorrow (including President Obama!). Once we realized this, we were much less freaked out (than by the thought that there had been a bomb scare, for example). The weather was beautiful and our conversations were fantastic; in addition to normal stuff, we talked a lot about Korean history, combining what I’ve learned here with what Anna already knows and our ideas about things. I love that the 3 of us don’t run out of things to talk about :)

• We eventually arrived at Gyeongbokgong Palace and I really enjoyed it because when we were here for the Scavenger Hunt, we only passed by the outside (I kept having Scavenger Hunt flashbacks throughout the day). The grounds of the palace are very extensive and there are a lot of beautiful buildings and scenery. I’m very grateful to Anna for taking lots of pictures at my and PP’s will, in addition to her own (PP had lost her camera last night :( and mine was dead), although we did have to fight with the memory card a few times.

Modern + traditional

• After wandering for a couple hours, we made our way over to Insadong, a more historical shopping area (thanks to the Scavenger Hunt, I knew where all these great places were!). There are tons of shops here and I realized that it is a fantastic place to buy souvenir gifts! Scarves, traditional arts (paper, pottery, statues, etc.), things with “Korea” on them...I will be returning to purchase most of my gifts here :) Also, it’s a great place to buy ridiculous tourist items – like Boys Before Flowers socks!!! Anna and I found Kim Bum AND Lee Min Ho socks! Naturally, we bought them. We were so fan-girl giddy. We had a yummy lunch and then bought tea that was way too expensive (and too strong to be very good :/), and successfully made it back to our hostel. We had to pack up kind of quickly to make, but we managed to have an incredibly awkward encounter with a guy at the hostel (we asked him to take our picture on the roof, with the city in the background – and he told us he was busy! Eating lunch! I thought he was joking so it was really weird when I realized he was being serious...) and meet the other hostel manager (he was REALLY nice...I hope I get to stay there again) before heading to the subway.
• We walked 16,652 steps and burned 1,190 calories today! Add that to the things that made today fantastic :)

Love Lockdown (Mar 24)

• We got a pretty early start this morning – though, since it’s me, Anna and PP, we were running late. Our first stop (after breakfast of course) was Nam San Tower. We used the directions from our hostel guy to find the right subway stop…and it was a little tricky from there. I hiked up to the tower during orientation, but we came out at a different spot this time. We ended up taking the STAIRS all the way up! (Over 800 of them! For reference, the Eiffel Tower has 364 stairs and the Washington Monument has 897) It was a HUGE workout that none of us (except maybe PP) were ready for. Oops! But today’s weather turned out really nice so, other than the steep incline, it wasn’t too horrible. And the stairs led us right to the tower. It was fun to be there again, and show PP and Anna my favorite parts. We looked at the love locks, shopped around (and bought matching tourist-y t-shirts), and found the place where Gu Jun Pyo meets Jan Di!!! That was really exciting :D Oh and these 3 younger Korean boys asked to take their picture with us! So cute.
• We decided to take the shuttle bus back down to the city, both because we were tired and because we were running late. Exciting thing: my bus card worked on it! Cool. Funny thing: at the point where we turned left to go up the stairs, we could have turned right and gone up the path that I knew. Oh well. Awesome thing: another Korean man helped us figure out exactly when to get off. :)
• Myeondong is really cool. There is SO much there! Restuarants (Korean and Western), street food, shopping (mostly higher end, but also some street booths), theaters (this is where we were seeing Nanta) and everything is so lively and colorful.
• Nanta was fantastic again :) Honestly, I think the one we saw during orientation (which was a different theater...duh self! I thought it was the same until we found the building and I was like, "Oh...this doesn't look familiar") was better, but that might also be because that was my first time seeing it. I'm really glad I decided to take PP and Anna and that I decided to go with them.
• After Nanta, we met up with Sehee! It was so fantastic to see her again, though it was also weird to not have everyone from TaLK around...since that's the only time I've ever seen her. She took us to this yummy restuarant where we had a dish with ACTUAL cheese. MMMM! Then we shopped around Myeongdong for awhile before heading to shop near Ewha University. It was so nice to hang out with her and PP and Anna. They all got along really well and we talked the whole time. Sehee's profile picture is even of her and PP now! Can’t wait to see her again.
• Even though we returned to our hostel before 9 pm tonight, we are being lame, staying here and relaxing for the night. It's so nice to be in a room by ourselves and we had such a long day. I know lots of people go to Seoul to party, but we are totally okay with not doing that - and I love that about my besties :)

Help! (Mar 23)

Today has been an incredible day. I will definitely post for the last 2 days but this one deserves to go up now (pictures to come) :)

• First, I got up after only 4 hours of sleep to go get my Alien Registration Card with Winter! (“Winter” is Ji Hyeon’s English name, just for future reference.) Woohoo, I’m officially an alien resident of South Korea! On the bus ride home, Joey called me and we talked for a while, it was really fun :)
• Then, my kids weren’t actually that crazy today. Woohoo! One of my troublemakers was gone in grade 1, so half of those issues were solved automatically. The 2^nd graders were loud, like normal, but seemed sweeter today (a few were gone from that class too). And my craziest student – Do Hyeon – was REALLY sweet to me! He seems to like me a lot more now and stays after class to just hang out. Today, he asked me how to say things in English and helped me clean up the classroom a little. He was SUCH a demon the first 2 weeks and now he’s being adorable. I think I may learn to love him :) Finally, my 6^th graders were totally amused that I can say “Oh my God” just like the 2NE1 girls do in “I Am The Best”. It was really funny.
• After school, PP and Anna and I got ready for our Seoul Adventure. We made the 6:20 bus and the bus was really nice – except that the heater for the whole bus was under Anna’s seat. I didn’t believe her about how hot it was until I traded seats with her halfway through...it was horrible! I was really dying. But PP and I got to talk for a long time and I told her all about TaLK, including the teacher-y/organizational things that I knew she’d get. But she’s thinking about doing it at some point...woohoo! Also, there was a man behind us who asked me if I would help him with his English. At first, I wasn’t sure if he meant long-term (like he was from Pohang) or just for the duration of the bus ride (did he want me to start from the beginning???) but then he pulled out an English workbook; he just wanted to check a few things with me. It was so cute! On and off throughout the rest of the ride he would check things with me (English is such a confusing language – I’m so lucky to have it as my first, even if it is my only, language). And he helped us figure out whether to take a taxi or the subway to the hostel.
• So we arrived in Seoul and got off the bus...on the side of a road. Further investigation revealed that we were, in fact, close to the bus station. We wandered around and through it (fighting with an ATM on the way) and after asking for directions (which turned out to be relatively unhelpful), we found the subway station. We bought subway tickets. THEN...we were stuck. We couldn’t find directions to the line we needed and were literally just standing there looking at a map. Luckily, a really nice Korean man came to our aid. He told us which line we needed to take and then led us up (confusing, as we were riding the subway) to the train. Then he explained the subway map, which stop we needed, and how many stops away it was to us. THANK YOU KOREAN MAN. His directions were perfect and, coupled with the directions from the hostel, we found our way without a problem. OH, and we met a really eager Korean man. He was really excited when he found out PP was from Chicago, as he lived there for 4 years, and he talked to us about a lot of things. He was almost creepy but not quite – kind of like a used car salesman. Before he got off at his stop, he handed us each his business card and told us he’d give us free dental check-ups and coffee when we return to Seoul. And that we needed to send him our email. He repeated that at least 3 times – we thought he was going to get shut in the doors! Haha. So...anyone want a free dental check-up in Seoul?
• Getting to the hostel wasn’t too hard and when we went up to the office, the guy who checked us in (Nemanja – he’s from Serbia!) was REALLY helpful. He gave us super detailed information about getting to all the places we plan to go and then offered to take us to go get food. We dropped our things off in our room first. It’s a 6-person dorm that we get to ourselves this weekend! Which is good because staying in it with 6 people would be REALLY tight. But it’s adorable. The hostel itself is great. It is only 12000 Won per night and, as Anna put it, it’s not nearly as sketchy as it should be! It’s off-an-alley entrance, slightly rundown appearance and cheap price make it seem not-that-great but it’s awesome: close to everything and the staff is great. I’m so happy with our decision! So after putting our stuff in our room, we wandered into one of the main shopping districts of Seoul, Dongdaemun. Several malls and tons of small shops/booths and it was totally alive, even at 1 in the morning! And this is just the shopping district...I can't imagine the nightlife areas. Crazy.

Anyways, I’m really happy to be here and I can’t wait for tomorrow :)

Perfect Lady Housewife (Mar 22)

• Today was just a day of cooking, cleaning, and BBF. I made dinner with almost all of the leftovers in my fridge...and it turned out pretty well! And, since PP and Anna got slightly lost in Changwon, and I was just lonely for a while, I decided to clean the apartment too. Just your regular old little housewife, doing chores and watching soap operas ;)

Unexpected Changes (Mar 21)

• Today was one of those days they warn you about at orientation – where, all of a sudden, there is an event at school that you are supposed to know all about and attend! When I arrived at school today, the Office Guy told me that lunch was right away! 20 minutes earlier than normal. Then I went upstairs and Mi Hye (the other English teacher at my school, who comes on Wednesdays, and has been REALLY helpful to me) said that we had to attend a meeting at 2:00...but I teach from 1:20-4:00. She said, “Oh yeah...well, I will ask the head teacher but I think you can just leave the students in the classroom while you are at the meeting.” OH! After freaking out in my head, I decided I would have them watch a movie. Whew. So then we ate lunch :) I love seeing Mi Hye on Wednesdays because she’s so positive, sweet and helpful and translates for me. After a good lunch, we went upstairs...and the 1^st graders were already there! 30 minutes early! Oy. So I started their class early, in an effort to have some time before the meeting. After that class (which was pretty good), grade 2 through grade 6 came in! I wasn’t expecting all of them at once. Mi Hye helped me explain that we had to go to a meeting and that they would be watching a movie while we were in there. She also added that she would appoint some students to write down the names of students who misbehaved or were loud and that she would punish them (she is amazing). We chose Su Hyeon and Dae Han (my 6^th graders) and they were so good! They wrote down names (it ended up being the regular trouble-makers) AND worked to keep the younger kids in line, even after I came back in the room. After struggling through about 40 minutes of an improvised lesson (I had plans but everything was all messed up :(), I dismissed the 2^nd and 3^rd graders and Dae Han, Su Hyeon, Chan Gi and I played Jenga and Days-of-the-Week Go Fish, while listening to Kpop. I know that I will eventually have to teach them real things...but not right now.
• After I was done teaching, Mi Hye asked if I could help her with her homework – she was working on some English worksheets! It was kind of fun, trying to remember all of the grammar rules and verb tenses...why is English so complicated??? I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have it as my first language.
• When I got home from school, I waited for PP and Anna to get home from Jukdo Market and then we went to Mundeok to meet Liz for dinner. It turned out that we met Liz and a few of the teachers from her school (the youngest ones). It was really fun! We had a spicy-ish dinner and got to know each other a little. Her mentor teacher speaks English really well - he lived in California for 3 years. The boys (her teachers) talked in Korean and the girls (Liz, me, PP and Anna) talked in English with a little bit of cross-conversation, with te help of Liz and her MT. It was really great because Liz was able to explain some Korean culture things to PP and Anna that I hadn’t, or that I just didn’t know. For example, we take shoes off at school because, for children, teachers are considered the next best thing to parents – so going to school is like being at home, where we always leave our shoes at the door. Cool!
• After dinner, we got ice cream (the dinner was really spicy) and then went to a beer restaurant/bar. It was surprisingly fancy in appearance but not in feel – we played 31 at our table and had yummy drinking snacks. Then, we went to norebang again! It was fun, mostly because we had had a little more to drink and were singing all kinds of songs...including “I Like Big Butts” and “When Will My Life Begin” (from Tangled). It was fantastic :)

The Lonely Goatherd (Mar 20)

• Anna and PP visited my school today! My kids were normal crazy and the teachers/administration they met were (of course) really nice to them – so it was good. Not too many of the adults really talked to them but that’s kind of how they interacted with me the first week. Oh and Mentor Teacher said both Anna and PP were so beautiful and asked why they are so beautiful. It was so cute.
• After school, we went to Heunghae to have dinner with Abby and other people. I didn’t realize how many awesome people would be there! Abby, Ashley, Joe and Liz were there, plus the 3 of us (Abby and PP student taught together so it was a mini-reunion!), and new friends: Nicole, Nicole and Edward (all are EPIK teachers). Abby is an amazing cook and there was more than enough food. And it was so much fun to just talk and hang out. Nicole, Nicole and Edward are really nice – I hope to see them more often! Afterwards, Abby, Edward, Liz, Anna, PP and I went to a norebang! It was something Anna and PP wanted to do while they were here and, though 6 isn’t that many for norebang, it’s better than 3 :) And it was really fun. We sang some fantastic songs – the highlight being “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound of Music.
• The cab ride home was also kind of exciting. 1) I wrote my school’s name in Korean and gave it to the driver so he knew where to take us (that was before I remembered that Ji Hyeon had written it down and put it in my wallet...but I was proud that I could write it out in Hangul!). 2) In a mixture of English and Korean, the driver asked me if it was okay that he go over the speed limit and I responded “Yes” in Korean...admittedly, I mostly only understood the English parts but we still communicated! 3) He knew English! I’m pretty sure it’s my first taxi driver that has.
• Anna and PP and I were going to watch BBF together, but they fell asleep as I was Skyping/FBing but I'm watching one anyways. Today has made a happy camper :)

Community of Spirit (Mar 18)

• I went to church with Ashley and Abby today (I love that I'm getting to see so much of them). I wasn't sure I was actually going to find the place. But I suppose God really wanted me to go - Abby was still able to call me even though I ran out of minutes, I got on the right bus, got off at the right stop, and the van of them (driven by the pastor) drove up behind me right after I got off the bus. Woohoo! The church is called Pohang International Community Church. The service was in a coffee shop (called His Beans - gives part of its profits to help handicapped people in the area and hires said peopel to work there) and everyone was really nice. There aren't many members - only 12 there today, including the pastor's family of 5 - but it's a great little community. We even sang "Step By Step"! It reminded me of camp. After the little service, we piled into the van and went to eat burgers downtown. Sooo yummy! And even more time for fellowship. We talked about each other's denominations, language (there are 2 guys from Burundi - in Africa - and know English, French, Swahili, their native language and are now learning Korean...ahhh!), and a bunch of other things. I liked talking with the pastor's kids. Joseph is 10 and Grace is 8. They are so sweet and both fluent in English and Korean.  And Lynn is 18 months old and positively adorable. I can't wait for the next time I can go :)

The name of the coffee shop where we met for worship.

The group that was there this Sunday. It's usually a little bigger,
I guess, but even this small group was great community :)

Matching cheesy adorable smiles :D

• I was hit on at HomePlus. It was flattering and the guy seemed nice enough but I wasn't that interested - I told him I had a boyfriend when he asked for my number and if I wanted to get a beer with him. I do have to give him props though...he hit on me in English!
• Finally got PP and Anna here! Even though we were in different parts of the city for a little while. It's really great to have them here, though it literally doesn't feel different from normal. Just like we're all having a sleepover again. It doesn't feel like we're doing it in Korea. Lately, I have to keep reminding myself that I actually am in Korea. It's really strange. I'm feeling more and more comfortable here and am able to do a lot of things without knowing Korean - so sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm not in the U.S. Weird.

People Like You (Mar 17)

• Rachel and I had the best Saturday morning...sleeping in, donuts, Bananagrams and watching random Sesame Street videos (A’s Anatomy, Law & Order: Special LettersUnit, Concentrate, NPH and Elmo) on Youtube. It was something I would be able to do with friends at home...I’m so lucky that I have people like that here. Thanks Rachel!
• On the bus ride home from Gumi, we passed English Village! I looked out the window and saw the airplane! I literally thought I’d never see that place again. It was really strange.
• One of the 5th Gen TaLK Scholars organized a meet-and-greet for all of the scholars in Pohang (old and new). The food was a little expensive but it was really nice to meet new people and see a new part of Pohang (E-dong). Plus, Ashley and I started planning our summer trip to Thailand and Vietnam :D After dinner, then plan was to go to a bar to watch one of 7^th Gens play with his band, but it didn’t work out. So we went to a foreigner bar that was close by – and which ended up being full up with Navy guys celebrating St. Patty’s Day. I played beer pong with a Navy guy...IN the bar! (He later asked for my number...oy, I should have known.) I haven't played since the IHOP, so it was a fun and random things to do.

Winter Song (Mar 16)

• Got my phone working! Woohoo.
• Tonight I went to Gumi to hang out with friends :) The bus trip was great, except I got off too early and had to take a cab to the right place. Thank goodness for my phone! Ruby ended up finding me on the street (thanks to my TaLK hoodie) and then we met up with Christian and Rachel. We had really good pasta for dinner. Then Joey joined us and we had REALLY good fondue at Baskin Robbins (it included ice cream balls to dip in the chocolate!). After that we went in search of a blanket - and therefore wandered around for awhile - and ended up shopping for food for Joey to make some stir fry. Then we went to Christian's and Skyped and played cards and ate candy. Also, Joey said "Winter Song" (Ji Hyeon's English name) at least 500 times throughout the night.

I Need A Break But I'd Rather Have A Breakthrough

• Ji Hyeon and I FINALLY had a breakthrough with our 2nd graders! The regular 2nd grade  teacher approached us in the hall and told us that 1) she had punished the student who gave me hell yesterday and 2) that we could send any 2nd graders who misbehave  in our class back to her class and she would deal with them. So when they arrived in our classroom, we split the 11 of them into 2 teams. If anyone on the team misbehaved, then the team got an X on the board. If the team acquired 3 Xs, then the whole team would go to the homeroom teacher's room. If the team received no Xs during the class period, then each person would receive 2 stickers. Ji Hyeon repeated the directions in Korean (the kids were surprised - we've only used English up until now - but they were able to ask questions and understand more fully this way). It worked like a charm. They didn't get any Xs (whenever I threatened, the specific kid would shake his or her head and focus/be quiet) and so everyone got 2 stickers. I hope this still works tomorrow! Also, the crazy child was really good and I think he even apologized to me, but it was in Korean, so I'm not sure.
• After school, Ji Hyeon and I went downtown to buy a phone...but I couldn't get a contract :( So we went looking for a bookstore and street food instead :)

Take Over The World (Mar 14)

• Today was a particularly awful day :( However, after 2 solid hours of BBF, crying and half-sleeping, followed by Skyping/chatting with people from home and here, I started to feel better. And then I kicked out some awesome PowerPoints/lesson plans for tomorrow. TOTW.

Chocolate Covered Everyberry (Mar 13)

• I keep crying in frustration in front of my mentor teacher. She’s going to think I’m a crazy girl soon. After the crying though, I gave her her present and she loved it. She didn’t want to take it! Then she shared her chocolates with me, Ji Hyeon and another teacher. It was cute. Even though she doesn’t speak English, I know she cares about me.

By Myself But Not Alone (Mar 12)

• Tonight I had dinner at a restaurant down my street. There was so much food but I managed to eat all 9 dishes by myself! (I'm going to miss getting that much food for $6 when I get back to the US.) And yes, I was by myself, but it was okay. Whether on purpose or inadvertently, the owner sat near me and read the newspaper while I ate.
• I’m creating a new verb: “K-popped”...and I’ve been K-popped. Someone had a status that said, “rain=<3” and I immediately thought of Rain.
• I finally found my motivation to get a real teaching job...so I can afford to visit all of my new friends all over the world. No joke, as soon as I have $10,000, I’m buying a ticket to Seoul for NYE/Sunrise Festival (lots of people will still be here), and then Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey for the summer :) I literally have not felt an incentive to get a full-time job until now.

Riding on a Bus (Mar 11)

• We all woke up at varying times this morning (Deanna even got up at 8 and did that stupid exercise we learned at English Village)...I think they played cards before I woke up but, once I was awake, it was Project Breakfast (French toast with caramelized pears). It didn’t taste as good as I thought it would, but it was so fun for us all to work together to make it (well, except Joey). And it wasn’t terrible. Then we played Uno (with VERY interesting/complicated Christian/Aussie rules) and then Jeanette and I watched music videos while they played an even more complicated game (along the lines of Fluxx, but with a regular deck of cards – just didn’t have the brain capacity for it this morning!). It was really chill and relaxing.
• After that though, we had to head to the bus station. We had to say a quick goodbye to Ruby, Deanna, Christian, Chanda, Joey, and Kyle because their bus was about to leave just a few minutes after they bought their tickets. It was kind of like goodbye at English Village all over again! Just because there were so many of us there and I don’t know when we’ll all be together again. Plus, this weekend was just fantastic. And no one wants to say goodbye to friends that make a weekend fantastic.
• So Jeanette, Joe, Olivia and I sent our friends on the bus and then went to find lunch. We were waiting for the elevator...for what ended up being more than 10 minutes! So long that Olivia had to go back to the bus station to catch her bus! Oy. So Joe and Jeanette and I decide to find the escalators to lead us to lunch.
• HomePlus is a store here that is almost exactly like Meijer...so I love it and go there way too often.
• After I got home (to my pitifully empty apartment), I realized that my guests were awesome on another level! The only thing I had to do to clean up was make my bed and wash a few pans from breakfast. I love my friends :)
• New Sherlock episode tonight. I really love this TV show – get it, BBC!

Party Like a Rockstar (Mar 10)

(Thank God we're in Korea, otherwise I'd feel obligated to title this post "Party in the U.S.A.")

• I never throw parties (even for my birthday) because I’m honestly afraid no one will show up...but today was completely opposite! (Now I won’t throw any more because I’ll be afraid it won’t be as great as this one was!) I had a party at my apartment that was (I think) the first multi-city get-together for our province, and it was a total success. Woohoo!
• I started welcoming people around 2, and they just kept coming in groups for the next 4 hours (at its height, we had 30 people). It was so fun to have people just keep showing up – I never knew who was coming next! Ji Hyeon’s phone was bombarded with texts and calls (she was my contact person for the party...she’s awesome). Chanda just started cooking and people helped as they showed up.
• There was not much room in my apartment, but it was perfect: “old” friends (can we be considered that, after just meeting a month ago? I think so :)), new friends, hugs, talking, eating, and hardly any alcohol (which is something I hadn’t wanted to deal with).
• After a few hours, we decided to go out. Some went to a Western bar in Pohang and everyone else (me included) went to norebang in Mundeok. It was fun to be with everyone in a big group again (like during orientation) and Mundeok is so lively! Much livelier than my factory-surrounded street. Plus, it was up to Liz (who has lived in Mundeok for 1 week) and me (who has been there once) to lead us around – which was empowering and interesting!
• Both norebangs we went to were great – there was so much room, and of course, plenty of drinking and singing.
• I held hands with Jeanette as we walked (not uncommon in Korea), so that neither of us strayed away. Which was helpful when we met high school boys who told us we were very pretty.
• Christian, Joey, Deanna, Jeanette, Ruby, Olivia, Chanda, Kyle, Liz, Darryl and Tony came back to my apt after we departed (though Liz, Darryl and Tony went back to Liz’s apt anyways). Shortly after we returned, I fell asleep very comfortably :)

Big Bang Theory (Mar 9)

• Played Jenga (with flashcards) with my 6^th grade boys, while we listened to Big Bang (a Korean pop group...not the TV show), for about 30 minutes of our lesson. It was so much fun. I wish I could get to that level with my younger kids too.

Better & Better (Mar 8)

• All of our kids were better today. A combination of absences and random schedule changes meant we had a class of grades 2/3 and a class of grade 6. The 6th graders were my and Ji Hyeon's favorite! There were only 3 of them, so that was nice in the first place. One of them brought me and Ji Hyeon cookies before class! They tried really hard to speak English, used phrases we taught them ("Yes ma'am" to us instead of "Yes sir"), and were excited and interested in the videos I showed them about Michigan. Oh and the one that brought me the cookie was really amused that my eyes weren't brown. (He was staring at me for a few minutes and then said, "Your eyes!" I said, "Yes, they're blue" and opened them wide so he could see.) It was really fun, which is nice because it was so not fun on Wednesday.
• Backstreet Boys on Oprah in English on Korean TV!
• Dinner 1 tonight = Oreos and sweets. Dinner 2 = stirfry. Nom nom nom :)
• There was a cockroach in my apt tonight! AHH! I was hoping the spray that was on the counter when I moved in was just a precaution...but apparently not :/

New Friend Request (Mar 7)

• Today was a bad day with the kids but I'm going to focus on the good things that happened instead.
• Some of my 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students came into class early today and it was really fun to talk to them and try to get them to talk to me in English (and talk to them a little in Korean...they thought it was really funny).
• I met the other English teacher at my school! She teaches English like a special (like music or art). A few minutes into our conversation, she asked if she could be my Facebook friend. It was so cute! She's really sweet, let me vent about the school and the students and interpreted for me a little. I can't wait to introduce her to Ji Hyeon (Mi Hye only comes on Wednesdays, one of the days that Ji Hyeon doesn't work) and hang out with her more.
• The Girl who works in the office told us at lunch that she's getting married in June and wants to invite us! I'm so excited! It will be SO COOL to go to a Korean wedding!
• I need to go to bed before 3 a.m...

Dinner at 6 (Mar 6)

• New day, new surprise: My mentor teacher told Ji Hyeon and me at lunch that we would be having class late today (starting at 2:00, instead of the normal 1:20), because the 1st and 2nd graders had extra class after lunch. Annoyed, mostly because that would have been useful to know before 10 minutes before we thought we had to teach (also, SURPRISE! all grades together again). But we rolled with it and hung out in the office for awhile. Around 1:20, we decided to head back to the classroom to finalize our lesson plan - and all of our kids were in our classroom! SURPRISE! We thought they weren't coming til later! SURPRISE! We had locked the room before we went to lunch. Another teacher had opened it for them and later told us that we really needed to be in our classroom 10 minutes before the students arrived. AHHHH. I know I'm bad with change, but this is ridiculous and at this rate, my ulcer will return shortly.
• Good things happened today too. Ji Hyeon and I spent some extra time with the administrative staff (a man and a woman, whom we affectionately refer to as The Guy and The Girl), getting to know each other a little. As we were talking (through Ji Hyeon basically), The Guy asked me to refer to him as "Oppa"! It was really funny because of the way Hyeong Jo taught us to use that term and the way that Chanda and Darryl say it (1:16). But also because we all knew he was joking - so he laughs a lot when I actually do it :)
• It was recommended that Ji Hyeon and I take a bus farther south of my apartment to find a cafe (none to be found near my apt/school), so after school, that's just what we did. When I realized we were headed to Mundeok (pronounced "Moon-duck"), I Facebook-ed Liz because I recalled her living there. Perfect timing led to us getting to have dinner together! Before that, Ji Hyeon and I had donuts and roamed around Mundeok...it is so so cute and not that far away - I will be visiting often. It was a really great way to spend the evening. I've missed Liz, she needed to vent and be surrounded by English-speaking humans, and Ji Hyeon and I got to explore something other than tool stores and closed restaurants (the bulk of what surrounds my apt).

Unexpected Changes (Mar 5)

• Well, today was the first day in the classroom...from the start, everything was unexpected. Ji Hyeon and I got to school a little early - and as soon as we did, our MT let us know that instead of three 40-minute blocks with classes separated by grade level, we would be having one 2-hour block with grades 1-6. AHHH! We re-planned almost through lunch and then hurried back upstairs to try to beat our children...but they were already there! And one was about to get on my computer - I used my teacher voice to say "NO." The kids were pretty crazy throughout the 40 minutes we had them - testing us, I think. We ended up letting them all go after the first block (instead of keeping the 3rd-6th graders as we were advised) because we didn't have anything specific planned for the older kids and we were both done. The only thing I feel like I managed to teach was that I follow through - I made one kid pick up every tiny piece of plastic that he cut up and managed to communicate the threat of the time-out chair to another. Oy. Tomorrow's another day.

Network of Friends (Mar 4)

• Ji Hyeon and I managed to make dinner by ourselves, despite neither of us being cooking-inclined! We bought everything at the market and it was pretty cheap, considering it will make more than one meal :)
• Talking with my TaLK friends on Skype over the past 2 days has made me feel a lot better. It’s great to hear their voices (or chat in real time) and it’s really nice to know I’m not the only one struggling and that I’m not doing it alone. I’m so glad I have all of these amazing people around me and I’m really grateful that the orientations gave me this great support network.
• I looked at the tag on my travel towel and it was made in Korea!
• HP1, the first Narnia AND Sherlock were on TV in English today...no words to describe that happiness (someday my life will be cooler, where Sherlock playing English is NOT the best thing that happens all day...).
• After those great movies, I watched a new Sherlock...upon further research, Anna and I found out it’s a BBC mini-series. It was just as fantastic as the movies and I need to see all of the episodes.

My Own Time (I'll Do What I Want) (Mar 3)

• I did things on my own schedule today and it was great :)
• First, I woke up and Skyped with Anna for like 4 hours – we talked AND were productive (she worked, I did my dishes and cleaned a little). I also talked to her mom, dad and brother :) It was really nice. I love Skype.
• Then, I was tired, so I took a nap.
• After I napped, I took a shower for the first time in my apt (don’t judge)…other than the temperature (not freezing but not warm) it wasn’t bad. I need to buy some more towels though, just for general cleaning and messes.
• Then, I went to the store to get things for dinner (I’m out of cash and not sure which places around her accept card). Made ramyon – it wasn’t awful but I don’t think I cooked the egg into it correctly…I’ll have to try again. I did have my yummy plum juice though :)
• Skyped with Rachel and Jordan for 3.5 hours…I didn’t realize we had so much to talk about! But it was a really good conversation, a great reflection on our time here, expectations, adjustments, etc. It made me feel a lot better about what’s going on. I’m still a little nervous for Monday and for finishing all these lesson plans, but I know I can call them if I need to :)
• Finished the night by watching P & P and organizing flash cards. It was a pretty good day.

Blue Jeans Pizza

• Pizza and Pop...Ji Hyeon and I got pizza in downtown Pohang after checking into getting a phone, and we heard Lady Gaga ("Poker Face"), Adele ("Rolling in the Deep"), Beiber ("Baby"), Miley Cyrus ("Party in the USA"), Kelly Clarkson ("Because of You"), and "Like a G6". It was funny, almost like being in the US :)

March of the Caterpillar (Mar 1)

• Happy March!
• I slept for 13 hours last night and it was glorious. I thought I missed Ji Hyeon coming over, but she slept really late too :) We are both recovering from a few very long weeks. Once she arrived at my apt, we went to run errands, back at the giant Home Plus shopping center. So many people were there because today is a holiday in Korea – it reminded me of when I went to Target in Brooklyn with Krystle. After being on the internet for a while and drinking some coffee, we went to work. We ended up getting everything I needed but it did take a while (and several trips between floors). Ji Hyeon thanked me at one point during the day, because I had been asking her about why today is a holiday and she had forgotten why it was so important, until I asked her and she researched a little. It was cute :) I made sure to thank her a lot for coming with me.

Lucky (Feb 29)

(Beware, long post ahead)

• Happy Leap Day!
• Today has been a long, emotional, and overwhelming day. It started with it being the last day of orientation. We had a little closing ceremony this morning too but the real finality came when we all congregated in the gym with our luggage. They had a slideshow of pictures from the last few days going on the projector and we were all taking pictures, and then – the coordinators started calling names. Our mentor teachers were arriving to take us to our towns. It was a really weird feeling, waiting for names, giving hugs and watching people leave. Kind of like being at the airport, but a little more ominous (because we didn’t really know where we were going and our names were called one by one). Rachel was crying, and since Alison was crying as she left, I started tearing up. When I met my mentor teacher – and found out she doesn’t speak ANY English – the waterworks started. MTs not speaking English is something that we were warned about, but I really didn’t anticipate it happening to me. I’m really really lucky to have a co-teacher who is as amazing as Ji Hyeon. Seeing as I feel isolated not being able to communicate with my MT even with Ji Hyeon’s interpretation, I can’t imagine what it would be like without her. (I’d like to think that TaLK wouldn’t put us in that position but I don’t think they can control that – or they choose not to.) So this was when I really started crying. Ji Hyeon held my hand and reassured me while my MT was talking with Korean Lady (she was telling my MT that I am a great teacher!) but, between being frustrated and missing all of my new friends, I couldn’t really stop. Especially because she was being so awesome/supporting me and a few other people asked me if I was okay. (I’m not sure sure why the support of people brings me to tears.) We ended up eating lunch in the cafeteria at English Village (I didn’t eat much) so I saw a few people again before I left...but I also watched those people interact directly with their MTs, which really just made me cry more. Luckily, on the way home, I was able to read and nap. When we arrived in Pohang, we went to the school. I was still weepy, and now sleepy, so I think I acted a little shyer than I really am. Oh well. We had tea with the non-English-speaking principal (where I felt talked around...I guess I will just have to get used to that feeling) and I met some teachers and the vice principal. Also, the school police officer was really nice! He speaks English (yay!), though he made sure to tell me how hard it is :) But he was very sweet and he and another guy carried my suitcases to my apartment and up the stairs. My apt is right next to the school (nice commute :) now let’s hope the kids listen when I tell them not to follow me home...) so we went there next. Ji Hyeon, my MT, the police officer and the other man checked things out for me (windows, locks, stove) and showed me how to use the heating system. Then we decided to go get my Alien Registration Card (which I need in order to get a phone and buy things online)...but my MT had to go back to the school. She’s busy preparing for other things for school...like I said, SO LUCKY TO HAVE JI HYEON. She got the information for finding the immigration office and we started the trek down there.

1) Find the bus stop.

2) Figure out the right bus.

2.1) Ask several people which bus is the right one.

2.2) When said people aren’t able to help, look up bus schedule on phone.

2.3) When said people aren’t able to help and said map is too small to see on a phone, call MT to verify address.

3) Board correct bus and ride downtown.

4) Marvel at the beautiful downtown and hail a taxi.

5) Pay and thank the taxi driver, even if he drops you off at the Dokdo Office of Fisheries.

6) Ask workers in the Dokdo Office of Fisheries where the Immigration office is.

7) Hail another taxi.

8) Arrive at the correct address and be directed by a really nice man to the inexplicably shabby, small and hidden building that houses the Pohang Immigration Office.

None of this would have been possible by myself...like I said, SO LUCKY TO HAVE JI HYEON. After we were in the office for a while, I hear “Emily?” It was Liz (friend from Orientation/Group 5)! I was so relieved to hear her voice and see her! She said she had been worried about me all day (I had seen her before we left DGEV and told her about my MT), which of course made me tear up again. A few minutes later, Joe (another friend from Orientation/Group 5) came in! It was seriously amazing that we all managed to be there at the same. And I’ve never been so happy to see 2 people that I know. After some hugs, Ji Hyeon and I left. She saw that I was crying again and was really concerned about me...at first, she thought it might have been because of her! I told her no no no no, of course not – that I wouldn’t have survived the day without her. After that, she told me to just cry, that sometimes you just need to let it out, and suggested that we find a coffee place to relax in. Since the office is literally right on the coast, we walked along the beach to a Starbucks. Arm in arm with Ji Hyeon, listening to the waves and letting my tears out, I started to feel a little better. After getting my favorite drink (despite it being over $6), a White Chocolate Mocha, I felt a little more relaxed. We stayed at Starbucks for about an hour, just sitting and talking and making a To-Do List...like I said, SO LUCKY TO HAVE JI HYEON. When we finished, we got a cab back to the city center and walked around a little bit. We checked about getting a phone without my ARC (not possible) and then caught the bus. When we stopped back at the apartment, I found several notes left by the previous TaLK scholar. Before, I had seen that there was bedding, a TV, dishes, a microwave, a toaster, a ricemaker and some decorations left over. After further investigation, we found food (PB and J!), books, shampoo, body wash, wrapping paper, and a hair dryer. She also left a note with some helpful information and she left her bike for me to use! It’s pink and adorable and I'm very grateful (even though I don’t need it for my commute). It was really nice of her. Next, we went to the market down the street. It’s not a full grocery store, like HomePlus, but there are a lot of things there and I bought toilet paper and breakfast food. The woman who was working was really nice – she thought I was Russian and also laughed when I asked if I could pay with American money. Hopefully, I’ll see her again. Ji Hyeon and I dropped the stuff off at home and then decided to go to the mall to get dinner. It was a good choice. Being in a usual place (like a mall) with a lot of people around was familiar and made me feel not alone. Plus, there was wi-fi, so I was able to briefly connect with my TaLK friends on FB and tell Mom and Dad that I arrived – flustered, but safe. And the kiwi juice I had helped to settle my stomach a little. After hanging out there for a while, we came back to the apt. Ji Hyeon made sure I was settled in and safe and then went home. Her day was as long as mine, but she was my rock the whole time...SO LUCKY TO HAVE HER. Now I’ve unpacked a little and watched NCIS (yay American TV shows!). I’m ready to put this day away. Very glad tomorrow is a rest/errand day before school starts – and VERY excited to sleep in past 8:30 a.m. for the first time in about a month. Goodnight.

Beer on the Table (Feb 28)

• Our last day of Orientation – I really can’t believe it. My brain does not fully understand what’s going on, because the last orientation setting it was in lasted for 3 weeks, not 5 days...I honestly feel like I’m going to be listening to lectures and eating cafeteria food for 2 more weeks. 
• We had a fantastic last day though. Our main objective during lectures today was to write and teach a 40 minute lesson plan in a group. Our topic and group members were assigned so, by nature, I was a little frustrated with the assignment. But our group worked well together and our lesson went great! Everything worked how we planned and we got really high compliments from the judges. One of the judges, who is an elementary teacher (for over 30 years), really liked our Memory Game activity and said she was going to use it in her classroom...cool! She (and a few of the other scholars) complimented me specifically on my teaching. It felt really good :) 
• After lectures, we had a little closing ceremony, with some speeches and Ukulele playing (by Eugene). Eric made us a great memory video and the coordinating staff admitted that we are honestly the best generation they’ve had. Yay! 
• Then, it was time for Pizza, Chicken And Beer! Not THAT exciting, but exciting when you’ve been stuck in the ghost town for 5 days. Plus, it turned into a dance party and was awesome. I loved dancing (KPop!)and taking pictures and just being with everyone not during lectures or meals. I also spent a lot of time with my new Korean Scholar friends. They are all so friendly and adorable in the way that they don’t think they speak English very well (even though it’s way better than me in trying Korean). I made an effort to get to know as many of them as possible and I found some pretty great people :) I hope I get to see them again.

Eugene wanted to be on my blog :) 

• After that party finished, we all went upstairs and celebrated a little more in the dorm rooms. It was great spending that last amount of time with my new Korean friends and getting even closer with my TaLK Scholar friends. I went to bed waaay too late, but it was totally worth it. All my love to GB (esp. Group 5) and our Korean scholars :)