November begins!

This is what happens when I put off blog posts for a long time, eventually I’ll forget and well…I never submitted my Japan one from study abroad over two years ago haha.  Well November has been pretty great so far.  I was able to travel a bit and meet with some friends all over the place.  I made my way as far South as I’ve been to celebrate a fellow ASU Fulbrighters birthday.  It was a fun time, though a bit crazy at times.  I’ve also been able to meet some new friends in Cheongju and try some delicious food!  I was able to make it up to Seoul for Halloweekend and had a great time meeting with friends, going out, and just generally having a great time.  Including some delicious Mexican food, craft beers, costumes, a bit overcrowded club, and more.  A few weeks later and it was already “Thanksgiving”.  Or the thanksgiving feast the embassy and Fulbright put on for us.  This included meeting with some foreign service officers, taking a tour of the museum, and eating TONS of delicious food.  I had a great time with all the great Fulbrighters and eating far too muck Turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, pie and so much more.  To top it all off we ended the weekend with a visit to a Dog cafe.  Yes a cafe where you can pay for a coffee and in turn get to socialize with adorable puppies of all sizes.  SOOOOO adorable! 

“My name is Dug. I have just met you and I love you!”

 I also apparently have mutual friends with a Korean TV star (Tyler above) he was really cool to talk to

Teaching struggles

For teaching every things been going ok.  I love my kids, my school, and my family but sometimes it feels like I’m not making a huge difference.  I just have so many students it can be difficult connecting to them.  I dont even know most of their names.  I miss teaching in America where I knew my kids siblings, hobbies, and favorite units.  With no grades or accountability its hard to feel like I’m needed.  Recently foreign teachers have been facing cuts throughout Korea as the education budget struggles.  This worries me but when I see my work load compared to others its really hard to see my worth.  I hope I’m helping my students culturally and with their native listening and speaking.  My goals are for them to speak for naturally and to be comfortable.  I use my class time more focused on allowing the students to practice natural speaking and having fun.  They face enough stress in their lives and I hope I can give them a little bit of a break, even just once a group.  I mean these kids are in school 8am until 10pm so they need it.  I can just hope they're getting something out of it.  They seam to like it and they seam to like me, but we’ll see haha.   

I'm also trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.  I've got too many options, but I guess thats not really a problem haha.  

“His fool's errand will keep him most occupied. Most occupied, indeed. Ha ha ha! Do you not agree with that which I am saying to you now?”

You and me... we're in a club now

Conference:

This past weekend we had our fall conference in Gyeongju.  This city is known for being a living museum because of all the history it holds.  Its the “birthplace” of one of the longest dynasties in Korea and has many different sights to explore.  Overall the area is beautiful and going when the leaves changed was awesome.  Our hotel was on this awesome little lake next to an amusement park.  Though the sights were amazing and I’m glad i got to go on a free tour of the area on Sunday the best part was defiantly seeing everyone.  On Sunday we explored the tombs, a museum, and a buddhist sight.  The other days (Friday, and Saturday) we had various activities helping to make us better teachers.  We talked about our problems, or successes, and our future worries.  We even had some time to talk about winter break plans and self-defense.  Everyone was super informative and really helpful.  I left with a ton of new ideas and a better grasp of what everyones situations really were.  Facebook can only tell you so much.  And again the best part about it was getting to see everyone, especially those who live farther away, like Jeju.  This conference also gave everyone the opportunity to really connect with some renewing ETAs, yay networking :P And splashed into all of this we were able to go out and have a great time.  It was really nice to be with so many friends again, even though i was getting sick and probably shouldn't have been staying out late, it was worth it.  It made me really excited for thanksgiving and halloween and just genuinely grateful to be in Korea with these amazing people.  It also made me feel like I haven’t been doing enough but I’ll find my niche.  Coming back to school it really did feel different, and it felt like the kids missed me.  Ive been struggling with connecting to them because 800 students is just too damn many.  Im loving Korea, and I’m so grateful to be spending the time in this culture.  That culture also includes the over 100 amazing people who are teaching besides me.  These kids are the best of the best and they show it constantly.  Everyones extremely including, kind, and genuinely amazing, as told by the variety of birthday parties, guitar sharing, balcony talking, hotel parties, lake walking, and GS 25 get togethers.  Because theres no better bar then the convenience store in Korea as long as you have the right group of people.  And it wouldn't be a Fulbright get together without exorbitant amounts of food, mostly Costco cheese.

Up quote of the Post :Ellie-"You and me... we're in a club now."

Hung out with this illustrious duo and actually got to sit between them...ruined when i got up for another beer...womp womp haha 

My awesome roomies :)

These two are just too great, always happy

Luck has nothing to do with it?

Jinju- I can’t tell if im super lucky or super unlucky

So October is festival month in Korea and though many people went down to Busan this weekend for BIFF (Busan international film festival) I headed to Jinju for the lantern festival.  I was planning on heading down friday afternoon because there was no school but my host mom told me she was also planning to go.  We left around 8 am and my luck started.  I both forgot my DSLR and could not find my running shoes.  Sneakers, where did you go? We headed to the beach, about an hour and a half away, relaxed, grabbed some food, and then traveled another hour to Jinju.  We even stopped by a flower/scarecrow festival.  This city is literally a strait shot down from where I live in Korea.  We arrived around 4 p.m..  A little later then i was expecting and my SAS friend was already there.  First thing about this festival, it was HUGE! Ive never seen anything so big and was not expecting it at all.  A friend had told me motels would be easy to find so we walked with my host parents for dinner and then into the fortress to watch the opening fireworks.  They were amazing!  This whole festival was over the top cool though I didn't explore as much until the next day.  Apparently its to commemorate the Koreans using lanterns to make the army appear larger while facing the Japanese.  After the fireworks ended my host parents left and we worked our way through the insane amount of people to try and find a hostel.  My other friends were stuck in traffic and it was around 9 pm.  Heres where my luck came into play again.  We tried maybe 20 hostels/motels/hotels.  If it was in this city, we tried it.  every, single, sketchy dark alleyway motel was full.  Around two hours later and some dark streets in a Korean woman noticed us struggling outside of a Norebang/brothel thing.  She pointed through an alley to another motel, which was also full.  We saw her once more and she led us to a different motel.  Upon arriving it was clear this hotel was also full.  This woman must have known the owners and quickly negotiated us staying in someones room who was on vacation for the night.  Our savior then quickly left and we spent the night in this motel.  The next day we booked at the same place in a different room right away in order to not struggle again.  We got up and started walking around.  This festival had a million things to explore and they were all amazing.  I couldn't find my other friends through a variety of phone deaths and notifications not working.  Eventually my SAS friend switched his train and I was able to meet up with my ETA friends.  We walked around for a the day stoping at different food, lantern making booths, music booths, and decorations to check it out.  We then grabbed some dinner (too spicy for me) and waited for the sun to go down.  Meanwhile my second time friend Josh figured out his bus and was on his way to meet us and John (who lives in Jinju).  John eventually made it while we were at a mini concert and his phone died.  Were talking thousands of people here.  His last message “I have a guitar on my back”.  Which i took as its difficult to move, but was meant as thats how you can find me.  We did find each other and eventually even found John!  Eventually we split off so it was me John and Josh.  John then informed me I could have crashed at his place both nights but i had already payed.   :( next time I wont be as spur of the moment i guess haha.  The three off us wandered, grabbed some food, and wound up hanging by the river playing guitar.  Josh was actually really good.  Like you hear oh my friends in a band and now he's whipping out an acoustic guitar but he was very pleasant to listen too.  Eventually we gathered a small crowd of Koreans.  Josh then explained I was their second time friend, because this was the second time we've hung out.  Im not sure how that translated because it doesn't make much sense in English but you know it was late.  We wandered some more and they eventually helped me find my motel again.  The next morning I found the bus station, grabbed the 11:15 bus home and was back in Cheonju in under 3 hours.  Success!  Great weekend.  Arguably one of the best weekends I’ve had in Korea.  There were only 5 ETAs there but it was really nice :)  Hope to visit the south again soon. 

*Side bad luck story- as i was talking about the good construction of the floating lanterns we watched one flip over and sink to the bottom of the river.  

** It took my host parents two hours to walk back to the car and they got back to Cheongju at 3 a.m.  I really hope the fireworks were worth it!

Up quote of the post 

Carl Fredricksen: "You'd better get up, Russell. Or else, the tigers will come and eat you."

Russell: "Tigers don't live in South America. Zoology."

Waygook-in Seoul

My Waygook-in weekend in Seoul.  Welcome to illustrious Seoul.  A mysterious land of more white people then I have ever seen in Times Square.  Not kidding.  Out in Cheongju I’ll see a foreigner maybe every-other day.  And they are the same three foreigners.  Cheongju is foreigner friendly, and I know there are many foreigners in the more central part of Cheongju but Seoul brings it to another level.  We stayed in an area called Hongdae which is a college area of the city.  We were there for advocates training so friday night we didn't really go out much.  We left after school, headed strait for the bus, sat in traffic for a while, and made it to this area or Seoul.  We had a hunger which could only be quenched by American food and so, for the first time in three months, we found ourselves sitting down enjoying non-other then a bacon cheeseburger.  And a good one at that.  No white rice in sight.  No kimchi to be seen.  Just my friend and I splitting an enormous amount of cheesy goodness.  Were talking a burger each an order of cheese fries, and a milkshake to top it off.  The waiters spoke perfect English, and it was pretty hilarious to see my friend struggle between turning her Korean on and off as the waiter decided whether to address her, or the white girl at the table. (me)  We then navigated our way to our hostel and a few creepy alleyways later we made it.  We met up with a few other friends and crashed for the night.  Next day included some Dunkin Doughnuts and a long advocate training.  This training was well run and helped prepare a few of us to offer support for other ETAs who might need help during the year.  (oh and throw in some Pizza for lunch).  Afterwords we headed back to Hongdae.  Our plans changed maybe five times but a small group of us landed at Poseys, a dessert place.  And when i say dessert i mean there are four options with the most prominent being some Strawberry Bingsu.  And by strawberry Bingsu I mean the most delicious melt in your mouth taste I’ve ever experienced.  Were talking sweet, were talking milky, were talking cold.  And this stuff wasn't the normal shaved Ice, it was the snow lighter then air even better then Bahama Bucks type place.  I will return.  After words we headed to dinner.  Yeah, dinner.  Burger Bs, again.  after telling our friends about it they just needed an American burger.  After some mac and cheese we wandered some shops and eventually wound up running into another group of friends.  What are the odds?  We went to an American bar, drank American alcohol, and played beer pong.  So many foreigners.  I swear i would have never known I was in Korea.  Though we did wind up talking to the two koreans in the bar.  Oh and every person you talk to is either an English teacher or a military guy.  You can tell the military guys by their arrogant attitudes and when you ask “oh hey, why are you in Korea” they answer “Because im obviously in the Military, cant you tell”.  To which case NY Kelsey responds “No I really can’t”.  And walk away because they already give foreigners a bad name by fighting in all the bars.  (not all military guys are like this, but lets not with hold this stereotype shall we?) (I have met a few nice military guys last time I was in Seoul but they were older and officers so maybe thats why, IDK) ANYWAYS!  Spent the night out, eventually wound up in a coffee shop at 2am meeting with an ASU friend, because why wouldn't the coffee shop be open and crowded at 2 am?  I question where NY got the name the city that never sleeps around now.  We head to our hostel and the next day head home.  A few more shops and some American brunch and were back.  And so I went an entire weekend eating only American food, speaking only in English, and interacting mainly with Foreigners.  Its a wowdy Waygook weekend.

Up quote of the post: Russell: [to Carl, about Kevin] "This was her favorite candy bar. Because you sent her away, there's more for you."

Chuseok means work week starts thursday

Hello blogging world, its been awhile.

Chuseok- Wow it really has been a long time.  Chuseok, the magical Korean holiday that means I get off from school until Thursday.  This is kind of the equivalent of thanksgiving for Koreans.  Its a time to give thanks and pray to the ancestors.  But mostly, its a time to eat a lot of food.  Koreans don't mess around! We start cooking a few days in advance and don't stop until its time to eat.  But this meal is early in the morning, were talking 9 or 10 we were at my grandmas on my host dads side.  We spent the majority of the day there the day before cooking and hanging out.  This day we showed up, the boys changed into Hanbook (traditional Korean clothing) and we set the table.  This table is very important to the family and they work very hard in making it a perfect way to respect their ancestors.  Several dishes are laid out, drinks are offered, and praying commences.  So while the boys are in nice suits, the girls are mostly in their P.J.s still.  The boys are the ones who set the table and pray, they were also the ones who last weekend helped groom the gravesite.  After this table setting was over we took it apart and started to eat some yummy food.  And lots of fruit! Oh so much!  I awkwardly spent the time not sure if i should help or stay out of the way.  I played some board games with the cousins and even watched t.v.  By mid-afternoon it was all over and we headed home.  Later on I went to see a movie with my host mom and sister.  My host mom was a little freaked out but it was really cute haha (Into the storm).  Overall the holiday was good, not what I was expecting but good.  It was not as formal as I thought and a lot more went into the food then actually enjoying the meal together.  The prayer portion was very interesting and I'm grateful i was included in this holiday.  On a side note, the grandparents bed was as hard as a rock.  And when i say that I mean the bed was literally a slab of marble.  When i asked my host sister she responded “good for your health”  which is the answer to most questions I have about Korea.

Grandmas bday

Grandmas birthday! 8/28

So on the constant struggle of trying to feed me we have Grandmas birthday.  After school we walked over to grandmas house and i met a bunch of cousins, aunts, and uncles.  When i got in the 6 (8 in Korean) year old ran over and hugged me then sat by me and tried to talk to me in Korean,  they all knew a few words but all i could think was “its like she's trying to speak to me i know it!” My host mom has three brothers and two of them were their with their wives and kids.  I sat at the kids table, which apparently was better then the wives table where three of the wives sat in the kitchen after cooking the entire meal.  I ate so much pasta but was schooled by the 6 year old across from me, im not sure she tasted it.  At one point she started choking and CONTINUED to slurp more pasta into her mouth while her gag reflex was working up.  Dedication man. Everyone was adorable and they wanted me to play but man im tired.  The smallest girl who was about 3 (koean age 4) was petrified of me.  Something about me being white or the tallest girl she's ever seen, im not sure but she hid behind someone the entire time and when we were all playing she almost started crying.  Sorry little girl, i dont think im that terrifying, I guess i was wrong haha.  Then I came home am relaxing a bit before bed.  SO MUCH FOOD! TGTF thank god tomorrow is friday :P

Instead of an Up quote-  Finding memo

 

8/27 so tonight we had sort of a going away dinner for some of the staff at our school.  Though i originally thought it was going to be awkward it turned out to be a lot of fun.  The first week was a great time but I really never got the chance to socialize with many of the teachers, so i figured id sit there confused, not knowing korean, and sitting on the floor trying to figure out who i should bow to, and whose drink i should fill. This is called weishi(i think english spelling) and it turned out to be a lot of fun.  luckily i sat next to a lovely woman who spoke perfect english.   I also encountered my first koreans are touchy moment as she introduced herself and then started putting her hand on my leg haha.  I also met a younger korean who said shed call me for coffee (i dont know how i didn't give her my phone number, maybe she just knows I'm not sure) and a younger guy i think i might have been been set up with? he didn't speak english well but apparently he understood and was very tall so we were good.  The younger girl took the bus with me and kept holding my arm, she was so nice and sweet, but im defiantly not used to it. (shes around 30)  Overall it was a great dinner and Im glad i actually talked to some coworkers for once :)

Up quote of the Day

Day WHAAAAAT

First day down, here we go.  So our contract says absolutely no teaching on the first day but you know, what does that even mean.  So I met two of my classes today and they were just thrilled to see me.  Ive never been so popular ya’ll.  And the bowing, i mean really.  Overall the girls are amazing.  They are so smart and sweet, the only issues are that some of them are sleepy, coming from the 15 hours per day.  For reals.  But they were all nice, even though I ran out of time and my computer wasn't acting the best.  But all well.  My co-teacher is very nice and friendly.  I got my bank info sorted out and a NEW PHONE!  hit me up (not really its a Korean phone) 01032921286. BUT i only taught two classes in-between which i awkwardly sat in the teachers lounge reading the past ETAs advice.  Then I went home around 4:15 which is early here :O.  But all in all it was a good day.  Many teacher beautiful.  Oh and for the third time in two days i have been complimented for my abilities to use chopsticks.  Came home, ate another delicious meal, and even went to the store.  real Korea man.  My apartment is not airconditioned and my school is only airconditioned in some rooms after lunch but let me tell you…this school was voted number one for school lunches! You know its good because the students like it.  Oh and Erik is now considered very handsome and Steven looks like Leonardo DiCaprio…all white people look the same problems.  Oh and here are my host brothers, who I have successfully bonded with over uno...no word yet from the dad :P

Where am I?

We then finished up orientation with the renewies joining us for the next two nights.  Crazy goodbyes and we were at the ceremony.  Many tears yall.  But thats just because the ETAs are all amazing people!  thanks for everyone being so generous and nice to me :) were gonna rock this year!  Oh and shout out to Jemarley…told us all he was going back to NY and not extending.  LIAR! found out today he is indeed staying in Korea, probably because were so amazing.  Not really upset though, he's an awesome guy and he was super supportive of me this whole orientation, I'm glad we got thing chung going man.  And shout out to all the OCTs being amazing!!!! love you all and miss you! As our names were read our principle/ co-teacher stood up, mine gave me awesome flowers, and we tried to remember them to find later.  then a mad scrabble for lunch buffet (awesome food) and we were off.  We then drove to my school where i met the principle and a few other teachers.  Then off to my home stay of two parents, two younger brothers, and a sister.  The sister is currently staying in the dorms of the high-school i teach at so i haven’t met her yet.  The dad was also busy so not much interaction.  The mom is fluent in english and teaches english to kindergarteners.  She's super super mom.  Theres something about Koreans which require them little to no sleep to function.  She goes to sleep around one and wakes up around six to vacuum everyday.  Then she makes breakfast, goes to work, comes home, and considers herself a house mom.  Crazy crazy.  The two younger boys are 13 and 16 Korean age.  They both speak english really well though the younger one is too shy to talk much, the three of us were able to play cards while the mom was at the gym.  I get my own room in their spacious apartment the mom apparently rents from her parents.  It sits right above a restaurant and an art studio, which ill have to check out.  Also i saw two white people today, so I will find you, and we will be friends, just a heads up.  So that was my first day.  Im a little nervous about my first day teaching but it'll be good im sure, just gotta navigate the korean bus system 15 minutes to a school ive been to once, find the right rooms, figure out my schedule, make my computer work, and make the students love me.  LETS DO THIS!

up quote of the post

Russell: [off screen in the jungle] "Mr. Fredricksen? Am I supposed to dig the hole before or after? "

oh and heres my address ya’ll 

Kelsey Hagenah

Chungbuk Cheongju-si

Heungdeok-gu Gagyeong-dong

Seogyeong-ro 24 (1587 bunji) 3rd floor

361-803

South Korea

Almost done with orientation!

Oh gosh its been awhile.  Well here it goes.  I haven’t updated in a while because, well, its been a whirlwind of a time.  Not only did we finish orientation, but I am officially moved in.  We finished up Korean language classes with a graduation trip to Seoul.  Though i barely know any Korean, i did pass.  Though perhaps everyone does, I know I was the worst.  Well we got to Seoul super early as per usual.  We mingled, ate some snacks, and then got ready for the ceremony which consisted of some pretty awesome skits from all of the classes.  We then ate a ton of food, got subway sandwiches, and headed to discuss our contract review.  A lot of complaining but its still a pretty good deal, 18 days off mandatory, ill take it! Afterwords we were given some PAPA JOHNS PIZZA! and then headed back to the hotel.  At this point we had been up since 5 am, so many of us opted to stay in for the night, which included an awesome bath :) (and the theft of several complimentary sewing kits) what a class hotel.  The next day we got some brunch…so amazing!  we then walked around, did some shopping, and just generally hung out and explored.  After getting lost on the subway we made it back to the hotel where i turned around with a group to head to the foreigner district for food.  Wound up with Thai (awesome) and hung out.  I then met some af guys who were wearing ASU shirts, welcome to small world, this kid was from jersey went to ASU and we ended up in a Patriots themed sports bar in the middle of Seoul.  We hung out with them for awhile and then when they had to make curfew, we wandered.  Met a few other of our group, split up, wound up at a club, and took a taxi home.  The next day we woke up early to go to hwachon.  The DMZ was closed for the holiday weekend so we went to this town on the Northern border.  IT would have been interesting except for the 5 hours of traffic we encountered instead of the normal 2.  We did get to see North Korea though, and the final battle place for the Korean war.  But then more traffic.  We again got back super later and i was planning on staying in but wound up seeing Guardians of the Galaxy in 4D!!!! yes not 3 but 4.  The seats moved, lights flashed, air blew, and the seat vibrated.  It was REALLY cool!  Then an exhausting three hours of sleep before the bus ride back.  

up quote of the post “Russell: Whoa, that's s gonna be like a billion transfers to get back to my house…"

Temple Stay

Temple Stay-  This past weekend i had the opportunity to stay overnight at a temple.  It was a unique temple in that its main teacher/founder was a women.  Its pretty rare to have many male Sumin(monks/nuns) follow a nuns teachings.  The temple was gorgeous.  Situated above a small city it was surrounded by trees and mountains.  The main grounds have a main temple hall, a mountain shrine, the conference center, the cafeteria and more sleeping arrangment, SUNIMS quarters and shrines for the deceased.  We all stayed in one large room on mats on the floor (except the boys were in a different room).  While there we participated in meditation, ceremonies, and conversations with the monks.  It was extremely interesting.  One of the monks that was visiting was actually from the United States so he was very easy to understand.  The first day we arrived in time for a few talks and discussions on how to bow and meditate.  We toured the grounds and got to eat a traditional monastic meal.  Eaten in silence we took cleaning your plate to a whole new level.  After eating our food we rinsed the bowls and drank the water.  We then rinsed them one more time to wash them and drank the water.  Zero waste, no talking, and sitting on the floor.  I never realized how difficult it was to sit cross legged on the floor, or on your knees, for such a long period of time.  All of me hurt at the end of it and I could barely bow anymore.  It was very interesting but I’m in pain.  We then participated in evening candle ceremony to remember the living and walked about the temple.  We were asleep by 10 pm so we could wake up for the 3:30 morning  ceremony.  We went to the temple and joined the monks in chanting and mediation to start the morning.  After the ceremony was a finished, and a quick nap was taken, we ate breakfast in the dining hall.  all the food was delicious, vegetation, and fresh!  After breakfast we rotated between mediation, lotus flower making, prayer bead making, and discussion with the Sunim.  It was very informative and helpful.  I made some great stuff and the Sunim were so friendly and helpful. We then listened and discussed a few more ideas of buddhism, meditated a few more minutes, and headed for some delicious lunch.  We said our goodbyes and loaded on the buses back to our marble mansion.  It was an amazing experience, even though I’m exhausted a sore.  I loved being so personal with the Sunims and the temple, and i actually felt like i was meditating.  I also feel like i can go to temples without looking ridiculous.  Though thats been done a million times before, this isn't my first time in Asia people.  Temples on temples on temples last time i was here.  There all different, beautiful, and unique in their ideals.  

Up quote of the post : “Young Ellie: [to Carl] You don't talk much... I like you!”