Getting Tired

Oh boy. I was beginning to think that I wouldn't get tired over here. But, now that I'm getting more comfortable, the sleepiness is beginning to creep back into my life. I have incorporated going to the gym into my daily routine and it is taking its toll on me. But this is good, right?

I have finally figured out how to use the wiz website and have access to many pictures of the kids and myself. I must say, Korean food does not agree with me! I will post a few pictures for the fam, of course, but only a few--most of them are monstrous! Hopefully having access to such revealing pictures of myself will motivate me to continue going to the gym. I'm also going to cut a lot of certain Korean foods out of my diet (or at least limit the amount of it that I eat).

In other news, yesterday morning I dropped my mascara wand into the toilet mid application. It actually happened in slow motion. But, my poor out of shape body could not save it before it met its tragic demise. I've heard that events like this must happen before a person can really undergo change. I will stick to the gym routine for the sake of future mascara wands.

Alright, here are some photos:

I swear I'm not actually as excited as I seem about Teddy Bear Match^

Actually, that's a lie. I love it!

This is the kiki class, my homeroom kiddies ^

These are some more of the little kikis. On the right is Aaron, the little boy who gave me the 'gift' ^

No Longer Scared of the Subway/ Once You Go Bidet, You Never Go Back

When I first got here, I was absolutely terrified to use the subway. Not necessarily because it's confusing--it's actually quite simple--but because I've never used any other form of public transportation than the bus. But this weekend, I used the subway three separate times (twice by myself).

On Friday night I went to visit my friend Alyssa in Gangnam. This was the first time I've seen her since I've been in Korea. I met Alyssa back at UVic through our mutual friend, Jayne. Alyssa and I get along very well. And, since she lives relatively close to me, I think we will be able to hang out a lot. Gangnam was far busier than Gangdong, where I live. There were never ending streams of people entering and exiting the subway. I've never seen that many people on a street in my entire life, I swear. Apparently that is the norm for Friday nights in downtown Seoul. It was pretty crazy. Alyssa and I went for dinner at a really nice Vietnamese place (Did I mention that I LOVE Vietnamese food). We also went to this really neat underground bookstore. I was able to pick up the best English-Korean dictionary and phrase book. Now, maybe, I will be able to pick up more of the language. My current knowledge of the Korean language consists of around there words (which I try to avoid using because people laugh at me when I do).

On Saturday night I went to Itaewon with Laura. Itaewon is the foreigner area in Seoul. We went to a Canadian bar called Rocky Mountain. I actually really liked this bar because they played the best music! It reminded me of back home. Then, on Sunday, I met up with Alyssa again in Bundang, where she lives. This area was so neat! It is a very new area in Seoul so all of the buildings were new and very commercial. But you could see that it was surrounded by mountains. It was like someone just decided to drop a bunch of huge buildings with neon signs in between a bunch of remote mountains.

The weekend was really great overall. I also found out that my toilet has a really neat perk! I noticed as soon as I moved in that my toilet had a bunch of buttons on the the side of it. It's a really nice toilet that is plugged into the wall with a button control pad on the side. I've always wondered what the buttons did but never had the nerve to test them out. So, the other night I asked Laura. It turns out that my toilet has bidet capabilities!!! There are different options for the kind of spray that you want, and you can control the temperature and length of time that you are being bum-bathed. I am hooked! Once you go bidet, you never go back!

Every lost blog results in the birth of a new one

I have already created a blog to chronicle my experiences in Seoul. But, of course, I forgot the password. I also can't seem to get into the email account where the password has been sent. Shocking, I know. But I really am that good.

I have been in Seoul for three weeks and, as of this morning, am officially internet-ed. As a result, I have not been able to take myself away from my laptop. This glue is strong. It has been a long and grueling process but, alas, I am once again connected to the world-wide web.

So things are going well for me over here. When I first arrived, I was taken aback by the size of the city. It is massive. I was picked up by a very nice driver for the Incheon airport. At first, I was surprised that the drive to my new home was going remarkably fast with little traffic. The driver told me that it would take around an hour to get to my apartment in Gangdong-gu, but I didn't believe him. After fifteen or twenty minutes of high-speed driving I thought, "nah, we'll get through the city in no time." Then we reached the exit for the airport.

Only when we had finally reached the city did it's size fully begin to sink in. On the freeway I gawked at the never ending expanse of massive buildings and traffic. The freeway is set up along the Han River with spectacular bridges connecting the two halves of Seoul. Never before had I seen such beautiful and immense infrastructure. The architecture in Victoria is rickety train tracks in comparison.

I was so happy when we arrived at my apartment. My apartment is located right at the Cheonho subway station in Gangdong. I can get into the subway from the basement of my building. I am very fortunate to have such pristine accommodations. The suite is a small bachelor on the twelfth floor of a fancy brownstone building. I have a great view of some of the area and a glimpsing view of Olympic Park. I am not complaining. There is a GS25 store and Holly's coffee on the main floor of my building AND an E-mart across the street. Everything I need is five minutes away including my school.

The first two weeks of work was difficult. During the first week I was training. During the second week I was on my own and had developed the newcomers flu that everyone seems to get. This last week--my third week in Seoul--was by far the best week yet. I have picked up the curriculum and am beginning to learn all of the kids names. I teach eight classes a day. My students range from three year olds to seven year olds. The three year olds are sweet babies, the four years olds are awful, the five year olds have their perks, the six year olds are better, and the seven year olds are bliss. My homeroom class is called the kiki class, which consists of ten six year olds. At first they were pretty bad, but I have put a sticker system in place which has tamed them a bit. They can be quite cute when they aren't yelling, misbehaving, and speaking Korean.

I stole the sticker system from the other foreign teacher at the school, Laura. Laura lives in the same building as me and has proven to be a very good new friend. She is the only other foreign teacher at the school. We are actually going to go to the island of Cebu in the Philippines for Christmas break. I'm really excited to feel the warmth of the sun; Seoul is friggin' freezing.

Oh, and I wanted to emphasize how young the children that I teach are. In Korea, the ages are not the same as Western ages. They go by an East Asian age reckoning system. When a child is born it is given one year. Then, every new year the child is given another year. So a baby can be born a month before the new year and, on the new year, be considered two years old (even though the baby is, according to the Western system, only one month). So, the three year olds that I teach are, quite literally, babies. They have very long days.

Alright, I think I'm going to cut it off there. The sun is beginning to set and I have not left my apartment. I think it's time to rip myself away from this thing. Until next time ...