A wander around Seoul

So, I went into Seoul yesterday for a work-related function. I wasn't thrilled about the work part, but we got treated to a great lunch afterwards. I ate soo much!  Then, I went out for a loooong walk around Seoul with two of my coworkers.  We bumped into this big parade thing happening right after we popped out of the subway station near City Hall.  Is there a temple through that gate?  Comment and let me know if you know the name of this place.

We saw this building. My coworkers swear this building was a different color the last time they saw it. Huh?

A weird thing! I dunno what this is.

Two random street views. Nothing special to see, just nice views.

A strange art display-- a Turtleship made out of old electronic appliances-- mostly TVs and stuff like that. I didn't know what a turtleship was, so I thought it had a pretty funny name.

What's this called?

This is a new statue that just got unveiled in October of 2009. I didn't get a chance to read the whole plaque, but I believe he was a guy who helped with the development of Hangul? (The korean writing system). I dunno, leave me comment if you know more about this guy.

Tapgol Park

I went to a rather severely-paved park in the middle of Seoul. It's called Tapgol park-- a park dedicated to an important movement for Korean Independence. This is the pavilion in the middle of the park.

Wongaksa Pagoda

The paved park also had this thing in it. It's a stone pagoda from the mid 1400s. It was originally part of a nice temple, but everything was destroyed except for this, and then it was moved here for display. Unfortunately it's housed in that very hideous glass/metal cage, so.. it's not really the kind of thing that you can gaze at in wonder. Anyway, this is designated as Korea's #2 National Treasure.

Heunginjimun, or Dongdaemun Gate

I'm a little confused by these gates that are all over the place, but I BELIEVE this is the Dongdaemun Gate.  It's the eastern gate that used to be a part of a wall around Seoul. The wall no longer exists, of course, but the gates do.

Basically, I don't really know what anything is, so, these posts are kinda ridiculous. But, I had a lot of fun walking around and seeing things.

Korean cell phone ; The tiniest tangerine

So, I got my Korean cellphone late last week.  It's a Samsung phone which is incredibly confusing and difficult to use. But, every phone that I've used seems to be about equally confusing. It's got some music-playing capability built in, though I haven't put it to use yet. Soon, I shall!

Pictures!

The phone and all of the packaging. The grey box houses an extra battery for the phone. Pretty convenient!

Side view of the phone. It's slim!

Phone's open. The keyboard buttons are kinda hard to push.

Closer view of the phone. (You can see my reflection, haha.) The bottom part has controls for the music playing. 

A kid gave me this tiny, tiny tangerine. SO LITTLE! And also so delicious.

A new month means all new classes for me. Well, not ALL new. I'm still doing 2 of the same classes I was doing last month, but I'm doing new essay writing classes and one-on-one classes with individual students. Most of these extra classes are being offered for free- the school wants to ensure that the families enroll their kids for another year of classes, so they're having me give lots of "extra services."  I don't mind-- I'd rather stay busy than sit around doing nothing.

One of the Kindergarten teachers is very, very pregnant, so I'm going to be gradually taking over her class (starting tomorrow) so that I'll be ready to replace her completely if she should give birth before the end of the month.  I've already taught her class before, they're pretty good kids, so, I'm not too worried about it.

Well, I don't really have much to say. I'm so sleepy lately!

Got my ARC!

Today I finally got my Alien Registration Card!  Wooo!  So, that leaves a few big things to get done:
1. Get a bank account set up (tomorrow, possibly?)
2. Get a cellphone
3. Get internet service set up in my room

There's other stuff I need to do or get, but, yanno-- I won't even think about those things until I'm finished with the current stuff.

I snapped a bunch of pictures, so, here they are!

A view of the teacher's room. All of those cubicle-y desks are for teachers. The strange pink cubicle in the left of the picture is where I'm at. I get the special desk. (aka: there's nowhere else for me to sit.) It's hard to see in the picture but it's crammed really tight-- there's more desks on the other side of the cubicles on the left, and also on the right. So we're looking at the middle aisle, but there's two more aisles on either side. Packed!!

Some snapshots from my walk to work.

This is a library I pass while I walk to work.

These are some houses I pass.

Some more. I dont see too many houses like this, so I enjoy looking at them.

After I pass the neighborhood, I walk through a park. Here is a nice part.

All parks have these sorta exercise machines in them. Anybody can use them, but mostly I see old people hanging out. (There are some tennis courts to the left, though they're not that visible here.)

Well, that's all I have to say. I didn't go out last weekend or do anything interesting because I got really bad cold. I'm hoping that it starts to clear up soon. I don't feel that bad anymore, though my voice is still hoarse and I'm coughing a little.  Apparently, foreigners here have a hard time staying healthy here and get colds very often.  I will do my best to prevent that.

Well, I'll post again when I get a phone.. or something else interesting happens.

One last picture. Just part of the walk.

Another crazy Korean commercial.

This one features a popular Korean girl band, the Wondergirls. (They're currently in the states, trying to make it in the american music scene.)

Here's the insane commercial:

Korea, you so crazy!

Dinosaur Time

It was dinosaur time.

Have a disorganized post!

Teaching is hard.

Whew! Its been a while since I've posted.  To be honest, it's been pretty uneventful for me.  I'm almost done with my third week of work.  Let's see, how do I feel about it..  Well, this week, it's been a rollercoaster ride. The kids seem to be behaving terribly for reasons I can't see or understand.  To make it all worse, I've also been getting observed this week. Basically my boss comes and sits in the room while I teach.  It's incredibly nervewracking and made my lessons much clumsier than usual.  She observed me on Monday and will observe me a few more times in the future. (I thought she was going to observe me today, but, I guess something came up.)

 

Although I realize that my classes don't go that smoothly and that I need to work on my technique, I'd rather improve by observing other classes and taking notes rather than being observed and then sitting down to a one-hour discussion about how much I suck.  I just feel like a nervous wreck after that kinda thing.. but, oh well.

A bunch of coworkers and myself at a local bar.

 

Weather = slightly less horrible

The weather has been pretty cold, still, but it hasn't snowed again.  Yesterday it heated up to almost 40F, so, a lot of the snow melted. The walk to work is SIGNIFICANTLY nicer now that the sidewalks aren't all covered in thick layers of ice.

 

Foggy Korea is Foggy! Iceless sidewalk, yay!

I've been out to Seoul a little, but only the foreigner-dominated zones. I'd like to see the sights once it gets decent out, but until then I'm mostly just going to bars and whatnot with some of the other teachers. I really wanna get some independence, but first, I need my Alien Registration card. It MIGHT be ready for me to pick up tomorrow..  But maybe not, it might be Monday or Tuesday when it's ready.. nevertheless, I'm excited to get it. I'm gonna get a cellphone as soon as I can!

Food picture for dad: Korean version of a California Roll. Spicy and delicious!

Anecdote time!

Well, I guess I should share the only thing of interest so far. I went out to the foreigner area, Hongdae. It's known for having tons of dance clubs and western-style bars, packed with foreigners.  I went out with a bunch of the girls from the school--It was freezing cold outside but we just went from one bar to the next, dancing, chatting, and drinking.  In one of the bars, there was a Korean man who was shirtless and acting completely drunk, dancing around with people and whatnot.  Kinda strange, but nothing too unusual.. until he got up on a table and got completely naked, and then just.. stood there. Staring into space, naked.  It was a combination of hilarious and confusing.  He was up there for a while, too-- there's no bouncers at that bar, so someone had to go get bouncers from the bar next door to throw the guy out.  A pretty bizarre occurrence, indeed! 

THE END.

Weird Korean commercial.

This commercial is on tv ALL the time!  I BELIEVE it's a commercial for a loan company?  There seem to be a lot of those, but, maybe I'm wrong. I'm not a good source of information.



There's another version that I like WAY more, but I can't find it on Youtube! I'll definitely post it if I find it, though.

Alright, well, I still don't have any pictures so I'm just gonna write a brief update.

I started working last week on Tuesday (Classes were canceled on Monday), so it's been more than a full week now. It's been.. well, a mixed bag.  Some classes have been great, well-behaved students, etc.  Some classes are .. well, not disastrous, but definitely difficult to get through.  My throat is sore after most days, just from talking so much (and raising my voice above the roar of the children.)

This Saturday I have to go in to work between 2 and 7 PM, since my classes were canceled last Monday afternoon. I am not thrilled AT ALL by this prospect. :/

About my usual workdays..
I work the morning shift, so I start working at 10 am every day (have to arrive 15 minutes early to be ready by 10), and I stay until 7 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  On Tuesday, Thursday, I leave at 5:30 PM. That's just the way the morning teachers are scheduled to work. One hour of every day is lunchtime (break) -- lunch is provided at the school for free every day, though I can go out to eat somewhere else if I want.  I can use my lunchtime however I want-- leaving the school, sleeping at my desk.. whatever.

.. Well, that's all I'm going to post about right now. I'll post more interesting info (as well as some pictures) soon.