Two Months in Korea

I started this post a while ago, and then deleted it after realising it was pretty mundane. Yes, I am having a ball here. I am still meeting new people and Norae Banging up a storm. I have been on adventures to Dirty Daegu that resulted in finding a dance club called Frog and a pub called Thrusday Party. That night in particular ended with Megan hiding a bottle of Vodka in her pants and me stealing a Light Saber (Excaliber) and also hiding in my pants (not sure how that fetish began, but it seemed like a GREAT idea at the time).

The joy of partying in Korea is that there is no last call. This is also the danger of partying here. For me, last call acts as a parent figure, telling me that it is time to go home and sleep. Without it, I end up having so much fun that I stay up till 6.30 in the morning hiding swords up the back of my shirt and hiding behind on old Korean lady's house with my friend Megan. Luckily said Korean lady found it hilarious when we explained we were playing hide and go seek with our friends.

The other benefit of partying late is that I can skype home!! Well, try to at least! This seven hour time difference suuuuucks! That morning in particular, I attempted to skype with dear Kaitlin and Jo.. only to find the whole event too confusing...sorry about that girls!

I was also taken to an awesome place called Lazy Diner! My first ever American Diner (in Korea of course) where I tried Chili Cheese Fries for the first time. I now truly understand why obesity is such an issue in the States. For me, those chili cheese fries were my meal- in reality served as a side to my burger!

I also found a Daiso in Gumi! Daiso has everything you need to "furnish" your apartment. And all of it is super cheap- so mugs, bowls etc can be found there...

So, the real reason I have not blogged in a while? Well, as exciting as partying till 6am is for me and yes, finding a perfect tea pot is also a win...as is finding an online store that sells Twinings tea cheaply. These excitements might not be as revolutionary for you. As you all know, my daily life (wherever I am in the world) is pretty exciting for me, no matter what I am doing. I painted my nails to look like hundreds and thousands the other day :D But for the sake of you lovely people, I will be limiting my blogging to things that are also exciting for you :)

For more "exciting" posts, I will promise you the following:
-Market Day is happening at my school this Thurs and Friday- I get to help kids get hopped up on sugar and play games.
-It is the owner of Corona's birthday on Friday, so that promises to be fun :)
-World DJ Fest (the arrival of Team Onesie) on the 17 May will be awesome
-Busan Pirate Party on the 25 May

So, yes, until those fun events, I will be working and just living and loving life here in my little Gumi.

Love to you all :)

Learning how to Bang...

Living in Korea has been amazing so far. I am learning new things and meeting new people all the time. About the only thing that sucks at the moment is dear CNN making everyone back home worried about an imminent attack on my lovely South Korea. And, while nuclear war really is no joking matter and I will steer clear of the short/fat jokes that befall the young leader up North, what I will say is this. So far, life here is lovely. Everyone is going about their business as usual. No one really speaks about what is happening up North as everyone is very much used to threats of nuclear warfare happening when there are any political changes, or when the North decides that we are trading too much with their nemeses, America. For now however, Nunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins and Starbucks still seem to be thriving. The shops are still stocked fill of Ramen and Soju (I believe that should the Koreans believe they are in danger, these would be the first two items to be stock piled). So yes, life here is happy...

I FINALLY reached my first payday and my dear sister's voice kept ringing in my head "be careful what you wish for". As a child, I always swore I would be successful and become a millionaire. Of course, I never specified a currency. And, folks, within my first pay cheque of my first job outside of varsity, I am a millionaire!! :D Too bad prices here always have those sneaky three 0's at the end. But still, it is pretty awesome being independent! So, to celebrate the arrival of said pay cheque, I went to Daegu to meet up with Krissi for a day of shopping on Saturday.

Of course, before I made it there on Saturday, I went for dinner with some awesome peeps on Friday. Of course, dinner turned into drinks and before I knew it, I was off to experience my first ever Norae Bang! (this being the first "bang" of the weekend). Here, bang, pronounced like the Afrikaans "bang"... So, norae bang is VERY popular here. I have heard of people developing quite an addiction for it and feeling the need to squeeze in a quick norae bang before  a movie...(uuuum, Briony Bristow for example). Basically, it is karaoke, but way cooler. You get your own room with mikes and tambourines and then, we norae bang!! Sooo much fun! Although, terrible idea at the moment as sometime on Wednesday, my voice decided to abandon me :( Slight issue with the whole teaching thing using a voice and all... After norae bang, we stayed at Megan's house and (highlight) SHE HAS A PET HEDGEHOG!!! I had never seen a hedgehog, let along touched it. And, well, in my sliiiiightly soju'd state, I may have forced Hedgey to snuggle with me. He was less than keen, but super cute. Side note, hedgehogs are not the best snuggle buddies...

So, Saturday I got myself to Daegu, a little rougher for ware (sorry about that Krissi). But, what a fun day of adventures!! First we went to Seomun Market. This amazing, HUGE market in Daegu that has been there forever. They have everything there! From clothes and shoes, to fabrics and rugs, even fresh produce and, of course, pig intestines. It was amazing! Slightly overwhelming, so I will need to go there again. After the market, we headed back to downtown. On our way though, we stumbled across a Daiso at the one station. Daiso is one of my favourite shops here- you can get everything you need for your apartment at Daiso (kind of like a Mr Price home, but better and cheaper). So, I got a few things for my apartment (ok, as much as I could carry). I need to find the Daiso in Gumi, I know there is one hiding from me somewhere!!

After some more shopping in downtown, we headed back to Krissi's for some pizza for dinner before the second bang of the weekend. Jjimjilbang. Jjimjilbang (JJB) is basically a Korean bath house. So, most Korean houses are built with showers and not baths. So, for many years it has been a family outing to go to the JJB and have a nice bath and scrub. You can even sleep over there if you want. The only catch: no clothes allowed. So, for us westerners, it is a bit daunting. Basically you arrive, get given two hand towels, an orange jumpsuit should you decide to sleep over and locker keys. Then you go to your locker, strip down and then, the daunting part, walk across the whole area to get to the baths. It was quite fun actually. Pretty much what I imagine a nudist colony to look like (except they do separate guys and girls), but really relaxing to finally get a bath. They have huge hot pools, cold pools, pools with water jets for massage, sauna's. And everyone just brings face masks, body scrubs, so kind of like a communal spa.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend! It's hard- there is so much to see and do in each place I go to, and yet still so many places I haven't even been to yet. After catching the train home to Gumi, I had to catch a cab back to my side of town. So, I will leave you with this. I managed to combine two things I am terrible at: Korean and directions and successfully directed my cab home in Korean!! :D

My Seedbeds

Training could not have prepared me for the challenge of teaching my seedbeds!! Seedbed level is the most beginning class we offer- literally for preschool level to learn their alphabet. So yes, their level of English is about the same as my level of Korean. They understand me as well as I do them... So, it is an incredible challenge to find a way to connect with, and teach, these tiny humans.

My rookie seedbed class is made up of four little girls whom I often speak of. They dress like true princesses for class- full ball gowns and tiaras are not unheard of. Their hair accessories are sometimes the size of their faces and their shoes are to die for! If they are not sparkly, they have flashing Hello Kitty faces when they walk, or pompoms that probably weigh the same as the shoes. They are literally four of the cutest little girls EVER!!

So, this class is aimed at being a lot of fun as well as some learning. The idea being to play games, sing songs (yes, I have to sing in class), make up actions for words and do little musicals. In the beginning, it  felt like I would never get through to them. Trying to explain how a game works without using any language is hard (I think I can officially be pronounced Queen of Charades after this class). So, initially, I think my lessons were a bit boring. Other than asking "what is this?" and pointing at flash cards, there was very little I could do. Plus, in the first few lessons, I think they were terrified of me.

But then, one day, they came out of their shells. And, oh boy are they crazy!! :) That first lesson, Rora (sometimes Laura, making things confusing) decided to LICK me!! It was during our goodbye song, which for the action of "goodbye"involves a handshake. Rora decided that was far too formal, so she licked me instead. After that, the girls all joined in. It was gross, but at the same time, the first time they decided to interact with me at all.

After that, things got a bit crazy. One lesson, Bella decided to bring all her toiletries to class. That lesson ended with three little girls with hair full of shampoo! And one teacher trying to clean the stuff out and reposition all the hair accessories before sending them home...:/

Just when I thought I had completely lost control of them, I had today's lesson. Today, we needed to film our little musical. Normally, I am lucky if the students stand still long enough to get them all on screen. Today however, by some miracle, these four little girls blew my mind. First, they learned ALL THE WORDS to the song!! This is something that has been impossible with my older seedbed class. Then, they remembered ALL THE ACTIONS. And, finally, they actually stayed on camera 98% of the time and performed the whole song- which is longer than a minute!!

I was so proud of them! It just really sucked that I could barely explain how happy I was with them! So yes, that today made my week!! :D