Chuseok Break

Chuseok is a harvest festival where Koreans eat a lot and visit their families. It's similar to American Thanksgiving, only way cooler because we got an entire week off school. Well, technically I did have to work on Monday. On Mondays I have two 3rd grade classes in a row, followed by one 5th grade class. My mentor teacher told me that the kids probably wouldn't show up, since it was the last day before vacation. None of my 3rd graders showed up on Monday, but three random girls did. They thought it was hilarious to write Korean words on the board, encourage me to copy them, and then laugh at my bad hand writing. This went on for a while until I got bored and put on "Alice in Wonderland" for an hour. Eventually they left and I waited for my 5th graders. Only one showed up, Karolyn. I wanted to get going though so I told her Happy Chuseok and sent her on her way. On my way to the bus terminal, I passed Baskin Robbins, where I saw all of my 5th graders eating ice cream.

I took a 50 minute bus to Daejeon, then a 3 hour bus to Ulsan, where my friend Shalini lives. We became good friends back in August during orientation, and I really wish we didn't live so far apart from each other. Out of everyone I've met here, she reminds me the most of my friends back home.

After taking two buses to get to her, I arrived in Ulsan around 10:30 p.m. Her house is AMAZING, I'm so jealous that she gets to live right on the beach.

Unfortunately, Shalini was very sick with the flu most of the week, so that put a damper on some of our plans. We did get to watch lots of movies and play on the beach though, which is probably what we needed after such a hectic month. We went into the city almost every day to get food and explore. 

Remember that story about the woman who found a fried chicken beak in her Wendy's order? I don't think she would have a case in Korea.

For the record, this is not the food we ate. One night we had Turkish food, which was a nice change, and patbingsu for desert, which is very strange and a hard taste to describe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patbingsu

On my last day in Ulsan, our friend Steven came to visit. We went on a ferris wheel, walked on the beach, and drank Soju bombs (coke + beer + soju. Very healthy).

On Saturday morning, I took two more buses. One three-hour ride to Daejeon, then a 20 minute ride to Majeon, to visit Dan. I stayed with him for a day. We had legit American-style pizza (no corn!!!!) and walked around town. Sometime during this week, Fall FINALLY appeared. I can wear sweaters now!

Anyway, today I took the bus back to Daejeon, then a bus to Nonsan. I think I'm done with buses for a while.

One Month Down

Well I have been living in Korea a little over a month now, and I think that I have adapted pretty well. The language barrier is difficult sometimes, but I have a lot of Korean-speaking friends who are always willing to help me out. However, I ride the bus alone, take taxis, buy food, go to the bank, etc., all without knowing more than a few Korean words. I am trying to learn more, but it’s a slow process.


Since moving to Nonsan three weeks ago, my daily routine goes something like this: I wake up around 9 a.m., go jogging, call my parents, eat, then head to the bus stop. I go into work around 1:30, and head home around 4:30. Usually I get dinner with some of the other TaLK scholars, then go home to lesson plan and Skype with friends.

I really enjoy going to Nonsan Banwol Elementary School every day. Both my mentor teacher and my co-teacher have been great. After hearing so many horror stories during orientation, I feel extremely lucky that everyone at my school has been welcoming so far. The kids are great too. Sure, some of the boys can get pretty rowdy, but my class sizes are so small that it’s not difficult to redirect their attention.

So far, these are my pros and cons about living in Korea:

Pros:

-Nonsan. The majority of the teachers from my program were placed in extremely rural areas, so I really lucked out by being placed in an actual city. I have multiple grocery stores, a movie theater, and a Home Plus nearby, so I’m not lacking anything (other than a Baja Fresh).

-Food is extremely cheap. You can get a huge meal in a restaurant for about 5,000 won, which is less than $5 USD.

-The food itself is BOMB. I really like Naengmyeon, Jajangmyeon, and Korean BBQ (click on the words for descriptions).

-My apartment. I miss living with Alexa in Eugene, but I have to say that living alone is pretty awesome.

-My co-teacher, mentor teacher, and landlord. I don’t think I’ve had so many people worry about me before (people I don’t know very well that is). My mentor teacher, Insook, is convinced that all I do is sit alone in my apartment and eat stale bread, no matter how many times I tell her otherwise. She is very sweet and helpful though.

-The other TaLK scholars. Life here would be very lonely without them.

Cons:

-There is mostly only Korean food here. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes all I want is a burrito, or a loaf of bread, or some cheese.

-The Koreans’ take on American food is usually pretty bad. For example, there is pizza everywhere, but they overload it with corn and onions. I like onions on pizza, but in moderation. If you try to ask for your pizza without either, they usually give you extra.

-The lack of sugar. I realize that this should probably be under “pros,” but I can’t help it. I love high fructose corn syrup!!! Koreans don’t really eat sweet things, which, in my opinion, is a tragedy.



I just noticed that all of my “cons” are food related, which I guess is a good thing. Other than that, I’m not really having any problems. The weather is pretty humid still, but I haven’t given up hope that fall will be here soon. I miss my family, friends, and cat back home, but I wouldn’t say that I am homesick.

I can’t complain—Life is good.