Rousin Rabbles

ahhhhhh...korea. i wish i could explain korea to you all. i can't. you're thinking: kelsi, you were an english major, you should be able to explain things... and to that i say, there are just some things you can't explain...and korea is one of those things. i'm pretty sure everyone i've met here considers themselves my mom. hoon told me today that it will be raining the rest of the week so i need to remember my umbrella. thank you. in addition to remembering my umbrella, i'm supposed to remember to eat fruits and vegetables and things that are 'good for health.' as if that weren't bad enough, i think koreans like to play matchmaker (but one person is not the matchmaker, it's a community thing...and in my case, heyoung has taken it upon herself to get all of my coworkers involved in the search. awkward). and kids are funny. according to one of my students, i'm secretly 33 years old, i'm in love with hoon, and i'm going to marry steve...hmm...i'll let you know how that turns out. a common game to play here is 'who looks younger?' i staunchly refuse to play this game because i can't win. i suddenly understand how guys feel. guys: you can't win with girls; you're always going to be wrong.

i also don't understand the metric system. why, america, are we the only people in the world who don't use the metric system? this makes it very difficult to measure things. for example, i wanted to make pancakes the other day. i have a liquid measuring cup in my apartment that the guy before me left. so, i went to lotte mart and bought some mix and some eggs, and then i went to make the pancakes and finally noticed that this stupid measuring cup is, of course, not metric. awesome. so, after finding out how much 200 cc of water is, i was forced to figure out something in grams. this proves quite difficult to do with a measuring cup that deals in volume. but, thanks to random sites on the internet, i found out how much 100 grams of sifted flour is in cups, and assumed it would be about the same for pancake mix. amazing how i had no problem reading the directions in korea, all of my troubles were in actually measuring the ingredients! when all was said and done, i had made the best pancakes in the world. we all know how horrible i am at cooking, but they turned out really well!! i even cooked them all the way through =) for those of you who have never eaten pancakes with me, i like to only cook them a little bit and leave uncooked batter on the inside of the pancake. delish. the syrup isn't quite right though..it's ok...but i think i'll try a different brand next time...maybe something not made in korea.

the new teacher came last week...she's really cool!! luckily i had looked her up on facebook and given her my phone number in case she got to the airport and no one was there. she called. no one was there to pick her and her husband up. eventually they got to suji and moved in to their apartment. wednesday after work is kim's going away party, thursday is her last day, and friday we're having a sleepover, and she leaves for new york saturday morning. it's crazy...in a few days, she'll be gone. i hate change!

i finally transfered some money home the other day...damn, i got ripped off. i sent home 1 million won, which is something like $1,000. however...the korean bank took 22000 won as a transfer fee, and my bank took $18, and the rest of the money i lost was due to the stupid exchange rate. how much did i end up with? about $920. lame sauce. while i was at the bank the exchange rate changed a couple times. why is this? is the won losing its worth, or is the dollar gaining worth? it doesn't make sense that the won is losing its worth, and i'm still not convinced that giving every american $600 is enough to move the entire economy. either way, it sucks now. two months ago, i would have made money sending money home...even after the bank fees, if i would have sent 1 million won home, i would have ended up with over a grand in my stateside bank account. LAME!!!!!

brendan will be here the 11th of august...and there is a music festival a few days before he gets here called 썸머브리즈 (summer breeze)...i fully intend on going because NEW FOUND GLORY WILL BE THERE!!!! AHHH!!! since i couldn't figure out how to make it work when i lived in the states, i'm gonna make it work in korea. they were always in kansas, and something always came up...plus, it was like a six hour drive. here, it's only like an hour bus ride...i can handle that!! lost prophets, one republic, the prodigy, panic! at the disco, simple plan, and many other awesome bands are going to be there...it's gonna be greeeeeeeeeeeat!! it'll be hotter than hades, but 100% worth it...i can't wait!! i was going to go to japan in august to see nfg, but seoul is so much closer =)

on that note...i think i'm gonna hit the hay. catch ya on the flip side.

k

*a little something i found...i deleted some of them bc they were lame*

You know you've been in Korea too long when...

1. You are immune to the smell of "kimchi breath"
3. You can pick up a single strand of noodles with chopsticks.
4. You enjoy slurping your noodles as loudly as you can.
6. You walk down the street holding hands with your buddy.
7. You can eat barefooted in a restaurant with your foot in your lap.
8. You can cut in at the front of the line of waiting people with the best of them.
10. You can fall asleep on the subway or bus and wake up at your stop.
12. You can convert any US unit measurements into metric measurements in your head. *i still can't do this though*
16. People ask if you want to go by car and you respond, "No, I'm in a hurry."
17. You wear white socks with dark pants.
18. You can use a squatting toilet and not be weirded out by it.
20. You crawl back into your house to get your coat, rather than take your shoes off or walk on floor with shoes on.
21. You bow at inanimate objects. *totally*
22. Someone says breakfast and you think fish, soup and seaweed.
24. You start believing you can blend into a large crowd of Koreans. so true!!!
26. You answer the phone by saying, "yabasayo?" *guilty*
27. You mutter "chuuh" when you're cold. *yup*
30. You answer "nay" even when speaking English to non-Korean friends. *absolutely*
33. You like Cass or Hite better than Bud or Miller.
34. It seems completely normal to stay out all night.

my kids wrote me a song so i'd give them a detention pass =) they also promised to bring me the moon!

k

i'm starting to be that girl who really sucks at updating her blog and calling her parents...

it was truly hell week here at school...not because anything too awful happened, but being head teacher is lotsa work! nothin i can't handle though...there have been a few problems with the old head teacher giving me some attitude, but i think we've got it squared away now. i love my new position! i get to be in control =) and i get to organize everything...and we all know how much i love to organize and be in control. we just started a new semester last week and i really enjoy the kids in my classes...i don't think my intensive writing class likes me very much because i make them do hard work...i gave them a worksheet yesterday and asked them to find out what was wrong with the sentences...unfortunately for them, it wasn't easy. there were problems with logic and repetition and some other things they aren't used to looking for. i wanted them to notice problems with writing that i have to see over and over again. i think they got the point when it took them five minutes to figure out they were looking at a run-on sentence. they started out looking at very specific things, but after a while began to look at the big picture.

kim's birthday was last monday, so we went out in seoul on saturday and had a bbq on sunday. hoon and new ta came out for a bit and joined all the foreigners. turns out new ta's english teacher is keri! small world... saturday was a pretty fun night...despite the fact that it took us three hours to get to seoul....we ate at dos tacos, then went bar hopping...it was really freaked out by how many foreigners were around...i actually just wanted to go back to suji and be around korean people. how strange is that? anyway, we hitched a ride to itaewon with a guy from dubai...spent the rest of the night chillin and then came home about 3. i think kim had a pretty good birthday! she leaves in like two and a half weeks!!!

i also found out that i have to move in july. boo hiss. the guy who owns my apartment is selling it and therefore can't renew my contract, so i have to move to a different apartment in charmont. grrrrrrrrrr. when that guy told me, i definitely didn't hold the look of anger from my face...he said he'd be there helping, or someone else would. i told heyoung and she offered to help too. i think i'll mostly just need boxes. this is going to be a lot easier than moving from iowa city to des moines, or vice versa. it's still gonna suck though because i already have acquired lots of crap...you know how i do.

steve and heeju's last day was last friday, so the kids threw them a party, then we all went out for a while...good times, good times...i saw steve a couple times over the week, so it's not so bad...but i miss having him at work =(

the new girl comes on wednesday and i have to prepare a bunch of materials for her to understand avalon and their ways and what's expected, etc. in addition to this, i still have to prepare my lesson plans, grade online homework, grade in class homework, and take care of lots of little stuff that requires my attention...oh yeah, and i have to teach 12-70 minute classes a week. ashhhhh (that's korean for 'argh')

oh yeah, i rocked another korean test.

i had a nice ending to a long week last night though. me, kim, and grace went to the OK mart and got a beer and sat outside for a while talking...then hoon invited me to a restaurant for skinny ta's going away party...it was a ton of fun...i'm teaching the tas useful english phrases =) at like 5am we decided to go to noraybong, but it was closed, so we all stood on the street corner talking for a while and then decided to actually go home...i really love the weekends! we were supposed to go to the dmz today, but waited to long to book the tour...brendan is for sure coming in august, so i might just go with him then...i can't wait to see him!!

i need to be gettin some stuff done around here...so i suppose i should get back at it...sorry for the constant delays in blogging...i feel like at some point in every day at least 15 people want my attention. i'm enjoying not doing anything except my stuff today. *relaxing*

anyong,
<3 k

It's been one helluva week! Basically, I have big news. I am now the foreign head teacher. Why? Because I do the head foreign teacher job better than the guy who currently holds the position. He's been here over a year, resigned and has been teaching ESL for like a gazillion years. Too bad for him, I just have a social grace he lacks, and the Korean teachers love. I am to be the liaison between Korean and foreign teachers, make sure we get done what needs to get done, and pretty much be awesome. With this new position comes a raise and a stroke to my ego. =) *cloud 9* After I was informed of this change, one of the Korean teachers told me that I might have to be stern sometimes...I told her I have no problem being a b*tch when stuff needs to get done. And how true that is...

Friday night we went to Monkey Beach, had a few drinks, came home...Saturday, Avalon took us to the musical JUMP. It was so amazing, if the tickets weren't so expensive, I'd go again in a heartbeat! It's a comical musical involving martial arts...more specifically, taekwondo and taekkyeon. https://www.hijump.co.kr/index.asp Watch this movie! It's only a clip, but you kinda get the point. It took three years and seven months to prepare. It was absolutely incredible and if it comes to a town near you...GO SEE IT!!! After the musical, we all went out to supper in Seoul, and headed back to Suji to pay a visit to Exit Bar. I'd never been there before, but it was pretty chill. This bar is where all the foreigners hang out...there were hardly any people there last night, so the pool table was free and it had decent music...no creepy people...

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...I spent a lot of time traveling today. Actually, a total of a little more than four hours. It took me about an hour by bus to get to Suwon, then I took the train to Songtan Station. However, on the train ride to Songtan Station, the train only went to every other stop. So, once I reached the stop AFTER the one I needed to be at, I had to find another train going back the way I just came. Lucky for me, I think they only came twice an hour and I had just missed the last one. Either way, I waited about 20 minutes and finally got on the train to Songtan Station. And there I met Nathan. He had some stuff from my parents for me. This was a really nice day to be traveling...and you can't tell, but I'm being very sarcastic right now. It poured ALL DAY LONG. No joke. I woke up at 10 this morning, it was raining....I got home at 10 tonight...it was still raining. By the time I got to the train station, the bottoms of my pants were soaked. But by the time I walked another 20 minutes to Nathan's place, every item of clothing I had on was soaked. The first thing he did when I got there was bring out to hangers with some pants and a shirt on them and asked if I wanted something else to change in to. How sweet! My parents sent me some clothes, so I didn't have to worry about wearing his (although I did steal his sweatshirt when I left because my jacket was still dripping). He called me a cab later on to go back to the train station, but it was a Base Cab. Meaning, it came from Osan. It was a lot cheaper, but here's the kicker: they don't take Won, they take Dollars!!! So before I left Nathan made sure I had some American currency to pay with. I switched him 10000 Won for ten bucks, and then asked him how much money I just made off him...apparently, I made out like a bandit! Long story short, I traveled another two hours home. I went and hung out with Grace and Kim and we had girl talk and ordered pizza and watched Sex in the City. Even though Nathan and I have somewhat of an interesting past, and sometimes he frustrates me, it was REALLY nice to see someone from home. In person. REALLY NICE. It wasn't just someone from home, it was someone who has known me for 12 years and someone who knows all of my quirks and stupid things. I know of six people from home who are here: Nathan, Becca and Naomi (I went to Prague with them in 2003), John, Seewoo (I met him at Iowa), and Erin (I worked with her at Parking). I have only seen Nathan. I've talked to the other people, but haven't had a chance to meet up with them yet. Crazy schedules, different cities...it gets complicated!

I'm so happy to have some more clothes! And Easter Candy! And Jiffy Pop! And to know that John is coming to Korea with more stuff from my parents!! And there's another box on its way...soon!! I don't think I mentioned this yet, but I bought a keyboard last weekend! Hopefully I'll have time to play it soon. I really wish I had a maid though. And I also wish that someone could learn Korean for me and I could just know it. That would be stellar.

At any rate, I should probably hit the hay. All that sitting on buses and trains and walking in the rain, I'm tired!! I wish you all a great week!

k

i'll write more later...but basically kim is back from china, i went to a soccer game (videos underneath), i bought a keyboard, i tried korean bbq, i aced my korean test (highest score in the class), the kids are better this week, i inherited a guitar and dining room set from di...i'll make an updated video of my apartment soon...this week some time. i told steve that 'gullible' isn't in the dictionary...he reached for the dictionary...and then when he got the joke he tried to beat me with it...sooooo worth it...aw my 오빠. i'm buying one of my classes pizza this week because i'm so nice...actually it's because they did a really awesome job in speaking class last week...amazing how bribery works =) ok, enough for now...안녕!!

k

ABOUT SCHOOL

I teach ten different classes throughout the week; different kids for speaking, writing, CNN (a news/debate class), and intensive writing. I’m pretty impressed with the kids so far because they all have a good command of the English language. A lot of them have lived or traveled abroad extensively and are able to put complex sentences together.

There are three types of students: 3-day students and 2-day students and Intensive students. Obviously the 2 and 3 day students come for 2.5 hours two or three times a week, but the Intensive kids come two days a week from 1730 to 2340.

Every time they come, they have a vocabulary and book quiz. The quiz is 30 vocabulary words (chosen out of 70) and five book questions, and they have exactly ten minutes to complete it. Most of them finish in about five. I’ve never seen pencils move so fast! If they miss six or more on the vocabulary, or two or more on the book quiz, they must stay for detention. Their last class (and when the foreign teachers leave) gets done at 2240...all I have to say is that I’m glad I didn’t go to school here! I probably would have dropped out at age seven.

As I’ve been meeting with the students, I’ve had them fill out a piece of paper saying their name, age, and five interesting things about themselves...I’ve gotten some pretty funny answers. I’ve learned that most of the girls think about boys all the time, they all love their friends a lot, they love the music groups Big Bang and G Dragon, and most of the students have pets. This one boy told me that he likes to listen to Christina Aguilera when he’s depressed, and another one told me that he didn’t want to be pompous, but he likes to read essays written by prominent historical figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. I told him I was kind of pretentious too and suggested he read some Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau, and The Federalist Papers.

I sat in on Kim’s CNN class Tuesday (I taught my first CNN class Wednesday) and there is a girl named Diva and another girl (whose name I forgot), but they both speak English very well. They both say ‘like’ every other word, just like an American! ^^ You’ll probably see me do that a lot too...it’s the Korean form of =) The little buggers are rubbing off on me! Anyway, back to these papers....I’ve left a place for comments at the bottom, so I’m writing each one of them back, and when I see them again next week and hand those papers back, I’m going to give them the option of writing back to me...kind of like a pen-pal thing, except with me to practice their English and make it more personal. I can see how they might easily get lost in the crowd.

In my speaking class Tuesday I had them write down these certain types of questions (they are called Independent Questions) and then go back and forth asking the other side of the room their questions. This poor girl in the front about had a heart attack when she realized someone had said her name. She spoke very quietly and in the 45 seconds she spoke, she did a great job! I had to ask her and her friend like ten times to tell me their names because they’re so awfully shy about speaking English! It’s cute in its own right, though.

The man who sets up things for foreign teachers is named *insert sexually suggestive Korean name here* but I’ve started to notice that no one really calls him that...they call him 'that guy.' Heeju (the head of the foreign teachers) said to me, 'That guy will call such and such to do so and so.' I’m sure it doesn’t sound as funny to them as it does to us...or maybe just me...They also call people by their professions. I am 'Teacher,' but I told them they can call me 'K' or 'Kelsi' or pretty much whatever they want IN ENGLISH, so long as it’s not too mean! Some of them actually called me 'K' and I was excited about that! It makes me think of Brian Ray! He started calling me that probably junior year of high school, and still calls me that to this day. *awww*

These kids think they’re slick with their wandering eyes...I told them if I catch them next week, I’m taking their papers and they’re failing that quiz. I also told them I invented all the tricks they think they know ; ) Oh middle schoolers, they don’t know nothin' yet! I also found out Tuesday that they have CCTV here! I know, I’ve been here how long and I just noticed? The cameras aren’t in obvious places like they are in England, it took me a while to notice! Oh, and what about the signs that say 'CCTV' on them? Well, I’ve got no excuse for not noticing those...

WHAT I'M UP TO

Me and Kim are going to the DMZ in a couple weeks! Hell to the yeah!!!! I don’t think I’ll ever eat sweet pumpkin porridge again and I'll miss pizza with corn on top of it and pickles on the side! I know it sounds weird, but the pizza is surprisingly good! The sweet pumpkin porridge...it's just rich. I’ve mostly stuck to dolsat bibimbop kogi ppaego, and I will probably eat mostly that the entire time I’m here.

Friday I ate caviar. Omg. We went out to dinner as a group of foreign teachers, and I had my first real huge Korean meal. They just kept bringing food!!! I tried dried seaweed too, they usally wrap raw fish in it and eat it or they eat it with rice in it to add a little flavor to the rice. But I just ate the seaweed; wasn't too shabby. The waitress put the bibimbap (it was cold, not hot) in front of me and it had caviar on top of it and so I tried to eat it by putting some on my chopsticks. I tried a few times to eat it, but the waitress finally brought me a smaller plate and actually scooped the caviar off for me. I'm so lame. Obviously she didn't get it all off my bibimbap and I did eventually try what was on my chopsticks. Also with my bibimbap came smaller plates of stuff to add to it: fish skin, mashed fish, and kimchi. I tried a bite of the mashed fish, forwent the fish skin because that's worse than caviar, and added the kimchi.

And it was white day on Friday! That's like the Korean Valentine's Day. So, in case I'm not reminded every day at school that I'm not married, or if I'd forgotten how crappy Valentine's Day was in the States, I got to experience it again. It wasn't that bad though, I got candy from people, and traded suckers and one of my students also bought me a pop! How sweet!! I mixed it with soju later =)

I also had my first Korean class on friday. Two things stuck after the class: bahbo and kelsi yay-oh (phonetically that's how it sounds). Bahbo means stupid and the other one means 'my name is Kelsi.' I have a test on Friday. CRAP!! I'm a month behind all the other students in my class, so this should be interesting!

On Saturday, me and Kim went to Insadong, which is a cultural district in Seoul. It was pretty sweet, I got a lot of Korean stuff. I got two scarves, placemats and chopsticks with matching chopstick holder, pewter thing and that delicious candy the guys in the movie are making. After they have all that honey finely strung, they take a piece and put some nuts in it, then wrap it up. They are soooo good!! I have a feeling I'll be going back to Insadong, and when I do, I'm going to get some other awesome stuff to decorate my apartment with. After Insadong, we went to Itaewon. I wasn't impressed with it; too much American stuff and too many Americans. Literally I felt like I wasn't in Korea anymore. But I found a Hanbok (한복) to get Tiara, and before I go home, I'm gettin one too! Hanbok is the traditional Korean dress.

That night we went to the bars. I met Kim's friends: Jen, Maurice, Grace, and Duke. We went to a place called 'Lose Control' in Bundang. Koreans just kept talking to us! We also ran into this guy that Grace and Maurice know, and he asked me and Kim if we were in Itaewon earlier and we said yes, and he told us that he thought he saw us and asked if one of us was wearing blue. We both said no, and he said that he whistled at somebody earlier and I asked him if the people were standing on a corner by the Hard Rock Cafe and he said yes (that WAS us because I told Kim that some guy was whistling at her across the street)! I also saw two guys that were walking down the street in Suji at the bar. Steve met us out later and brought his friend. They had their baseball jerseys on, it was adorable! His friend was pretty tall, at least 6 feet. I was dancing with him most of the night. He told me that he'd learned English for 10 years in school but couldn't hardly speak it! He understood everything I said to him though haha!! He sells life insurance for Samsung, and doesn't hardly look 25! I turned his baseball hat around for him and told him that was definitely the way to wear it! Adorable.

Sunday hasn't been too exciting. I cleaned my place up a little bit, tried to figure out how to make the washing machine work with no success, and I went to Lotte Mart. At the Lotte Mart, I heard a kid say 'Migukin!' (It means American.) And some little boy about four walked by me and waved and said hello; the kids here are just so cute!

I got my groceries and on the way out decided to hit the Food Court for some good ol dolsat bibimbap. I'm glad there are universal hand signals because I wouldn't have gotten my food without them. When you buy your food it has to be at the main counter, then you go to the appropriate food stand and ask them for your meal. So after I bought it, I had no idea which stand to go to! But the nice lady helped me find it. Then I had to ask this girl which thing to get the cups from, she thought it was funny, and it was, but I felt really stupid. I'm never leaving home without Kim again!! As I walked by her and her parents' table I knew they were giggling at me, so I giggled too. DUH. I got some speakers for my computer, a Hello Kitty notebook (don't laugh, it rocks!!), and some more marshmallow and cake covered in chocolate. Maybe as my Korean gets better I'll know what they are called.

When I was getting into the elevator, I held it for some guy. He said thank you, then he asked me where I was from and he told me he hadn't been to the United States for about five years and asked me if I am a student and I told him I was a teacher. His face about lit up and I thought he was going to explode with excitement. He said his English has been getting worse and he wanted to know if I'd practice with him sometime. So I said sure, I didn't see why not, and he gave me his business card and we went on our merry ways!

Oh, and I also found out that the thing I thought was a subway opening soon is apparently just a bike underpass. Language barrier. There is a subway station 10 minutes by foot from my apartment, I just found that out on Friday!

On that note, I think it's time for bed. It's been a long, long weekend; but it was a fun weekend!!!

k