I wrote this yesterday (Saturday afternoon)... but for some reason my computer wanted to be stupid...so don't pay attention to the time stamp!
Yesterday, we took our morning students ice skating. Zach, Travis and I all expected the kids to just be okay. Korea is not a place you would expect to see expert skaters. We were completely wrong! 95% of the kids kept up with us. All of the skating teaches that were at the rink were laughing at us because the three of us were in short sleeves! It was sooo much fun though. The most difficult part of the expierence was trying to figure out what size skates we needed. All of us ended up with skates that were probably at least 1 size too small. Needless to say, our feet definitely hurt afterwards.
It was super cute because all of the Korean teachers didn't know how to skate. So they were geared up like the kids, helmet and all, and took lessons with the instructors. I loved seeing our tough teachers be so vulnerable. Luckily the three of us knew how to skate or else the kids would have been by themselves.
After school, I came home and hung out with my family before going to the baseball game. I watched Toy Story on my computer with my host sister. Yes, I took pictures of her watching it and they are posted in the album. ( I also took them because Sam and I agree that she has the cutest hair in the world and I wanted a close up picture of it.) We had to leave at 5 because the stadium is an hour away by subway.
So Danny, Minho (my host brother), and I headed off to meet everyone else there. I am not kidding at all when I say there is nothing better than a baseball game in Korea. First off, we bought beers outside while we were waiting for everyone else to get there. It was a much needed 3,000 won ($2.50) investment after a long week of teaching. Secondly, our tickets (which were upper deck directly behind home plate) were only 8,000 won ($7). Where can you get tickets to a baseball game in the U.S. for a pro-team for 7 dollars!!!!!? Beers/Food were the same price inside as it was outside the stadium. Again, something you will not find in the U.S. ! My host brother told us the team colors so we could all dress up to fit in. I have never seen more spirited fans in my life. Take the student section of a Rebel Basketball game and imagine a whole baseball stadium with that type of craziness! Stacy and I were in love and wished games were like this back home. My host brother could not have been in a better mood. With the baby, he doesn't get to go do a lot of things like that so the smile on his face definitely made it worth it. I called it an early night afterwards and crashed like a baby. Definitely best night of sleep I have had since being here (probably due to the alcohol in my system).
Today, we went to Incadon, which is like the shopping area of the city. I really wanted to start looking for everyone's presents and my host mom wanted to spend more time with me before I move houses tomorrow. We had dinner at this cute little restaurant. We sat on the roof (I took pictures of the view). As we walked back to the main street, I noticed a few things that stood out to me. 1) There was a street sign at one of the lights that looked like a french horn with a big X through it... I asked my host mom what it was and she said it was a "no horn" zone... meaning carsa cannot honk their horn... INTERESTING!!! 2) People in Korea when they walk do not care who they are cutting off.... we were behind a group of girls who would constantly just change direct and walk right in front of us... I almost fell off the sidewalk like five times trying to avoid running into them. 3) The police were out directly traffic on the road. We were right by the Blue House (same as our White House) so security was every where!! But the Police had a HUGE bus parked by them. I asked what it was for and she said at any given time there has to be 10 policemen on the road. So the others sit in the van, watch tv, relax in the air conditioning, and when its time to switch, they do! Thought that was a little out of the ordinary!
Tonight is just going to be dinner with the family and then relaxing. Switching houses at 10AM tomorrow... I'm intrigued to see how the next one goes but I will definitely miss the first one..
Goodnight.....
Pictures: "Skating, Baseball Game, and Shopping" http://www.flickr.com/photos/46379050@N04/sets/72157624496182959/
Pictures: "Random Pictures from the First House" http://www.flickr.com/photos/46379050@N04/sets/72157624500398319/
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Mini Olympics, Last Day with First Graders, and Pedicures
Today was such a LONG day... hence why I am writing this blog at 12:06am! I had so much to do that I just got done!
At school, we had Mini Olympics with our older morning kids. We took them outside and they had 4 games. Each class was divided into 2 teams and the teams rotated between games! The first was water balloon toss... we all know what this is! Second was Beanbag Relay. The students had to hold a beanbag on a spoon while weaving in and out of cones and then hand the spoon to their teammate. If they dropped it, they had to start over. Third game was Circle Hula Hoop. It is where everyone holds hands in a circle and you have the get the hula hoop around the circle without letting go of your hands. Its kind of hard to explain in writing but soooo much fun to play. We have played it before in the U.S. . Lastly was the sponge relay (which the kids seemed to like the most). There were 2 buckets full of water and 2 with no water. The teams had to soak their sponge and then run over and drain it in the empty bucket. There was a line they had to fill it up to. However, we made it fun by saying they had to hold the sponge over their head while running so they were all soaking wet.
After all the teams competed each game, medals were handed out and Zach had some tricks up his sleeves. He really wanted to have a water balloon fight so we gave every kid one balloon to fill up and on the count of 3, let them go at it. Thankfully I didn't get as wet as I thought I would, but still wet enough to have to go home and shower during break before our afternoon class.
It was our last day with the first graders so I took lots of pictures. We taught them adjectives such as pretty, tall, funny.... We had them each make a bracelet with one of the words on it. They then had to come up in front of the class, say their word out loud, and then give it to someone in the class that matched that word. It was super funny because one of the girls had "old" and she gave it to our teacher. The last boy to go (who is one of my favorites) had "pretty" and he was soooo embarrassed to give it to someone. He eventually gave it to me. I thought it was cute how embarrassed he was. We practiced all of their songs they have learned over the past 2 weeks and then gave them their graduation certificates. Zach took a video from yesterday of the kids singing so I will post the link to that too. OOOOOO how I am going to miss those kids! But I am definitely excited to meet the 2nd graders next week!!!
After school, I met up with Judit and Stacy to go get pedicures. We knew this would be an experience because we didnt have anyone to translate for us. The nail salon only has two girls working so only two of us could go. When she told me it would be 40,000 won (about $34), I thought that was a little expensive, but I knew how badly I needed a pedicure and went for it. Let me tell you it was definitely the best money I have spent since being here!!! The leg massage part was ridiculous!! She poked and punched and dug with all her might on my calves and I could feel it all the way up my leg. I got out of the chair in complete relaxation! We will definitely be making another trip there before we head home! Pedicures were awesome but I knew it was crunch time. I had to make some things for tomorrow's ice skating field trip with our morning students. SOOOOO after making 6 medal necklaces and cutting 42 wristbands, I am finally getting to relax and write this blog...
But it is definitely time for bed.... ice skating tomorrow and then some exploring with everyone tomorrow night... should be fun!
Goodnight!!!!
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46379050@N04/sets/72157624484849191/
At school, we had Mini Olympics with our older morning kids. We took them outside and they had 4 games. Each class was divided into 2 teams and the teams rotated between games! The first was water balloon toss... we all know what this is! Second was Beanbag Relay. The students had to hold a beanbag on a spoon while weaving in and out of cones and then hand the spoon to their teammate. If they dropped it, they had to start over. Third game was Circle Hula Hoop. It is where everyone holds hands in a circle and you have the get the hula hoop around the circle without letting go of your hands. Its kind of hard to explain in writing but soooo much fun to play. We have played it before in the U.S. . Lastly was the sponge relay (which the kids seemed to like the most). There were 2 buckets full of water and 2 with no water. The teams had to soak their sponge and then run over and drain it in the empty bucket. There was a line they had to fill it up to. However, we made it fun by saying they had to hold the sponge over their head while running so they were all soaking wet.
After all the teams competed each game, medals were handed out and Zach had some tricks up his sleeves. He really wanted to have a water balloon fight so we gave every kid one balloon to fill up and on the count of 3, let them go at it. Thankfully I didn't get as wet as I thought I would, but still wet enough to have to go home and shower during break before our afternoon class.
It was our last day with the first graders so I took lots of pictures. We taught them adjectives such as pretty, tall, funny.... We had them each make a bracelet with one of the words on it. They then had to come up in front of the class, say their word out loud, and then give it to someone in the class that matched that word. It was super funny because one of the girls had "old" and she gave it to our teacher. The last boy to go (who is one of my favorites) had "pretty" and he was soooo embarrassed to give it to someone. He eventually gave it to me. I thought it was cute how embarrassed he was. We practiced all of their songs they have learned over the past 2 weeks and then gave them their graduation certificates. Zach took a video from yesterday of the kids singing so I will post the link to that too. OOOOOO how I am going to miss those kids! But I am definitely excited to meet the 2nd graders next week!!!
After school, I met up with Judit and Stacy to go get pedicures. We knew this would be an experience because we didnt have anyone to translate for us. The nail salon only has two girls working so only two of us could go. When she told me it would be 40,000 won (about $34), I thought that was a little expensive, but I knew how badly I needed a pedicure and went for it. Let me tell you it was definitely the best money I have spent since being here!!! The leg massage part was ridiculous!! She poked and punched and dug with all her might on my calves and I could feel it all the way up my leg. I got out of the chair in complete relaxation! We will definitely be making another trip there before we head home! Pedicures were awesome but I knew it was crunch time. I had to make some things for tomorrow's ice skating field trip with our morning students. SOOOOO after making 6 medal necklaces and cutting 42 wristbands, I am finally getting to relax and write this blog...
But it is definitely time for bed.... ice skating tomorrow and then some exploring with everyone tomorrow night... should be fun!
Goodnight!!!!
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46379050@N04/sets/72157624484849191/
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
63rd Building
Just a note - before I get started..
Pictures are way too hard to upload on blogspot, especially when you have 200 and you can only upload 5 at a time. So I have a Flickr account and will be making albums of them on there matching the title of the blog for the day. I will post a link at the beginning of each blog to take you right to the pictures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46379050@N04/sets/72157624600970492/
Today, my host mom took me to the 63rd building. It used to be the tallest building in Korea but has since been dominated. I still expected to see this monstrosity of a building but was actually quite shocked when it didn’t look so tall. We bought a 3 part pass (the museum on the 60th floor, the aquarium, and the 3D movie). We did the museum first. The sight from the 60th floor was amazing. Luckily it was a clear day so we could see everything. My host mom was telling me how last time they came, it was ridiculously cloudy so it was a pointless trip. There was a ton of amazing art. The theme was “figures” so there were lots of depictions of people doing different things. My favorite was the painting of the subway. It was funny seeing how many different types of personalities these people see. From the soldier, to the man with the rabbit!
After the museum, we went down to the 3D movie. The baby was sleeping so just Minho and I went in. I was given earphones and a walkman so they could translate for me. It was actually pretty cool. It was about the “Wild Coast” which is in South Africa. It is supposed to be the spot in the world with the most abundant sea life. The movie was about protecting our planet so that we can continue to have places like that in world. It wasn’t too bad having to listen to it in both Korean and English too.
Next was the aquarium. It had everything from penguins and otters, to snakes and frogs. It was definitely my favorite part. I loved seeing the otters. They built almost this hamster like unit for them. There were tubes coming out of their main home to across the room to smaller areas. I took pictures. It was really funny when we got to the snake area because the lady in front of me was obviously very scared. Her friend convinced her to go up to the glass of the yellow python cage but when the snake moved ever so slightly, she jumped and screamed and ran as fast as she could out of the room. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. It was also really cool to see all the different fish. But with Minho and I both being tired, we decided to head back home.
We parked the car and walked to a restaurant close by that is supposedly known for its short ribs. It definitely made me miss dad’s ribs ever so much. I knew they were not even going to come close and of course, I was right. They were decent enough to eat but not something I will be requesting for another meal here in Korea. Now we are at home and I am going to call it an early night because I have to make two lesson plans for tomorrow.
Tomorrow is Mini-Olympics so I am way excited to actually get out of the classroom. It is also my last day with my first-graders so like I promised many of you, I am going to take lots of pictures and post them. After school is mani/pedi with Stacy, Judit, and Stacy’s host mom. Friday is ice-skating and then out on the town with everyone!
I hope you all are having an awesome time in the 108 degree weather while I’m soaking up the rain here!!
Goodnight….
On a side note really quickly: Not that I am having kids any time soon, but I am really looking forward to being a mom! My host sister and I have bonded so much over the past week that she won’t do anything without me now. She fell asleep in my arms at dinner and there was this comfort level there that I’m sure everyone in the room could feel. On the walk home, my host mom was telling me that I am going to be the best mom ever and that I better send her pictures when I start having kids!
P.S: We think we found Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory… it’s in Korea! I’m posting pictures!
P.S.S: Everyone in Korea only knows Michael Jackson if you ask them who their favorite American singer is. Even the aquarium had a choreographed routine for their “Aqua Girls” as a tribute to the King of Pop.
Pictures are way too hard to upload on blogspot, especially when you have 200 and you can only upload 5 at a time. So I have a Flickr account and will be making albums of them on there matching the title of the blog for the day. I will post a link at the beginning of each blog to take you right to the pictures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46379050@N04/sets/72157624600970492/
Today, my host mom took me to the 63rd building. It used to be the tallest building in Korea but has since been dominated. I still expected to see this monstrosity of a building but was actually quite shocked when it didn’t look so tall. We bought a 3 part pass (the museum on the 60th floor, the aquarium, and the 3D movie). We did the museum first. The sight from the 60th floor was amazing. Luckily it was a clear day so we could see everything. My host mom was telling me how last time they came, it was ridiculously cloudy so it was a pointless trip. There was a ton of amazing art. The theme was “figures” so there were lots of depictions of people doing different things. My favorite was the painting of the subway. It was funny seeing how many different types of personalities these people see. From the soldier, to the man with the rabbit!
After the museum, we went down to the 3D movie. The baby was sleeping so just Minho and I went in. I was given earphones and a walkman so they could translate for me. It was actually pretty cool. It was about the “Wild Coast” which is in South Africa. It is supposed to be the spot in the world with the most abundant sea life. The movie was about protecting our planet so that we can continue to have places like that in world. It wasn’t too bad having to listen to it in both Korean and English too.
Next was the aquarium. It had everything from penguins and otters, to snakes and frogs. It was definitely my favorite part. I loved seeing the otters. They built almost this hamster like unit for them. There were tubes coming out of their main home to across the room to smaller areas. I took pictures. It was really funny when we got to the snake area because the lady in front of me was obviously very scared. Her friend convinced her to go up to the glass of the yellow python cage but when the snake moved ever so slightly, she jumped and screamed and ran as fast as she could out of the room. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. It was also really cool to see all the different fish. But with Minho and I both being tired, we decided to head back home.
We parked the car and walked to a restaurant close by that is supposedly known for its short ribs. It definitely made me miss dad’s ribs ever so much. I knew they were not even going to come close and of course, I was right. They were decent enough to eat but not something I will be requesting for another meal here in Korea. Now we are at home and I am going to call it an early night because I have to make two lesson plans for tomorrow.
Tomorrow is Mini-Olympics so I am way excited to actually get out of the classroom. It is also my last day with my first-graders so like I promised many of you, I am going to take lots of pictures and post them. After school is mani/pedi with Stacy, Judit, and Stacy’s host mom. Friday is ice-skating and then out on the town with everyone!
I hope you all are having an awesome time in the 108 degree weather while I’m soaking up the rain here!!
Goodnight….
On a side note really quickly: Not that I am having kids any time soon, but I am really looking forward to being a mom! My host sister and I have bonded so much over the past week that she won’t do anything without me now. She fell asleep in my arms at dinner and there was this comfort level there that I’m sure everyone in the room could feel. On the walk home, my host mom was telling me that I am going to be the best mom ever and that I better send her pictures when I start having kids!
P.S: We think we found Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory… it’s in Korea! I’m posting pictures!
P.S.S: Everyone in Korea only knows Michael Jackson if you ask them who their favorite American singer is. Even the aquarium had a choreographed routine for their “Aqua Girls” as a tribute to the King of Pop.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Update from the Weekend
Totally spaced talking about Friday with everyone...
We took a second trip to the Silver Center. A Korean newspaper wanted to interview us for a headline story. Think City of Henderson kids on the cover of USA Today. That's how big this newspaper is here in Korea. Instead of having another disasterous go at trying to feed the elderly, we instead helped them make Kim Bop. It is kind of like sushi but not. You take a piece of seaweed and layer it in rice. You then add a strip of egg, hot dog meat, immitation crab, and some vegetables. Then rolled and cut just like sushi! It was so much fun seeing all the elders again because a lot of them remembered us and were so excited to see us. We all helped the same people as last time that we helped during art time. The old man I helped was sooo happy I was there to visit him again. He had a smile on his face from ear to ear. Each person made 3 rolls. After we proceeded to cut them, they insisted on feeding it to us. While they were nice to the boys by just barely putting it on their tongue and letting them control how fast they ate it, they thought it would be funny to shove it in the faces of Judit and I. Not knowing Judit is a vegetarian, the older lady just kept trying to shove it further into her mouth. Eventually she ate it. I ended up with rice all over my lap because the lady was not going to give up making me eat it. It was quite a funny site and I can't wait for the pictures to come out. We have an email into the newspaper to try and see all of them and if we get them, I will post them right away.
Afterwards, we spent some time with a reporter answering questions about our trip and everything. Her English was very good and she was a super cute girl! We had a lot of fun and I'm really glad we got to go again!
I already updated you about saturday... the wedding!
Sunday, my host mom really wanted to go see this city that she has not seen before. It was about two and a half hours outside of Dobong. The government built a replica of a French city, complete with houses and art galleries. The drive up there almost made me car sick because it was such a crazy curvy road. Once we got there, the view was breath-taking, as you can see by my pictures. We walked around into all of the little houses and saw all of the art. There was only one place to have lunch so we headed there. My host father turned to me and started laughing. All he could get out was "This is Italian food, in a French city. WHY!?" It made me laugh. After lunch we walked out to the ampitheater where a band was playing. Picture French men, playing Jazz instruments, singing Spanish songs, but with Korean words. I'm telling you there is nothing like hearing "Tequilia" in Korean coming from French men. It made my day.
We decided it was a little too hot to stay any longer so we left. We drove about an hour back down the road and pulled over to take a quick dip in the river. My host sister is the cutest thing in the world and it was even cuter seeing her face when she stepped into the cold water for the first time. It started raining badly so we didnt stay too long.
After the long ride home, we all were super tired and I think everyone was in bed way earlier than normal.
Last night, Danny (my new Canadian friend that my host mom introduced me to) and I tried to teach my host brother how to play HORSE and half-court basketball. Let's just say, I've never shot so bad in my life! Our game of HORSE took us like 2 hours. I bet Bobby wishes our game of PIG lasted that long. He might have had more of a chance to win if it did (if you don't know this story... ask him.... love you babe)!! It was good to get out and exercise a little but I'm sure I lost another two pounds on sweat during!
This week is going to be a fun week at school. Monday we did plays and face-painting. I had the beginners so we did a play called "I'm the King of the Jungle." They each had to pick an animal and say why they should be the king of the jungle. I ATTEMPTED to draw the animal for them on their hands (none of them wanted it on their face). I say attempted because I am definitely not the best painter in the world. Thursday we have mini olympics. It looks like Ayzia (the Canadian native speaker employeed by the school) has some cool water games for the kids to play. Friday we are taking the kids ice skating to learn key vocab and safety terms. It should be a lot of fun.
Tomorrow, my host mom is taking me to the 63rd building. It used to be the tallest building in Korea and now it is a museum and aquarium. It should be an awesome experience.
Most of all I can't wait until Thursday after the after-school program because Stacy, Judit, and I are going to get pedicures. Much needed pedicures!!! Thursday will be a sad day because it is the last day with my first graders that I love so much but I will happy once pedicure time comes. I will take my camera to school on Thursday and take pictures so you can all see how cute my kids are and why I'm going to miss them!
By The Way: My host sister has started calling me "sister" now instead of Krista. My host mom and I were talking today about how we think she is really going to miss me when I leave on Sunday. She won't do anything without me now! She even started going through my jewelry and plays dress up. One of the pictures I am posting is her in my necklace she got from my bag. She is soooo stinking cute and I am definitely going to miss her.... makes me think about adopting an Asian baby in the future even more!!
Goodnight from Korea...
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Korean Wedding and Broken Subway
Today, my host mom took me to a Korean wedding. It was one of her co-teachers from school. I really wanted to go because I wanted to see how different it was from an American wedding.
It was at one of the community centers about 30 minutes away by subway. I was soooo impressed by the decorations that I could not even begin to describe them. You will have to look at the pictures to get the full effect. The grand ballroom had tables all around it. There were triangular tall pedistals with white roses and candles at the top. Instead of an aisle runner, there was a long piece of glass and under the glass in the floor, was blue fabric bunched up in places with pearls and crystals all over. It looked like the ocean floor. There were crystals hanging everywhere from the ceiling and white fabric draped all around the room. There were lights that changed colors that rotated around to light up everyone. I loved it soooo much.
When we first got there we went to the waiting room to meet the bride. There was a room off the grand ballroom that had this gorgeous chaisse lounge and castle type drapes around it. The bride was on the couch and everyone was allowed to come in and take pictures with her before the ceremony. I thought that was a really cool idea. Her dress was absolutely gorgeous. Same style of dresses in the U.S. but she just glowed with love and joy. When we got into the ballroom I realized that there was definitely not enough seating for everyone. Then my host mom explained to me that half the people sit inside where the ceremony is and the other half go downstairs to the buffet and eat and watch the ceremony on a big projector. This way you could eat when you wanted and you didn't have to be smashed in with everyone all at once. I thought that was a little weird.
The best part about the wedding was that after they had their first kiss, the wedding coordinators brought out bunches of balloons. Every guest was given one balloon and then they opened the ceiling. It was gorgeous how everything retracted to make a roof-less room. Then on the count of 3, we all let go of our balloons and announced the couple as husband and wife. I might steal this idea for my wedding because I thought it was the coolest thing ever!!! I can't think of any other notes to write about the wedding except that there was probably at least 800 people there if not more. The groom works for Samsung so my host mom said they were probably a lot of his bosses and such.
After the wedding we went shopping in Myeong Dong. It was really cool seeing all of the street vendors. There was so much to see and definitely not enough money to spend. I probably could have spent all day there shopping and wasted all of my trip money, but instead made it safely out with only buying two dresses. We were really tired from the chaotic wedding that we decided to call it a day and head home.
Of course we missed the train when we got into the subway station so we had to wait about another 15 minutes for the next one. Not only was the next one completely crowded, but the air conditioner went out! It was soooooo hot from having no air and being about 1 inch from the person next to you, behind you, and in front of you. We impatiently waited until our stop, wishing that it would come sooner. When we finally got off we were dripping with sweat and of course, the air conditioner started working right before we got off. Weird! Oh well....
Tonight is going to be a low key night.... just going to get some rest for our day trip tomorrow. Just outside the city, the government built a replica of what French cities look like. We are going there tomorrow because my host mom really wants to see it. I told her I could make a good judgement about whether or not they did a good job.
Also, I'm posting some pictures I forgot to do before of my house and my homestay parents!
More tomorrow.....
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