Parents Day / Seoul

The month of May is known as "family month" here in Korea. Children's day was last week, this week it was Parents day. To celebrate we had the parents come to school to watch the morning kinders perform. Stephanie's kids did "Little Green Frog" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."
They were so cute.









Chris's kids did "New York, New York."

They looked so grown up and professional considering how fast it came together. I didn't do anything except stand around and take pictures, I was let off the hook because of Daniel(the little boy).

After the song and dance, Stephanie read "The Kissing Hand" to the kids and moms.
Then the kids got up and gave their moms big hugs and "kissing hands." Afterward most of Stephanie's kids were crying for the rest of the day because they missed their moms. It was so sad, I miss my mommy too!

After class Stephanie and I headed to Seoul. Our bus came in over an hour late because of nasty Seoul traffic. Stephanie's friends met us there and then we went straight out to a district called No-Won. It was very hip. We went to a foreigner bar, but it was boring for us because we weren't in the mood to meet a bunch of people that we'd never see again. We left shortly after and hung around on the streets of No-Won. We let the party come to us. I felt like I was famous. Many young Koreans kept coming up to us to try out their English. Some businessman bought us canned coffees. Some hip dudes with tattoos gave us popsickles. It was fun. I forgot my backpack in the taxi on the way back. The driver actually came back around and gave it to me with everything still in it. I was so happy that I almost cried. I love this country. Koreans are also honest about money too, if you hand them the wrong amount they will give it back to you instead of pocketing it.

Where Stephanie's friend lives is pretty much in the middle of no where, second to last stop on line 6. He works at Seoul's Women University. It takes an hour or more to get into central city fun town.They did have these awesome accordion posters hanging up all over, not sure what its about.. but there is an accordion on them! I found one laying in the street and rolled it up. I have it on my wall now.

On Saturday morning we went shopping. We checked out MyungDong first.

MyungDong is the fashion and shopping hub of Seoul, it is huge and there are a ton of people everywhere.
We went to many many shops, Uniglow and Forever 21 is where I did most of my shopping. The Forever 21 here is AMAZING! It has 3 huge floors, I've never been in a single store that big before.
Shot taken out of Forever 21's 3rd floor window... shopping mania going on down there.


Hopefully I'll still be here when the H&M opens next year. I love that place! I got new sunglasses, jeans, a t-shirt that says "watch out trolls," a dress, a headband, and socks. Shopping in Korea is a ton of fun. Afterwards we hopped a cab to Itaewon, the big foreigner district. They had lots of things there, but we were pooped out on shopping. I will be going back one day soon to eat at the foreign restaurants though... mmm Thai and Indian.
Itaewon could look like anywhere in South Korea if it wasn't for all the foreigner places and foreigners walking around.

After that we went back to Steph's friends house and rested/got ready for Seoul World DJ Fest, the largest "rave" in Korea.
I wore my new shirt, pants, and headband.
Wow... Seoul World. I don't even know where to begin. It was beyond belief. I never saw anything like it this. There were so many people, it was estimated at over 30,000 I believe.
The line to get in was very very long.

But then we found the no wait line just for foreigners. Almost too good to be true... a line just for foreigners, for any other occasion I would be a little offended.

There were 2 stages, the main one that played mostly house and mix.







Then there was the Jagermeister stage, located near the Jagermeister liquor tent. Here was mostly drum and bass, jungle, and down tempo.










There was also a cigarette lounge, they played mostly down tempo and classic anthems.

There were tents all around the entire site. In the tents there were even more DJs spinning in a more intimate atmosphere. They also had various things you could do in the tents, like get your hair done or screen print a tee-shirt or games. In one tent you could buy glowing things. We bought some bracelets, the girl selling them liked me and took pictures with us, she gave me all of the bracelets she was wearing too. So sweet.








There was even a trampoline.
And a huge drum circle.


Steph and I were starving by the time we got there. We headed over to the hot dog line and waited. And waited. And waited. We met some nice people from Gangwon-do in the line. They live in the capital of our providence, Chuncheon. I will be going there soon.


Steph and I waiting and waiting in the hot dog line.


The people we met were so cool! We waited with them, and waited, and then kicked around a little ball while waiting. All together we waited an hour for our hot dogs. I normally hate mustard and ketchup and pickles, but I got all of that on my hot dog because I wanted my time's worth.

OH DELICIOUS HOT DOG IN A CUP! YOU WERE SOOOOO WORTH IT! (not!)


There was a lone Korean man dancing around where we sat to enjoy our hotdogs. Another guy joined him, I said "I want to go dance too but I bet it would be like parting the red sea if I went over there." It wasn't, many more people, oeguks and hanguks alike, joined in the jump dance frenzy. It turned into a huge dance party, someone must have radioed the heads of the event because then a staff video camera guy showed up too... maybe I was on TV or will make promo video for next year!







Out of no where the original lone Korean picked me up on his shoulders and ran around with me. It was insane. I looked around and Steph and hotdog line friends were all documenting this moment of extreme craziness.

I danced a ton. We stayed pretty late, but didn't make it to the end. We were exhausted from the long day before. Next year, if I go (which I want to), I will be camping out there. They had a camping section with their own stages and DJs, but you have to pre-register. That would be so much fun I bet. It was an amazing night, one of my favorites in Korea so far.
Second impressions of Seoul? Well... its still really big, dirty, and busy. Its better when you have someone who knows things to do and when you actually have a plan in mind. I have a real hang of the subway now, and a card pass. One thing that throws me about Seoul is all the foreigners, and none of them will talk to you unlike where I live where if you see someone new you stop and introduce yourself(usually). I'm still glad that I don't live there, I love my small little Gangneung with the beach, fresh air, and friendly people.


Being a teacher is going well, I'm liking it more and more each week. I feel satisfied at the end of the day. My favorite class is my intermediate, they are a little older.. so I can really talk to them. Their English is good, but not prefect so there is still stuff I can show them. They are funny and respectful too. Over all I really like being a teacher here, I like the instant cultural respect and the "teacher treats" that the kids give us. Sometimes the kinder kids will give me little "I love you" cards or origami hearts, that is just too cute! Babysitting Daniel is a real handful though, we are making progress I guess. I can get him to say things if I really push him but he always switches back into Korean. I'm learning a good amount of Korean from him. The most useful is igeo myo yeyo(what is this?), the ladies at the school must be so happy that he taught me that.. haha, I say it all the time now.
Its allergy season here in Korea. There is a wives tale that the yellow dust is pollution from China, but one look at it reminded me of the pollen from Innsbruck... pine tree pollen. Its everywhere, on cars, on my drying laundry, on the stairs, on the desks. I'm coughing and stuffed up again. Luckily the word for allergy is pretty much the same in Korean and English, I got some medicine today and I'm starting to feel better.

This weekend was supposed to be scooter buying weekend, but the prediciton is for rain all weekend long.. That makes me really sad, I was really hoping to buy a scooter sooner rather than later before the exchange gets any worse. Maybe the sun will peek out for long enough to try some out.

pre-weekend special edition

This is from back in the days when I was the art/music/exercise teacher.








I'm not any of those things anymore. I started teaching, or should I say babysitting, a Korean age 4(real age 3) year old boy on Monday. I showed up ready to do art, but got him instead. Things change so fast here and I'm always the last to know. I was just getting used to doing art and music but now its over. I'm really going to miss the kids fighting over what songs they want to sing with me on accordion. Oh well. Now I get to hangout in the playroom all morning and have snot and boogers wiped on me. He's also put a stop to me being able to wear skirts and dresses to school... he lifts them up or looks under them, but only in front of other people.. Yep, embarrassing.


Here are some action shot pictures from Children's Day at the school. That little guy in the yellow sweater on the left is my new student.









Here is a picture from the soccer game with 3 of our newest and drunkest Korean acquaintances. Those aren't victory/peace signs.. they are bunny ears! haha! We showed them.


For our holiday on Tuesday, us teachers were out late on Monday. Steph, a new friend from South Africa, and I went to the beach after awhile, more and more people kept dropping by until it was an improptu beach party.
It was a really lovely night, it wasn't too cold or windy. We stayed there for a very long time watching the sea and enjoying each others lives. It was a great night. Towards the end of the night I had to use the bathroom badly so we went to a restaurant. I did the peepee dance and they showed me the toilet. When I came out my friends were sitting around a table with 2 wasted Korean men. They invited us to sit, so we sat with them, drinking and eating until we exhausted the few things that both parties could say in English/Korean, which wasn't much but the conversation lasted for at least an hour. When we left the sun was coming up. Sunrise here is so wonderful. I can't believe we made it to the sunrise. We did sunrise victory poses.




I got paid for my past 2 paychecks in cash tonight (since I don't have a bank account yet). I feel like a playa! Steph and I are going to Seoul tomorrow until Sunday. Going to be SO much fun! We actually have a plan this time and people to stay with and things to do.

Holla at ya Seoul! Me and my Won are comin' to town!

children's day at the school; magical mystery tour; from taek ji to the sea

Children's Day is a major holiday here in Asia, on Children's Day parents give their children lots of gifts and attention. Here in Korea its celebrated May 5th, but the school had their party on Friday because we have that day off as a holiday. A lot of people around here got off for the 4th too, but not us because supposedly the parents would "complain." I'm not expecting a big turn out for my classes tomorrow, so it should be an easy day. I do really wish I was off though.

On Thursday I had dinner with the other teachers. We went to the restaurant below where I live. I always thought it was a meat place but it turned out to be an eel place. It was tasty; eel has a light, delicate, sweet taste.

On Friday us teachers were supposed to prepare fun things to do with the kindergartens. I did face painting and art. For face painting I drew a bunch of designs and let them pick which one. I'm an expert at painting Pikachu and Hello Kitty now.

Face paints are a little different than the ones at home, they were actual paints and I had to use a paint brush. More difficult than the crayon style ones I'm experienced with, but I don't think I did too bad. None of the kids cried anyway!
My art project was teaching the kids how to roll strips of newspaper around sticks to make beads and then necklaces. It was a big hit. I did it with my PK6 class too, they loved it.

That's what it looked like before we started, you don't want to know what it looked like after.

Steve on the left. He is a really cute kid. Kathy on the right with monster Paul sneaking up.

This weekend I decided to have another easy weekend around town because I'm going to Seoul next weekend.
On Friday we had dinner with some of our new friends. After that we went to a noraban(karaoke bar) and sang some songs. It was lot of fun. I'm still a horrible singer, but I'm getting used to singing and I'm becoming less and less afraid of my voice. Noraban is really entertaining; you get a private room with a huge screen and scrolling lyrics, 2 microphones, sofas, tambourines, and a bigger selection of English songs than I was expecting.

After noraban we went to a foreigner hangout and waited around for the evening. I played poker, I did horribly. So much for beginner's luck. I don't think I'll be playing again, I don't have a good head for that kind of thing. Stephanie actually won though! She got 80,000 won! I was so proud of her. I meet many new people on Friday, I'm starting to feel more comfortable although there is still the new kid in town feeling. Not having a cell phone makes it really rough to stay in contact with people, I'm hoping to take care of that soon. I didn't want to get a cell phone here, but its clear that I need one if I want to be in on the goings on.

On Saturday us teachers, a lady that works at the school, and her minister went hiking.

It was very very easy compared to my last hike. We drove most of the way up before even starting. The drive up and back down made me a little sick, the minister drives very fast and takes turns hard (like all Koreans). It was quite windy as well, I felt like I was going to blow away during some parts. There were lots of windmills.











My favorite was seeing all the delicate mountain flowers.

Not a very high mountain, only about 3,800 feet.

Cultural point: whenever you do things with Koreans you can always count on it turning into a magical mystery tour at some point. Most definitely there will be lots of little side trips and stops along the way there or back to visit friends or to pick up things from the middle of no where. I did have fun though. I love hiking. I may try to go again on my day off this Tuesday.

After the mystery tour we parted ways for a bit to recover. I was invited to a beach party, soccer game, and nightly fun the previous night so I followed up on that. Beach party got moved to the host's apartment because of rain, his place is SO nice! His bathroom is practically bigger than my whole flat. At the party I had a much needed delicious, juicy hamburger. I meet more people, there were so many foreigners there.. it was sorta scary at first and awkward because I'm still so new. It takes people at least 3 times of meeting you to realize that they've met you. After awhile the rain stopped and we cleared out for the soccer game. This was my first soccer game and it was awesome!











I had such a good time, there was so much energy in the air. I loved the chants of "This is Gangwon(the providence I live in)!" "Gangwon here to stay!" and of course the fight songs which I must learn. Hearing a huge crowd of people cheering "this is Gangwon" made something click inside of me, I'm feeling more at home here everyday. Periodically Korean guys would come over and take pictures with the huge group of oeguks. Gangwon played really well, they came close to getting lots of shots but ended up tieing. After the game I went out with a bunch of people and had a really great time. Steph and I have a good time together. We both love to dance, as soon as we start dancing everyone else joins in. Its really fun.

Sundays are usually my lonely days here. Steph goes to church and Chris is elusive so its a big me time day. I spend most of it reading, playing accordion, writing this blog, and learning Korean. I can read Korean now, I still get a little confused but I did it! I'm first to read it, I don't think the other teachers have much interest in learning anyway though.
Today was a really beautiful day so I decided to take a really long walk. I walked from Taek Ji(neighborhood I live in) all the way to the sea. It took almost 2 hours, but I went a very round about way. Beach and the nearby lake. I can't wait for summer, I want to swim so badly.





Once I got there it was sort of a let down because I didn't bring anything to read and it isn't much fun to hang around the beach by yourself with nothing to do. I took a cab back, scariest taxi driver ever. We almost got into many accidents. He did do a good job at pointing out every oeguk we saw and mumbling something. Koreans stare so much at us foreigners. Some people have problems with it but I don't mind. I usually just stare back and they stop, if they point I either point back, smile, or wave. I stare at the foreigners too, you can't help it really. We stick out like sore thumbs.

I'm feeling more and more adjusted. I really like it here. This weekend was a total success as far as meeting people and having a good time is concerned. I got some numbers, but they are useless without a cell phone. I met the people in the foreigner band, "You Suck." They want me to come to practice sometimes. They said they love accordions and really want one in the band. They named off Beirut and Devotchka as some influences, I love those bands. They also have a trumpet player. Maybe next time I see them we can work out the details. I'm scared, but playing with other people advances me as a musician. I learn a lot, playing with others is so different than learning from books. I really like the experience even though I usually struggle with it. I'm starting to consider getting a really tiny accordion or a Concertina to use for traveling, I love the accordion I have now but it would be difficult to bring it along during my intense backpacking plans for when I'm done here. There is no question that I will need to have an accordion on my travels. The opportunity to entertain people and learn new songs isn't something I can pass up.