More Couples Paraphernalia

Couples. . . where to even begin? It's well known now, how hilarious (and odd) I think the couple culture here in Korea is. In some earlier posts I was able to show you pictures I took of Korean couples walking down the street, and at Everland. Now I want to bring you, what I think takes the cake as the weirdest piece of a couple's outfit. . . couples underwear. That's right. At any store here that sells underwear, you can find a nice set for couples. In fact, almost every underwear window display shows couples underwear.

This is one riddle I just can't crack. I can't figure out if you call your boyfriend/girlfriend in the morning to make sure they wear theirs? Do couples get a kick from knowing that extra layer is matching and no one else can see? I thought the whole point was for people to see! Couples underwear has me completely baffled.

Korean dating has its own barriers too. Here most people live with their parents until they are married. It's too expensive to move out, and chances are you wouldn't move very far anyways. So when Korean couples are dating they both have parents to go home to at the end of the night. It's one of the reasons why "love motels" are so popular here. There are also places called DVD-bong (bong means: room) where they have a lot of movies and you can rent one and watch it in a room there with a large screen. All my Korean friends have told me those are big places for Korean couples to go. The rooms are VERY private.

I still can't figure out where the couples underwear comes in. I feel like there must be no spontaneity in many Korean relationships. If you're wearing your couples underwear, then you're hoping to see the matching pair, right? I just keep picturing a couple going to a love motel thinking "I can't wait until be both get down to our underwear and we match!" What is that?! I don't get it! I also can't imagine being 25, 28, over 30, going out for a date and knowing first you'll have dinner, then you'll get ice cream, then you'll go the love motel, but you can't be there too long because your parents are expecting you home. All eloquence gone: that would suck.

Anyways, I wont say anything more because I coule rant about couples for hours. You all are in luck thought, because I have pictures of couples underwear. I felt like the creepiest person taking these photos, but I think it was worth it. Enjoy:

 Couples phone charms.

The most modest couple pajamas EVER. I feel like if you ever get to this stage in a relationship, it's time to re-evaluate.

Graduation

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. For the last week or so blogspot wasn't working so I could write anything. What I've been meaning to do is write about Graduation. Graduation was on February 22nd. I was preparing for Graduation since December. Each class had to perform a song and dance. For my class I chose I'm On My Way by The Proclaimers. I taught the kids the words, and made up a dance. We practiced every day. My kids were one of the oldest classes too so they each had to give a speech (which I wrote). I used their ideas for the speech but it was definitely outside anything they could come close to writing. Their speeches were about what they wanted to be when they grew up. I had two pilots, an artist, a nurse, a chef, a energy scientist, and a police officer.

Graduation was on a Wednesday but the Director's wife didn't check the dances until the Monday and Tuesday before. I didn't get it because she mostly looked disappointed and made changes to a lot of the dances. Luckily mine was okay (but she still didn't smile). I also taught an afternoon Drama class so I was preparing their performance too. The class is loosely called Drama because while we did read a play, there was no acting involved. They just had to memorize their lines and step forward at the right time.

Before Graduation there were no dress rehearsals. We picked out the costumes from a magazine a couple weeks ago and they ordered them. The magazine/book had some of the most ridicluous costumes. Half the time the boys looked like girls. I'll try to find it and take some pictures... The day before Graduation we had one last rehearsal and the Director's wife looked stressed and upset the whole time. At that point though, there was nothing we could do.

Graduation itself was held at a community center nearby. There was a small auditorium with a stage and maybe 150 seats. The costumes came, in all of their ridiculous glory, and graduation went pretty well (I thought). Not all of my kids knew their speeches entirely, but I was told that the parents would work on them at home. The costumes were a little small but my kids still looked adorable. Even drama went pretty well. Here are some pictures from Graduation (getting ready backstage):

 Ready to accept their diplomas!

Ready to accept their diplomas!

 In their costumes for I'm On My Way.

In their costumes for the school song We're All in this Together from High School Musical. 

The beautiful flowers my kids gave me! (I don't know what the one in the middle exactly is)

Graduation was a great day, but also it was sad. My kids were 7y-2 so they were actually graduating and going on to Korean First Grade. I was very proud of how hard they had worked. Luckily, they all came back for afternoon classes at LCI so I still get to see them!

My Classes

I've realized as I look over posts I've written, that I haven't really talked about teaching very much; despite the fact that I spend over 40 hours a week at school. In fact I think I only mentioned it once. Where to start.... First: I'm really enjoying teaching here. Once I got over my original feeling of being overwhelmed I was fine. I feel like now I've really hit my stride.

I've been thinking about my classes a lot because next week is graduation, and my entire schedule will change. My kindergarten class is called 7-2. The kids are seven years old, and this is their second year of English. Starting in March they will go to Korean first grade; that means I will get an entirely new class. Some of them will come back and take classes in the afternoon, but I'm getting ready for everything to change. I'll tell you about my kindergarten class first because I really do love those kids.

In the seven months I've been here some students have come and gone. As it stands now, I have seven students. Four boys: Aden, Eddy, Peter, Sean, and three girls: Sunny, Katie, and Angela. Angela joined my class only a couple months ago, but the others have been their the entire time I've been in Korea. It's impossible to describe all of them, but we definitely are a class of characters. When I got to LCI (my academy) there was another teacher named Liz so on papers, and in everything else I was referred to as "Liz W". At first my kids thought that was really funny, and I didn't understand why until I realized their names are structured differently, and they didn't get what the "W" was about. Korean names are spoken with the last name first. I explained the "W" to them, and since then they have now become: Aden H., Eddy D., Peter P., Sean K., Sunny L., Katie P., and Angela O. I have also been given a variety of nicknames. The best is Liz Baby (I don't know how that happened) and the extended version is Liz Baby Superman Teddy Bear (yes they do really call me that). They even went so far as to name one of our two pet snails Liz Baby (the other was Transformer); at least they have great senses of humor right? I love it.

One of my favorite things we do in class is Song. We start everyday with a song and work on it for two weeks. The best part is that I get to choose the song. In the last couple months we have done: Three Little Birds, Windy, Heal the World, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Hit the Road Jack, Love Train, Do You Remember, Little Saint Nick, and Jingle Bell Rock. Currently we are working on our graduation song and dance. Our song is I'm On My Way by The Proclaimers. They always do a great job with our song whether we're singing the Beatles or Jay Sean.

After Song everyday I teach Themebook, which is their main lesson for the week. This month it is endangered and extinct animals, in the past it has been household items, things to do on the playground, seasons, etc. we cover everything. I also teach two reading books, a writing book, and math. One of my other favorite things we do is Writing Diary. I get really excited about it, and it's been fun watching the kids slowly warm to it since I would get so pumped. What it is, simply, is writing. Each week they have a different topic. Why I get so excited is because all the other books are about circling answers, or connecting dots, or True or False, rarely do the kids have to write their own sentences. It's very rewarding helping them, and watching them have to write on their own. We started Writing Diary in July where my only requirement was that they write at least three sentences. Now they write five or more on their own, I'm a very proud teacher. They've come so far.

Other funner things on the schedule include: Cooking, Art, Science, P.E., Kids Excel, and Project. There's a special room for Cooking, and every week we make something simple from tortilla pizza to kimbop (Korean sushi, no fish). The kids love Cooking. Art is also fun, it's one of my favorite things we do, and every week we have set projects. One week they'll draw, and the next week make something. Sometimes drawing will involve making something with origami to put in the picture which I am always challenged at. That said, I can now make both a persimmon and a penguin with origami paper. The crafts range from ducks, to dolls, to spaceships. I think Art is so much fun because we just chill, put our songs on, sing, create, and have fun.

Science is also a set project. I get a poster with instructions, and we go from there. We've made periscopes, cranes, thermometers, and done magic tricks. In P.E. I get to play whatever games I want with the kids. For Kids Excel they do a Reader Rabbit game on the computer. Project is a new period that started in September. It lasts for six weeks and involves a variety of projects focused on one topic. So far we've done Money, Dads, and currently are doing Graduation. It was a bit of a joke at first but has gotten better. The money one involved the kids bringing in different kinds of money and we even got to go to a grocery store to talk about what things cost. At the end of each Project the kids get a booklet with all the papers they did and pictures of them. The most important part of Project is getting the pictures of the kids working. It's a sad truth but that's the reality of a hagwon. Below I'll post some pictures of the kids during Project because you can see my classroom and me looking like a real teacher :)

After kindergarten I have two elementary classes. My first elementary class consists of kids in their first year of Korean school. They went to kindergarten at LCI and were the top kindergarten class. They are some of the highest level students at the school and are all really smart. I have a lot of fun with them. Like my kindergartners, they know enough English that their personalities really shine through. I can explain difficult words to them and they understand. I love drawing pictures when explaining things to them because they think it's hilarious. Let's just say I'm no artist, but I do get the message across. Some of them recently have been reading the Harry Potter books (in English too) and right now that's all they talk about.

I have that class Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 2:40-4:50. From 5:10-6:50 I have my last class which are three crazy boys. These boys are nine and never went to an English kindergarten but have been studying English for at least two years. They are hilarious. Okay, first I should say that their crazy, but over time we've come to terms with each other. They take a certain kind of patience and a sense of humor. We had our rough patches but we've come to an understanding, and I really like those boys a lot. I wish I could share their little -isms but they would not be done justice typed. Sometimes I just have to shake my head - like when they try to hide from me, or mutter things in Korean; but most of the time I just find them hilarious.

Those are my classes, and I'm really lucky to enjoy them all. Most teachers have at least one class they struggle a lot with, but since the boys and I hit our stride, everything has been good. After graduation there's a chance that my schedule will completely change and I'll be given completely different classes. Time will tell. Until then, I hope I've given a little more insight into my classes here.

Pictures of me teaching Project in kindergarten:

Drawing: I'm sure, one of my infamous pictures. (Dad Project)

Checking their letters to their Dad (Dad Project)

"What can we buy with money?" Action shot in the grocery store. (Money Project)

A good view of the classroom, and what appears to be everyone paying attention. woo hoo! Starting at the back table from left is Sean, Peter, and Aden. At the front table from left to right is Angela, Eddy, Katie, and Sunny.

Valentine's Day and Other Holidays in Korea

Last Tuesday was Valentine's Day. I printed a coloring sheet for my kids so we would have some Valentine's Day related activity. A lot of the kids also brought in candy to share with me and the rest of the class. Behold my Valentine's Day gifts:

Valentine's Day is celebrated here although it's a little different than in the U.S. Typically on Valentine's Day girls will give chocolates to their boyfriends. Then, on White Day (March 14th) the guys give gifts to the girls. My friend told me the gift is usually candy unless the couple is older in which case it would be a purse or something like that. Can you imagine a guy buying you a purse? Anyways, I wasn't surprised that Korea in its couply glory would want to make Valentine's Day mulitple days. I remember being told that technically every 14th of a month is a holiday for couples (although I don't think they're really celebrated). The only exception is April 14th which is a day for singles. 

Celebrating Valentine's Day reminded me of another holiday I had forgotten to share with you: Pepero Day! Pepero is a snack, and maybe you've heard of the Japanese version Poxy. It is a thin biscuit stick covered in chocolate. Sometimes it also has nuts on the outside or there is a version with the chocolate on the inside. We can complain about some holidays in the U.S. being created by greeting card complanies, but Pepero Day really takes the cake as a holiday manufactured by a company. Ready for this? Pepero is November 11th because.... yup, you guessed it: the date 11/11 looks like four sticks of Pepero! Brilliant! This year was ultimate Pepero Day since it was 11/11/11. All the kids in my class brought in Pepero to give to each other and to me. Here are my Pepero gifts:

As you can see, I recieved a variety of Pepero. The boxes in the middle are the "nude" ones (it literally says nude on the box) which have the chocolate on the inside. The bigger Pepero looked kind of like those breadsticks, but dipped in chocolate. My favorite thing by far though, was spotted when I was walking down the street. Outside a shop I saw literally, a baguette that had been dipped in chocolate. The ultimate Pepero! I can't imagine who would eat it but maybe that's not what matters. I'm sure couples gave each other Pepero, and the bigger the Pepero the more love behind it right? I'm just guessing here... :)

Since I'm discussing holidays I should also mention Lunar New Year. A couple posts ago I mentioned what I did that long weekend, but we did have celebrations in school. It was my second opportunity to wear the Korean hanbok. From what I understand, the holiday is mainly about bowing to your parents and grandparents. Of course, I got the kids perspective, and I guess they get gifts/money for bowing during this holiday too. We had some celebrations at school on the sixth floor (our gym/auditorium). The kids all bowed to us which was very cute. Here are some pictures from that day:

My boys :)

Sunny and I (she looks so sweet here, she's usually crazy)

Tug o' war!

Mr. and Mrs. Chung: the Director and his wife (Mrs. Chung is a big part of the school but technically doesn't have a title other than "the Director's wife")

My fellow teachers

February 11th

Yesterday, February 11th, was the one year anniversary of my father passing away. The week leading up was not easy. Last year that final week was both a blessing, and the most difficult time of my life. Going into the 11th I wasn't sure how I would feel. Overall, it was a good day.

At first I didn't know how I wanted to spend the day, but I did know that I wanted to spend the day alone. In the morning I packed my kindle and my guidebook and went to the cafe next to my school to have a waffle and plan my day. It was very relaxing and a good way to start the day. As an added bonus I got talking to the woman seated next to me. She was in her 40s and was working on English homework. She had a question and asked if I could help. We were chatting for a while and now I think I might have another language exchange partner; that or at least someone that can teach me how to cook Korean food!

The cafe by my school

At the cafe I decided I would go to Leeum, the Samsung Museum of Art. I caught the bus to Seoul and was on my way. It was nice traveling alone for once. I felt I needed a quiet day and that's what I had. I got to Leeum just in time to catch the 3:00 tour in English. As luck had it I was the only one there, so I got a personal tour. The tour was an hour and half and she took me through the highlights of the museum.

The museum itself is broken into three parts: Museum 1 - ancient Korean pottery, metal works, and drawings; Museum 2 - Modern art, both Korean and Western; and Museum 3 - a children's learning center. It was great having the tour, especially for Museum 1. Korean pottery looks so simple and is usually one color but it's really complex. Almost everything is inlaid with another clay. The pottery also changed across the dynasties. I learned a lot and definitely have a higher appreciation for their work. Museum 2 was also good. Modern art for me is hit or miss depending on the piece (obviously my personal opinion) but they had a lot of things that I liked.

There were no pictures allowed inside but this is the outside of the museum. The building to the left is Museum 3, the middle round one is Museum 1, and the one to the right is Museum 2.

After the tour finished I went back through both museums again. She had just done the highlights so we breezed past a lot of pieces. It was nice talking my time and inspecting everything. Although dad was never a fan of Art Museums it was a great way to spend the day. People all talked in hushed voices and it was very peaceful. I stopped on my way to the bus home to get a green tea latte (my favorite drink now) and that just completed the feeling that everything was going well.

There was a small hiccup on the way home when I took the wrong bus. I've never done that before here. Luckily I ended up in a place I had heard of before that wasn't too far from where I live. Once I got over my initial panic, I was able to grab a taxi and get myself home. I ended the day with macaroni and cottage cheese which was a dad classic. It was a good day and went exactly the way I needed it to. I can't believe it's already been one year.

Busan

Back in November I went to Busan with two co-workers. For all of you unfamiliar with Korea's layout (as I was) Busan is a large city on the southeast tip of Korea. Here's a handy little map:

You can also see its distance from Suwon (where I live). Busan is the second largest city in Korea after Seoul and is a big vacation place for most Koreans. They have a lot of nice beaches and it's rumored to be so packed in the summer that you can't even move on the beach. Busan is known for its port too which is the fifth largest in the world. It was on my list of cities to visit and luckily some friends also wanted to go.

I don't get a lot of vacation time here so we decided to go just for a weekend. The train ride takes a little over four hours. There's a fast train called the KTX that can get you there in two and a half hours but we booked too late to get that train (and it's more expensive). Our train left at 10:52am Saturday morning. I will forever remember that time - it's a funny story and I think speaks volumes about Korean transportation.

We got to the station early and had plenty of time to collect our tickets, and grab breakfast. Korean trains/subway/everything is known to be extremely punctual so we made sure to stay on time. We were walking down the stairs to the platform around 10:48 and saw a train waiting. We ran down the stairs and hopped on the train just in time. As we were strolling through the train towards are seats we found ourselves in the first class section - that was indicator #1 that something was wrong. We showed our tickets to some passengers standing between cars and we were calmly informed we were on the wrong train. We had gotten on the 10:48 KTX train instead of our 10:52 train that was leaving from the same platform. How silly of us. Of course they would schedule trains four minutes apart. Oh, Korea.

Long story short: we got off at the next stop (an hour away) and waited for our train to catch up to us. It was a nice journey once we got settled, and I enjoyed watching Korea pass by.

We got into Busan and set off to find our accommodations. We had booked three beds in a shared room with the help of one of the Korean staff at school. The place was really nice, it looked just like a nice apartment, where someone had decided to put four bunk beds in the bedroom instead of one bed. There were little lockers for our bags so we tucked away our stuff and went off to explore. We walked along the beach then went to meet my friend Laura's friend who taught English in the area. We had dinner with her and went out. One of my favorite things was the drink menu at the first bar we went to. Some of the drink names are... interesting...

The next morning we went back to the beach early. I have this thing, like it's an accomplishment to stand in different bodies of water; so we went to Haeundae Beach (one of the most famous beaches in Busan). We wanted to see the beach too, but now I can officially check the Korean Straight off my list.

Haeundae Beach

After the beach we decided to go to a jjimjilbang (I pronounce it Jim-ji-bong). Jjimjilbangs are traditional Korean public bath houses/saunas. My guidebook says it's one of the things "not to miss" if you want the full Korean experience and I had been working up my courage to go for some time. Since I was traveling with two girls and they both wanted to go I figured it was time to let peer pressure win. Busan is also known for having some of the largest jjimjilbangs not only in Korea but in all Asia. We went to one recommended by my guidebook called Hurshimchung jjimjilbang.

Here's how it works: you don't pay anything to go in (you pay at the end) and they give you a bracelet with a number in case you purchase anything inside (like drinks) or get any extra spa treatments. The men and the women are of course separated and you go into your respective locker room where everyone is naked. In fact, you feel a little weird wearing clothes. So what can you do but join them? The main room of the jjimjilbang had a dozen pools. Each were kept at different temperatures and had different properties. Some had jets, some had minerals in the water etc. You hop from pool to pool staying wherever you want as long as you like.

Most Koreans have been going to jjimjilbangs from a young age so there's nothing out of the ordinary to be around lots of other naked people. In fact, after a few minutes you kind of forget about it. It's all the same when you get down to it, right? Wanting to go for the full experience we paid for an extra experience, that no doubt will sound weird, but basically involves a woman scrubbing you down. You lay on a table and she just scrubs you down; she has a special brush, soap, all of that. But at the end of the day it really just is a woman scrubbing you.  I will tell you though, it would shock you how much dead skin comes off and how soft it makes your skin feel. After that we went back to the pools and at one point we had three young girls coming up to us practicing their English. It was really cute and surprisingly not awkward; like I said you get over the whole naked thing in the first couple minutes. Okay, maybe you don't get over it but I will admit you kind of forget about it until you look down :)

The jjimjilbang not only includes the pools but other sauna rooms. For that part they gave us robes and it was mixed men and women. We went down into a big open floor and on that floor there were little huts that looked like igloos, they were maybe thirty feet around each. There were three and each one had different health benefits. One was really cold, one hot and one even hotter. There was also a separate room with charcoal in the walls and a sign that said the oxygen level in that room was higher than normal. I guess that also has beneficial health properties. Overall we were in the jjimjilbang for over three hours. It was an interesting experience and I'm glad I got up my courage and went.

After the jjimjilbang we had a couple hours before our train back. We went to the Jagalchi Fish Market. We got there later (around 5pm) so a lot of the market was closed, but you could still see how busy it must be during the day, especially in the early morning when the fish comes in. This is a traditional stand at Jagalchi and a selection of what they offer:

You pick what fish you want and can get it cooked or sashimi on the spot. We found a stand and bought two fish. One was a flounder but I'm not sure about the other. The man took the live fish out of the tank, clubbed them, and told us to follow him upstairs. Immediately the fish were handed to a women who started cooking them (we opted to have them grilled). These were our sides and the delicious fish:

The drink being poured is makgeolli, a fermented rice wine.

After dinner we caught our train back to Suwon. It was a busy weekend but I loved it. I will definitely try to go back to Busan before I leave Korea.

Trick Eye Museum

As many of you know I went to Hong Kong for Christmas and my winter break; that blog entry will be coming along soon. In the meantime I'll tell you about a little fun I had after the New Year. I came back from Hong Kong on the 31st just in time to meet my friend Becca from the U.S. who came to visit me for a week. We had a good time despite the fact I was working that week. My favorite thing we got to do was go to the Trick Eye Museum in Seoul. I had seen pictures a friend had posted from the museum and it looked like a lot of fun.

The museum has famous paintings repainted with a twist in the style of trompe l'oeil. All the paintings look like they are 3D but are in fact flat on the wall. There was writing on the wall helping you to know where to put your hands (or body) for the best effect. All in all, it was a lot of fun. Here are some of the best shots:

This was a different part where they had aprons with different body types you could try on. I went for the abs ;)