“Catch My Disease”

It was a beautiful, cool day today. Here is a photo outside my apartment window facing south along the subway line. I love the mountains in the distance, they make me want to live in Colorado. If you click the photo it will enlarge.



Keeping with the directions of the school, I visited the Hospital today. The best part is that it is the building right next to my apartment. As I walked in, I was greeted by three hospital personnel who were bowing to everyone who entered and left saying something in Korean that I probably would translate as “Welcome, we’re going to take good care of you!”

I proceeded to the 3rd floor where a receptionist escorted me to another receptionist who took my information, and my cash (80,000 won - $64). Immediately, I was brought to a gorgeous nurse who gave me a self-administered urine test/vial, she then took my blood pressure, weight, height, gave me an eyesight and hearing test, and then…took blood. Now I’m used to giving blood, and needles don’t scare me at all – it is really painless. What I wasn’t a fan of, was that she didn’t wear gloves for anything. She didn’t touch my urine vial, which I understand – but if you’re taking someone’s blood, I think you really should wear gloves. I told her that as well, but she said you don’t need to in Korea. (I guess Koreans have no diseases in their blood and you can’t transmit it from person to person unlike the rest of the world). My friends over in Brown University’s Department of Public Health would be appalled. I finished up the exam with a chest x-ray from yet another gorgeous nurse (be still my heart) and was told to return Tuesday for the results. On the plus side, I was seen immediately, and the whole thing took about 10 minutes. (Score one for Korean health care!)

***

I had never felt like a celebrity until I walked into Geumjeong Middle School yesterday. Today, that feeling was intensified, and I'm not comfortable with all the attention. Every student wants to stare at you and try to speak English. It gets overwhelming when you're walking out of the school within a herd of bobbing black hair and Korean whispers. I've said 'hello' more times that I can count. The more brave students ask where I am from, and when they hear America, they say "oooh! American, I like American!" A few students asked my name; "Nicka", they repeat (we'll have to work on that). One rather large boy said "Ooooh, Nicka - I love you Nicka" (Sorry buddy, but I'm not Michael Jackson). It's hard to tell because of the language barrier, but I think he may have had special needs.

Keeping on that topic, I know some of you teachers out there were wondering if Korean schools had special needs programs. As far as I know, they don't. I haven't seen anyone that I could stereotype as having Downs Syndrome or any other more visual handicap - maybe they go to special schools? As for the milder cases of special needs, the schools practice inclusion, and the other students apparently really help out the slower kids in a buddy system sort of way. (Let's give all those kids a round of applause!)

Later, I had the opportunity to observe Jordan's class. He does a pretty good job. The students (approx 30) learned about Extreme Sports and were pretty interested in the topic and were participating a lot. The co-teacher in the class (M.J) who speaks very decent English with only a mild accent, watches and helps out with translations as well as classroom management (she carries a rather thick baton - and I don't think it's main purpose is as a pointer). With my celebrity status not yet obtained in his class, as I was introduced, I got a round of applause, the looks of amazement, and the embarrassing yells of "hello teacher!" "so handsome!" and "I love you!" (I now know what attractive women feel like when walking by a construction site back home).

Later during lunch, I got to sit and talk with 3 music teachers, they were already hoping to get me involved in the yearly school performance in October. I'm all up for it, but I hope they don't expect my piano skills to be that great. I think they understood me when I said I play by ear -- at least I hope so.

On a random side note, I wanted to point out a cultural aspect that I think is kind of cute. It is normal in Korea for friends to hold hands. Girls constantly walk around arm in arm. The younger ones hold hands. The boys hold hands as well as if to say "this is my best friend". Something I think is pretty unique. I am surprised it is continued when they are old enough to be in middle school. I know if that were any boys in my middle school he would be taunted endlessly by other boys.

At the end of the day I took a trip to E-Mart yet again. This time in search of garbage bags. We're supposed to purchase specific bags for the downtown area in order to discard anything. After asking around, a kid who spoke a little English told me they didn't sell them (contrary to what everyone else told me). He came back later and said he misunderstood and that you had to buy them from customer service. I bought 10 small ones for about 2,400 won. When I got back to the apartment I separated out all the trash as recycling is huge in Korea. Once I found the dumpster area I wish I hadn't even bothered. It turns out that most people bring down trash by the handful to dump it in sectioned out areas without the bags. What a crock and a waste of time. Although, I did end up buying some more food and some other things I needed for the apartment, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

“The Impression That I Get”

Today was my first day at Geumjeong Middle School (pronounced Kuhm-Jung). The day starts off at 8:30am, so I get to leave my apartment at about 8:10 in order to make it to my classes on time. Far better than my 2 hour round trip commute to Providence everyday. There is basically six, 45 min periods - except Wednesdays when there are seven. (less classes, but you get time to work on lesson plans at the end of the day).

I won’t be really teaching until next week. Today was simply a “get to see the school, but sit at my cubicle all day and peruse the Internet” day. I’m not complaining.

Here are some of my first impressions: (in COLOR!)

1. I’m going to get some good exercise. The school is located up a hill (not a large incline, but enough to make you sweat. Also, because it’s so humid here, I’m sure the Korean students I passed by were probably saying “Hey look at the white guy who looks like he just stepped out of a shower in his clothes”.

2. There are no school buses. When I approached the school, there was quite literally a hoard of students mimicking cattle, parading up the driveway, and only coming from the opposite direction as I. A lone teacher (I think I’ll name him Russell because he’s like a cowboy rustling the cattle) stood at the entrance greeting students and made sure they were behaving.

3. The students are entertained by me. Every time I pass one they say “hi!” just to hear you talk. When it comes down to it, they are as goofy as any other middle school kids I have met – curious, silly, and rambunctious.

4. The school is LOUD. I’ve worked in many schools before, but this is by far the loudest. In between classes there seems to be little supervision and kids run around screaming, playing, pushing, etc. If this happened in most schools in CT, there would certainly be a detention.

5. I like the school bell. It rings once to signal the end of class (more like a tone), then when the class is supposed to begin it plays a chipper little tune, I'll record it some day so you can hear it.

6. There are not separate lunch periods, nor is there really a cafeteria. At least from what I know so far, the cafeteria is for teachers and is about the size of a large classroom in the States. You pick up a metal tray, chopsticks, a spoon, and serve whatever sides you would like. It costs $2. It's cheaper than bringing a lunch and was pretty darn good. I need to remember to bring a water bottle because they give you only a small drink (if I dare to even call it that). It’s labeled MBP “milk based peptide” and tastes like flavored jello/yogurt/milk. I love it, but it’s too bad it only comes in about the size of a shot glass at the school (Koreans have tons of milk drinks - just not cheese). I wonder if their bottled water is called LHOM? (liquid hydrogen oxygen molecules)? As for the students, they cart in their meals for each classroom that they pick up in the cafeteria. Students eat in their homerooms – something you may only see in lower grades or in parochial elementary schools back home.

7. The textbook sucks. Really…it’s bad. It follows a CD, which I might copy and maybe even use, but for the most part it uses pictures and follows no real structure. Apparently, I can just make up my lessons and try to use key concepts and themes from the text.

8. The teachers are super nice. They’re all really great, smiling, introducing themselves. Like most primary schools in the States they are mostly women. I already find some of them to have similar qualities to teachers from back home. There is a Natalie and Sandra look-a-likes so far (miss you guys), and I could hear the music teacher singing down the hall - she sounds like Mrs. T, but I doubt there is a resemblance besides the dark hair!

9. Yes, they practice corporal punishment and whack the kids. Within the first 2 minutes of sitting at my office desk (there are staff rooms on every floor for the teachers), a teacher came in, grabbing a girl by the arm, whacked her fairly hard, and threw her onto her knees. I wasn’t sure if it was an issue with her skirt length (they wear uniforms) or if it was part of the punishment. Later in the day, 3 boys were being yelled at (one with an ice pack on his eye) and I guess were told to stand against a wall, later the teacher had them sit on their knees. (to think about what they had done? Maybe they hit the boy in the face, maybe a teacher did—I don’t know). I figure it is best not to judge the culture; apparently this system has and does work. According to Jordan the kids actually think it is a good system because they think it really is the only way to get them to behave. No, I don’t intend on using it – I work with peer pressure to get the kids to behave. If one makes a mistake the rest suffer! (insert sinister laugh here).

10. They clean – a lot. On a rotating basis, students are assigned duties. They mop or sweep floors before and after school, serve the lunches on the carts, and at the end of the day clean the classrooms and teacher rooms. I feel a bit awkward having an eighth grader come in to my office, mop my floor, wipe down my desk, and straighten up my books. On the other hand, it’s a good way to say hi to the kids. I just hope they don’t expect a tip!

Our head teacher Kimberly told me that I’m only going to be teaching Monday through Thursday at the school, then on Fridays I’m supposedly going to be ‘teaching’ at the Education Office (basically, the Board of Ed building). What I’m doing there nobody knows, but I have to fulfill another 2 hours of teaching on Fridays. Rumor has it I might be teaching a web/broadcast based English lesson to other schools? I have no clue. But if that is the case it will suck because you aren’t really interacting with students – just spitting out information and worksheets through a computer. I could have done that from the States. On the plus side, the office is closer than the school and there is no hill to walk up.

Tomorrow I’m heading to the Hospital across the street for my physical (80,000won!) bummer. But once the results come in negative for H1N1 I can apply for the alien registration card. Then once that is approved, I can get a bank account. It’s going to take at least a month. Good thing I brought cash!

Since I don't have classes on Fridays at the school, and this Friday I am not supposed to go to the Education Office, I thought I was going to get the day off! (Nope!) Instead, I'm going to the office to 'work'. Also known as surf the net, watch videos, and maybe try to crank out a PowerPoint presentation for the kiddies. (I already made one today and began working on another already).

A quick side note: I got my iron/ironing board, and fan last night. Still waiting on my comforter that was supposed to be delivered last week. Instead of using the electricity of the A/C I slept with the fan on. Unlike the urban legend states, I'm still alive -- even in Korea. (click this link to find out more)

"Make Me Smile"

Phrase of the day: [I don't speak (much) Korean] "cho-nun han-googo (chal) mawt-ham-needa"

I figured I might as well use this, since people try talking to me and I look like a moron trying to explain I can't understand them. It's a good thing I trained for Korea by playing charade-style games with my family and friends back home, and a little bit of sign language from my cousin David helps too.

In other news, I am supposedly going to meet my other co-teacher (English name Sarah) on Wednesday. She's going to bring me to the hospital for a physical (aka check the dirty American for H1N1), and then I can go to the bank and open an account and buy a cell phone (but who will call me?). If all is done by the end of the day, Sarah says I could possibly go to the school and meet the principal - that is if the H1N1 lab tests come back negative.

I ventured out on my own again this afternoon, thinking I could probably open my own bank account. According to Jordan, I should be able to. He recommended Woori Bank which he said was near my building. I couldn't find it, but I found one near Outback (near E-Mart). I don't think it was a bank however - more of a commodities and trading company. I looked completely confused, and just left.

By the way this is Woori Bank's logo:

look at all familiar??

I then stopped by the E-Mart. We have a bittersweet relationship. It has what I need, but I don't care for large monopolizing companies - especially ones that have floor plans that confuse the hell outta me.

I picked up some actual food this time. Spaghetti, pasta sauce, some pork to fry up, more oranges, yogurt, canola oil, honey mustard, and some amazing dumplings filled with pork, rice, scallions and onions. I actually had my first real homemade meal that wasn't toast, grilled cheese, or ramen. I had to take a picture it was soooo good it made me smile!



I also felt I needed to point out an interesting aspect of Korean grocery stores that we don't get to experience. Korean's don't really believe in having things "on sale". Well, they do -- but instead of lowering the price of something (in this case my strawberry yogurt) they instead give you more food for the same price as it usually is. How do they do this? Well, they just tape or staple an extra couple pieces of the product to the original (see below). It's an interesting marketing idea, - albeit, time consuming to open the products and tape them to other ones instead of printing out a different sign with a lower price and entering it into a computer. (insert another "such a deal!" for Dad here.)

I went out to dinner with Brittany tonight, we got Bibimbap, a rice dish that is served in a hot iron pot topped with vegetables (in my case also kimchi pork), and you add chili pepper paste to it. (I added too much and my mouth was on fire for a little while).

After dinner, Brittany showed me some local places where I can buy fruit cheaper and stuff for the apartment at a discounted rate (take that E-Mart!).

Before heading home, I walked around and took some pictures of the city at night, and some views from the balcony on my floor (not in my apartment).

Anyonghaseyo!

P.S. - a big THANK YOU to Uncle Gerard for hooking me up with access to his SlingBox. Now I can watch live American TV. (primetime in the mornings before work and mid-morning shows before bed -- but it's all good because NESN replays the Red Sox games at weird hours).

"The Best Deceptions"

The word of the day is [Sorry!] "meean-hamneeda! (meeen-ham-need-ah)

It's been a fairly boring weekend. I suppose that is to be expected when you don't really know anyone yet. It's kind of depressing, but I think that will change once I get to know more people and such.

On a higher note (if you want to call it that), I made a couple more trips to E-Mart. One about an hour ago, and a second one about a sentence ago when I realized I was going to tell you that I bought a rack for hanging my clothes then though "wait, did I just forget to bring that back with me?" I put it down when I opened my backpack to stuff it full of E-Mart goodies (hand towel, sponge, laundry detergent, a single dish (I'm lame) a cooking pot and some more food). I ran back to E-Mart and lo-and-behold, it was still there! If this were Wal-Mart and I left something I purchased outside of the checkout - someone would have either taken it home with them, or an employee would eventually put it back. The score is now E-Mart - 5, Nick - 1. (unless you count how many times I've gotten lost in that place in which I wish there were a mercy rule in this sport of shopping.

I also thought I would get more stares being a big white dude, but I don't feel like I'm being stared at. I think Koreans are just more polite about it, but I have felt them looking after I walk by, and noticed a few glances.

I figure now is a good time to maybe write about some things I might take for granted that I already know about this new culture and you may not:

1. Koreans are not the stereotypical small people we think of. I think that they are definitely slimmer than us Americans (especially compared to me) but they are not exactly small in a 'short' way. Many men are just as tall or taller than I - and some women are actually average by US standards. This might be due to the influx of Western foods and growth hormones that are fed to our animals. (and probably theirs as well).

2. They bow a lot. When entering any store, and greeted by a fairly loud 'Annaseyoooo!', they will usually bow, usually if you about the same age or older than them (they guess). For the older population (who are short, compared to the teenagers) they get a bigger bow. It makes me feel kind of special in a non-deserving way.

3. The elevators are fast. Maybe it's because they have perfected these machines since they are found everywhere because all the stores are built in 10 story buildings. But I love them. My apartment is 17 floors and 5 basements (parking garages) and it flies through the building like a superhero (and you don't even notice it). Plus they have TV's in them throwing ads at you.

4. Koreans strive for perfection. This is a culture that could someday take over the world. The need to be perfect can be found everywhere. The students are told by their parents that they need to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer - and they basically have no choice. They study for hours, and go to school for hours more. Across my street is a hagwon (private language institue). Upon trying to get over my jet-lag I was looking out the window at about 1:30am and saw that there were kids (about 4th-5th grade) finishing up a class. (Seriously, that's crazy). The strive for perfection can also be found in the push to be beautiful looking as well. There are beauty botiques on every corner for make-up, hair, etc. And as I'm told, Koreans are huge into plastic surgery (mainly for eye-lids), but so I'm told, just about every Korean actor/actress has had plastic surgery. Either way, my point is that these people work hard, but also can be seen having fun on the streets and hanging out with friends constantly. Something we don't see as much back home since we're so separated from each other.

5. They shop -- alot. I think this is due to the fact that since everything is on a smaller scale, and less people really need or have cars, that they don't need the space to carry boxes full of wholesale store items, and they can shop more often for smaller things that they carry home. You don't really see cases of soda, large sets of cookware, or people buying anything in bulk. There is just no room for it. They consume what they need when they need it (eating out is common, as it is just as cheap - if not cheaper - than going to the grocery store). It's actually kind of nice because it forces me to get out of the apartment. Although, in my case I need to constantly shop because I have NOTHING, and if I want a drink of water I have to buy a liter of it versus turning on the tap.

I also started trying to watch some Korean TV, and have a few channels I seem to be drawn to. I think mainly because I can follow along a little. They have a show called StarKing which is basically Star Search and is hosted by a very animated host. Here's a clip:



Ok, that's enough for today.

Oh, and if anyone knows a good way to listen/watch the Red Sox games let me know. MLB has a monopoly over everything and I can't find a radio station or live video anywhere. I'm probably not going to luck out on that without purchasing a subscription to mlb.tv, but I'll usually sleeping or starting the work day when they are on anyways. Just to see a game, even if it's not live, would be nice. (Big Pappi hit another HR today -- about time!) I'm going to try and see a Doosan Bears game which is about 45 min and 1 transfer away. The tickets are about $7 for really good seats. (I think I'll splurge)

"Stairway to Heaven"

**Last Night**

Anyeong-haseyo! (after hearing this so much, it's a good thing I mumble anyways because everyone says "anna-sayo" and they hold out the 'o' longer, which makes it sound cool I guess.

I think I should try doing a word of the day thing on here. It would help both you and I learn.

Ok class, today's word (phrase) is "Thank You" - kam-sah--nee-da (kamssah-needa) which really sounds or "Thank you very much" (chong-mal kamssam-needa)

Last night I met up with Jordan, the other English teacher at my school, and his friend Ivan. They are both from Canada (Vancouver area) and very nice guys. We went to a traditional restaurant where they serve a spicy tomato based soup with wild mushrooms and some green scallions. Then when it boils, you add in some thinly sliced beef (basically uncooked roast beef - but better tasting), and it cooks in the soup. It's a community bowl and you take what you want. After the meat is gone, you add in pre-cooked potatoes, and after you finish THAT, they add in fresh noodles.

After dinner, we decided to play some cut-throat pool. A version I've never played, but basically with 3 people you decide who goes first and 2nd through rock-paper-scissors. The first person breaks, and if he gets a ball in he keeps shooting whatever numbers he wants. After he misses a shot, he chooses whether he wants to be 'low' (1-5), 'middle' (6-10) or 'high' 11-15. The object is to be the last person with a ball on the table and knock out everyone numbers besides yours. There are more rules but I won't go into them now.

I told them I was meeting up with Brittany (another English teacher, who is from Barrington, RI and went to Roger Williams). We had been chatting online before I left for Gunpo, so it was nice to finally meet her and be nostalgic about Bristol. (shout out to Adians, Gillary's, JRBeans, and India for Diane, Pat and Anne, and Patience!)

We met up at another teacher's apartment (Joe from NY) and a bunch of others from all over (mainly from California though I feel). They seem like a fun group, but I don't know how much I can keep up with them, as everyone is very outgoing and knows the area and what to do more than I. Also a lot of them are more into going out to the bars and clubs in other cities (something I'm not prone to do that often). I'm more into the cultural aspects right now - I'd like to see some touristy things first rather than seeing the room spin after a night of heavy drinking.

***Today***

I re-signed up this morning on meetup.com, and joined some local groups based in Seoul. There is a expat group, dining club, etc. But the ones I'm most interested in is a new photography workshop group that wants to go to the Olympic Stadium in Seoul to do some sight seeing and take some photos. I might go, but it is this Sunday and I have no idea where I'm going here yet! I also joined a group called the "The Seoul Creative Musicians Circle" its newer and small, but seems like a interesting group of people who just want to jam. I wish I could play guitar - maybe someone will be willing to teach me?

I changed my facebook info/location as well and got this lovely message.



Makes me kind of sad to know I only have 1 friend in Korea...

I also decided to take on E-Mart once again today. The first time I went it was really confusing because there are elevators and escalators that allow you to go between floors, but cashiers on every floor as well, so if you purchase something on one floor and then want to go to another floor the girls guarding the exits freak out on you. I found out that the 3rd floor of E-Mart has housewares, 2nd is clothing, and 1st is groceries. I already attacked the 1st floor yesterday as you saw but I can only carry so much with me back to the apartment at one time. Today I decided to get basic cookware (bowl, chopsticks/spoons (combo pack), fork, knife, hangers and some more groceries such as paper towels, cleaning solution, and some Ramen.

Here are some photos of the downtown area of Gunpo called Sanbon: (you can rotate the pics by clicking on them and rotating using the buttons on the botoom - sorry about that I was having issues)

I'm still a little jet-lagged, so I came home and napped for a few hours (a few heavenly hours). But I received an e-mail from one of my co-teachers (Kimberly) about her wanting to drop off some books. She said she had a grade 2 and 3 book she wanted me to look at over the weekend. When I first heard about grade 2 (even Jordan mentioned it) I was confused. Wasn't I here to teach middle school? How did I get roped into the young kids before I even stepped into the school? It turns out that the grade system goes like this (1-6th grade is really 1-6th grade. Then in 7th grade you are refered to as 1st grade again because it is a different school, 2nd is 8th, and 3rd is 9th.) *Whew*

She went over some of the chapters they were on - which seems to be super easy. She then asked what I was doing on Sunday, and I mentioned I'd like to walk around downtown some more and get to know the area still. She asked me if I wanted to go to church (uh, no). And kept persisting about it, almost to a missionary state. I kept my ground though. She's Presbyterian I believe. Maybe I'll go once to see what it is like, but I don't want her to think I'm going to get into the habit of it.

Later she wanted to show me Sanbon market. It is an semi-outdoor market place where they sell tons of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, fishy things, and more fishy things that scare the bejezzus out of me. Kimberly asked me to try some cooked meat-looking item, which I sampled. I said "chicken?" she said, "No - fish!" (I really still think it was chicken regardless). If you don't have a strong stomach for the fish smell - don't go there! Also if you don't like cabbage. It seems everywhere that there is fresh produce, there is some sort of cabbage and it reeks, even in E-Mart (not a fan of that).

Upon leaving the market and getting into Kimberly's tiny tiny Daewoo from 1930, an old lady who was sitting on the corner grabbed my arm as I was closing the door and began yapping and gave me a big bag of yellow melons. I thought they were Kim's and she left them or something, but she was trying to sell them. I didn't understand and Kim was kind of confused as well. The old woman kept grabbing my arm and kissing my hand. (it was kind of sad) and yammering away in Korean. Kim (she's too nice) gave her 10,000 won for the bag of melons. Meanwhile the lady is still yapping away and lifts her shirt to and rubs her stomach. I thought she was trying to say that either (a. the melons are yummy. or b. "this white boy needs to eat these melons, because he's too fat). Turns out it was a trick question and the answer was (c. she had a stomach problem and needed surgery and was selling the melons to help pay for it -- according to Kim). Kim apologized saying that the lady's behavior was not normal. I'll believe her so far because I haven't seen that before today. Koreans are supposedly really polite (especially when they know you, but not so much in walking around in crowded streets or shops as they don't give you personal space or notice you trying to walk around them when they are in the way). It's kind of a weird thing.

I have noticed that there are a lot of people trying to sell you things in a forceful manner. They hand out flyers and coupons like in NYC (but don't bother me because they know better than to ask the big white dude who looks totally lost anyways). There are girls on the street who talk through microphones explaining the products like Billy Mays or the annoying Vince from the Sham-Wow commercials (who I can't stand).

Right now, I've been waiting for a comforter to be delivered around (8-8:30pm) it is now 10:45, but "it's Korea" so you never know. I'm also talking with a long-lost friend on G-Mail Chat (Alan) who I used to work with in Bristol through Johns Hopkins CTY program over a couple summers. He's living in Shanghai, China - maybe we'll get a chance to visit one another or something.

Ok, goodnight for now. Hope everyone is doing well

"Welcome to the World"

An-yeong-haseyo (Good Morning) for Gunpo!

Well, it's been an exhausting trip, but I'm finally here! The flight was uneventful (and very filling, as the gorgeous flight attendants were shoving food at me every hour).

Korean Air does a wonderful job of keeping you comfortable, there were plenty of amenities - hot towel, handi-wipes, snacks, and my favorite -- in flight movies! I watched such movies as Marley & Me, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which I fell asleep during), Valkyrie (which I turned off because I couldn't hear Tom Cruise speaking over the engine), Paul Blart - Mall Cop (stupidly funny), and some others that I can't really remember as the trip seems all one big blur at the moment.

The flight traveled non-stop over Montreal, and close to the magnetic North Pole (I waved to the endangered polar bears). We made our approach in from Siberia, and China, and avoided North Korean airspace (which makes the trip a little longer), and approached from the west into Inchon Airport. Here's a map:


View Korean Air Flight in a larger map

I also took some photos of the flight which can be found here

When I arrived, I met with a taxi driver who was brining me to the school. He got a little lost and didn't speak ANY English, but we managed to find it! I met with a couple of co-teachers (Miss Kimberly, and another teacher who I think told me her name was Consul (not sure about that though). They took me to the apartment which is sweet

After dropping my things off, they wanted to treat me to dinner (I wasn't very hungry, but didn't want to offend them). We found a nice local Korean BBQ place where you sit on the floor (my legs were hurting from sitting the entire 15 hour flight. (the people I needed to climb over were always sleeping!). The food was good though, the beef was amazingly delicious, and the sides were very nice as well. I even tried jelly fish! (I was told this is the jelly fish that you eat - not the other kind --- because I totally chomp into jelly fish when I find them on the beach.) Either way, I think I got back at them for all those years of stinging people beachside. (Take that!)

I got back to the apartment and called some family and friends via Skype. Thank you to my neighbors with unsecured wireless routers. Just call me the "Bandwidth Bandit".

Even though I'd been up for almost 30 hours straight with a 30 min nap on the plane, I tried to watch some Korean TV - that was boring as it was all news, so I tried getting onto Hulu.com and other sites that stream tv, but apparently it doesn't work when in a different country due to copyright laws and such based on your IP address. I'm trying to find a way to bypass it, but am not having much luck with sites such as HotShield.

Ok, well I haven't had any breakfast yet, and really need to buy some supplies (the apartment has nothing in it - not even toilet paper, trashbins, hangers, or cleaning supplies). I'm going to make a trip to the local Dunkin Donuts (don't laugh) and stop by E-Mart. I'll try and take some photos of downtown on the way!

*****12:30pm*****

I'm back from a little trip downtown (sorry, I didn't take any photos, but there is plenty of time for that). I had breakfast a DD's as I said I would. It took some time and effort, but I got my point across. The DD's girl was sweet and was trying hard to understand me. Here's some vocab for you all. Coffee (Kop-ee), Ice (orum), Sugar (soltang) Vanilla (yeah, she didn't understand that, but when I looked at the Hangul writing and asked her to read it she said (Pah-nil-ah) which to me sounds the same...I don't get her confusion. Maybe it's because the word means something entirely different when it's spelled out to echo the English version? Either way, the coffee wasn't as good as home, but I think that's due to Korea's water and the cream she used.

I then took a little jaunt across the street to E-Mart (that was interesting). It was very crowded, but the downstairs grocery was set up similar to Whole Foods or Stop & Shop. There was a large section for produce, meat and seafood just like home - but the boxed/canned stuff was actually a lot harder to find than at home. There were only a few aisles. It could be upstairs or something, I didn't check it out. I stuck with buying the basics. Bananas, oranges, pineapple juice, peanut butter, bread, and toilet paper. Prices were about the same as home. The TP was probably the most expensive at 8,000W ($6) but I got a 24 pack. then I spent about $10 for all the rest. I figure I can at least save money on breakfast now that I can make toast with peanut butter and bananas for the next week. Too bad I didn't buy utensils - God made our fingers an excellent tool!

When in line to pay for my goods, an older Korean woman pointed to my peanut butter and began talking away. I gave her the "Lady, I have no idea what you're saying" look, and the gentleman next to me talked to her. (I think she wanted to know where I found it.)

By the way - I love paying about 60 cents for about a liter of pineapple juice. Such a deal! [insert rolling my eyes at my dad here].

"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

I apologize for not updating my post in the last few days, but as you can probably imagine, it has been very hectic!

Friday was my official last day of work at Brown, and it was a bittersweet goodbye to all the folks who have been like a family to me these past few years. However, I feel they understand that this is an amazing opportunity that I can't pass up, and it is just time to move on with my life. I also got to go to lunch with some co-workers and students - of which I received some great advice about traveling abroad and what to be aware of in Seoul. (thanks for the heads up Mark and Arian!)

Saturday, I decided I could at least pack up some winter clothes in one of my suitcases. I'm allowed two, but they need to be under specific dimension and weight. It is kind of bizarre packing your winter gloves in late May, but I need to pack for a whole year. You should see how much deodorant I'm bringing! (I hear it is not easy to find, and expensive when you DO find it)

Apparently my little sister also wants to buy my car from me - something I wish I known earlier (thanks A LOT Lauren). This isn't something I wanted to have to think about over the past few days - but the paperwork is going through today, and I won't have to worry about car payments, insurance, registration, inspections, etc. (then again, Lauren, you're saving me money and a ton of aggravation in the long run - {insert hug here})



Saturday night I got to introduce my family to grilled pizza. I made them Grilled Taco Pizza, which is basically a pizza dough cooked straight on the outdoor grill, ground beef in salsa (instead of tomato sauce) with cheeses. Then you can top it all of later with lettuce, tomato, olives, sour cream, guacamole, and crushed up Doritos (or some sort of combination to suit your preferences)

Sunday was very eventful as well. After church with my parents, we had a amazing 90th birthday party for my Aunt Hilda. A ton of family showed up, the food was excellent, and Joe Zizik put together a tearjerker of a slideshow of basically the history of the entire family. It was also a good opportunity for me to say goodbye to a lot of family members as well.

Later that afternoon, we went to my cousin Joe Massad's Eagle Scout Ceremony (congrats Joe!). I got another chance to hang out with my close relatives that attended and say more goodbyes - which is getting really sad now. I did, however, get to see my favorite teacher from high school who inspired me to study history and go into teaching - Mr. Currie! That was a treat, and I hope he is keeping up on this blog, and hopefully I can share some information about Korea with him in the future.

Also, if you've been paying any attention to the news, NKorea has been flexing it's muscles even more -making an already nervewracking experience more nervewracking. (thanks alot Kim Jung Il!) The runnning jokes have been the following:

My Dad: "We've checking out the weather for Nick's flight into Seoul, and it seems like there's a cold front moving in with a chance of ICBM's..."

My Cousin: "When you come back, you and your mail order bride will be glowing in the dark"

Uncle Gerard actually left me on a high note however with this one: "What's Korea's National Bird?" --- Duck!

Alright, time to do some final packing! Next post will be from Korea! (although I will have 15 hours to write one on the plane...ugh!)