First day back at school after a 5-day weekend.

On Saturday I went to Pyeongchang and stayed overnight at my co-teacher's parents' house. They are farmers in a village of about 10 houses (I didn't count). It was quiet and beautiful and peaceful - everything the city is not. I am such a country girl. Her parents don't speak a word of English, but they were hard-working, kind and welcoming. Even though I was in a totally different world, I couldn't help laughing when, after the day's work was done, I found myself sitting in the living room watching TV with Marrisa's parents. I thought - if I was at my parents' house right now, we'd probably be doing the same thing! People are people. I think the highlight of that trip was when I got to pick vegetables that we later ate! I love working the land and hope to someday be able to grow my own food for my family. On Sunday afternoon we left Pyeongchang and went to Wonju, which is the largest city (population wise) in my rural province of Gangwon. Before arriving at our destination (Marrisa's sister's apartment), we stopped and hiked for about an hour on a beautiful mountain trail that led to an ancient Buddhist temple. You know, just a Sunday stroll in the park, with some 2,000 year old buildings thrown in for good measure. After stopping at the bakery to buy a pumpkin cake for Marrisa's nephew (his mom said chocolate is too unhealthy), we finally arrived at the apartment. It was on the 19th-ish floor of a typical Korean high-rise apartment building. Their home was peaceful and comfortable. They have nine and five year old sons, and a 6 month old daughter. The kids and the food and the company... it was all nice. But what I reallllllly liked was the bed I slept in: latex mattress (AKA the first soft mattress I've experienced in Asia! haha. I slept for like 14 hours! It was very refreshing. Plus, there was a heated blanket. ahhhhhh).

Enough is enough. Either I get moved to a new apartment, or I am quitting. I love this city, and my job. The one and only problem is my mold-infested apartment that is poisoning me. I have been sick for the past 6 months. I'm really starting to get scared of what will happen to me if I stay here.

This past weekend was both productive and relaxing. On Saturday, I came to school at 1pm to meet my co-teacher. I got fitted for my school's athletic uniform. Then, Marrisa took me to the ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor. We had to wait for about 15 minutes, because it was the doctor's lunch break when we arrived. To Marrisa, this was a ridiculously long time to wait at the doctor... to me, it was a miraculously short time to wait. Our medical systems are SO different. When my name was called, I walked in to see a man who looked about 22 years old. I thought he was a nurse or assistant, but he was the doctor! Super nice... he tried to speak to me in Korean, but when he realized I couldn't understand he switched to English. I was thankful we could understand each other somewhat. He looked in my throat, and used a machine to suck a bunch of junk out of my nasal passages. I could breath a lot easier after that. He prescribed Nasonex and a plethora of other pills. I think he told me my diagnosis, but I couldn't understand. I don't really care what the problem is, as long as there's a solution! Anyway, the doctor didn't seem too concerned so that's a good sign. $3 later, we were on our way (prescriptions in hand). Again, I love the Korean medical system! Marrisa took me out to lunch at an authentic Korean restaurant by the school. Then she went home, and I went walking for a few hours, exploring the library some more and the park. It was a perfect day to be outside. On Sunday, I walked around Lake Soyoung for over 2 hours. It was supposed to rain, but I stayed dry :)

Today Marrisa told the school nurse about my constant sickness, and they printed out a map to an ear nose and throat doctor in town. I think I will try to go sometime soon. My health has taken a serious beating since I've been here. And it shows all over my face (my skin condition is HORRIBLE!).

Apparently the people living in the apartment underneath me complained to the apartment manager, because I've been putting notes on their door asking them to PLEASE turn their tv volume down. Seriously, almost 24/7, I can hear their tv, and feel the vibrations of the sound. They told the apartment manager they are going to move out if I don't stop. Actually, that sounds like a splendid idea to me!.. I know, that's horrible to think, but honestly it makes me crazy.

I have never seen them, but the apartment manager came to the school today and told the administration staff I need to stop and there's nothing anyone can do about the obnoxious volume level, bc they are old people - age is everything in Korea. Chalk it up to a "culture difference". Old people here are aloud to be as rude as humanly possible, and everyone still worships them.

6 months to go.

TODAY IS THE 6 MONTH MARK.

I've been in Korea 6 months, and am offically half way through my contract.

Wow. Sometimes it seems like I've been here forever, and other times I feel like it's only been a few weeks.

Jason comes in 26 days. After he leaves, I'll have 8 weeks before returning to California.

I have a feeling this second half will go by faster than the first... One thing's for sure, the weather will be better (for me anyway, because I like hot more than cold)! If I could make it through a Korean winter, having 4 weeks of doing literally nothing but desk warming (winter break) for 8 hours a day, and not knowing for sure when I'd see my husband next, I know I can make it through these next 6 months.

Right now it's spring - a time of transition. I went through MANY changes in the previous 6 months, and I know many more changes are ahead.

~

Today was sooooo very cold. Around 4pm, the special education assistant teacher invited me to eat noodles with her. That was definitely a nice warm snack (dinner)!

Side note: They put up new wallpaper in the bedroom today. Although I know the mold is still there (because last night I worked for about 3 hours, peeling off the old wallpaper and bleaching the concrete walls... but the mold didn't go away), at least I don't have to look at it.

Today I walked for three hours... I should have brought my camera, because I saw so many beautiful and amazing things!

I followed the Gongjicheon River and found Lake Soyoung. Around the lake, there are many parks and walking paths. It's great! I will definitely be going back there frequently. Very peaceful.

I also happened upon the public library. It's nice and modern, about 4 stories (no pun intended). I only explored the first floor, which is the children's books. There is a whole section with English books! I stayed and read a few :)

Then I went and sat outside on a wooden swing (the kind you'd call a porch swing). I enjoyed the sunshine and watched a squirrel jump from tree to tree! I was really amazed at that little guy.

Then I came home and grabbed the lunch I'd packed earlier: brown rice, seaweed, raisins and almonds, and went to school. There is a nice outside area with benches, so I was there for about 2 hours, eating my lunch and studying.

I came home and talked with Jason for a bit, then walked to Emart. I ran into the special education assistant teacher - she's awesome! This is the second time I've seen her there on a Sunday (and come to think of it, I was wearing the same exact outfit last time ha). I bought some milk, tofu and bean sprouts (they were taped together, good deal!), Special K (had a water pitcher taped to the box... as you can tell, free gifts are commonly included with purchases!), Activia yogurt, and my favorite little 5-grain high-fiber crackers.

As I was walking home, my grocery bag (which I've been reusing for apparently too long now) ripped. Luckily, I caught it before everything went falling out the bottom, and I had an empty cloth bag with me so I just stopped and transfered everything into the cloth bag ;)

I saw so many of my students throughout the day. I saw Jinho riding his bike, then at the park I saw our of my little guys, and walking back from school I saw one of my really shy girls. I love that I can go walk around and see so many people I know! All together, I think I saw 7 familiar faces today (if you don't count the Emart employees who are definitely familiar faces to me haha).

The weather was sweet today. Just perfect. Maybe I will get somewhat tan?

Pictures

Pictures

Today Marrisa picked me up at 9am, and we took the bus from Emart to Obong Mountain. I learned the "obong" means 5 tops (the mountain has 5 summits). We hiked for about 3 hours, and then ate lunch next to a mountain stream overlooking Chongpyeong temple. After eating, we walked around the temple grounds... These buildings are literally centuries old. Then we walked through the town, ending up at Lake Soyoung. We took a ferry across the lake and caught a bus back to Chuncheon (I got home around 4:30pm). God answered my prayer for no rain (the forcast said there was a very high chance, but we stayed dry!). It was a good day :)

More Korean I learned today:
majima - don't do that
yogi - here
jogi - there
annyonghicaseyo - goodbye

Good memories from today:

• 6th grade Star class - LOVE them!
• laughing so hard at the 3rd graders playing sentence relay - they get SO into it!
• after lunch, walking around in the sunshine with Marrisa, before quickly being mobbed by some awesome girls haha... Tina (Che Rin) and Olivia love me. They said I am famous at our school. Olivia asked me to adopt her ha.
• calling the Fed Ex Korea people and cracking up the whole time bc the man I was talking with kept calling me "sir" and we totally had hilarious miscommunications
• Walking along the river path after dinner - the sunset was beautiful, and I saw many cute kids and dogs

http://cnue-e.es.kr/?main

My school's website :) I finally found it haha.

As I write this, I am sitting in the teachers' office at my school. I was not allowed to teach the first two classes of the day. The Korean government has expanded their English education program this year, to include 24 hours per week of English education. However, my contract stipulates I can teach a maximum of 22 hours, or else I must be paid time and a half. As with every other school in the world, mine has a budget deficit. They cannot afford to pay me more money, so for 2 hours per week I must just entertain myself on the school grounds somewhere, and appear to be working. Well, I have been working for these past two hours... Working on my novel, that is ;) and on drinking this delicious Korean coffee the research teacher brought me. You know, being here has its definite hardships - no doubt about it. But overall, I must realize how blessed I am to be here. I will never again have this opportunity (or this kind of work schedule haha). 194 days until I am home. I am very near the half way point. It's time to look back, recognize my triumphs and failures in being here, and make this next (last half) the very best it can be.

Here are some quick updates from today:

• The apartment manager repaired my kitchen light the same day the school called about it! I am so thankful :)
• It's "impossible" for Jason to eat lunch at school with me, since he's not a student or a staff member.
• I will only be teaching 22 classes/week from now on (because the school has no money to pay me overtime). This leaves my coteacher teaching 2 classes all by herself. I don't think it's fair to her, but hopefully I can help her out by copying papers or creating worksheets, or doing SOMETHING while she is teaching those classes (I still have to be at school, I'm just not allowed to teach... I know, really wierd).
• It's "impossible" for me to use the wedding week after I'm already married (a.k.a. Hawaii is definitely a no-go for me).
• Summer break is July 24 - August 22. I can choose any two weeks as vacation time :)

Lunch was delightful today... we had kim chi fried rice, and I thought it tasted exactly like Spanish rice. Oh, how I miss Mexican food! It was raining and cold today. The weather is so unpredictable...

I will never understand why they do things the way they do here. But, I'm sure everyone thinks I am totally weird and they don't understand me either ;)

I am learning a lot about patience and humility...

My coteacher rarely if ever gives me any work to do. Even being nearly half way through my teaching contract, my role here remains ambiguous.

I am learning to be flexible and prepared...

I'm finally feeling better, after a week-long bout of laryngitis. This was the first time I've really experienced the frustration of having no voice.

I am learning to be thankful I don't have a disability or limitation some people live with every day...

I have a lot to be thankful for.

Hoping to rest this weekend and get fully recovered!

My voice is still gone and I feel SUPER yucky! If I'm not better tomorrow, I'll go back to the doctor after school.

This morning there was SO MUCH NOISE coming from the apartment above me. I was thinking, what are they doing in there, moving the furniture??? Then when I went outside to go to work, I saw a semi truck with a ladder stretched up to the window of that apartment. They moved out.

The kids were so funny today. Since I was gone for the first part of Tuesday, today's kids hadn't seen me using the microphone. "Teacher, what's that?" they all asked.

"Mic-a," I said.

"ahhhh."

So curious and cute :) It sounded pretty pathetic when I'd whisper into the mic. One 3rd grader (English name is Dean, he cracks me up) said, "Danielle, don't talk." Ha!

At lunch, Dean sat next to me. He is one of our stronger English speakers. He kept asking me questions about Korean words, trying to teach me. Hi mother was volunteering in the cafeteria, and she came over and told him to stop bothering me lol. I didn't mind, but I wanted him to obey his mom. He was quiet for about 5 minutes, then turned to me again and was back at it with the Korean teaching. The kids love to hear me try to speak Korean - they get a good laugh at my expense :)

There was another observation class today. All the teachers had to watch the new 3rd grade homeroom teacher do a social studies lesson. I didn't understand what was happening, but laughed much of the time. The kids are so goofy! In that class there are two little boys who make me laugh so hard. At the beginning of the semester I asked them their names. One of them said, "I'm Obama," and the other said, "Michael Jackson." Marrisa didn't think this was too humorous, but I really couldn't control my laughter. They are the class clowns, and whenever they are acting up I have to use every bit of self control I can muster not to say, 'Hey! Obama; Michael... cool it!'

For some reason the kids are just now noticing the diamond ring I've been wearing since I returned here in January. "Couple ring? Namjachingo?" they ask.

"No," I tell them. "Husband." I then point to myself and say, "wife." Usually they still ask the first questions again... so I say, "married."

Blank stares.

"Dun-dun-du-dun, du-dun-du-dun..."

Then comes the freak out moment. Now they understand I am married. Usually it's announced by one of the louder boys to the entire class... All I can hear is "blahblahMARRIEDUHblahblahTANYEUL(my name)blahblah." Can't wait to see their reaction when they actually meet Jason. So cute.

I went to school at 8:30 to tell Marrisa I would be staying home. She gave me the humidifier she has on her desk :) I went back home and tried to sleep/read until lunch time. Then I went back to school. I brought the humidifier with me, and Marrisa was like, "Why you bring back the machine? You just keep." Lol. Then we went to the cafeteria. As soon as I walked in, a bunch of kids were shouting my name and coming up to me to ask if I was okay. I got my food and was walking to the teacher table, and all the kids were like "Danielle, sit here!" So cute. While I was eating one little boy came up to me and just smiled shyly. I knew he was wondering if I was okay... So cute! I was really surprised he just came to me like that. I asked him, "How's the weather today?" and he ran to the window, then came back to me and just said bye-bye. Our 6th grade class was cancelled, because the 6th graders all went ice skating. So, Marrisa and I practiced for our big open lesson that would be at 3:20pm. I could only whisper (due to the laryngitis), so one of the teachers let me borrow her microphone. The kids came in at 3pm and they were all so nervous. The teachers started arriving at about 3:10. Let me explain a little about this "open lesson"... My school is a research school. Everyone does a lot of extra work bc of this, such as teaching a lesson which all the other staff observe and then critique afterwards. And the critique is no joke. There are graphs, video tapes, you name it. Our critique lasted over an hour today (all good reviews). They asked me to stand up and talk about how I thought our lesson went. I was surprised, but just whispered and acted out my words with motions lol. Marrisa translated afterwards.

I have my first case of laryngitis!... I feel like an official teacher now haha.

Went to the doctor at Emart. $3 and 5 minutes later, I walked out with a diagnoses and 2 prescriptions. I love the Korean medical system!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, if they do anything right here it's health care. Really impressive!

While I was there, a woman said, "Excuse me, I'm sorry. I see you walking all the time."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, and I recognize you because you are always smiling. You always smile at me so kindly, and I wonder do I know her?"

Wow, I was totally surprised! I vaguely recognized her face... I guess a smile can impact people more than I realized :) We talked for a while (her husband, 3 year old son, and 7 year old daughter were with her - such a precious family!), and I found out she's Mongolian and teaches English at the kindergarden where her daughter goes. I told them about the American health care system and they were shocked. Her husband didn't speak English at all, but she translated a little conversation between the three of us... turns out he attended the elementary school I now teach at! So, he's never lived outside this little area of Chuncheon, Korea!.. He said he wants to go to America bc Korea is not good. His dream is to ski in Oregon and eat a Big Mac! Simple pleasures of life :) I really enjoyed talking with this family for a brief time. I'm realizing more and more that my remaining time here is very short! Basically 6 months. I have to take every moment as it comes and make the most of every opportunity!

After buying some freshly baked wheat bread and some chocolate and mini pumpkin pastries to share (as well as dental floss and sponges), I caught a cab to take me home. I show taxi drivers a business card for S-Oil, the big gas station by my apartment complex. That way no one knows where I live and it's easy to get home, too.

Well, he started driving then asked me if I had a phone... he didn't know where the place was. So, when I said I didn't have a phone, he promptly got his out and called the gas station for directions. I thought that was going above and beyond his job as a taxi driver. I was really thankful. He looked super old, but apparently has a 6 year old daughter who attends English kindergarden... so he knew English pretty well. I told him a little bit about America, and he told me about the summer time in Korea. When we were talking it was snowing outside and 7 degrees c. He said in summer it is usually around 26 degrees c and everyone needs air conditioning. He also said he went to Malaysia for the second time... It was very hot, and he was there for weeks relaxing and fishing. I think everyone here is ready for spring time!!! Haha.

Wishing I could speak and understand Korean!... I made cookies tonight, and brought some to the lady who owns the little store on the corner. She made me coffee and we tried to talk for nearly half an hour. What I learned is she has an 18 year old son, who is in high school. He doesn't like to study, but he loves to cook (apparently something with jam and bread that he mashes up...?). Also, she was very young when she had her son - she is now 37 years old. I think her husband is the man who's always at the store. He's at home sleeping right now. I really adore them, and hope when Jason's here we can love on them a lot more, maybe even have them over for dinner sometime? It was a good day today - I went out to lunch with my coteacher Marrisa, and then went back to school and helped her get some work done. Yesterday the yellow dust was horrible, but today was a bright sunny day! Beautiful :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust <<<--- This explains why it looks like a ghost town around here. I first heard about this dust last week... I saw it for the first time yesterday. It's here again today, too. Really creepy!!!

My new co-teacher's name is Ee Geum Hee. She goes by Marrisa.

She is in her mid 30s and is single. She just moved here from another city in Korea about a half hour away.

So far we've done well together. She's a lot more uptight about teaching than my previous co-teacher. Before, we'd just use the textbook curriculum and wing our lessons. But Marrisa puts a lot of extra work into planning for each class. I think she's a good teacher and tries really hard. She has a lot of energy!

My role seems to be extremely small in teaching. I feel like I could easily be taken out or replaced and no one would even notice... seriously. I can't really do much, because the kids will not listen to me, and bad things happen when I try to go beyond my role (which is basically just saying "repeat after me... book/house/car/whatever..." I am basically a living breathing broken record player).

What do I mean by "bad things happen"? Here's just a few examples from the past 2 days: During our 6th grade class one boy pulled out a knife and held it to another kid's throat. I told the boy to put give me the knife and not bring it to school again. He just stared at me with a death scowl on his face, refusing to obey. I wasn't going to wrestle him for it... I was afraid I'd get knifed. I called Marrisa over and the kid immediately handed over the knife to her.

Korea is known as the "Hermit Kingdom," because they are so closed off in their thinking and ways of doing things. These kids don't respect me or take me seriously - because I am a foreigner.

Then today, in the middle of our 4th grade lesson, a boy was punching the girl next to him. I went over and calmly stopped him... when I did, he punched me. Yeah, normal day.

I am seeing that I personally have a lot of problems with the culture here. There are MANY things I do not understand or agree with... but that's just the way it is. A wise person reminded me this is not America... South Korea is a "Second World" country... of course things are going to be a little less civilized; rougher around the edges. That's just the way it is.

I'm a guest who is only here for 7 more months, and I can't try to project my cultural values and standards onto the people here.

All part of the experience... let me just say I am admittedly ethnocentric (think my own culture is superior) - something I'd always criticized other people for, but can't deny in myself. Most things are way easier said than done. I am far from perfect.

Also, with the lesson planning, Marrisa does it all and even when I ask her how I can help she doesn't give me anything to do... so I just find ways to contribute however I can - make extra worksheets, create extra games, etc... try to help with classroom management ideas, too (without being too intrusive with my own cultural standards of classroom behavior- which are a far cry from the expected norm here)...

It's official: I am getting a new co-teacher when school starts up March 2nd.

I found out yesterday. Yoon Jin is being moved to first grade homeroom teacher.

My new co-teacher is coming in from another school, so I've never met her. I will keep you posted as I find out more (or probably after we meet).

It's been snowing and dark all week, but it doesn't feel quite as cold as it has been. The snow is beautiful (but I won't complain when spring arrives).

Today is the graduation ceremony for the 6th graders. I better head to the gym!

I can start to see the first signs of spring...

The ice is melting from the ground. Winter coats are on super sale. The ice cream shop on the corner opened up. I am so thankful to have lived through a real winter, and am excited to see everything come alive in a few weeks!.. I've been hearing winter season officially ends here in March.

Things have been kind of weird at work. It's the end of the school year (this is the last week of classes), so the schedule is different every day and I never know what's going on until after it happens. I just come to school expecting to teach every day, but there's always a curve ball (for example, today we have no classes... I'm not complaining!). On Thursday are the closing ceremonies, and Friday is graduation for the 6th graders. Then, the kids have 2 weeks off and the new school year starts March 2nd.

I think next year will probably be a lot different... new principle, new curriculum for 3rd and 4th graders, new students (current 2nd graders will be our new youngest batch when they are promoted to 3rd grade!), new administration staff, and some new teachers... I might even have a different coteacher. I will find out for sure on February 22nd. As frustrated as I can sometimes get with my coteacher, I dearly love her and definitely would be thankful if she were to remain in her position as English teacher. However, it's the (new) principle's decision what grade/subject each teacher teaches, so we will have to wait and see.

I have been enjoying cooking Korean food. I made a menu plan, but quickly found I couldn't adhere to it bc it was just too much food for one person! I find if I make 1 recipe per week, I have enough food to last all week. I have started employing my freezer for variety's sake :) Last night I made some super yummy chicken soup, called samgyetang. I want to make that one again for sure! My next creation will be "japchae" - noodles made of sweet potato powder, mixed with various veggies and sauces. We had it for lunch the other day, and it's one of my favorites!

Last night, right after I got done cooking my soup, someone was pounding on my front door and trying to open it. Thank God I keep it locked at all times. I was so scared... they stayed there for at least 5 minutes, but it felt like a really long time. I've never really felt unsafe around here, but there was no way I was opening that door... I tried to look through the peep hole, but it was all fogged up from the cold weather. I'd been planning to go on a walk and enjoy the sunshine, but after this incident I stayed inside behind locked doors.

The bad part about that was my heater stopped working. So, I worked out for about an hour and a half (learned a super fun dance routine) and got all warm... then when I went for a shower, I had no hot water. Bummer. I got a bowl and used the electric water heater to warm up some water so I could at least wash my face.

I woke up in the morning looking forward to a hot breakfast... I whipped up some scrambled eggs and went to turn on the stove to cook them - stove didn't work. So, I covered the eggs, put them in the fridge, and defrosted a piece of bread and made some warm milk. When I got to my classroom, the heater was on full blast, and it felt amazing :) I told my coteacher about the situation in my apartment, and she got right on it... everything should be fixed by the time I get home today. I'm so thankful. Apparently, there was some kind of issue with my Alien Registration card, and the gas company thought no one was living in my apartment. That explains the man trying to break in yesterday...

So, all in all things are fine here - there is another foreign teacher who I met on Facebook, and we are going out to dinner sometime this week. She seems really nice.

Sorry I have not been keeping up with this blog lately! Time seems to be flying by... I have concluded that all the hype about Korean winters is overdone - I, who am always cold, am surviving just fine :) I don't even use the heat at night! In general, I realize there are many positive things about Korea and the culture; however, these things are never talked about in the U.S. because all people know is the negative (what we hear on the news about North Korea). The Korean people are extremely giving... they love to share. Every day someone gives me tea, coffee, fruit, a little craft, you name it... just little trinkets symbolizing friendship and acceptance. For a foreigner, this is extremely appreciated :) This is also a very safe place to live - the only people who have guns are the police. The mentality is so group oriented, that crime is virtually non existent - no one wants to stand out in a negative way. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have here, and am surprised that my contract is already 1/3 over - wow! My friend Alysha just stayed with me for a week and helped teach during the English camp. The camp was so much fun... I really enjoyed teaching :) There are no kids this week or next week... then they are back for 2 weeks... and then there are 2 weeks off again. I am still trying to understand the Korean education schedule. So different from ours. I was explaining to the teachers yesterday how our education schedule workds, and they were just as confused as I am about theirs ;) As with most things, there is not necessarily a better or worse - just different. We can learn a lot from each other :)

I'm Back

I arrived in Korea on Saturday night, and am back in Chuncheon with Alysha! We are starting winter English camp today... will keep you posted on how it goes! It's beautiful here - everything is covered in a blanket or white snow, and somehow it doesn't feel as cold as when I left.