tragedy strikes!

One of my big hopes was just massacred and smeared across the floor, so I'm going to take a few minutes to properly mourn and then move on. 


I was really hoping to be able to move this summer into a smaller and newer apartment, in a location that is closer to the middle of Daejeon. It takes FOREVER for me to get anywhere, my apartment is ancient, it never got warm during the winter unless I holed up in 1 room, and I don't even know where to start to make it bug proof for the looming mosquito season. And with the 2 floor gas pipe problems, the busted water pipe, and the recent electric bill that went up 3 times it's normal with no reasonable explanation, I'm not looking forward to seeing what else will go wrong during the next year. 


After talking to my co-teacher, moving isn't an option. When it was confirmed they'd get a native English speaker, the school I guess got overexcited for the future and signed a 2 year contract with the ancient ruins I currently live in. This was so there'd be a home for future teachers. I'm not sure how thrilled those future teachers will be to live here, though. So this is the number one reason that's grounding me to my apartment for a second year, but my co-teacher discussed some other reasons. 


1. For the price, it is extremely difficult to find as much space without it being too expensive. I can appreciate their desire to give me as big a place as possible. Honestly. But I also would've been happier with someplace smaller, newer, and more bug proof. 
2. The vice and main principal "care about my daily life" and think it's better that I live close to the school so I don't have to use public transportation. To this I think, please let me decide that for myself. This location makes the rest of my life extremely difficult. I want to take Korean language classes next fall, and from here, the commute will take at least 1.5 hours. 
3. Key money is an issue. Basically you have to put down an enormous deposit, which my school did apparently, when you sign the contract. It can be hard to find an apartment that accepts monthly rent- an officetel (the type of apartment I was hoping to move into) would've been a good place to check. 
4. All the furniture the school got to fulfill the contract requirements. It'd be a hassle to move, but it wouldn't be the school's... 


I had a fleeting moment of anger after the conversation- not directed at anyone, just the anger that is immediately wiped out with that annoying sad and hopeless feeling. There's nothing that can be done about my living situation, and after hoping for so long that I could move, I'm just really sad about it now. The thought of trying to get my own apartment anyway crossed my mind, but obviously that's not realistic. Now I can just hope that my boyfriend will be able to move (he currently lives in a 1 room, tiny place that has nothing around it), so then there is still a way to live in a better location and escape the bugs and heat during the summer. 


buh. I'm sad about this. :(

homebound!

Lately, I look at my schedule and think, "there's not enough time to do everything!", which in a way is good because I don't feel bad anymore for the moments when I slack, but typically when I do have work I procrastinate... My co-teacher sent me 38 reading passages and I have to do the same 3 things for each one. 38 times. Buuuh. School has also started following me home as a student requested I use MSN to help her with vocabulary. I can't say that I mind it, but it takes a while to get through everything, and I think I froze her computer last night because I sent messages too quickly. 


In other news, I'm coming back July 30th and staying in VA until August 24th! I booked my flight last night; non-stop on Korean Air, 13 hours and some minutes on the plane. Without the layover, the flight is scaled back by 7 hours. Nice! 

the paradox that is me

There's a new development here! Using a little Korean softens the blow that I in fact am not fluent in the language to the people here. I can now correctly say "I don't speak Korean," which the Koreans accept with far more grace than when I said, "Korean language, no." Haha, I'm just like the students with "no eng-gu-lee-she." I was doing some shopping tonight and the store associates were trying to talk when I explained that I couldn't effectively communicate back. They kind of nodded and then asked where I was from (which I understood the first time! or the key words at least...), which I answered. I bought a shirt and got a service wash cloth adorned with teddy bears and the store's name. It's cute because it was free. I like to think I got it for free because I was a sweet foreigner who tried to speak Korean. 


And ironically, after telling them I can't speak Korean, all I did was do just that while shopping. Here's the funny thing that happens now. And it ALWAYS happens. I tell them I don't know the language and they're all: Okay... but... you have a Korean face... So while they can accept the fact that I can only speak English, they have trouble digesting the idea that I can look Korean yet not know the language. They also won't accept any answer other than, "Yes, I am Korean-American." If I say, "I'm American," they add "Korean" to it. Yeah okay, I can be that for you. 


Tomorrow a practicum teacher wants to interview me about being adopted because the class he's working with is reading an adoption story. I wonder how that goes... surely some Korean family reunion by the end or the girl coming back to her ethnic roots. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand I'll answer anything anyone wants to know, it's not something I actively keep secret. The other side of it is that it does feel personal, and it's always a little awkward to explain to people my opinions of the grittier questions they tend to ask. 

thank you, payday

Yeah, thanks to getting a paycheck in my bank account, I got to pay off my bills, pay for an upcoming trip in July, and hesitate about sending money home this month. My won to American dollar converter isn't looking so good on the won side right now... 


Yesterday, one of my students had a seizure in class. It started out with what looked like a loud yawn, and then it totally wasn't. Fortunately (I guess) seeing one isn't new to me, so the foreigner didn't panic! And by the way, should you ever be with someone who has a seizure, it's better to just let them ride it out, don't try to move them, don't touch them, and stay calm (just from what I was told to do in the past- but staying calm is key). Also, don't be surprised if they're exhausted afterwards- the student slept afterwards, and the kids I worked with back in the states often wanted to do the same. 

lunch mess

While eating, I saw a hair in my rice. Not a big deal. I went to separate the hair rice from the rest of it and unearthed a freaking huge bug. The "hair" was the little bastard's leg. Now I'm cranky because I'm still hungry due to the fact that the one thing I could always count on at lunch turned out to be inedible. Today's soup? Mystery seafood swimming in mud water. The sides? Uncooked potato pieces and some fishy mess. 

Korea likes free stuff

a free black coffee attached to my lattes

It's getting more difficult to remember what things were surprising about Korean daily life the longer I'm here, so it's getting to be more of a challenge for me to think of things to note here for you back in the states... 

Here's a difference. Korea likes free stuff! Back in EPIK orientation, we were told that sometimes if you're a good customer to a store or a restaurant, you might start getting stuff for free or "service" as it's called in Konglish. My friends and I have been given food for free with the servers explaining that it's service when we don't understand where it came from. When I bought my electronic dictionary back in the fall, the store associates gave me tupperware as an extra gift. This may have been a fluke, but once when I went shopping in a department store, one of the shirts I got was actually just given to me instead of being rung up. 

the travel cup

Roketship has a cartoon that summarizes what I'm about to say perfectly: Stores like E-mart and Homeplus actually tape stuff to their products. Lately, if you're looking to buy a giant box of instant coffee packets, you could choose between some floral pattern ceramic dishes, a bento box, or a mug as your free thing. From buying cereal, I've gotten a bowl, a fork, and a travel cereal bottle. Awesome. Also something that's common in these stores is seeing freebies strapped to what you're buying so you get more for your money. Take yogurt for example. You might find a 4 pack of yogurt with an extra 2 cups stuck to it. The pictures are some semi-recent purchases that came with the free things. Forget coupons, just look for you're favorite products covered in tape!

Chinese lamb kebabs by Yuseong

Ah, lamb kebabs! I was never a fan of lamb at home. Occasionally my mom would make a lamb roast, and somehow, topped with rosemary and roasting in the oven, it made the house smell like doughnuts. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this place before, but now I have PICTURES! My friends and I were introduced to this place by a Korean man who helped us order our first meal in Daejeon. We went out with him once, and he took us to this magical restaurant that serves awesome, awesome baby sheep on skewers. It's a little dive place a couple of blocks from the Yuseong Spa subway- exit 8 I think, straight down the sidewalk until you eventually take a left into a small area with some places to eat and hofs (bars where you usually have to order food with your alcohol). There's a bar next door with a Marilyn Monroe statue to clue you in that it's the right area. The food here is amazing, and a great option for those days when you want something freaking delicious and not Korean. Plus, it's cheap: 7,000W per 10 skewers- make it a snack or a meal! 

The damage we did.

there is no love with Gummy

Seriously. There's a female Kpop artist who goes by the name Gummy, although her given name is Park Ji-Yeon (박지연). I guess she'd be considered older for a woman music celebrity, as she's about 29 right now in comparison to a lot of the girls in the Kpop groups not even being in their 20's yet. I think she has a beautiful voice, and her label has been working on a comeback for her with the following song. Apparently, when she first debuted back in 2003, she was overshadowed by other groups on her same label. So 7 years later, with 2NE1, Big Bang, and Se7en (thanks wikipedia), the label they're all signed under is bringing her back to the spotlight. Click the link to see Gummy's comeback single, There Is No Love and some other current Kpop music!

results of the speech contest

Alas, my student lost the speech contest. The middle school students were separated into 2 groups: A and B. A being those who haven't lived abroad, and B consisting of the ones who have. My student of course, was in B. 


Now. Why didn't he score higher? Because, as one of the people running the contest explained to me: had he used hand gestures and made eye contact with the audience, he would have earned more points. 


Just for the record, my student is blind. Needless to say, my co-teacher was livid, and vented in the car that they didn't understand people who are blind or have low vision. In this case, no- they didn't consider the reason why the student didn't use hand gestures or look more directly at the judges. 


I mean... seriously?


But otherwise, he did an excellent job.

the Lotus Lantern Festival

I spent this weekend in Seoul with 4 friends to see the big Lotus Lantern Festival for Buddha's upcoming birthday. I think this was the most fun I've had in Korea so far, and definitely the best trip to Seoul. Saturday we visited two palaces: Changdeokgung (창덕궁) and Deoksugung (덕수궁), and saw the opening parade in Insadong. On Sunday we wandered back to Insadong to check out the festival and stayed there for the big parade. Our train back to Daejeon was scheduled at 9:40, but just before heading for the platform, we realized that our tickets were actually for Daejeon to Seoul. Fortunately, the train 10 minutes later had plenty of seats, and it was only 2,000W a person to switch. Nice! 

For whatever reason, I currently can't upload photos in Blogger, so here's the slide show from Picasa and a link if you would rather head over yourself.

See the album on Picasa