One of those days...

March 19

So apparently I need to stop staying out so late. K and I were out late again playing darts. The downfall to that is that I don't get a good night's sleep and it makes it hard to want to wake up the next morning. But our day starts so late and ends late that is nice to have some play/fun time also during the week.

Then at school I must've made 4 different kids cry. Two because they didn't win a game, one because her mom forgot to give her the correct book, and another because goodness even knows the reason. I've never made so many kids cry in my life in such a short time. And the kids that aren't crying are simply getting out of control.  Some try jumping on the furniture, running wildly during games, even hitting/kicking the walls. When I try to correct them they act like they either don't understand or that can't hear me. These are the days when I start thinking about an adult beverage after work. I'm used to being able to manage kids pretty well so this is a little aggravating to me and some days I feel like a failure.

It didn't help that after my classes today I was pulled aside to be asked about one of my students. I guess he was saying my class wasn't fun and he wanted to quit my class. This is kind of a big deal as that's money to the school. The sad thing is that it's one of the kids I really like too. Unfortunately, there is one kid in this class that gives me the hardest time of all my students. She always pretends like she doesn't understand and never pays attention. Sometimes, class time is wasted by her so if things aren't fun I tend to point fingers. This girl also gave the previous teacher the same challenges. Not sure why she keeps coming if she really hates being there so badly.

Anyway, since I received feedback to make classes more fun, I decided I would go home and research new games to teach my students but first, food. K and I grabbed dinner together at Mom's Touch but I still couldn't help but think how frustrated I was. I don't like making easy mistakes. My boss was going to come in and observe my class with the 2 students so I needed to fix my style. As much as I wanted to cry and question what the heck I'm doing, I knew better - that I couldn't let it get to me and that I had to find a new way of thinking.

I was online from about 10pm-2am looking up ESL and kids' teaching games. I came up with a few that I will try out tomorrow. So I will be getting up early to go to my money pit,  Daiso, so I can prep some new games. Wish me luck.

The Things Kids Say....

March 17, 2019

Happy St. Patrick's Day LOL...

Friday I feel like I lost a little bit of control over the kids all day...plus it was raining and we had a moment where it sounded as if something exploded but was only lightning. The only thing that I feel was worthy of discussing about school was something that one of my students wrote. The books are written obviously by a non-native English speaker based on the grammar issues and story lines. One story is about a kid with bad habits who burps and farts everywhere. So, naturally, this book chooses vocabulary words like burp and fart... around middle school aged children... genius plan.

So this particular class is supposed to write their own sentences with their vocab words for homework. One girl had a very colorful sentence and I had to do my best not to react or attract the attention of the other kids. It read, "The burp smells like shit." Not sure where she heard this or if she found her English sentences on the internet but I had to correct her without it being embarrassing or being a joke. So I walked around next to her, crossed out the bad words and told her we don't use words like this because they aren't nice, and then proceeded to rewrite the sentence to "The burp smells bad." I'm not even prepared for the stuff I'm going to see over this year.

I was in dire need of time out though. I went to a shabu shabu place with 2 coworkers (like a hot soup place that you add the ingredients to in a boiling broth). It was going to help my sickness. You know I've come a long way when they wanted the mushroom add-ins and I said that's fine I just won't eat those. They literally brought over a bouquet of various mushrooms, many of which I'd never seen before. One looked like a little furry animal while others appeared to be like sea anemones. Not gonna lie, it was a big test for me.

We dropped the beef, some noodles and veggies, and then the fungus into the pot. We had regular and spicy broth of which I enjoyed the spicy best. Basically you can eat it as a soup or you can make a little "eggroll" out of the rice paper wraps they provided. I had beef, veggies, and pineapple and was perfectly content. The mushrooms didn't even phase me and a few times I considered - very briefly - tasting one or two but never got that far. Haha if some of my exes could see me now they'd think that my past behavior towards mushrooms was all a rouse. I've gone as far as driving them to the store to get toothpaste and a brush plus gum or mints after they ate them because I refused to kiss them after they ate mushrooms.

Afterwards, my neighbor/coworker and I wanted ice cream (again) but this time Baskin Robbins. I had a waffle cone with a scoop of mint chocolate chip and one scoop of popping popping banana strawberry chocolate (which is now my new favorite flavor) while the rain stopped. It had pop rocks in it and tasted like an amazing banana split sundae without all of the work. We had decided earlier to go to the bar later since it was everyone else's payday and I had survived another week. Came home to rest a few and make myself a tad more presentable.

It was a good time just sitting and talking with my coworker (we'll call her K since I believe I'll spend more time with her than anyone else). Two other teachers from another school showed up so we decided to team up for a round of darts. I finally ended up hitting bulls eye 3 times that night and even ended up winning both a team game and a solo game. Super exciting. There is a Korean gentleman that we are all acquainted with (speaks little English) but we invited him to play after one of the teachers left. K said she's never seen him so friendly and involved. He's been really shy the few times that I have seen him. But he is an artist also like our Canadian friend, V-dog (LOL - I don't feel it's polite to use their real names so I am creating nicknames for them for their anonymity).

The bar was closing at 3am so K, the Korean guy, and I decided to waste an hour with some beers at the norebang (karaoke room). It was a good and interesting experience. I am glad that I can have fun in the most unusual of settings and it seems that K is a lot like that also. She does her own thing and enjoys herself without being the girl that is the overly flirtatious or drunk girl and I really enjoy that about her. She is very comfortable and unfiltered and it's refreshing.

Saturday I decided I was going to meet up with one of the Koreans I had been speaking to for over a year on a language exchange program. He came to my city this time and we awkwardly stumbled over some language barriers for about 6 hours over coffee and then some more over beer and chicken for lunch. He wants to improve his listening and speaking skills so he can move to the states to work on his business there. I guess many Koreans have concerns about their economic situations and capabilities here for various reasons and our country always seems promising for foreigners. Of course, every single one of them will mention that they are afraid of the danger of guns there. So, if you wonder what other countries think, it's usually that we're a golden land of opportunities with gun slinging gangs everywhere - is that really so far from the truth though??

Got in and did laundry and decided to sleep early since I have been sick. This weekend I've been feeling a little more in an unfamiliar place than I have to date - both in terms of my living conditions and emotionally. No need to delve into that really because it is minor and luckily sleeping will resolve it. I did read one page on my golden book that I had friends write me letters in. Finished up a small round of grocery getting - and excited to try some of my overpriced Australian ground beef in some homemade tacos tomorrow. I brought taco seasoning with me but please feel free to supply me with more... the majority of the weekend has been chill and just talking on the phone to friends and family. One of my closest friends has booked her flight to come visit me in May so I am excited about that.

I guess as things become more "commonplace" around me it feels like there's less surprising things to discuss, but the good news is that I'm surviving and not going crazy as of yet. I do miss out on news around the globe unless people I know are talking about it. There was a plane crash and a mosque shooting I barely got wind of through coworkers. This is both good and bad to not have a connection to world news but I will muster on. I hope to have some great stories next weekend since I am spending the whole weekend in another city at the Jindo Sea Parting Festival. There will be colored powders thrown, music, togas, food, etc. Wish me luck.

Jewels

White Day

March 14, 2019

Okay, working 5 days a week is a bum rap FYI. I do not miss it. Also, kids are the same all over the globe. They will be hyper, disrespectful, lead a person to madness, and their continent of origin makes no difference. Part of me wishes that I could pick and choose my own students to teach while the other part wants to run as far away from all of the ankle biting rascals - no matter how adorable some of them are.

Teacher's meeting tomorrow but it's finally Friday, for everyone else it's payday - not me. I have to wait another month. While your contract should clearly state on it when you receive a paycheck, it does not usually mention anything about not getting paid until you have worked for a month. I knew shadowing was not paid time. I thought that we receive prorated pay at least. So scratch any earlier  info I may have shared and be prepared to go to your foreign country with enough money to survive comfortably for at least 2-3 months. Luckily I have money in the bank but I am also making making payments on things while I am away that eat away at my savings.

I did go to the bar Wednesday after work with my coworker. It just felt like a long day and the kids seemed to have been loaded with sugar or something because even the class that I can barely get to speak was loud and out of control. At the bar I had a Corona ($10 later) and they brought it to me with a lemon in it... Limes are a little more expensive. But when I asked the waiter for salt he looked at me in confusion so a mutual acquaintance explained that sometimes Americans do that (he's Canadian - an expat artist). I do not get drunk off of beer which is why I drink it and this is a good thing but I only had one. This bar also has salted popcorn as a bar treat that is perfect to satisfy that American palette. Unfortunately, I still tend to forget things and realized after I strolled home at 1am that morning that I had forgotten my scarf there. I haven't played darts since I was young so needless to say I wasn't so good but I was getting improving my 1am LOL.

Thursday morning I had my appointment at immigration to get my Alien Residency Card so that I can get a bank account, a phone in my name, and my health insurance. I was trying not to be out late the night before but some things sometimes happen. The director was running behind schedule and I had to remind myself that some people are just chronically 'late' or on their own time but I was fearful that I'd miss my appointment time and have to wait forever and not have time to plan for my classes before work.

My appointment was at 10:20a and my director was driving through traffic in a casual Mario Andretti kind of way. The driving here is intense. People merge where there's no space to merge. I think it felt like at least 3-4 times we'd surely be in an accident, yet I thought about it and realized I have not seen one accident or car that was beaten up/body damaged since I've been here. The driving still did not have a good affect on my nerves. We arrived promptly at 10:28a and I was asked to jump out of the car and hurry to the place "where everyone else was" LOL. My number was 70 and there were on 68 so looks like the timing was okay.

It only took about 25 minutes to pay and have them do some paperwork of which I will receive my ARC in the mail in a few weeks. I had time to go home to eat lunch and then walk to school.Today was also White Day here - like Valentine's Day but only the guys get the ladies stuff whereas Valentine's Day is more for the women to get the men chocolate and stuff. One student brought me candy and while I should've said no because she didn't share with the other students, I couldn't pass up a Kit Kat.

Thursday was pretty uneventful but I was starving when work was finished so my co-worker and I decided to go for dinner. There was a place near the school on our way home that had grill and beef - beef that looked very yummy and since it's so expensive here, it seemed even more enticing. We thought it was 18,900 won for 2 people but turns out it was actually per person. A little salty about the cost but not at all disappointed with the good quality of non-Korean cow - and yes, there's quite a difference between the two. We definitely take our access to good beef for granted in the US.

We also had to stop by the bar to retrieve my scarf but we took the scenic route. my coworker brought up McDs ice cream and apple pies so we stopped there first and then afterwards at a cafe, The Coffee Bean, for some hot tea and a bagel. It's easy just to eat and eat a lot here if you're not careful. But the ice cream and tea sounded amazing as I have started to get a sore throat and this would ease the discomfort. I brought some antibiotics and cold medicines thankfully because I know if I didn't begin to doctor myself it would quickly turn into bronchitis and I don't have insurance yet (although it'd still cost me less than $50 to go to a dr).

Have very few plans for this weekend because the following weekend I will be on my first trip/excursion so I want to take it easy this weekend. We'll see how things go.

Jewels

Getting Organized

March 12, 2019

So, here it is... going on exactly 3 weeks since I have been here in ROK. As of yet, it still doesn't quite feel like I am really here. As I explained to a friend earlier today, "It's just another day". What does that even mean??? Well, sometimes we do things or tasks that need to be done but we really don't think about the actuality or depth of what is going on - just create or act out a routine, right??

The only way that I am finding things possible is probably causing me two to three times the amount of work that I would normally need to do. Let me reiterate - I have around 20 DIFFERENT classes that I may teach in the course of a week. Only one class I see three times. There are a couple that I may see two times and all the others, only once a week. Some classes have 2 different lesson books while others may only have one. So keeping organized as to who is doing what, homework that has been assigned, and any other notes or happenings for each class, I have a smaller notebook that I write things down in. Otherwise, there is one notebook that is kept in the office daily for each class which makes it nearly impossible to work on lesson planning at home unless I do it my way.

BUT, the good news is, is that this appears to be working for me. We are going on hump day of my second week and I can almost entirely plan my lessons at home the night before instead of trying to figure everything out an hour to two hours before the start of class. Unfortunately, I have been forgetting some other minor things like passing on homework that was assigned for the students that have been absent, forgetting to turn off the classroom heater, unplugging everything, and which classes I am allowed to speak a very limited amount of Korean in. So I feel that I have excess notes everywhere. Until I create a routine that becomes second nature, this is simply how I will function.

The great thing is that I usually am home by 9pm or even a little earlier so I can cook dinner and do anything else that I may need to do. Tonight I had a little of something left over that I had cooked last week. This saved time so that I could do my trash chore LOL. Let's go over the trash duties here in Korea unless you have skimmed my Facebook page...

There is a yellow bag that you must purchase for any and all food waste. There is no garbage disposal so everything goes in this bag. Common sense will probably tell you that you do not have a 2 liter bag full of food waste each night so sadly, you probably have to find a way to keep this bag somewhere until it is fuller. I seal mine up and keep it in the refrigerator until it is full enough to toss out. So far I have only had one bag to toss out.

Next, we separate plastics and vinyls. This basically consists  of wrappers for store bought items, chip/candy bags and everything EXCEPT plastic bottles. Because I have been decorating my house with new things, these fill up fast but luckily we can put these outside in whatever bag we have. Also, there is a separate bag for papers. This also has been filling up because of purchases. Receipts, paper inserts, boxes, etc go in here which also can be any bag type. Then I have ANOTHER bag for plastic and glass bottle and cans for recycling (for money) - also in any bag. Lastly, there is a white/blue bag that we purchase specifically for trash. Basically anything else goes in this to be burned. If you are confused by what "other" trash is, I am still asking the same thing and sometimes it's Styrofoam - honestly, whatever I feel doesn't fit in the other four bags. So yes, I have 5 trash bags in my tiny apartment.

Today, I came home and organized/separated my trashes LOL and washed dishes. Also, so that food and other items do not go down the drain, we have a cup that fits inside the hole. I have bought little nets to place inside of this cup that will catch any food particles so that I can just throw it away before it smells or becomes too gross. Very tedious. Luckily, a small place makes it a little more manageable. I also was able to find time to do some planning for my Thursday classes, one of which includes downloading songs that we will learn the lyrics to.

Being a lady in this part of the "complicated trash, lacking quality feminine products" part of the world is a tad challenging. I can purchase sub-par products and have trash to "hold on to" (bleh). Or I can use something else that requires less waste. I chose the latter. I will only say this much for the sake of not scaring off the guys and I will only discuss this one time ever - Ladies, if you come or visit ROK, I highly recommend a cup (look it up if you want more info). The hassles of dealing with it are better than the alternatives.

Last night, a coworker and I grabbed a bus and went to Cocky Pub (where the beer pong was) for burgers and fries. I have my first Dr. Pepper since I've been here. I was a happy girl. However, they brought me sweet and sour for my potato wedges instead of ketchup. Sometimes, things are so strange here. Around 10pm, my coworker and I hopped back on a bus to head towards home (we live in the same building) and decided to meet up with one of her friends for a drink and some darts. Next thing I knew, it was midnight and I was tired. Going out after work or staying out late can easily happen here.

I did choose to have a beer - and guess what kind that was???? I had a cold bottle of Corona!! Yessss! They brought it to me with .... a lemon, however because limes are expensive here. But I did ask the waiter for some salt (with help from my new acquaintances). He looked at me very strangely. I had to explain that I was going to add it to my beer with my lemon. So he brought me a small dish of salt and proceeded to look puzzled as I sprinkled salt into my bottle of Corona and turn it upside down to properly... give it head... or mix it up - whatever you want to call it. LOL. We explained that this is a thing that people in the US tend to do in some areas. It was a $12 beer but it was tasty. I also had some salty popcorn. YAY for the Salt Fix!!!! Although I only one beer, I did not want to wake up this morning.

Thursday, I take all of my paperwork down to immigration to apply for my Alien Residence Card so I will need to be up early and will have less time to prep for classes that usual unless I prepare tomorrow night after work.

That's all for now. Just some oddities that I though I would share. Yay for surviving three weeks!!!

Making Kids Cry...

March 10, 2019

So, yes, it's been a spell since I wrote but it's been a little busy and hectic. First off, I made a kid cry my first week while observing. I guess this 10 year old's mother forcefully entered her son into an English speaking contest where he has to memorize this absolutely mundane introductory speech and mother wanted us to go over it with him. Now, let me point out that the last week of February was the last week of these poor kid's freedom from public school and the little fellow really doesn't English well. Since I was the only "available" teacher who didn't have a class, I was asked to keep this adorably round little guy after class to work on this horrific task. He just wanted to go home like his classmates and thought I was being so mean to make him do this English and memorizing.

Well, when he broke out into tears, I ran to the office because honestly what else could this wicked witch from the west do?? So he was released from the building, but not before I was able to ask him in Korean if he was okay. His demeanor changed a little. I was hoping we'd be all buddy buddy when I saw him again but I didn't recall seeing him this past week in classes. Rumor has it that the other teachers recommended against him doing this to the uppers so that it could be passed on to mom, but these parents are just adamant about some things. Oh well, things happen.

So I completed my first week observing and they would be releasing me into the wild on Monday, the 4th. Sadly, this was also the week all of the kids started back to public school so being tired and a lot less interested was definitely on the agenda. I feel like the week went okay but I can honestly say that I did not feel like I was ready to be on my own yet. I could have used a second week observing.

Anyway, it was time to celebrate a 3 day weekend. I was going to meet everyone a town over but I decided to get out of the house early to avoid being offered dinner so I walked to the HomePlus (similar to a Walmart except it's 2 stories). This way I had an idea what it was like and where to find things once I was moved in and ready to shop.

After a bit of a cluster-flunk trying to find the correct bus to get to Ingye-dong where everyone was meeting, a nice lady and gentleman hailed a taxi for me and told the driver kindly where to shuttle me off to. We were meeting up for Indian food which I was looking forward to - something other than Korean already. Bear in mind, if you visit here, the cabs do not like to take cash. I believe you can pay with Samsung Pay but they all take cards. I've heard horror stories of foreigners trying to get a taxi and them not even stopping because they don't want to deal with the non-Korean language. Luckily, I made it to my destination good and in one piece ~ not a scary experience like it was in Rome.

I met up with two teachers from our school and their friends (other teachers they knew, 2 from South Africa and one from the states). The food was really good. Honestly, I enjoyed the naan the most (ironically the name of the place). Bread is my weakness next to a hearty slab of beef. Once dinner was done, we were going to head to a bar where we would meet up with some of the other teachers and make a night of it. Foreign teachers really have their own little clique in this country. One bar was the Cocky Pub where were met up with probably 7 more people, played beer pong, and Battleshots (which I can honestly say that I had never done until this night). Then we meandered towards a place called Thursday Party but it was busy and some of us older farts weren't feeling the crowd, so we went upstairs for karaoke (or norebang) which we proceeded to do until sometime after 4am. Another thing to remember is that buses and trains do not run after 12:30am so I had to take a taxi back to my foster residence and hope not to wake the owners.

Keep in mind, I probably didn't get to sleep until after 5am and had to wake up, pack, shower/get ready, and take everything downstairs to the car so that I could finally move into my own place. It would be the last time that I would see the teacher I was replacing. I think I was almost as sad to see her go as the people she had worked with the past year. I had been occasionally talking to her about the apartment, the school, what I should bring, etc, and when I finally met her I just felt like I really connected with her. But I couldn't let anything psych me out. I had to unpack, get groceries, and somehow plan for teaching on my own in 2 days.

Sunday I did my first load of laundry in my leaky washer (I was told it did this but I'll be damned if I wasn't going to bring it up and expect it fixed). No dryer though so this girl had to go old school and hang everything up to dry. The apartment come equipped with a rack from floor to ceiling in order to hang clothes. I turned a fan on them in hopes they would dry more quickly.

Now, I knew from the start that this place was a little older and run down, so to say. I had been warned not only by the director upon being hired but also by the previous tenant. I was lucky that one of the days before school, she met up with me and showed me how to get "home" and how to use everything. I was not impressed with the place but I knew I had some work ahead of me. One of the first things I did was unpack and try to find a place for everything in this rinky dink little abode. I had brought only a few items for decor since my bags were already overweight.

In putting everything up, it created a shopping list of all the things I still needed or wanted from the the HomePlus so I started over towards the big store only to see a freaking hole-in-my-pocket Daiso store first. I think I spent about $70 this night on things to decorate and lighten up the place some. It seemed so dark and dismal - especially the bathroom. The teacher that lived here had put up a shower curtain in the very gray ugly bathroom, and bless her heart, she used .... more gray to decorate. I purchased a cherry blossom shower curtain, some things to go on the walls, and things to just make my space more efficient (and then some BS stuff that I'm sure I didn't need but it's stinkin' cute).

After that trip I didn't feel like dragging my tired feet back the same direction (probably a mile and a half) just to get groceries. I had stopped at the Burger King for chicken so luckily I wasn't in need of food anyway. But Sunday.... yep, time to go BACK that tiring walk.... past that cursed Daiso.... and finally into the grocery section of the store.

Let me just say, Koreans are amazing engineers at some things, like grocery carts. The wheels on these things are multi-directional. There's never a reason to not be able to move out of someone's way. Also, since these carts can be taken down into the parking garage and also up to the 2nd floor, they have escalator-like sidewalks that have a slight incline/decline and the carts wheels will automatically lock once they pass onto the walkway. Other things like plumbing... well, there is a lot of room for improvement there.

I knew I'd have to carry all of the groceries that I bought so I had attempted a list. To eat a fairly Americanized lifestyle here literally cost me 3 times more money to buy most of the food I would have at home. $143 later and I had to stuff everything in my backpack and 2 reusable bags that I brought with me from Daiso in California (the Japanese branch... shhh...). That was a long and hellish walk, let me tell you. But I made it, hands crumpled painfully into half fists still as I unloaded my treasures. Sadly, it barely looks like I shopped.

I sat down for a few minutes proud of my feats. Not only did I survive the Korean market shopping experience, I made it home with everything in one piece. But then as I looked around, the apartment looked even more dull. So I mustered my tired butt back to the freaking Daiso for another round of "take Julie's money". I must say that I am fairly pleased with the way things look in here now. Even the other teacher complimented me after I sent her pictures to show her what I had done. So THAT was my weekend... before being kicked out of the nest.

I could honestly start a new post for that but I'm running short on time. So in a nutshell, first day went well and got gradually more disorganized. Half the time I didn't know what book the kids were in and the other half of the time I was just lost somehow. I felt like a hot mess and a half. I even came to school 2 hours early to prepare but that seemed to do very little.

As the week progressed I managed to find a method where mostly I can keep track of the 20 different classes and their homework/daily lessons. I even offered the students no tests if they actually do all of their homework but if one kid forgets, they still get tested. I've been told that I have this power and the kids definitely seem to like this aspect of my class. The week was long and it wasn't until I was walking home Friday night that I realized I haven't had a 5 day a week job in a very very long time. The moral is, I survived. I don't recall seeing my crier so I hope I didn't scare him out of the school.

Literally, I sat at home and did nothing but bills, watch Netflix, and laundry on Saturday. I had been debating on attempting to navigate my way to Pyeongtaek to check out a wrestling promotion that I stumbled across and the promoter offered to allow me to come crash their training. So I got plenty of rest so I could make my way there. After getting on one train that took me to a dead end stop, going backwards, and then onto the other train that went all the way there, I was delightfully giddy to see an Outback Steakhouse and a Starbucks!! But then I had to take a cab to the warehouse where training was at.

They do Western style wrestling mostly and some Lucha and Japanese style (I am familiar with all of these). I know it's not usually my thing but it's something familiar that transcends the language barrier. I was amazed that the promoter speaks such great English (his full time job is a translator). Honestly, some things about the indie scene are the same no matter what country or culture you're in. Struggling to pay costs, finding sponsors, drawing a crowd, a lot of proprietary mumbo jumbo that I couldn't disclose to the average person... but it's good to know that all of his workers are paid and it's better than most indie scenes back home. I was even asked to help out with some of my skills lol. Even though there was very little English used and we ate Korean food as a group, it felt as close to home as I'd felt since I got here. :)

And that, my friends, is where I will leave you for now. I will try to keep up better. So much coming up soon..... Have a good week and enjoy your daylight savings changes. Anyeong (bye)!

Observing Classes and Mini Excursions

February 26th, 2019

Well, I didn't write about the first day I began observing classes so here it is, day 3 and finally finding some time to do this. I think what stood out most about the first day doing this is that the students weren't expecting me until Monday so the looks on their faces as they entered the room to see a stranger was pretty memorable. Luckily, the teacher that I am replacing is immensely helpful and has not only written me notes on how she manages each class, but she has provided additional notes about the students themselves even including who they are related to. I really think I found a good place.

The first day was more about learning games, routines, introducing ourselves to each other, and attending a staff meeting. The staff meetings were just more or less present a game or something that we can teach the children in order to get new ideas for our own classes. One teacher does this every week. It sounds like I may not have to do it until April so this is good news. I think the first day I was more overwhelmed with everything plus I was still fighting some jet lag and a headache.

In this school, our classes are back to back, one hour each usually for 6 hours straight. This means we have one class for an hour and then after the 60 minutes is over, that class shuffles out while the other comes in to start. I think this actually runs much more smoothly than I had originally expected that it would. Although we are asked to be there at least 30 minutes before the start of our first class we will never work more than 6 hours in a day for the classes and no weekends unless we do one field trip. Honestly, it's a tight schedule but it's really not a bad deal. Most days I will be done at 8pm (which can change as needs change) but I've had way worse schedules than that. I already knew roughly what my hours would be before I came here and had already been assured by the other teachers that there were no hours beyond those that would come as a surprise.

After classes, we all went out for a staff dinner which was an enjoyable time. Everyone chose to go to a Chinese restaurant afterwards. Let me just say that this, to me, was not Chinese food but instead was just like most of the Korean menus and food I had seen over the previous days. I hadn't been able to eat much because I hadn't been eating a lot of starches and carbs before coming here. My body has really been taking some time to adjust. I do feel bad because my boss's family thinks I don't eat when in reality I do, I just eat smaller portions of things, especially when there is rice and noodles involved. Anyway, it was not like Chinese food in America, and according to one of our teachers who in Chinese, it is also not like the food in China.

I rode home with my boss and was just so tired that night, I went straight to sleep. I hadn't been invited anywhere with anyone but I'm not one to let that stop me. I don't like to just sit around all of the time and I wanted to get a better feel for the city I would be living in. There is a royal palace and a fortress that was nearby on the map and I figured that I would attempt to walk there - after all, I will be walking everywhere for the length of my stay here. I was getting ready to leave when my host came knocking on the door with the vacuum to ask to me clean my space. So I did and was immediately followed up with the offering of lunch. I did sit down to eat since it was the weekend, but I can only eat so much kimchi and rice before it gets old. I had already decided that I would try to find something out to eat so that I could choose my own food. But, after I was finished, I set out to explore.

Honestly, what I didn't know was that you could see the fortress wall and lookout posts from the apartment that I am staying in. I thought that was pretty cool. Using my Naver maps (similar to Google) I made my way to the bottom of the hill where the trek upwards would begin. I hadn't even gone maybe 50 feet before I realized that this was going to be a little more challenging than I had thought. I didn't know that everything would pretty much be up one of the steepest hills I've ever climbed but I had already made this a goal and wasn't going to turn back. I was often short of breath (partly a result of my asthma) and the other part because I simply have been lazy and I'm out of shape. But getting to the top that overlooked the city of Suwon (which was waaaay bigger than I had believed it to be), the effort was well worth it. What I didn't know was that the palace lay at the base of this steep, ginormous hill on the other side so I was in a hurry to get down so I could go in before it closed at 5.

It was interesting to see how many people were walking up and down this hill in dress shoes as if this is some easy casual stroll in the park. The only reason to go to the top is literally to hike or to see what's up there. It's not as if there are shops and stuff to look at. I walked around the palace for about an hour and a half. These things are always so cool and I can't wait to see it in the spring time. They are all pretty similar but still very beautiful to see. Also very glad I brought 2 inhalers with me. I didn't need it yet but I can tell there will be a point in which I will.

After the palace I sat in a park for a little enjoying what would be one of the better days of good air we would have for a spell. Then I trekked over to the fortress wall where there is a large gate. You can see images of this on many signs in the city so I felt I needed to see it in person. It's a seemingly short wall (taller than me to look over) but revealing a drop off on the other side to the rest of the city. As I walked along the pathway alongside this massive structure, I felt absolutely at peace. It wasn't too chilly out but I also did have a large winter coat hugging me. And yet, still tons of locals walking in their Sunday best and dress shoes - absolutely bizarre to me.

This is probably one of the first times that a stranger approached me also. Three girls also out exploring asked me to take their photo - visibly foreigners which is why I assume they approached me, assuming I spoke English. They were Russian but spoke English fairly decently. We chatted for a couple minutes before I began my walk home, hopefully in just enough time to have missed a plentiful serving of Korean dinner. I can be a picky eater, I know, but this is just simply needing a variation to my taste buds.

On Sunday, I was going to go the movie theater to see what was playing in English, just for the experience. But as I was getting ready, the co-worker who I was replacing told me she was running to Seoul to run some last minute errands before she left for the states and asked if I'd like to join. As of yet, I hadn't had to take any public transportation since when I visited in 2017 and I knew I still needed to purchase a T-money card (with cash) before I could hop on any form of public transit. I managed to get to the subway station (by walking because I didn't have my card to catch a bus) and then was able to purchase a one way pass to the next station where I would hopelessly search for my coworker. After a few phone calls and 20 minutes behind schedule, I managed to find her and we were on our way to the big city via train.

Her errands were really to cash her last check and exchange the money to US dollars before she closed her bank account later in the week. It felt a little exciting being back in Seoul again although I don't recall if I had been to that stop before. Low and behold, Namdaemun Market street was about a 10 minute walk uphill where we were sure to try this amazing honey pancake-like bread for roughly $1 (hottoeke). It was just a quick visit into the city but I was able to find a place to purchase my transit card, load it, and use it for the trip back home. So overall it was pretty successful. Best part is that I could re-familiarize myself with the subways/trains. Hadn't even attempted the buses but instead walked 25 minutes to the train station. LOL.

Monday and Tuesday were not really eventful ~ just more shadowing in classes and hoping I could do it. I learned a lot of games that the kids play in classes in order to have fun and earn points that they can later use at the school gift store (like a Dave and Busters). I was walking to and from school on my own like a big girl LOL. Monday morning I even had to go back into the hospital in order to grab the sealed results of all my medical tests. But I managed it on my own with my lack of Korean and even grabbed a coffee and treat to eat on my walk to work.

There is a Daiso (similar to a Dollar General but everything is all cutesy) right by work. I think this is very bad placement because I probably stop in there every other day for stuff or just to look. Once I get into my place, I think this store will be the reason I can't afford to eat. This is the last week my co-worker is here. Friday is a holiday and I have been invited to come to the send off activities. Then, Saturday I get to move in. Definitely looking forward to my own space again.

Anyway, signing off for now....