Life as I know it

Hey, hey, hey!

It has been awhile and have had multiple requests for a blog update…so here goes!

I left you all a little sick but on the mend. Well, that all changed. It may or may not have had something to do with going out nearly two weeks ago in a neighboring city with a bunch of people from orientation. What a night! It was Mardi Gras, so we lived it up! All I have to say is: soju is evil. The rest will have to be evidenced on my facebook pictures! Which, by the way, haven’t been put up yet because I still have yet to find a cord…going on a mission later today.

Monday (about 10 days ago) I started feeling more sick after I had felt much better that weekend. By Tuesday, I felt like death. Much worse than the first week of sickness. After my morning classes Tuesday, I asked if I could go home. They finally let me. I went home after lunch and slept all day. But, to no avail. Last Wednesday I woke up and felt worse than I have in years. I really felt like death warmed over. Horrible sore throat, stuffed nose, fever, achey, horrible hacking cough; the works. I called my coteacher (from skype!!) and though barely audible (voice was almost completely gone) told him I wasn’t coming in. He told me to call again at lunch to see if I would be well enough for the afternoon…So, I went back to sleep and got up again around lunch. Still feeling like death and barely able to talk. I called and said I wouldn’t be well enough to come in. He countered with, “ok, me and school nurse will be there in 3 minutes.” What? WTF?!?

Even being on the brink of death, I quickly threw all of my shit into my closet. Low and behold, they were there three minutes later. Koreans are fast! I let them in and they both were like, ohhh soo clean!! I wanted to laugh, but didn’t, haha. They were so nice and kind! They brought me a ton of medicine and a bag of fruit and a Korean herbal drink from another English teacher. It was so nice. Apparently, I had the entire school worried! I returned to school the next day against my better judgment, but figured that 1.5 days off was probably all they would let me and the fact that I was only in my 3^rd week, have a year to go and only 7 sick days. Back at school on Thursday, I felt like shit. Horrid, horrid, shit. I could barely speak and lost my voice completely by the end of the day.

By Friday, I was feeling less like death and more just sick. I taught 6 classes (pretty much the whole school day) and again lost my voice. I downed Ibuprofen all day long like my life depended on it!! After school in the evening, I headed to Busan to see Chris. Although I felt sick (again) in Busan, the weekend was fun! Friday night we had Japanese sushi (California rolls!!) and on Saturday we headed for the beach. The weather was beautiful!! Loaded with cold medicine and pain killers I braved the outside. We got Mexican food (Mexican!!!) at a restaurant along the beach. We shared nachos (albeit made with cabbage, but with sour cream) and he got a burrito and I “quesadillas”. They were more like tacos…All in all, for Mexican in Korea, it was an amazing meal! Plus, the weather was nice enough that we sat outside, facing the beach! It was the nicest weather I have experienced so far in Korea!!

After lunch, we headed to a shitty little carnival where I rode a mechanical moving Panda! It was the weirdest shit, ever! You know those like mechanical horses you put quarters in outside stores? It was like that. Except furry. And mobile. It moved around!! I didn’t believe Chris when he said it would wander around…but low and behold, it did! I was laughing my ass off and I think entertaining the Koreans. Chris has a video that I am sure he will post for you all to see! The weather quickly turned to cold, windy and rainy and we had a few hours to kill before a birthday dinner in the area so we “rented” a room in something known as a DVD bong. It is a place where you rent like rooms with these bed/couch things and watch a movie. They are mainly used for sex (Koreans don’t have sex before marriage at home), but we used it for shelter from the elements, and I took a nap! Sickness was still running me down and I needed a break if I was going to last all night. What a weird place though…The bed/couch is vinyl, so they can clean it easily….After the birthday buffet dinner and a few drinks, we headed back early because the sickey (me) was tired and needed rest.

The rest of me week until now has been pretty uneventful. I did receive a package from my Mom!!! That was probably the highlight of my week because it was filled with…AMERICAN MEDICINE!!! Boy, was I happy to see that! I was still very sick when it arrived so it was amazing. It also contained some American food items that I was super excited about such as taco seasoning, dried black beans, dried lentils, Italian salad dressing, vegetable boullion cubes (for broth and soups and such) and FALAFEL MIX! Which I was the most excited by! Can’t wait to use all of the food! The medicine, however, went to use immediately! It did bring about my first full/real bout with homesickness. Seeing all the items and smelling home on the clothes and other items of mine my Mom sent me was hard. Knowing it has only been a month and I have…well a lot more to go, was hard.

But, that being said, I am adjusting to life here. I think my 3 week cold from hell is finally abating. I feel better today than I have in over 3 weeks. It was a horrible, nasty cold (actually, I think I got two back to back). When you are sick, especially as sick as I was, life is shit anywhere. But particularly if you are out of your element in a foreign place without the proper medication. But now that I am feeling much better, life is looking up!! I am really getting into my job and realizing it is pretty cush. I teach 16 hours a week (I work 40) and sit on my ass to “plan” and look at the internet the remaining hours. It takes me only a few hours each week to plan, so most of the time I just look on the internet. I should exhaust it soon, I will keep you posted when I reach the end. My girls here love me. Really, really love me. They are constantly hugging me, holding my hand, saying, “teachaa I love you!” or making hearts with their hands our arms. It is a nice feeling. They constantly shower me in candy. Even when they see me in the street!

For example; the other day I was searching my little Podunk town for a camera cord and while wandering around I saw probably 12 or so girls from my school. They were excited, no, elated, to see me outside of school. Most freaked out and screamed. It was so fun! The last girl I saw ran up to me and gave me a giant hug! So, so sweet! I wish I knew their names though. But there are 1100 girls with Korean names, whom I only see once a week. It is gonna be a while….

I thought I would write a little bit about what an average day looks like for me since I haven’t really talked about that. On a school day, I get up around 7 am and get ready for the day, shower, eat breakfast, make up, do hair, check email and etc… I leave for school around 8:00, but if it is closer to 8:10, I run. I run to school frequently, gotta get some exercise somehow! But, when the foreigner in town is running (with a backpack on, no less!) Everyone notices. “teachaa, running!”. I see all the girls on my run/walk to school. I have to be to school by 8:20. I am very lucky in the fact that I have a super short commute that involves only walking! Most people have to take a bus or train and commute for up to an hour each way. At 8:15 or so, I arrive, take off my boots and put on my indoor shoes. I have a cubby with my name and everything! Legit. After that, I head to the teachers room where my desk is. There are 7 other teachers with me in the room (all Korean). Depending on the day, I teach 2 or 3 classes, except Fridays, where I teach 6!! Fridays are always tough. But, I guess better Friday than Monday for a hard day.

Lunch is around noon, depending on if I am teaching or not. I eat lunch in the cafeteria with the other teachers and all the girls. Everyone eats together here and everyone eats school lunch. School lunch is served on a metal tray and consists of rice, a warm vegetable, usually also a cold vegetable, soup, some type of meat side dish, and often fresh fruit and sometimes yogurt. No beverages are served at lunch, there is a water station you visit after lunch. Something that has been hard to get used to. Also notably absent: napkins. Koreans are impeccably clean eaters and thus do not require napkins! I, however, am not. That has been quite comical/horrifically embarrassing. I drop food (I always do, but especially with chopsticks) and my fingers get dirty. It has been a work in progress.

The school lunch is generally, amazing. I always get full because meat is usually just a side dish here. There have been plenty of lunches actually without any meat! There is often fresh fruit and sometimes yogurt; these are apparently rarities at other schools. One day, there were even delicious strawberries! The last two days, however, have been horrible. Yesterday the rice had lots of little bits of meat mixed in, so I couldn’t eat the main ingredient. The side dishes were meat too. I had 5 strawberries, a few pieces of pickled radish and some broth. I was starving. Today, I brought a granola bar, just in case. Thank god I did! There was at least rice today, but much more meat than usual and no fruit. I had some rice (about a cup, standard serving here) and some cooked seaweed….and later hurriedly ate my granola bar. I just hope the lunch goes back to normal, because it was great before!

After lunch, I either teach, or hang out. The last class ends at 3:00 and I go home at 4:20, so regardless of my teaching schedule, 3:00-4:20 is always free. I usually sit on the internet at this point and don’t even attempt to look busy. I am tired by then and have stopped caring. I am home by 4:30 and since I have been sick, have spent a lot of my afternoons napping. I cook most of my meals here (most people eat out because it is pretty cheap), but not eating meat makes it very difficult. In the evenings I am on skype and facebook and always plan on being in bed by 9:00, but it never happens. I am usually asleep/in bed by 10:30. Any later than that, and I am wrecked for the next day. Even though 11-7 would be a solid 9 hours, I am constantly woken up throughout the night by drunken Koreans stumbling in the hall, up the stairs. Koreans here go out and get wasted on Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and every other day of the week. So, every night without fail, between midnight and 3 am or so, I am up constantly. I slept with earplugs for the first time last night because I finally got a cell phone!! The travel alarm I had been using was very quiet and I was afraid I wouldn’t hear it through ear plugs. So, hopefully sounder sleep is on the horizon for me!! That is my day, in a nutshell.

I get paid tomorrow (woooo!) and will be joining the gym this weekend. So freaking excited about this! I haven’t worked out in over a month and at home for the past year or so I had been working out 4-5 days a week for 1-2 hours at a time, so my body has been going through withdrawals!! Look forward to a Korean workout blog. The gym in Korea should make for some interesting reads!!

Speaking of cell phones, I now have one! And a smart phone, to boot! I’ve never had high tech phones, so it is quite exciting! My cell phone number for the American peeps is 011-82-10-4717-1493. You can call me from Skype for around 2 cents a minute or so. So, do eeeet!!! Weekends are best for communicating due to the severe time change. For example, west coast Friday and Saturday nights, are my Saturday and Sunday late morning/early afternoons. Those are the best times to call. Also, working on getting some app where you can text a US number (so for free) I will get it routed to my Korean phone (for free) and I can text you back (For free). Thank Colin for that! And soon Shyawn and Jennifer for help with that on the US end!

The weather in Korea is apparently confused as to what season it is. The beginning of this week it seemed as if spring really was about to spring. But, spring has not spring in South Korea. I retired my very heavy winter coat earlier in the week for my normal Seattle winter jacket, only to have to pull it out again Wednesday. Sigh. Temperatures dropped back down below freezing. I have heard rumors of snow, but have seen none so far! It is so cold here and because it is now “spring” the school turns the heat off in the afternoon. So, I type to you now wearing a parka, a scarf and many layers. Sigh, someday I will be warm again.

I feel like I can’t close this blog without touching what is going on in Japan. First and foremost, NO I didn’t feel the earthquake. I am in Korea, LOL. So many people asked me that! But, it has shaken me up quite a bit. I contemplated going to Japan to teach and after hearing that the first American casualty was a young woman teaching English, it hit home hard. Being just a stones throw away from Japan makes it hit closer to home. Thoughts have swirled, what if? What would I do if that happened here? What if something really badly happened to me, or my friends here? But, I quickly have to let that go. Not only do I live in earthquake territory back home and have lived through two, anything can happen anywhere, wherever you are. Going abroad doesn’t equate to any increased danger or likelihood of death; just as staying put at home doesn’t guarantee you any additional safety. We can’t, and I refuse, to live life in fear. You have to live. Get out and do shit, even if it scares you. Ya, you might die. But, you could also get hit by a garbage truck on the way to work, and that is an even shittier way to die than being swept away by a tsunami while doing something you gave a shit about. You know what I mean? It was like when North Korea bombed South Korea a few months back. I was already in the process of securing a job here and everyone assumed, didn’t even ask, that I wouldn’t be going any longer. I always said, “why wouldn’t I go?” Some people thought it was a stupid answer, but I refuse to live my life in fear. Plus, it is not as if I am living in the middle of a battlefield. It is South Korea. TIK! LOL. But anyways, what I mean to say or the point I am trying to get across is, you can’t live life with what ifs. I have thought how tragic it is that this girl died in Japan, away from all her friends and family. But, really, would her death have been any less tragic or painful for them had she suffered a brain aneurism (or whatever) in the same city as them? Of course not.

Ok, I think that is about it on my end. I miss all of you so much. The tsunami and my package from home has made me a little nostalgic the past 10 or so days, but I continue to live and breathe everyday here. The days have already elapsed into weeks and the weeks into marking my first month of many here. It is hard to even fathom that amount of time I have left without seeing all of your faces, but I trust you will be there when I return! I hope you all are having your own adventures in your daily life, wherever you may be.

Love, Kimberly

Sick and Sushi

I have been sick. Very sick. About a week ago I started to get a little tickle in my throat which suggested the onset of a cold. What I had no idea at the time was though, how much it would kick my ass. Korean colds suck!!!! New germs, new place, new type of cold!

I went to Busan last weekend to visit Chris. Ended up spending most of the weekend asleep because I was so sick! He was great and went all around Busan finding me medicine. He first went to the Korean pharmacy and came back with some sort of pellet type things that you chew and wash down with a warm liquid. I have to say, it was the worst tasting thing that has ever entered my mouth. The ‘pellets’ as I called them, were the consistency of crushed up crackers…or something. Taste? Somewhere between cement and rotten dog shit. The liquid was horrible too, but it wasn’t as bad as cement and rotten dog shit, so I can’t recall its exact flavor. The Korean medicine didn’t do much for me and Chris, determined to make me feel better, called half the western population of Busan to track down real medicine for me. And what do you know, he was successful! A friend of his had a pharmacy on her, which included….NYQUIL! Amazing. Never was I so happy to see Nyquil in all my life. I took that and then slept most of the afternoon away. I had a horrible sore throat, fever, almost no voice, earaches and just felt like shit.

After sleeping some of the afternoon away, I pulled myself out of bed and we went and wandered for a bit around Busan. I was very tired and still felt very bad, so we didn’t do much. We did eat some amazing street food, though! Some waffle thing with sweet cream type stuff inside, some fried piece of dough with like nuts and peanut butter (?) or something inside, and then Korean style sushi (kimbap, I think?) that wasn’t very great. Then we went and ate Italian (gasp!) food in Korea! It was delicious and the restaurant was PURPLE!! It was cool. After all the eating and walking, I was pretty wiped and ready to get back in bed. So, unfortunately, that was about the extent of Busan I saw! Even though it wasn’t the weekend that had been originally planned, I was still very thankful to have a vigilant nurse looking out for me and brining me pellets and Nyquil.

I have been sick since then. Had it been later on in the year, and not the 4^th day of work, I would have called in sick on Monday. Monday was the worst day. I felt like death warmed over. By that point, a horrible (and painful) cough and annoying and constant runny nose had also set in. I was clearly very sick. In Korea, Koreans don’t really believe in staying home when sick. So, going home was never suggested. Many people did suggest I go to the hospital however, but “after work, in evening”. AKA, don’t take time off of work. Many people I went to orientation with are currently sick as well; apparently it is sort of a Korean rite of passage. Everyone gets really sick when they first get here. I at first was worried about the social acceptability of blowing your nose in public, coughing, sneezing etc…Then, I just stopped caring because I felt too bad. I am sure the people in my office hate me and all my sick sounds I have made this past week, haha. Sidenote, haven’t been able to find soft Kleenex here, my nose is not a fan.

By Wednesday, I was out of my foreign medicine and went in search of a Korean pharmacy. I managed to explain cough syrup and cough drops with my Korean dictionary and miming abilities. I was hoping to avoid any more rotten dog shit pellets and succeeded! The cough syrup turned out to have a picture of a vanilla bean on it. I smelled it, smelled like vanilla. Then I took a shot, and yep, tasted just like vanilla. Was it vanilla? Who knows, TIK. I did manage to score Halls cough drops though, which have been a lifesaver. I brought some over, but burned through them quite quickly. Having to teach and yell/talk over 35 middle school girls has taken a toll on my voice and without the cough drops, I wouldn’t have been able to talk at all. The pharmacist also gave me pills for, “my nose”. He pointed and said, “take.” The box is awesome. It has three elephants on it; one sneezing, one with a dripping nose and one blowing its nose. How cute! Gotta love Korean medicine.  The grand total for cough syrup/vanilla, two packs of cough drops (American, no less) and elephant nose pills was 6k won or somewhere around $6 USD.

I am on the mend now. Runny nose is abating and so is the cough. All of the other symptoms have seemed to disappear. Let us hope it is all gone by next week!

Whenever I travel, I always bring medicine with me. I usually have a supply of cough drops, Vicks vapor rub (I don’t leave without this; can be used to take away pain from coral burns, sunburns, great to put under your nose in smelly public transportation situations and of course for coughs), cold medicine and antihistamines, in the least. Why? It is not because I don’t think medicine doesn’t exist in other places, but when you are sick and in an unfamiliar place, the last thing you want to do is go on a trek looking for stuff to make you feel better when you feel like shit. Especially when you don’t know exactly what you need, where to get it or what it looks like or is called. So, to play it safe, some always comes with me. But, I forgot Nyquil, I had Dayquil, but no night stuff. Fail!!! So, thank god for Chris and his friend Anne! I have blown through my medicine stash and since I know now there isn’t Nyquil or any equivalents here, I will be having them sent over and other medicine replenished. I hope this is my last bout of illness for the season, but you never know and I don’t want to be caught without anything again!!

In other news, my classes continue to keep me on my toes. Classes on Tuesday were canceled completely (for testing, common occurrence here) so I sat and planned. I really needed that because I still felt horrible and it was good to conserve my voice.

Yesterday, I had the class from hell. My co-teacher was there for the first two minutes and pointed to a girl (in front of the whole class) and said, “reeetahted student.”  Ummm, okay, thanks? I hope they didn’t understand. Then, she left. The student does happen to be severely mentally disabled and I am unsure as to why she is in a mainstream class at all. Oh well, TIK. After the teacher left, the class continued to escalate out of control. I did not have much of a voice by this point (was my last class of the day) and it was hard to quiet them down without it. I took possession of many interesting things this class. A few drawing/doodling notebooks, pens and oh…a knife. You know, the usual stuff. Yes, a knife. I confiscated a KNIFE off of a 7^th grade Korean girl. WTF?!?! She was like, “teachaa, WHY?!?! Mine!!” I had to move a student to the front of the room for screwing around and then moved knife girl to her seat. Class was horrible. I was glad when it was over. I saw the co-teacher at lunch and she asked how they were. I said horrible. Told her about the knife. Her response? “oh”. As if taking a knife off a 12 year old is a common experience. Ahhh, WTF did I sign up for? TIK.

Taught my first real lesson today (had been teaching lessons about me, introducing myself) from the textbook, which I planned. It went great! Co-teacher said I have great methods. Somehow, everyone is talking about how well I teach and that it is due to my many years of experience teaching….not sure who or how that rumor started, but I am going with it! LOL!

I just saw the class from hell from last week and they were 100x better this week. Just laying down the law last week and showing them that they can’t screw with me, apparently worked! Which was great, because I was dreading this class because it was so awful last week.

As I was heading back to the teachers room after a class today right before lunch, I was informed that we would (all English teachers) be going out for lunch. Going out is always an interesting (albeit awkward) experience. I was told we would be going for sushi….sweet! Something I could actually eat and I wouldn’t have to dodge meat or meat-related questions. Korean sushi is not like Americanized Japanese sushi…it is just big ass slabs of raw fish. I was completely overwhelmed when I saw everything. There were at least 8 courses; two soup courses, a bibimbap-like course (rice, veggies and fish eggs), the raw fish slabs over dry ice, salad, some stir fry thing, kimchi (of course), delicious coconut prawns, traditional style sushi eventually showed up (called kimbap….I think), marinated fish, fried fish, grilled fish, kimchi fish and more! I get a bit of stage fright with chopsticks when I know I am being watched. My fingers become all paralyzed and then they ask for a fork…and I am mortified. But, I was also a little thankful because I was starving and I knew this lunch would be rushed because we had to return to school. I am a very slow eater with chopsticks, especially when having to pick up small items!

The first thing out was clam soup…the clams were still in their shells. I saw them and thought (this was pre-fork), “you have got to be fucking kidding me. How in the hell do you eat clams with chopsticks?!?!?” Apparently, you pick the clam up with the chopsticks (one of the hardest things I have done so far in Korea) and slurp out the clam. It took me about 10 minutes to eat five clams. LOL. Next was the raw ass fish. I thought, how bad can it be? I have grown up eating fish and other sea life. I like it very much. So, I went in for the kill. I picked up a slab of raw fish and stuck it in my mouth. Crunched down and…bones. The bones were in this fish and I was supposed to eat them. They were more like cartilage, but still very strange. The flavor was…weird. It was a very strange tasting fish, very pungent and had a sort of smoky flavor. If someone didn’t like fish, it would probably make them gag. I was hoping to avoid any more of the bone-in fish, but my co-teacher said, “eat, eat, very expensive.” Ahh, SOB! So, I ate 3 more slabs and then was able to avoid it as more courses came out. Most of it was excellent and extremely fresh. We were seated on the floor and I knew my legs had fallen asleep, but I didn’t realize how much. I went to stand and literally had no feeling in my left leg and fell forward against the wall. Ah, fml. So embarrassing! My leg was like jello and I didn’t even have that tingling sensation, it was so freaky! The entire walk to the car I was hobbling like it was broken because I still couldn’t feel it. No one said anything…just looked at me strangely. Oh man, what they must think of me.

I have had many Ifuckinghatekoreawhydidicomehere moments this past week. The combination of being extremely sick, having to work, and still adjusting did the trick for that to come out. I think it is just about out of my system, so that is good. Whenever you go abroad to live (or travel for an extended period of time) there is always an element of culture shock. Depending on where you are going and where you are coming from, the degree may very significantly. It usually goes something like this: I LOVE Korea (or wherever)!!!! Then, I uggggh I fucking HATE Korea!!!! (or wherever), then homesickness, then you settle into your life and love it and towards the end, the cycle repeats. Now, that is not an exact science, but I think it is fairly common for many of these elements to happen. I feel, process and experiences things very deeply. So I usually go through these steps quite quickly (I think).  I think I am starting to transition into the settling in phase and enjoying life phase. I hope that I will stay there awhile! The I hate this place phase isn’t very fun and I am glad to be out of it!

I am settling into the school routine and am getting used to my little lemmings following me around. It has become fun. One thing that has been an adjustment to me that I wasn’t prepared for before coming, is the issue of modesty in Korea. Shoulders/cleavage/chest/neck in Korea are not things to be seen. It is equivalent to say, wearing an extremely short skirt in America and flashing butt cheeks. It is not ok, but they are fine with the short skirt, butt cheek thing it appears. I have been hyper aware of the no cleavage/shoulder thing, but didn’t realize how many of my sweaters show parts of my shoulder. I usually avoid showing shoulder by wearing another shirt underneath or wearing a scarf. Today, I had a scarf on and I moved it to adjust and retie, and for probably 15 seconds, a large section of my shoulder showed. There were a few 7^th grade girls in the hall and my male coteacher. The girls screamed (wildly), “ooooooh teachaaa sexxyyyyyyy!” and kept screaming it. I was mortified. As soon as their eyes went wild with excitement, I thought, “oh shitttttttttttt!!!!” My shoulder was exposed literally less than 15 seconds, but I might as well have flashed them. Oh well, TIK.

I’ve also discovered a new trick for quieting my class down without wrecking my voice. I roll my tongue (like to roll rs in Spanish) I can do this for quite a long period of time and I don’t strain my voice; plus it works every time! They always freak out; I don’t know if that is something done in Korea, lol. But, they seem to like it! Whatever works, right?!?

I completely re-arranged my room and finally finished unpacking and setting it up. It feels much more homey now. I have at least 100 pictures up of my peeps on my wall to remind me of home!  Speaking of my apartment, I came home yesterday…to my door open. WTF?!? I was really freaked out at first and went to find my Ipod and camera (which were in plain view, had my laptop with me) but they were all accounted for. Nothing seemed to be out of place, except that my bathroom door was shut, which I absolutely knew I did not do. I just kind of shrugged it off and asked a few locals about it later. Apparently, the landlord (Mr. O) will come check on you/the apartment periodically when you’re new…and often leave the door open. But, I guess it is okay because….TIK.

Another interesting (although maybe I shouldn’t blog about it b/c it might seem pathetic, haha) thing I have been adjusting to is working full time, 5 days a week. I have worked less than 3 months full time…ever. Why? Well, most of my life I have been in school. Most of my summers (except the one where I worked full time) I have been traveling. So, I’ve never really done the whole full-time job thing. Man, is it exhausting! Why do people do this?!? No, seriously, why? You get up, go to work, go home, go to bed. Then, you get up, go to work, go home and go to bed. And again, and again and then one more time for good measure. Every week.Ugh. Rough. I know I sound like a pathetic spoiled little brat, but it is real. So, don’t hate! Adjusting to full-time employment is exhausting. Why do we spent so much of our time doing things we don’t enjoy? I would for one much rather have way less money and spend less time working and more time living. Naïve, perhaps, but this sucks. Already imagining my escapes to foreign tropical places…

I am hoping that this weekend will be better than the last. I have some fun things planned, will write about them next week! One of the fun things includes…a trip to COSTCO! I have visions of bread, cheese and cereal dancing in my head. Costco is one of the only places to find cheese and I am way too excited. And ps, I have lost and/or misplaced my camera cord, so I can’t upload pictures. ) : When I find it or buy a new one, new pictures will be up for your enjoyment!

Write soon.

Love,

Kimberly

PS: Communicating with everyone back home has proved to be quite difficult/damn near impossible with the severe time change (17 hours to PST, 14 hours to EST). You are all getting a window into MY life via this blog, you should all shoot me some emails or Facebook messages every once in a while so I can hear what is going on with you! I miss everyone terribly and have been ridiculously excited by the few Facebook messages and emails I have received. So, get to writing!

Kimberly the Teachaaa

Wow. Where to begin. I need to update my blog more frequently! It is Thursday and I last wrote to you on Wednesday, I believe. So much has happened since then, it feels like weeks.

Btw, this is quite long. You may need a snack to get through it.

Last Thursday we went for our medical examinations. In order to stay in Korea, they test you for TB, HIV/AIDS, other STDs, drugs and weigh you and stuff. I love seeing health facilities in other places, it is always so interesting, and sometimes shocking! The clinic we were at was so different from what I thought it would be. First off, we were made to not eat before the exam (no idea why, it’s not like eating makes you HIV +) so we were all starving. There were about 60 of us that were getting everything done, but they moved us along pretty quickly!  We got xrays for TB and then were sent for our urine tests. Low and behold that involves peeing into a Hello Kitty Dixie cup…no joke. You pee into the Dixie cup with Hello Kitty’s face on it and then hand it over the lab person. Totally open and exposed! We were all quite grossed out, all walking around with cups of our own pee. After handing over Hello Kitty’s cup of pee, we got blood draws. Those were interesting. I hate blood and have passed out more than once getting it drawn. Plus, I hadn’t eaten. I willed myself to stay alert, but it was quite difficult during the process. No gloves were worn, and the bloody needle tips were in a bin (I could see them all) next to me. I got a little queasy and dizzy, but thankfully didn’t pass out! The good news, I am disease and drug free and get to stay in Korea! Hooray!

After that, we went to restaurant outside the prison. We had Bulgogi beef for lunch, and the vegetarians had rice and seaweed. They eventually fried us eggs, so I had some egg to go with my rice and seaweed. I have to say though, that was the best meal I had all week during orientation, the food there was literally the worst I have ever eaten. The most interesting part of the meal was sitting on the ground to eat, something I had never done before! Everyone was quite uncomfortable and it was fun watching everyone squirm and try to keep their legs from falling asleep.

After lunch, we went to a local Korean history monument and museum. It was huge and really awesome. I learned a lot about Korea’s history (particularly recent) that I had never known, that was fascinating.

Orientation continued to slug along and I continued to starve. We were released from the compound on Monday, when we were introduced to our co-teachers. I was a little (ok, a lot) nervous about meeting my co-teacher. Would they speak English well? Would it be a man or woman? Young or old? In Korean culture, age is very important and if someone is older than you are, you should be respectful of them (much more so than in the US) and women and men have interesting relationships. So, my worst fear was an old male that did not speak very good English. The role of our co-teacher is to help us out with pretty much anything (life, school etc…) and discipline in the classroom while teaching. My co-teacher showed up and turned out to be an older male, with limited English…But he is very kind. He was mystified as to how I could have so much luggage! It literally almost did not all fit in his car (cars are small here). I told him on the drive to the school (one of the most awkward drives EVER) about being vegetarian to avoid issues. He was like, why? I was thinking, ok, how do I explain why I do not eat meat to someone with limited English…so I said, well, I like animals. Then he goes, oh so you have many pets? Lol. I thought it was funny. We immediately went to the school, where I met the principal and other staff members. It was very awkward at first, not really knowing very much Korean. I had been studying my ass off the previous week trying to learn ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’ (they have two forms) and ‘thank you’. It sounds ridiculous considering the number of words, but I struggled like no other to learn them. We got to the school and I was (of course) instructed to take my shoes off and put on indoor slippers (like slip on rubber sandals that have the white and blue strips, athletes often wear them).  As soon as I take my shoes off, I am mortified. My black nail polish on my toes is all chipped to shit and looks horrible. Plus, I am the only one in the school without socks. I try my best to hide my toes while freezing my ass off. The schools hallways are unheated and unbelievably cold. It has been hovering around freezing here, so it is cold. Plus, I was wearing a light cardigan over a t-shirt button up and thin slacks and now sandals with no socks, in freezing (or below) weather.  I met everyone then was informed we would be going to lunch. We walked there in the freezing weather, me without a coat, freezing my ass off. It was a cold, cold walk. Thank god I had told my teacher I was a vegetarian! He was so nice; even though we were at a meat restaurant, they ordered me special soup and seaweed to eat! He also explained to them all that I don’t drink coffee (very weird here). The lunch was ok, awkward because they all spoke Korean and I don’t. My co-teacher tried to translate a lot. Except the times when they would point or I would hear my name and then laughter….So, who the hell knows what they were saying about me. Other than the unexplained laughter, everything seemed to be going ok, I haven't been called fat yet by the teachers (lol) and had actually been called very pretty with very pretty blue eyes many times.

After lunch, we went to the real estate office to get my apartment and move in. I was still in my clothes with no coat (and now no access to it, the car with my stuff magically disappeared and we were using another car). I was told I would be moving in immediately. I get there and there is clearly an issue, though they were speaking Korean (obviously) so couldn’t understand. My co-teacher just kept saying, everything ok! We waited at the office for maybe two hours and finally went to the apartment. Except, without my shit. We got there and they couldn’t get the door opened…So, we left. I was told someone was living there and hadn’t moved out. I asked when could I move in then? At this point I was utterly exhausted (I had gotten about 3 hours sleep the night before due to packing) and freezing my ass off and just wanted a warm bed to fall into. I was told in one hour I would move in. Right.

So, off back to the real estate office. After a while, the real estate person and my coteacher inexplicably left, for at least a half hour. Leaving me to chat with a Canadian whom has lived her for three years. He gave me the ins and out of the city and lots of advice, which was great. At that point, I had spent about 3 hours in that damn office, and finally my coteacher and the real estate person came back. They said, apartment ready! Sweet! So, we got into the car again (still my stuff was MIA) with the Canadian I had been talking to. We pulled up to the apartment and I was instructed to wait on the street with the boxes of stuff the school had given me (old kitchen shit). Umm, wait, outside, on the corner with this shit? Yes. Be back soon, I was told. So, I waited. And then, I waited. Then I waited some more in the 32 degree weather without a coat.

Eventually (I’d say maybe 30 minutes later?) my coteacher and the real estate person showed up. Thank god I thought! I couldn’t wait to get into “my” new apartment and pass out on the bed wrapped in blankets with the heat cranked. The door was opened, and, low and behold! People still lived there. Clearly, nothing had been packed. I wanted to cry, right there. Oh, and there was no bed. I looked at them and I was like when can I move in? The real estate women (through my coteacher) said one more hour. Ya…right. I knew this wasn’t getting packed in an hour. But, we moved my shitty kitchen stuff in anyways.

We then went back (again) to that god-forsaken office and became completely frozen to all that was going on around me due to extreme cold, hunger at that point and exhaustion. After about 7 hours later, another real estate guy (Mr. O, I was told to call him) showed up who speaked great English. He said, finally, you move in! So away we went (again, without my stuff).  We switched cars and I was finally reunited with my stuff, which I was very happy to see. We went to the apartment and it was cleared out, not clean, but cleared. Still, bed MIA. I inquired about the bed to Mr. O and he asked, “Oh, you need a bed?” I was thinking no shit Sherlock, I need a bed!!! I am not fucking Mary Poppins! I do NOT have one in my suitcase, contrary to the amount of shit I have! Instead, I said, why yes, I need a bed. He said, ok, maybe. WHAT?!?!?

My coteacher and another teacher from the school moved up my 160 pounds of luggage up 3 flights of stairs (they didn’t allow me to help). They were laughing their asses up all the way up, probably saying in Korean, “WTF, why does she have so much shit? Man, I am getting old, can’t carry stuff like I used to!” Or, something like that.
One of the guys left and I then told my coteacher that I had a gift for him. (I was told to bring a gift from home for both my coteacher and principal. Earlier in the car I had asked my coteacher when I should give mine to the principal and he said NO! Principal does not like gifts). I tried to hand him the gift and he goes, “NO NO NO NO NO! I not like gifts!! Gifts very bad!! I not want gift!!!” Some other things were said, I was yelled at for quite some time. He left and I felt completely discouraged, exhausted and defeated at this point. I sat down on my blanket on the floor and just stared at the ceiling not sure what to do next. So, I opened the gift I had for my co-teacher and ate it. LOL. It was smoked salmon and delicious. What else do you do in a moment like that?

I sat around throwing myself a pity party for a while until people I knew came on skype so I could freak out to someone. Thankfully, one of those people was a guy who had been here two years already so knew the ins and outs of what I was going through. He (Chris) is a friend of Cj/Liz’s, Kelsey’s brother and sister-in-law) and they “introduced us” online before I left. He was an immense help and offered to come to my town the next day (Tuesday was a holiday) and help me sort everything out!!  We did all sorts of fun stuff; including grocery shopping and a trip to Home Plus (wal-mart, essentially). I got most of my basics and was very glad I had a pack mule around to help haul it all around ( : It was great to talk to someone who understood how shitty it can be here at times.

After I had real people to communicate with, I picked myself off the floor (both figuratively and literally) and started unpacking. Then I decorated my room with probably a hundred pictures. Feels and looks like home and all the ones I love! Plus, I hung a purple sarong from Costa Rica on the wall to purple it up a bit. Then I went to bed; night one on the floor.

The next morning Chris came to visit (he lives in Busan) and we went to Daejeon (bigger city near me) he helped me get everything I needed and made me feel less like I needed to curl up and die. It was a fun day and I got to experience more of the Korean public transportation system with someone who knows how to use it!

The next day was my very first day as a bona fide teacher. I didn’t expect to teach, but to plan for the week (week was only Wed, Thu, Fri). There was a welcoming ceremony first thing and I was given a corsage and had to stand up in front of everyone and bow. I was instructed when to do what since I couldn’t understand a thing. Just another awkward Korean moment. I spent the rest of the day in the teachers planning room freezing my ass off. The school has no central heating and it has been in the 30s or less here. Can literally see your breath. The classrooms have heaters, but if the door is opened to the hallway it is as if you are outside. I spent much of the day visibly shaking and my coteacher told me, “don’t worry, next week spring.” Ya, ok…

I tried to talk to my coteacher about my lessons for the coming week. He said, “oh, no lessons next week.” I was slightly confused, so I said, “ok…so when will I first teach?” He said, “oh, maybe next week?” Hmmmm. That is Korea for you! I spent the day making a powerpoint/lesson based around introducing myself and my rules for the classroom. It was quite fun! I was informed I would have to stay after school for an English teachers meeting. Meeting was in Korean. So clearly, I was needed. Then I was told literally as I was walking out the door, “tomorrow, you teach.” Sweet. TIK (this is korea).

I went to school on Thursday very nervous to teach. As you probably all know, I am not a teacher. Nor have I ever taught anything. As soon as I got to my first class, I was instantly relieved. The majority of the girls were painfully shy and getting them to speak was one of the hardest things I did. I just tried to be fun and a bit silly (while being stern, if that is possible) to make them comfortable. After the class, my coteacher said she was very impressed with my teaching style. I was so relieved to hear that! I had a second class later that afternoon. As soon as I walked up to the group of girls, I knew. I knew they were going to be a horrible class. And unfortunately, I was right. Within the first 10 minutes, my computer stopped working so I had to do without the powerpoint. TIK. Gotta be able to think quick on your feet. During this class girls yelled “PENIS!” at me, yelled at me in Korean and were generally screwing off and being assholes. The coteacher did almost nothing (they are there for disciplinary issues, among other things). I realized I was losing control so I just started laying down the law. I started taking their shit from them. They talked, yelled penis, or refused to participate, were drawing (or even one girl was whiting out) on their desk, it was mine. I had books, pencils, whiteout pens, paper and an array of other random shit by the end of the period. By the end of the class 2 of the worst 3 girls were following rules and actually participating and had stopped yelling penis, thankfully. There is still one girl who may have to be taken down a notch next week…we will see. I was utterly drained after that class. One of those WTF am I doing here moments. The coteacher asked how many years I had been teaching because she was surprised at how well I handled the girls. Apparently, I am good at controlling 12 year olds. Lol.

After school, I had to go to a welcome dinner for the school. I knew it would be awkward. I don’t speak Korean and most teachers here speak little or no English. I knew it would involve meat. I don’t eat meat. Two things I will constantly have to deal with here. We arrived and it was a bulgogi beef dinner…meaning I had next to nothing to eat. But, that’s ok. We were seated on the floor in three very long tables. My coteacher and I were the first there and as they came in I was like the last kid to get picked for kickball. NO ONE wanted to sit next to me. When I say no one, I mean no one. People would point and then shake their head. Do I smell or something? The entire other side across from me and the other two tables COMPLETELY filled up before people sat next to me. Comical and sad at the same time. It was a giant, WELCOME TO KOREA from the school. Eventually people had no choice and a girl around my age sat by me. Thank god she did! She speaks English amazingly well and has traveled all over Europe, so we had lots to talk about and she has been to Vancouver. So the dinner turned out not so bad. Until….the soju came out. Man, can Koreans knock that shit down. Soju is essentially like vodka, but I think it is made from rice. But, that might not even be remotely true. Google it. They poured me a shot and I was like OMG I can’t take this. I had probably had 900 calories total the entire day (Korean food and I still don’t get along very well, mainly due to meat) and had eaten lettuce for dinner. But, you can’t refuse drinks in Korea, it is seen as very rude. So, down the hatchet went the soju! I figured I had taken my requisite soju and was done. WRONG. “Another miss Kimbaly, another!” (my name here is Kimbaly). Shit man. So, I took another, but sipped on this so they couldn’t refill it. But, a drunk ass dude noticed and motioned for me to take it all at once. Ok…down the hatchet goes another shot of soju. In the honor of full disclosure, I am a light weight. Like, really a light weight. Especially after not eating and taking multiple shots one after another. After the second my tummy was like ahhh wtf are you doing to me?!? Then out came this wine stuff that was in shot form. I was instructed to take that as well, but I was allowed to sip. That was some tasty stuff! No idea what it was, but it was nice. At this point, I was feeling quite tipsy. From first shot to wine shot was about 15 minutes. I started panicking, thinking, OMG I CAN’T be drunk around them! Then, I looked around. What did I see? Red faced Koreans, everywhere. One man was slumped over sleeping from being so drunk. Others were cleary drunk. No, not drunk. Shitfaced. On a Thursday!!! It was quite the site. It was noticed that my shot glass was empty. I was instructed to take another shot of soju….when in Rome, right? I took my 4th shot (3rd of soju) and finally said no more to their soju offers. Woooo, was I feeling it now. Thankfully, someone stood up and said something I didn’t understand and everyone instantly stood up and put their coats on, faster than wasted people should be capable of and left me on the ground. I tried to get up without looking drunk, I think I succeeded.

My coteacher drove me home and when we arrived at my apartment there were two clearly western people trying to get in the main entrance. My coteacher turns around in the car (he makes me sit in back, lol) and goes, “western people, they are probably for you.”  I thought, no, no one knows I live here. But, low and behold I get out and they asked if I was the new teacher. I said yes and asked how they found me and they said Mr. O sent them. Mr. O is a Korean man (works at real estate office) who is apparently to go to guy here. He finally got me my bed last night after 3 (3!!!) nights on the floor. Anyways, he sent them. It was great to see Westerners. The day before I had had a really bad day, combined with exhaustion and adjusting and missing people, I really needed a friendly face! They invited me to dinner and I met around 10 or so other teachers living in Jochiwon. It is great, they are like a built in support system for everyone. We went to dinner and drinks and I drank more. It was a big day for me, apparently!!

Today (Friday) I went to school not knowing if (or when) I was going to teach, but assuming if it did happen, it would be right before. At 10:36 my coteacher came up to me and said, you have class. I looked at him and said, when? He’s like, 10:30. Oh, shit. So, now? I said. Yes, go. So I went. And then the computer didn’t work (again). TIK. I am getting sick, I have a sore throat which I am not very pleased about. Oh well, with all the travel and lack of sleep (still have not managed over 5 hours of sleep in a night since leaving home), it was bound to happen.

I thought I would write a bit about some random observations about Korea that didn’t really fit in any chronological order.

First, toilets. The toilets, or rather stalls, have little buttons with a plastic circular thing.  At first I thought it was a fan; smart, I thought. Then, I heard them. They are water sounds! People push them while peeing.  I just go, not sure if I am being completely taboo by not making the water sound come on or not, lol.

Temperature. It is weird here. I don’t know if it’s all the kimchi these people eat, or what. But, the hallways are completely unheated (and freeeezing) and then they open the windows! You have to wear coats in the hallways and can see your breath at all hours of the day. The classrooms though, are literally in the 80s. My body is freaking out, not sure what season it is in. I wear layers, lots of layers. I have been wearing leggings under pants and two pairs of socks. Plus a tanktop, long sleeve, nice shirt over long sleeve, then a sweater and then my coat. And still freeze!!

Indoor shoes/slippers/sandals. In Korea, you must take off your outdoor shoes and put on indoor shoes (sandals) to walk around. The ones the school has given me are huge and I trip in them going up and down the stairs constantly. So much to the point that I have ripped them from the fronts getting caught on the stairs. And, let me tell you. When white girl trips, EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, notices. It is completely humiliating. I have resorted to using the bathroom when classes are in session lest to avoid people starting and gawking and me tripping. Also, people wear them outside. To lunch, to assemblies and etc…Yet, you can’t wear normal shoes. It makes no sense to me. Oh well, TIK. I am going to buy my own this weekend (most people have their own) that are a little more stylish and quite a bit smaller.

Teeth brushing. Everyone brushes their teeth here after lunch. I forgot my toothbrush the first two days and was horrifying the teachers each time I didn't join them. So, today I brushed my teeth for the first time with them. They literally brush their teeth for 5-10 minutes. I just kept brushing, wondering when the hell it would end. Finally, when the first person stopped, I felt safe to do so as well. Lol.

Now, I will write about some of the things the girls say to me in the hall or on the way to school, other than penis.

“you Kimbaly?!?! You KIMBALY?!?!” They all know my name. All 1000 of them. I have met 120.

“Teeeaaachaaa Kimbaly, is it you?” No idea.

“Your eyese, so prettttttyy!! You so beautiful!!” This is constant, lol.

“Teacha, pretty! Teacha cutie!”

“Where you from?” Me: Seattle. “Seattle?!?!” I LOOOOOOVE Seattle!” Girl freaking out making a heart with her hands.

Student: "Teeaaacha! Look at me! You eyes! I look at student. Student: "Teachaaa, you eyes! So blue! Contactsa!" Me: No, these are my real eyes. Student: Teachaa liah!!! (liar).

And so many more, it is quite comical. Plus I get a million Hiiiiiii and Heeeeey and Hello walking through the hall. When I say hi/hello back and wave the girls freak out and lean on each other. I am like a rock star here, like Justin Bieber level. Hopefully, it dies down soon. I am the first female English teacher here in years, apparently.

Also, my school got me a comforter and is it purple! Somebody was apparently paying attention in the Meet Miss Kimberly presentation.

Ok, well I think that is about it for now. I hope you have enjoyed this novel. I am Busan bound this weekend, very excited!!

See you all later! Miss you!

Love, Kimberly