Three Months In

Ok, it’s been three weeks. I figure it is high-time for an update!

I don’t even know where to begin, life has seemed like a mish-mash of things lately. Time seems a bit stagnant, nothing really changing. In the past few weeks, I have had many days off from school, including a four-day weekend, a random day off mid-week and a sick day last week. Here we goooooo!!!!

Right after I published my last blog update, I had a day off on Thursday and spent it in Daejeon with my friend Rebecca, who lives here in my town, Jochiwon. We went to a café/coffee shop that also doubled as a fish foot spa. You sit on the edge of a bath, dunk your feet in the water and little fish eat the dead skin off of your feet! It was a bizarre, very Korean thing to do. So, I decided I had to do it. Although at first it was seriously the weirdest sensation I have ever felt (almost like little bolts of electricity, gently tapping against your skin) we both eventually relaxed into it and stayed for hours! It was really fun. There was talk of travel, Korea and life…all while getting our feet exfoliated! The fish really enjoyed my feet, which means I had a lot of dead skin! There was a marked difference on my feet before/after. They actually made this hole-like thing in my skin! It would be really good to go to right before getting a pedicure to loosen up your skin! The movement is called Dr. Fish. Google it if interested! I have videos and pictures up on Facebook. My feet are now nice and soft ( :

After Dr. Fish, we headed off to Costco, because I can’t go to Daejeon and NOT go to Costoco. I purchased two things there that have radically changed my life here in Korea: a fan and sheets. Yes, that’s right: changed my life! I am used to sleeping with a fan on throughout the night thanks to my many travels with Kristina. It is just nice white noise and refreshes the air in the room. But, let me tell you, getting a fan in Korea was NO easy task. Why? Fan Death. Yes, Fan Death. At some point in the 1980’s the Korean government announced this horrible occurrence that became known as Fan Death. There was a rash of suicides (or so the story goes) and to cover it up, the government created/announced Fan Death. Fan Death is when a fan is left on all night and sucks all the oxygen out of the room, resulting in the occupant’s death. Yes, I am serious. As a result, fans are not only very difficult to find here (I even went from store to store, pointed at my dictionary, and was given a very emphatic and horrified NO NO NO NO NO!!!! With wildly waving hands), but they often also come with time switches that prevent you from keeping it on all night/aka saving you from Fan Death. Apparently, the government recently came out saying that they have “proven” that Fan Death doesn’t really exist…LOL! Anways, I found a fan at Costco that also has a constant button! So, now I have my fan, I am risking Fan Death at night and get to sleep on real, nice, soft, sheets! I didn’t have sheets since I’ve been here because I switched from a twin bed (which the school provided sheets for) to a queen size bed. It made for very uncomfortable nights of sleep. Fans+sheets=a very happy Kimberly.

I had one day more that week (Friday, Korea doesn’t observe holidays on say, Friday or Monday, you just get them off where they fall, boo!), and then I had a FOUR day weekend! It was glorious. I so needed it. I really didn’t do anything of significance, which was exactly the point. I hung out, spent some time drinking and laughing my ass off until I cried, slept, cooked, cleaned, did laundry, went to the gym, read and watched Mad Men. Chris came for the day on his way out of the country before leaving for Australia to say good-bye, which was a fun day as well!

The weekend before last, my friend Amy from graduate school, was in Seoul for business. I was so excited and happy when she contacted me and said she would be here and wanted to spend a day together! I last saw Amy about this time last year in San Francisco (where she lives) and before that, in good ol’ Vermont. We decided to spend the day in Suwon. We went to a living history museum (think Colonial Williamsburg or Plymouth, Korean style). It was entertaining and I am glad I went, but it wasn’t overly impressive. The company was great though! It was good to see someone from home, catch up, and bitch about grad school, debt and life! Sometimes you just need those moments with friends. We also went and saw this huge, old fortress and palace. Unfortunately, some of it was down for refurbishment, so it was covered up in tarps! Oh, well. Amy speaks fluent Japanese (she taught/lived there for FOUR years! I don’t know how she did it), so at tourist centers she was able to communicate in Japanese! How fun is that?

Speaking of languages, I have started Korean classes through the educational office in my town. I missed one due to my illness, but have been studying a bit on my own. I can officially read/identify most of the alphabet! Translation: This is the hardest f*cking thing I have ever done, in my ENTIRE life. For some reason, the Korean language and I are not friends. We just aren’t. At least four people have tried to teach me, and I took a two-hour class at orientation. But, slowly but surely, it is comin’ along. I am up to about 22 (I counted, lol) Korean words that I can say (forget reading/writing) and successfully read the word “Pirates” (it was a literal translation from English to Korean) in the movie times! It was a happy, exciting moment! This is what I sound like reading: Piiiii, oh that is a P! Iiiii, oh that is an I! Raaaa, R! Ttttt, T! Es!!! PIRATES!!!!! It takes awhile, but I can get the job done…sometimes!

Speaking of Pirates of the Caribbean, I saw the movie here this past weekend! I have decided that the Pirates movie franchise is the one that I have seen in the most exciting places. I saw Pirates 1 and 3 at the drive-in theater in Everett (North Seattle), that is unfortunately no longer with us, RIP Puget Park!!! I saw the 2^nd Pirates in Munich with Kristina, where we chose seeing two movies in the city and not sightseeing (lol) and now the 4^th, in Korea! For this reason, the Pirates franchise has a soft spot in my heart. Plus, it is Disney and based off of one of my favorite rides, so no brainer!

On the teaching front, I thought I would share one of my most heart-warming moments that I recently had. And by heart-warming, I mean it raised my blood-pressure to a dangerously high-zone, warming. Thursdays are my hell days. I have my two worst classes (I have 16 total every week) and every class of theirs is always, ALWAYS Hell. I don’t even try controlling the majority of them anymore. I teach to the 8 girls who give a shit, and let the others do what they want. I also teach 6 classes on Thursdays (I teach 2 and 3 most other days) so I don’t have the energy to put forth to get them to STFU. My first class of the day is the worst, which contains my worst student, whom I have nicknamed (not to her face, of course!) psychopath. She just…is. There really is no other way to describe her. Even my Korean co-teacher told me to ignore her and not try, because they can’t even control her. She will randomly laugh maniacally in your face or do something just…completely psycho. Case in point: Last Thursday, I had to teach without a coteacher (she warned me of this the day before), so I was emotionally prepared for battle, I knew that it was going to be hell. The class was, of course, rambunctious and insane. I am doing something on my computer and all of a sudden, I hear this WHIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. A whirring sound in the distance+psycho laughing is never, NEVER a good thing to hear. I look up…and WTF!?!? I see pyshopath girl with a mother fucking DRILL! An electric drill. She is holding it in the air, drilling away, laughing psychotically, while other students lunge at the drill and try to get the drill to stab papers as she is dodging with a moving drill that has a drill bit on it!! I literally, outloud, though I know no students heard me because they were too engrossed with the paper-drilling-dodging-just waiting for an eyeball to come out-goings on, I go, “What the FUCK?!?” One of the girls involved in this little charade is half Australian/Korean, so speaks 100% fluent English (it is spoken in her home), so she also adds trouble to the class because she knows how to say, Hi my name is Kimberly and I like animals, or whatever…Anyways, I go over and yell, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!?” The Australian/Korean girl clearly understood me, I don’t know if the other girls understood my English, but they got the message. Psycho handed the drill over and then I was like WTF do I do with this?!? And just put it under my desk. I then proceeded to turn on Youtube videos (which I’ve never done before) and sat on the window ledge convincing myself not to jump…ok it wasn’t that bad lol. But, I was definitely having a moment. It didn’t make matters any better that I was extremely sick and really didn’t want to deal with drilling, paper-dodging psychos. The rest of the day followed suit and was a day from hell.

Speaking of being sick. I am sick AGAIN. Though, on the tail end of it as I write this. I started getting sick about 10 days ago, just feeling lethargic and felt the all-telling tickle in my throat. By last Sunday (8 days ago) I was SICK. Full-blown, crazy sick. I knew I wasn’t going to school Monday, but hoped for the best. I woke-up last Monday morning and had no voice, felt like dying and was just in pain, everywhere. Sore throat, sinus pressure/infection, migraine, cough etc…So, I called in. My coteacher didn’t give me any grief, which I was shocked about! Tuesday morning, I go to school, (had I been in the US I would have been home), and the FIRST thing he says to me is, “It is my opinion that when we have many holidays, you should not take sick days.” I was enraged. We had the four-day weekend and the random holiday. But, seriously?!? Yes, I purposely planned this. Monday is a super easy day for me (teach few classes), but I decided to just waste one of my 7 sick days merely to piss you off. Next time, I will make sure I get sick on a holiday so I don’t irritate you. The nerve. But, it makes sense. Koreans don’t take sick days, either do Korean children. One of the reasons I am always sick. Or, as my co-teacher thinks, because I am vegetarian. He says to me (almost immediately proceeding the don’t take sick days when we have holidays comment), “It is my opinion that you should begin eating meat.” Ok, I’ll get right on that. Screw 6 years of vegetarianism, it is causing the common cold and flu!!! Someone get him a Nobel Peace Prize. So now everyday, I get to hear (at least twice) to eat meat and asking what meat I have eaten the previous day. And, for the record, no, I am not eating meat. What I want to scream at him is, “Maybe, Mr. Jang, I am getting sick because you people NEVER wash your hands (there isn’t even soap in the girls bathroom, and the teachers rarely wash their hands in the teacher’s room, case in point: a bar of soap lasts an entire month in the bathroom for 20+ women), don’t take sick days so you come to school sick and spread germs EVERYWHERE! And my poor, compromised, American immune system that isn’t used to these new strains of bacteria, IS FREAKING THE FUCK OUT!” But, instead I say, “Ok, thank you Mr. Jang.” Sigh. At least this bout of illness I was fully equipped. Between my Mom/Aunt/Grandma, I had liquid Nyquil, day/night cold medicine, inhalers, antihistamines, Vick’s, Mucinex and probably more stuff. My poor kidneys have taken so much abuse here from all the drugs I have to dump into my body!

Another potential cause for my persistent illnesses (other than those listed above) is the fact that my girls love me, and as a result, will randomly pop food into my mouth mid-sentence, so I don’t have time to react/refuse. These are the same hands that go unwashed after using the bathroom….While I appreciate the sentiment, my immune system/germophobic self, does not. I obsessively use hand sanitizer (so much to the point that my students ask, “Teacher, why, always lotion?” and after each hand-to-mouth food incident, I make up an EmergenC shot in a dixie cup and shoot it. It is like sanitizer for my mouth….the logic works, right?!?! Lol.

The weather continues to get warmer here (yay!) and more humid (not so yay, but I will take it over the bitter cold!) With nice weather, comes travel plans! This weekend I head to the beach, and soon I will be headed to Jeju Island. Think Hawaii, but less tropical.

On a more sad note that I feel I must mention because it is still bothering me....is something I witnessed on Saturday. I was walking out of my gym, and heard a little whimper and cry, sounded very much like a puppy's whimper. There are usually two dogs chained up on the side of the gym (the kind of dogs that are eaten here) and I looked, to see that the large adult white dog had been replaced with a small, furry little puppy. My heart broke into a million pieces. As soon as he saw me, he tried lunging to get to me and was crying like crazy. I hesitated for a moment, afraid I would get yelled at for petting the food/dog, but thought, I don't give a shit! I went over and gave him some love and pets. He was so happy! Wagged his little tail like crazy and gave me kisses. Our little moment was short lived because the remaining adult dog on a chain kept lunging at me (couldn't get to me because he was chained) and barking like crazy. So, I reluctantly stopped and walked away...to more puppo cries ) : Poor little puppo. It really bothered me. I know some people make the argument that "we" (Americans/westerners) eat cows, and others think those are sacred, we eat pigs, others think those are sacred/have behaviors very similar to dogs and etc...but, I DON'T EAT ANY OF THEM. Because of this, it deeply bothered me. I see the dogs often here chained, waiting for their eventual death and place on the dinner table, but I just have to try and ignore it. But…the puppy. Seeing a PUPPY just killed me. Usually the dogs look really depressed and aren't animated. This puppy was very animated because...well, it is a puppy! I know it is something I can't change here, just as I don't agree with the way animals in our own country are raised/slaughtered for food. It is just hard when something so cute and fuzzy is in your face, and giving your hand kisses, to ignore the harsh reality it faces. My heart is still broken from it. I am an animal lover (one of the reasons for my vegetarianism) and a dog/puppy lover. I wasn't raised with dogs (we always had cats), but when my sister had goldens (Sadie and Sammers), I realized I had a dog-shaped hole in my heart and didn't even realize it. I am now a bona-fide dog person and this just...ahh. Clearly, really bothered me. Thoughts of stealing said puppy have definitely entered my mind...but how to get said puppy back home, LOL.

I think that is about it for this long story. This Friday marks the official I’ve been teaching for 1/4 of a year in Korea. Craziness! I have been gone (including orientation) for over three months now.

Since I have been gone officially for over three months, I thought I would talk about some of the things that I miss. I clearly miss all of my people, but beyond that, the “things” we take for granted, or never had to do without before, or have, but don’t like it.

They are: Trader Joe’s. Wine. Washing machines that don’t eat/destroy my clothes (for whatever reason, they are really hard on clothes here.) Washing machines that have the ability to wash in hot water. A dryer. Non-stiff clothes due to air-drying. The ability for clothes to dry quickly (the humidity that is starting makes air-drying quite the process). Animals as pets in my life. Driving. The ability to get in a car and just go where I want to go. The radio. New music on said radio. Having a choice of many different outfits rather than having to wear the same damn thing every week to school (I only have so many modest/professional outfits!). Diet Pepsi. Seltzer water. Ovens (I don’t have one). Farmers markets. PCC. Taco Time. Chipotle. Mexican food. Limes. Avocados. Guacamole. Good, crisp apples. The ability to go to the doctor without hassle or wondering if you’ll be understood. Not being sick constantly. Refried beans. Baths. Showers that don’t get my entire bathroom wet. Carpet. Shopping/wandering aimlessly at Target or Wal-Mart or wherever. My gym. Spin class. Weight lifting class. Nice gym equipment. Elliptical machines. Yoga class. Hot tubs. Saunas. Recycling. Being understood/understanding everything. Comfortable beds. The smell of BBQ in the air. Fresh air. Not having allergies. Grass. The smell of fresh cut grass. Seeing water. Seattle.

And of course, I miss all of you!! Talk to you all soon, write me and update me on your lives ( :

Love ya!

Kimberly

The Miscellaneous Blog Post

This will be the most miscellaneous blog entry ever. Just a warning.

Today (and yesterday) has found me doing a very common thing for English teachers known as: Desk warming. What is desk warming? When there are no scheduled classes (due to exams, sports days, school holidays or whatever) but your ass still has to be there. IE: You have to warm the desk. Some schools are very nice and don’t make their English teachers come in these days, but not all of us are so fortunate. On these days, I lesson plan for the next few weeks and exhaust the internet. I have successfully exhausted the internet.

A LOT has happened in the past few weeks. I am sorry I haven’t blogged for a few weeks. I am always kept on my toes via Facebook messages from many of you with gentle reminders to blog again! They are nice, I know some people are reading ( :

Sometimes blogging is difficult. Because you are either still processing events (good or bad) have a lot of shit going on, or your wrists and arms are killing you because yesterday on Desk Warming Day #1, your school decided a good use of your time would be to type out all 3 grade’s English textbooks. That was fun, lemme tell you!

Anywho, lots of stuff back home and here in Korea has been a’happening. Some of which will be mentioned here, some not! But, needless to say, the last two weeks have been a bit crazy for me and at times I wish I could just get on an airplane and fly home (for some good reasons too!).

Two weeks ago, I went to Seoul for the day with my school for a field trip. We saw a palace, a museum and a show called Nanta. Think broadway show: Stomp meets Benihanas with a soundtrack. It was weird. The girls all loved it. The trip was done on a pimped out purple bus complete with a flatscreen TV and Noraebang (karaoke), which the girls utilized to its maximum potential (and volume) to and from Seoul. It was an experience for sure.

Two weekends ago (a few days after I went with my school) I went to Seoul with Chris because his parents were in town. We spent Saturday being tourists and hit up a palace, a beautiful stream that winds its way through Seoul for about 6 km, hiked up to Seoul Tower and went on the worst bus tour in the history of the World. I have decided that most palaces here look relatively the same, which is unfortunate. I now have seen the most famous and most beautiful; I may leave it at that. We had initially planned on taking a cable car ride (well, not really “cable car” its suspended in air, what are those called?) Anyways, but the line was suuuuuper freaking long. So, Chris’ parents went back to their hotel room and Chris and I hiked up the mountain. It was a bit of a steep climb and I was in inappropriate footwear, but the scenery was beautiful! The cherry trees were blooming, so it was quite a sight. When we got up to the tower, there was another enormous line to get up the tower! So, we hiked our asses all the way up only to turn around because we had a bus tour that we had plans to go on and wouldn’t have had time. Sigh, sad days. But, got some exercise in…I guess. Lol.

We ventured off for the Night City tour of Seoul that would be later dubbed the World’s Worst Bus Tour…Ever. The pictures on the site of what you see were awesome! All over Seoul, to really pretty things with lights. Instead? We saw 12 industrial bridges. They came with narration that went something like, “this bridge symbolizes the eternal strength and economy of Seoul” or “The intertwined pillars represent the friendliness of Koreans where they come together.” No.Joke. Oh, I forgot. We also saw apartment buildings. That was it. Literally. Nothing cool, nothing famous. I was PISSED! Not only did we get RIPPED, I also got sick (of course). So, when in Seoul, skip the night bus tour. You can pay me half of what you would have spent ( :

The next day found us all in Itaewon, where the American base is located. It is a neighborhood in Seoul known for western restaurants that aren’t found everywhere in Korea (Quiznos and Taco Bell for example) in addition to the standards found all over (McDonald’s, Cold Stone, Baskin Robbins) and a slew of international restaurants (Mexican, Greek, Middle Eastern, Indian etc…). There is also a Foreign Food Market and an English bookstore here; in addition to clothes for people who are, “too fat” for Korean stores aka normal sized westerners. We hit up Quiznos first (delicious) and then went to the bookstore (Whatthebook). I bought 5 books!! I went a little crazy at the sight of books. I am an avid reader and can’t not buy books. I thought about buying a Kindle…but what about the books? So, I stayed old fashioned. I have already accumulated 7 books here in Korea, so getting them home will be interesting. I can’t leave a book behind! After whatthebook, we went to the Foreign Food Mart where we both got TONS of foreign food. My haul included in house made hummus (delicious! The store is run by Indians, so there is a ton of Indian/middle eastern stuff), whole wheat pitas, soft shell tacos, taco shells, chili powder, dried black, kidney and garbanzo beans, dried lentils (all very big bags for cheap!), feta cheese, assorted condiments that are difficult to find and a Ritter chocolate bar all the way from Germany. Delicious! I ate so many of these while backpacking through Europe, best chocolate anywhere, I think ( :

It happened to be Easter that day, so after Chris said goodbye to his parents, we headed back to my place (I am about 90 minutes outside Seoul on the train), and I made deviled eggs! It was nice to have a little bit of Easter with me here in Korea. I had a ton of Easter goodies too from my care package from my Mom/Grandma/Aunt. Monday morning (Easter afternoon back in the states) I was able to Skype with my family at my Aunt’s house! It was almost as if I was there. I really wonder how people did long separations like this before technology. It just makes everything easier. You can actually SEE what is going on. I guess letters. But, it must have been hard.

I am sure most of you have seen on Facebook, but yes, I ended things with Chris. It was a hard decision, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Sometimes, things just don’t work out and that’s ok. Life moves on. We are on friendly terms and I wish him nothing but the best. He is going back to Australia shortly and I wish him much luck in happiness in his life.

In other relationship news, my sister and her boyfriend, Shyawn, got engaged!! This was a very exciting and also hard moment for me. I am not there (obviously) and am not there to share in the excitement and the surrounding events that lead up to weddings. Thankfully, the wedding will be when I am back stateside (well, really, who knows where the hell I will be). Well, technically the wedding won’t be stateside, but in Cancun!!! Sweet! Very excited for the wedding and very happy that my sister has found true happiness with Shyawn.

Ok, back to regularly scheduled programming.

I have decided that the first two months here for me were the worst/suckiest time of the year. Why? There were no days off in March or April, and now through the rest of my time here there are a ton of days off, vacation time or lots of desk warming. It also means there will be lots to look forward to constantly to keep me sane here. This summer I have plans to go to Jeju Island here in Korea for the beaches and some diving, go to the beach in Busan for a weekend, the beaches a few times in my area (the West coast) for swimming and a mud festival! In August I will (hopefully, fingers crossed) be headed over to Japan for two weeks with a friend during vacation. Potentially considering going to Beijing over a 4-day weekend in September, but it’s a bit too far out to plan just yet. But, lots of exciting stuff coming up in the coming months, plus warm weather and sunshine!!

I am settling into a routine here the past few weeks, finally. I go to my tiny little gym 3 or 4 days a week, usually right after school, I am in a book/knitting club and we had our second meeting last weekend. Yes, you read that correctly book and knitting club. I came to Korea and turned 85, Korean ages are different than Western ages. But, the club is fun and there is always lots of discussion!

This weekend I should be heading to Seoul (again) and going to get my feet eaten by fish to get rid of the dead skin…so look forward to that post! A friend from graduate school is coming to Seoul for business, so I will be back up there in a few weeks seeing here as well, so that will be fun! I really love Seoul, I think it is my favorite part of Korea! It is nice I am so close and it only costs about $7 to get up there. 

In other news, I am now brining my own lunch to school. I just decided around $60 a month for lunch (school lunch) and almost always being hungry, just wasn't worth it. So, even though I was afraid of stepping on some toes, I asked if it would be ok to bring my own lunch and not pay for school lunch. My coteacher was like, "yes, of course, you are vegetarian. I thought you would before, I was very worried." He had this look on his face like, hello? Why haven't you been doing it all along? So, I no longer have to sift through meat trying to find edible bits for me! Yay! It is amazing how happy I am eating my own lunch and not being hungry all day, makes the day much better!.

I think that is about it for now. My wrists are screaming at me for typing so much in the past few days. But, it is official: I will be home in less than a year. The remaining time in Korea+travel after in SE Asia, is now down to less than a year! It seems forever away, but I know time goes by in an instant. Trying to enjoy my time here, but it has been difficult at times. But, tomorrow is a day off, followed by one day of school, the weekend, and then two more days off!! Wooo!!!

Talk to you all soon. Love ya!

Kimberly

Homesickness

Ah, the familiar twinge of homesick. This isn’t the first time I have experienced it; nor will it be the last.

I have spent a good chunk of the last 5 years of my life living in another state (Vermont for grad school) traveling (summers in Europe, time in Central America), living in Nicaragua and now, Korea. I am very familiar with the whole packing up and leaving people behind thing. But in ways, it never gets easier. I am more practiced at it, more versed in the feelings which accompany being away from home, but it never gets any easier.

I don’t know where it came from, or what I was missing specifically. Friends, family, familiarity. I was sick of Korean food, Korea and well, life here.

I miss driving. Being able to hop in my car, turn the radio up, and just drive. Where? Anywhere; the grocery store, my friends’ houses or just around. Here, I have to walk my ass to the train and then go from there. Although public transportation is great in this country, part of my American-ness has become reliant on wanting cars to transport me to and fro.

I miss American food. I do eat it a lot (I cook for myself at home) but it isn’t the same. And, I eat Korean food everyday at school for lunch. I just want a fucking taco. Is that too much to ask?

I miss wine. Good wine; like 3 buck Chuck style. (that is Trader Joe’s wine for all you who aren’t familiar, it is delish at only $3 a bottle, seriously). I would kill for a nice, cold and crisp Pinto Grigio right about now. Wine here either tastes like shit or is overly artificially sweet. Sigh. This ain’t Italy. I would give a thumb for even Franzia at this point!

More importantly, I miss the wine+ friend combo. I rarely (actually, almost never) drank wine alone. I always had my girls around me. OMG do I miss them. You know who you are. I miss you. I love you. Come visit me. Now.

Have I said I miss my friends? I am very lucky in life and have multiple best friends. I have come to realize I am getting older, that the amount of fiercely close people I have in my life is not only uncommon, but it is very rare. I am lucky. I have talked to many, many people not only here in Korea, but in my life traveling, in Vermont and at home who have told me they wish they had the number of close friends I had or even one close friendship like I have. I have 5 people who I talk to on a regular basis. They are my rocks, and they know it. I have spent large amounts of time away from them over the past 5 years; but it hasn’t always been my fault! They have lived abroad, some live in other countries, moved to other states, went to school in other states or went traveling. Near or far, they are always there and I am always here for them. I have crossed the country and ocean for these people, and they for I. Many of which I fortunately can still have daily contact with through Facebook, texting, skype, email or calling. JenniferKelseyKristinaErinColin I fucking miss you all to pieces and love you!

I miss my family. I lived at home before leaving for Korea, and it is hard. Especially being away from my Mom. Although I get to talk to the ‘rents every other week or so, it is tough. I think what set all this homesick business off is the fact that my Dad’s 50^th Birthday was the other day and there was a party, and I wasn’t there. I skyped, talked and video chatted with everyone, but it wasn’t the same. And oh, the wave of homesickness came a-floodin’. In my experience (and most others I have talked to) it hits home hardest when there are gatherings or holidays where all your loved ones are in the same place, without you. Plus, Easter is this weekend. I will get through it, I just wish I had my Aunt Stacie’s Easter sugar cookies to console me through it! LOL.

I don’t really know what triggered it specifically, I think it was just a combination of events, but sometimes it just appears. Yesterday was rough. I had shitty classes and that on top of being homesick made it pretty bad. But, the rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in bed watching good (and bad) American TV that I hadn’t yet caught up on. It made it better. The thing about homesickness is although it often appears out of nowhere, it generally disappears randomly as well. You get more sleep, have a good meal, see your friends, talk to people back home or the shitty day you had goes away. Or, you get a package from home with lots of goodies.

And today, I got a package!! I got a care package from my Mom, Grandma and Aunt Kathy! Woo! Perfect timing! I was overjoyed to see it this morning. It was filled and stuffed to the brim! When I picked it up at the office, I knew it was gonna be good! It was freaking heavy! What did I find inside? Purple easter bunnies, Reeses eggs, Dove bunnies, Dove dark chocoloates, caramel Cadbury eggs, mint gum (tons!), Swedish Fish (one of my favorite candies), bags of Lindt truffles, Cherry Airheads, Rice Krispy treats and other goodies, two things of American Crest toothpaste to clean my teeth after all of the candy (toothpaste and gum here is weird), a new sweater and t-shirt, tons of cold/flu/cough/allergy medicine, including a bottle of Nyquil cough syrup which leaked! Thankfully it was in a plastic Ziploc, so no damage was done and only about a tablespoon or so leaked out into the bag. Hand sanitizer, lotion, EmergenC, inhalers (I have asthma and haven’t figured out an easy way to get them here), tons of magazines, a few pictures from home and tons more! I was so happy to see it this afternoon, it definitely kicked that homesick bug!! I am very thankful to have a Mom, Grandma and Aunt who love me so and spoil me as well!!

So, that is where I am at. Everyday is the same and completely different. Yesterday, 10 months felt like an eternity. I just have to remind myself why I am here (no job at home, lots of debt, want to travel through SE Asia) to get me through. And in the meantime, I have to look forward to things that will make me happy. Like this weekend, going to Seoul to be a tourist! Pretty excited. Also, hitting up a foreign/western grocer that is rumored to have pitas and taco shells! Also on the itinerary: an English bookstore and a Mexican and Greek restaurant. Should be good times. And, I will get a fucking taco.

Love you and miss you all.

K

The weekend everything went wrong

It must be Tuesday, I am updating my blog!!

I teach two classes (45 minutes each) on Tuesdays, but am here for 8 hours. You do that math. Tuesdays are my light days! Followed by Mondays and Wednesdays with 3 classes a piece (though I have an extra class that I work overtime for on Monday afternoon, but I don’t count that because I only have 6 girls and it is super easy) and Thursday and Friday are my hell days. I have extra classes after school both days (so I stay an extra hour for overtime pay, like Mondays) and have 4 classes Thursdays and 5 on Friday. I am exhausted come Friday! So, my blogging comes during the beginning of the week.

Last weekend I (and a bunch of people from orientation and Chris) ventured to Jinhae for the Cherry Blossom Festival! I was super excited for this as I have heard tons of good things about festivals in Korea (Koreans do ‘em up and are a little obsessed with them) and cherry trees in bloom are one of my most favorite things to see and photograph!!

Jinhae is on the other side of the country from myself/orientation crew, near Busan. I left Friday night on the train to go to Busan for Friday night and Chris and I planned on taking a subway, then bus, to Jinhae in the morning for a 90 or so minute trip. The rest of the gang planned on leaving Daejeon (5th biggest city in Korea, about 25 minutes from me by train) in the morning via two rented 12 passenger vans. What could go wrong?

Everything.

The morning seemed to go off without a hitch. Chris and I made the 45 minute trek on the subway to the bus station and bought a bunch of extremely health (ha) baked goods from a Korean bakery chain called Paris Baguette. It included a Cherry filled donut to get in the spirit. Well as we ate and waited for our bus and the time wore on, we realized our bus was late. Then, we waited some more, and more. Finally, 20 or so minutes later, another bus showed up. Our 11:20 bus was MIA. So, Chris showed the bus driver the tickets, he said, “neh” (yes, like a horse) it means yes, so we proceeded and settled in for the hour ride.

We kept in contact with the crew via cell phone as they were gonna pick us up at the bus station in Jinhae before heading to the festival. We were cruising along until, we weren’t. Traffic came to an utter standstill. Those Koreans like themselves a festival! Everyone was on the road to the festival The group was having the same issue from the opposite direction. After about an hour and a half (ride was supposed to be an hour) we arrived at a station and got off. But, then I saw it said Welcome to Masan. WTF, Masan?!?! We were supposed to be in Jinhae!!! I told Chris and he got back on the bus and the bus driver just kinda waved us forward with no explanation….Shit. So, we tried to ask around, but there was no ticket counter. Finally, after many fruitless attempts of miming and asking, someone pointed us down the street. Of course, the ticket window is normally down the street from the station. We walked up and were told we now had to get on a city bus to Jinhae…umm ok, whatever. So, we found the bus and also found the insane line to get on the bus. The bus was only taking on a few passengers at a time because it was full, so we decided it would be faster (though definitely NOT cheaper) to cab it to Jinhae. I was worried about the other 17 in the group getting to the station in Jinhae and having to wait for us. It would later turn out I wouldn’t have to worry about that…but more on that later.

So $20 ish later, we were in Jinhae. The drive was so long because traffic again was INSANE. But, this time we at least were surrounded by amazing and lush cherry blossoms! We got out of the cab, with all of our stuff, and called the group to see what their ETA might be. Perhaps 20 minutes out. To kill time, we hit up the festival and made a beeline for the food stalls. Korean street food: cheap, plentiful and delicious. We ate many sugary and fried deliciousneses and something known as a potato tornado that needs to make its way to the good ol’ USA. It is a spiraled potato on a skewer, fried and dipped in powdered cheese…heavenly. After eating a Korean man beckoned us over who was given palm readings. I wanted to know how much they were, but TIK, how expensive could they be? Chris said to just sit and do it. I was told I will have many problems with money, but will live a long life. Sweet. More time to pay off my student loans!!! Chris was told her will have “mountain money” and a long life, but that he has a problem with his heart and should avoid getting angry. He then said we will get married and have 3 babies; also that I want have to worry about money because I can just live off Chris’ ‘mountain money’. LOL. After about 3 minutes he indicated that he was done and that it was time to pay up: 1,000 Won each (about $1 USD). Sweet! So cheap!!! Chris handed over 2,000 Won. The man shook his head and his hands, no no no no no! Then he said, 1,000 Won, each. Ok…So, Chris tried to hand him the 2,000 Won again. Same thing happened. We went through this a few times until the man corrected his English to: 10,000 Won EACH. IE: $20 for the 3 minute shit show we just experienced. WTF?!?! I was pissed. Chris paid him. But I was fuming!! Old man scammed the shit outta us!! Chris said he would pay for me to quell my anger, but I was still angry! Oh well, TIK.

As you may have calculated, the 20 minutes that we were killing had come and gone. Then, so did an hour. Then another. And then, for good measure another one went by. Their 2 hour drive turned into a SIX hour drive!!! Thanks to bumper to bumper traffic. Our valiant drivers (Jon and Sarah) eventually arrived and somehow miraculously found parking for two 12 passenger vans and we all met up and Chris and I were finally able to drop our shit off in the van.

As a group we toured and ate some more. We took in some good old fashioned carnival games, Korean style. Including scoop up a fish, put it in a bowl with a whole that empties into a bigger bowl with little numbered stalls. The stall the fish swims into = your prize. Complete chance. That is gamblin’ if I ever saw it. They also had an interesting (and better, imo) turn on the shooting game. Shoot with a pretend rifle and instead of stuffed animals, you win booze!!! Sarah and Molly won some soju!!

We hiked up to this outlook point (about 350 stairs or so) for an amazing view of the region and all the cherry blossoms as they sun was setting. Perfection! Sunsets are one of my most favorite things in life and probably my most favorite things to photograph. So cherry blossoms + sunset + picture taking = one happy Kimberry! Also, we could see a US Navy ship. There is a base in this town and it was like Navy weekend or something as well, so there were Waygooks (foreigners) everywhere!! There were even fair-headed children roaming the land. Strange sight to see in Korea!!!

After our descent, we headed to the “Love Motel” for the night. A Love Motel is a motel in Korea you can rent for pretty cheaply; hourly or by the night. Korean unmarried couples use these motels to play Scrabble because they can’t do it at home since they live with their parents. What were you thinking they did?!?!

Oh, haha, I nearly forgot! The most exciting part of the day. It took us about 90 minutes to get to the motel (should have been maybe 15 or 20) again due to traffic, and struggled to find parking. We eventually found a spot in the garage and bailed. Navigating the streets with a 12 passenger van resulted in a few standoffs where we were literally cornered in, some crazy u-turns in the middle of streets and other crazy driving moves. When in Rome, baby, when in Rome. When we checked in, we found out the motel had parking, Jon and Chris went to go move the van. Well, they were gone for a conspicuously long amount of time…Upon arrival, Jon walks in and says to Sarah, we need to talk. FYI, when anyone starts a conversation with, “we need to talk” it isn’t ever good. But, when you are a waygook (foreigner) in Korea who has just parked a rented van, it is especially bad. Turns out, one of the windows fell out of the van and shattered. Yes, you read that correctly. So, the van had pop out windows in the back instead of sliding ones. The love motel’s garage entrance is covered with heavy rope to block cars/license plates from prying cameras. Remember, people come here to play Scrabble. Anyways, one of the ropes somehow got caught in the popped out window and then somehow, pulled the fucking window OUT of the van! If you aren’t familiar with glass, when it hits pavement, it shatters into a million pieces. We aren’t talking a small window. It was one of those big ass windows that are in huge passenger vans. Seriously? What are the odds? Shitty, probably. But, TIK, TIK. I guess I should have warned them all that when I travel, insanity ensues. Oh, well. $400 to replace the window. But, we all are splitting it. Molly and Sarah patched up the window for the ride home with tape, cardboard and plastic bags. They Mcguivered that shit up!

We had 4 rooms booked out for 17 people thanks to Sarah. We divvied up the rooms and bed/floor space and decided to immerse ourselves fully in Korean culture and eat dinner at McDonald’s. Also, our night had taken a turn for the worse and sometimes, McDona’McDs here doesn’t have fish burgers, so all I can eat on their menus are fries and ice cream. So, guess what I had for dinner? Yes, that is right. I probably wont be making a return trip anytime soon. After our lovely fluorescent-light dinner, we headed to a local corner store for Soju and beer for drinking in our hotel. Most of us were exhausted (myself included) and ended up in bed early…lame!

We left the next morning and figured how the weekend was going we may blow a tire and flip on the highway, but it turns out we got back in one piece. Thankfully. It only took about 3 hours to get home, so only a little longer than it should have. Overall, it was quite the interesting weekend. 

I will talk to you all later!

And PS: I have pictures up on FB in the album titled: Spring has Sprung in Korea from this weekend!

There's a Spring in my Step

It’s that time again….

Blog time!

Sorry I am not super frequent in updating this, sometimes there isn’t anything to update you on, or at least seems that way!

Since I left last you I have 1.) Gotten sick again (big surprise?) and 2.) Joined a gym!

I have established a pattern since arriving in Jochiwon about 6 weeks ago. I get really sick for about 7-10 days, then have 2-3 days of reduced symptoms, then pick something up again. This latest bout has come with a horrendous cough. Each time there have been varying symptoms of varying severity. The sore throat is at least gone, which is always for me, most annoying. But, the cough doesn’t sound very pretty, either! Oh well, TIK. Everyone has been sick on and off as well, at least I have that comfort.

I joined a gym! Actually joining the gym was rather difficult. I had been in once before and knew that they didn’t speak any English, I also knew how much it cost. So, I brought my cash in hand and pointed to the membership. He understood what I was getting at and then we proceeded in a thirty minute him-speaking-Korean, me-speaking-English-miming-conversation. He eventually called his brother on his cell phone to translate!! LOL! It was really funny. It worked out in the end and I am now a full fledged Korean gym membership holder. It was quite exciting. I have only been able to go a few times in the last week and a half or so due to my horrible cough and new sickness. But, it has felt so nice to get back in the gym! At home I was working out 4-5 days a week, so going nearly 5 weeks with no exercise in Korea was hard! The first workout I got on the Stairmaster and did my usual hour workout followed by 45 minutes of weights and abs. OMG. What a mistake. I just jumped right back into what I had been doing, but man, in 5 weeks things really go downhill fast! I was feeling it the next day!

The gym is interesting. It is 3 floors (I think…) but is very narrow. There appears to only be one workout floor, with the others containing locker rooms and squash courts. There are lots of treadmills, a few Stairmasters and some bikes. No ellipticals for me! So sad. In addition to that there are ample weight machines and free weights, which is great! They provide “uniforms” for you to wear if you so desire. I opted out and went with my own. But, social etiquette in Korea dictates that women cover their shoulders and chests. So, no workout tank tops for me!! I invested in some black men’s undershirts from Costco so that I am fully appropriate and covered! The gym experience is a bit weird, I have been the only woman in there at times and at others only one or two others. My favorite piece of equipment? The vibrating band you put around your body to shake off your fat. Yes, folks, it is real. TIK, TIK. I haven’t tried it yet, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I have joined/helped create a very small knitting/book club with a few other people from orientation. Danielle is teaching Jon and I how to knit, while her boyfriend Kevin watches. Chris decided I had too much fun so he had to join to. The book of the month is Life of Pi. This club also serves as an apocalypse preparation club. We share strategies and are learning to knit clothes in event of apocalypse. LOL! I am new to this zombie apocalypse talk, but apparently, there are a lot of people who discuss/think about this for fun? Haha.

Speaking of Chris, yes, that cat is out of the bag. I have a boyfriend. Gasp! I am sure most of you have seen on Facebook by now. Hello, if it isn’t Facebook official, it isn’t real! He is Australian and lives/teaches English in Busan. He is pretty awesome; maybe someday you all can meet him!

Teaching is coming along. I have pretty much adjusted to how to teach and plan. I have to say, I am pretty good at it! I don’t know if I could teach anything else, or teach where I had to be sane, but here I am good. The girls all love me, it is a nice feeling! I was teaching 9^th graders about phrases like, ‘you’re kidding’ and ‘are you serious?’ and how to be sarcastic. So I told them, I am moving back to America tomorrow (as a joke) and they all went, “nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and were freaking out and screaming. I told them it was a joke and they laughed, but then they said they loved me. I am slowly learning the girl’s names (I have about 600 students, 1100 in the school). I am up to about 5 names. Sigh. But, they are Korean and hard! I tell each girl to come up to me in the hall and say, “teacher, what is my name?” to drill it into me. When I know them, they freak out and high-five me. It is so nice. When I can’t remember I feel like a shitty asshole! They get so sad and frustrated. “teachaaa, I tell you so many times!!!”. Other teachers (non-english teachers) keep remarking how popular I am and what good things they hear about me. Apparently I am a conversation topic in other classes, which is nice! I pretty much jump around and am insane in my classes, and when I teach many in a row (I teach 6 Friday) by the end of the day my energy is pretty low. Last Friday, I was super tired and sluggish and being a “normal” person and a student yelled, “teachaa, crazy!!” and waved her arms around like I do, demonstrating that she wanted me to be my normal shit-show self, lol. What standard have I set? It is nice that they laugh and enjoy my classes, because it isn’t something they do in other classes. Education is very regimented and strict here. The fact that I walk around the class (and sit on their desks if they’re talking) is unheard of. High fives? Weird ass shit. At the beginning the girls were like, uhh WTF is this white lady doing?!? Now, they see me in the hall and ask for high-fives! Love it. We played Scattegories this week and last in some classes, and the girls LOVED it. They said much better than Bingo, which most English teachers play with them. Kimberly Teacher: 1.

I feel like there isn’t much else to report. I finally was able to upload pictures to Facebook! There are some that show my apartment and me partying and playing in Korea, if interested. I have quite a few fun-filled weekends lined up. This weekend I am going to the Cherry Blossom festival in the city of Jinhae; about an hour outside of Busan. A bunch of us are going, should be good times! Two weekends after that, Chris and I are headed up to Seoul to be tourists and see his parents who will be in town. Very excited to see more of Seoul! We will also be hitting up a western food store.

Spring is finally springing, albeit slowly, here in Korea. There are flowers beginning to bloom and be planted. It is so refreshing to see some color in this drab landscape. People also are planting fruits and vegetables in random plots of lands. Koreans utilize all open space. That little patch of grass in the sidewalk in the US? Here, a vegetable garden would be planted there! Seriously. It is crazy, but also great and such an efficient use of space. But it is weird to see people hoeing in the tiny strips of space and in open lots that I don’t think even belong to them, lol. Plus, faint warm breezes have started a-blowin’; it is quite nice. I can almost picture flip-flops on my feet! Hopefully spring will signal the end of my sicknesses as well, would be so nice, since I have yet to have a symptom-free day since arriving in The Joch!

Ok, I think that is about it, peeps! I am now fully technologically plugged in and can be found on Skype, Facebook, email, reached by cell phone and am on Google Voice and Whatsapp. Which means that all US numbers can text me for free and I can text back for free! If you need the digits, let me know!

Anyasayeeekayseyo. (my phonetic version of Korean good-bye!)