If Santa had a gun he would shoot you!

I believe there is a direct correlation between people who are anti-Christmas(hate the songs, hate shopping, hate basically being jolly) and unhappiness.  I believe if they got over their political/religious views and embraced Christmas merely as a cultural part of the season they would be happy.  I do not like being around people who share no sense of Christmas tradition and only seem to talk negatively about it thus putting me in a down mood.  Get over yourself and your better than thou attitude.  Why be so passionate about your  views if you aren’t happy.  Maybe do some reevaluating in your life.

I had to teach about Abraham Lincoln the other day.  My classroom of boys kept trying to call him Abraham Langcon.  Langcon is the name of my school.  It was pissing me off a lot.  I finally put my foot down and told them to not disrespect Abraham Lincoln again by calling him the wrong name.  These were 8 year old boys so I felt a little bad but I am very prideful in my nation’s history and don’t appreciate little Korean children mocking the last name of one our greatest presidents.

Another class I teach has only 2 students.  They are 11 and 12 year old sisters.  At first I didn’t like this class because they bicker and there are only 2 of them.  But after tonights class I am getting to know them and like them more.  They remind me of me and Allie.  Everytime I think about them annoying me with constant back and forth put downs I remember that age and how I would feel if someone put me in a class where the only other person was my sister.  These girls understand English very well.  I am able to joke with them so that makes it easier.

Christmas is 2 days away…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hmm where to begin…

It’s been one of those weekends.  I drank a lot of soju, sang a lot in the noraebong, and spent too much money but it was all worth it.  I don’t have very crazy weekends anymore so every once in a while it’s nice.

This weekend I also learned a lot about the Korean language.  Apparently I have been messing up some pretty important words.  I’ve been confusing the words “yogee” and “yogyeo”.  “Yogee” means “here”.  “Yogyeo” means “come over here”.  You say “yogyeo” to waiters and bartenders.  Well I have been telling the taxi drivers to “come over here” when I really am trying to tell them to stop “here”.  Boy do I feel like an idiot.

Then I also find out that the nickname I call Jasmine, “Jazzy”, sounds like a Korean word for “penis”.  Not just the word “penis” but a very bad form of the word.  My Korean friend, Jess, says it’s such a bad word that she has never said it in her entire life.  Once again, I feel like an idiot when I’m saying “Jazzy” very loudly at the restuarant and it sounding like “jahsee”. 

I just hope no Koreans heard me or took it the wrong way.  It’s an honest foreign mistake that can ultimately give off bad impressions of the white folk.  Ugh.  I am doing better at trying to learn more Korean.  I’m not taking classes or studying every night or anything.  I am learning the alphabet and how to write the words.  I am also learning the most common words I use.

Words I know how to say:  beer, one, two, three, thank you, here, come over here, hi, bye, chicken, rice, water, downtown.  I probably know more but these are the ones I can think of right now.  Obviously you can see they are the essential words

I will be posting a FB album tomorrow of the wedding, a hike, and most importantly, my flat.  Many many many people have asked to see what my studio flat looks like so I finally took pictures because I have a Christmas tree now.

A Special Sunday

It has been a long Sunday for me.  Currently it is 9:30PM and I’m watching back to back episodes of South Park.  Nothing can help me relax more than the banter of chubby Cartman and his gang.

I got up at 6AM this morning to watch the Gators lose.  I was not happy.  It was such a disappointment.  Let me say how happy I am to not be in the South surrounded by Gator haters.  I have a real problem with sh*t talkers.  I’m not one to hold back on the smack talk but I always do it in a joking manner.  I also don’t hate any team enough to be so mean and hateful like many of the comments I’ve heard.  I know people like to criticize Tebow and the Gators because they’re jealous but still.

After the game I had to attend my friend’s wedding.  Jess and Ray got married!  It was a Korean/Canadian wedding.  So far it has been one of the more Korean experience since I’ve been here.  It had the usual Korean corniness;  the universal happy song, hamboks, many people who spoke no English, etc.  It also had some fun thrown in there.  There was a fog machine, wannabe airline attedants, neon lights, trumpet guns stoic Korean men, and a baby a wanted to steal.  It was fun!

It was odd because the groom didn’t speak Korean and the entire ceremony was in Korean.  It was very similar to traditional US weddings except it seemed more step by step instead of fluid.  There was no dancing but there was drinking which was weird on a Sunday at noon before going on a hike.  I think the weirdest part to me was during the vows so many people were chatting.  It was annoying.  It seemed like the ceremony was only viewed as a formality and didn’t really matter so people had side conversations.  All in all good times were had.  There will be pictures posted on FB shortly.  You will want to check them out.

Thanks to Niki I made soft tacos for dinner.  I cannot tell you how amazing they were.

Tomorrow morning is a Skype date with the Mount Royal house.  They will be having a family dinner so I will say hello for a short time.  I’m excited and nervous.

Monday Funday???

Today was a good Monday.  It was better than a typical Monday but I’m not sure why.  I found joy in teaching my middle schoolers all about prepositional phrases.  They are such fun kids.  Our new term is starting this week so I am getting new classes.  I find this to be a bummer.  I like my students.  I found out I won’t be teaching any middle school classes this term either   I will have more classes with the younger chitlins.  It’s not that I don’t like them I just like middle schoolers more.

This weekend Farrah and I got our hair done.  It took about 5 hours.  We were the only ones in the salon with the nice Korean woman.  She spoke English so it worked out.  She taught us so much.  She showed us a new perspective of Korea.  It seems that the only Koreans I speak with are the wealthy ones.  Those are the only ones who go to my school.  The hair dresser is middle class.  She told us about politics, education, Korean culture, etc.  I want to go and get my hair done again just so I can sit around and talk with her.

Also this weekend was Wine and Cheese Night.  About 15 foreigners got together and enjoyed each others company.  It was pleasant to be around people in a non-bar setting.  Sunday I went to Seoul.  I got a total of 4 hours of sleep the night before.  It was rainy and cold.  I didn’t find the church.  I didn’t find sweaters.  I pretty much considered it a disaster.

I bought my ticket for Taiwan today!  I’m pretty excited about it.  Merry Christmas to me!!

3 month anniversary!

It seems like just yesterday when I took a 14 hour flight and got dropped off in this strange Asian country known as Korea.  I am a quarter of the way through my contract.  Whoa.  I remember back to my first week here when I was in the “WTF was I thinking stage”.   That was quite the feeling.  Every once in a while I am walking down the street and I stop and remind myself where I live.  I have found it very difficult to verbalize most of my feelings since I’ve been here.

On our way to work today Krista and I were talking about talking to family and friends back home.  There is no way to explain what it feels like when a Korean child (3-5 years old) does a double take and then just stares at you.  It is a very odd feeling.  At first it was weird, now it just annoys me.  It’s hard to paint a picture of such a progressive yet homogeneous culture like the Korean culture.

I do wish I could view myself from a Korean persons perspective.  I think I would laugh at myself.  I try to fit when I can.  I speak Korean with my limited vocabulary.  I throw up the peace sign.  I do all of the customary gestures.  I find it to be fun to be immersed in a new culture and have to adapt to their ways.  I like the giggles I get from shy Korean women when I say things in Korean.  I imagine they laugh because they are surprised and because my accent is horrible.

All in all, Korea is fantastic and I couldn’t have asked for more.  I am happy with my decision despite being stared at all the time

A little bit of love…

I cannot believe it’s already half way through November.  I love it.  As of right now I’m not sure when Thanksgiving actually is.  I’m trying to keep myself ignorant.  After all, it is my favorite holiday and the thought of not spending it with my family kills me.

Anyways, there is good news.  I talked with Mark and there is a good possibility he will come and visit me this Spring.  This makes me happy.  It hasn’t worked out with Britni or Whitney for various reasons but Mark seems a lot more for sure.  His circumstances are very different.  I’m excited!  I can’t wait to show him the food and my city but most of all I can’t wait to take him to the great outdoors of Korea!  He is outdoorsy like me so it will be nice to have someone to share it with.  Fingers crossed.

It has snowed a few times already.  Nothing really significant in the valley.  I figured out that snow will keep me happy.  While it will be bone chilling cold the snow will still make me smile.  I’m not used to living around a lot of snow.  Other people here dread the snow.  It’s all about your perspective

I’m almost done with my Christmas shopping!

Au revoir!

This weekend was Jonathan’s going way party. I’m really going to miss him. I know I’ve only known him for a little under 3 months but he’s a good friend.  His year is up so he’s going back home to the real world.  He is such a happy person.  He has made me become a happier person.  I like being around him because he easily puts a smile on my face.  We just have a lot in common.  Back in the States he teaches special needs kids.  Before him I’ve never opened up to someone about my “experience”, for lack of a better term.  He made it easy to talk about.  He is also one of the only people here from the South.  It matters more than you think.  He likes to talk shit to me about the Gators.  He is a hiking buddy.  He is always down for a good time.  I will never forget staying up until 9AM to watch the sunrise as he pushed me and Liam on the swings.  He is just a good guy friend. 

It’s weird to think this is going to happen frequently for the next year.  Everyone got here at different times so they will all be leaving sporadically.  I live a weird lifestyle right now.  I’ve met awesome people who are experiencing the same adventure as me but chances are after this year we won’t ever see each other again.  It’s very surreal and makes me a little sad.

Pepero Day!

Do not judge me for the generalizing I am about to do.

November 11th is Pepero Day in Korea.  Pepero is a treat that is dipped in chocolate.  It is similar to a praline.  The Pepero company decided years back to market November 11th as Pepero Day.  All that happens on Pepero Day is people buy Peperos and give them to each other.  I find it to be very stupid.  I find the company to be marketing geniuses.  I find Koreans to be weak.  All because of this chocolate treat.

There is nothing significant about this day.  Absolutely nothing special happened.  It’s almost as if the US, Canada, the UK, and many other countries who honor veterans convinced the Koreans that they also need to celebrate something on November 11th.  Perpero was the company that saw this opportunity and capitalized.  Oh boy did they capitalize!

They have almost every Korean and foreigner living here convinced that this is an actual holiday that needs to be celebrated.  When I first heard about Pepero Day I thought there was more to it.  I was wrong.  I thought maybe Pepero was to November 11th like candy corns are to Halloween or Peeps are to Easter.  It’s not.  Those holidays actually go back hundreds and even thousands of years.  Pepero Day goes back to the 90’s, maybe the 80’s.

This brings me to my next point.  It only furthers my opionion of the Korean culture.  To me, Koreans are that person who is a follower.  They do whatever is popular at the time.  They don’t think for themselves.  You all know those people from school who couldn’t seem to make a decision themselves and only cared what others thought.  That person (country) is Korea.

Why is it part of their high school exam to know English?  because they want to be like America and parts of Europe.  Why is it that every child I talk to wants to go to Harvard?  because that is the “smartest school in America”.  I could go on and on but you get the point.  They will do whatever is popular to be part of the cool crowd. 

They don’t think for themselves.  Pepero created a holiday and convinced them that buying their chocolate was the cool thing to do.  So now every single Korean buys Pepero.  Other examples that they don’t think and just believe whatever is told:  Did you know that if you keep a fan on in a room without opening a window or a door that the fan will kill you in the middle of the night?  True story.  Did you also know that if you write someone’s name in red ink they will die.  Another true story.

Yes, I am generalizing.  Yes, I would be pissed if someone tried to generalize all Americans.  The difference to me is America is not a homogeneous culture, Korea is. America and most other countries have diversity.  Korea has no diversity.  I’m the diversity and they treat me like an outcast.

I’m done

Personal Reflection

A list of things I realized today

1. I am not spoiled because I understand how good I have it.
2. I love how positive and uplifting my friends back home are.
3. I am a damn good teacher!
4. I do things from the goodness of my heart.  I am not selfish.
5. I can handle most situations thrown at me.
6. I need to be around happy people but when I’m not it makes me realize how much I love my life.
7. Everything could be a lot worse…  I could be the one in the hospital with a concussion or quarantined at home with the Piggy Flu.
8. Being positive is contagious, vice versa.

Great Success!

I returned from Sokcho a few hours ago.  While I am exhausted it was very much worth it!  I have a new outlook on life.  I now know I can figure out how to get on a bus, go to another city, find a place to sleep and eat, explore the city, and be happy all at the same time while not being a to speak more than 10 words of the language.  I’ve always considered myself an independent person but now I’m on a global level.

Sokcho was like no other place I’ve been to before.  It reminded me of San Diego (La Jolla to be exact) yet it also reminded me of Montana.  I imagine it is similar to a place in the northwest of the US.  It was very gloomy but it almost made it perfect for the town. 

Krista and I explored everything!  We went to a fish market, we hung out on the shore a lot, we went to the downtown area, and even went to Seoraksan National Park.  I think on Saturday we walked at least 7 miles.  We didn’t stay in the nicest hostel but that was fine with me.  I considered it a learning experience.  Now I know to bring a pillow case and blanket when I travel. 

There was no time this weekend when I felt scared.  I was reassured that I can handle myself in most situations.  I plan on going on at least one weekend getaway a month.  Travel is very convenient throughout Korea.  I just need to get use to riding buses through mountains.  I don’t think my stomach will ever get use to it though.  I was on the bus this afternoon and amazed at how fast we were going through the mountains.  We were passing cars!  I was on the verge of freaking out and throwing up.

I’m not looking forward to getting up tomorrow to work.  I don’t think most people look forward to Monday mornings.  I’m now going to relax from this weekend by watching some mind-numbing banter on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”.

Here is the link to the pictures.  Facebook is no longer picture friendly so here is the link. 

Pictures