FA+
Shop
Korea - Teaching Days 4-7
13 years ago
Okay! I've put this off long enough! Let's continue!
Day 4 (Teaching) - I don't remember a lot of details about this, but I do remember it was... stressful, lol. It was my first day by myself, and it was a mad blur of making kindergarteners listen, and scrambling to find CDs for elementary classes. I have a really, really hard time with names, even on a good day, and it's taking me a long time to get used to everyone's names. A few of them stand out, by my god-awful memory just washes it all away in a grey mess of forgetfulness. Either way, 1st day of teaching went about as expected in terms of stress.
Day 4 (Evening) - After class, Steph and I went with some of her church friends to this chicken place. Trevor, a pastor - who is incidentally incredibly attractive lol - seemed to enjoy my company, as did everyone else. I just thought it was odd that a church group was going out to eat a buffet of MEAT... dunno why lol. I don't have pictures (yet) because I had forgotten my phone, but I should be getting the pictures off Stephanie sometime soon. But there were 3 platters of chicken - soy sauce, BBQ, and then this amazing combination of chicken, cheese, and I think marinara sauce? Oh man, it was fantastic... It was a great night, but no real sightseeing to speak of.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 5 (Saturday) - And on to the weekend! Saturday was huuuuuge for me! Steph and I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, which was the largest palace in Korea for 500 years, until it was destroyed by Imperial Japan during their occupation before WWII. Along the way, we stopped for some pretzels at a place called Tom 'n Tom's Coffee. Tasted pretty comparable to Pretzel Maker. I'm in the midst of putting up photos of the place now, but I snapped over 100 pictures. Midway through the palace we hit up the Folk Museum, so there are pictures of that too.
After the palace, we went to Inchong Market. This was another street market which was much busier, cleaner, and bigger than the first one we went to. On the way, we encountered a trio of street performers doing some pretty good covers of classic rock music. We listened for a bit and I sorta wriggled through the crowd a put a few thousand won in their guitar case, and as I left, everyone else in the audience started doing it too XD Steph said I started a trend.
So at the market, I went around grabbing souveniers for everyone, so I got all my shopping done in one fell swoop, it was fantastic. The highlight of the market by far was the court cake. I'll be posting pictures of the end result, but check out this video on Youtbue; the act we were given by the makers was very similar, but ours were a bit funnier in my opinion. I'll try to record my own video if I get a chance to go again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK10VEiN3x0
After the market, we left for home. The bus going back to Anjung was absolutely packed, and I ended up giving up my seat to a middle-aged Korean woman. Everyone was staring at me like I had three heads, and I swear this pair of early 20's Korean girls were actually cringing away from me. I guess next time I'll trip an old lady up instead of offering my seat to her. So when I got home, I flopped. LONG tough day, my feet were killing me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 5 (Sunday) - Didn't do much today. Went to Home Plus, which is the go-to grocery/department store in Pyeongtaek, with Steph, Trevor, and some other church friends. Original plan was to get some Popeye's Chicken, which we don;t have at home, but I opted for some more exotic oriental (specifically, Japanese) food. I forget what it was called, but I have pictures~! Grabbed some bread to make my own meals, and after that, just sat around all day and played tanks, staying out of the heat and off my feet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 6 (Teaching) - Ugh, Mondays. I don't know if it was the drag of going back to a work week, or me waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but I REALLY didn't have a good time Monday. And the oppressive heat in the classrooms doesn't make the stress of running around between students and CDs and classrooms any easier, sweat pouring off my head while I try to teach. I was so close to flipping my shit at the kids, but I don't think I actually would be able to, which I think is good.
Day 6 (Evening) - Aaah, the long-awaited Korean BBQ! It was very similar to Japanese sukiyaki that I had years ago; a bowl of burning coals was placed in a crevice at our table, and we were given raw, marinated meat to place on a grill over the coals, along with garlic, vegetables, and lettuce. Also ordered some egg soup - really just a big bowl of boiled egg - which was quite delicious. Also tried some soju, which wasn't nearly as bad as I was led to believe by certain cute wuffies (really, it's much like vodka, but with less bite), though three shots and I was soooorta feeling it. After that, I walked home smelling like smoke and meat! :3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 7 (Teaching) - Another stressful day. Not as bad as Monday or Friday because I made an extra effort to prepare and make ABSOLUTELY SURE I had all the required CDs. Definately went a lot smoother, but the kindergartener kids still have trouble listening to me. It's to be expected; they're just kids, but still... I wanted to boot some of them in the face sometimes, lol!
Day 7 (Evening) - Not much. Went home, got some 5-dollar pizza - pretty good, though not enough sauce, and the crust is nothing special - and... well, pawed. A lot. My libido has been spiking severely since I've been here... not used to being with
Skylerresias to cuddle with, yiffy or not, and it's starting to wear on me ^.^; I'll last, but... I can't get home soon enough <33 Love ya, sweetie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it for now! I've been here a week, and working where I was before - a gas station - feels like a lifetime ago! It'll be surreal to go back, but I won't turn down a taste of the mundane again! lol.
Day 4 (Teaching) - I don't remember a lot of details about this, but I do remember it was... stressful, lol. It was my first day by myself, and it was a mad blur of making kindergarteners listen, and scrambling to find CDs for elementary classes. I have a really, really hard time with names, even on a good day, and it's taking me a long time to get used to everyone's names. A few of them stand out, by my god-awful memory just washes it all away in a grey mess of forgetfulness. Either way, 1st day of teaching went about as expected in terms of stress.
Day 4 (Evening) - After class, Steph and I went with some of her church friends to this chicken place. Trevor, a pastor - who is incidentally incredibly attractive lol - seemed to enjoy my company, as did everyone else. I just thought it was odd that a church group was going out to eat a buffet of MEAT... dunno why lol. I don't have pictures (yet) because I had forgotten my phone, but I should be getting the pictures off Stephanie sometime soon. But there were 3 platters of chicken - soy sauce, BBQ, and then this amazing combination of chicken, cheese, and I think marinara sauce? Oh man, it was fantastic... It was a great night, but no real sightseeing to speak of.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 5 (Saturday) - And on to the weekend! Saturday was huuuuuge for me! Steph and I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, which was the largest palace in Korea for 500 years, until it was destroyed by Imperial Japan during their occupation before WWII. Along the way, we stopped for some pretzels at a place called Tom 'n Tom's Coffee. Tasted pretty comparable to Pretzel Maker. I'm in the midst of putting up photos of the place now, but I snapped over 100 pictures. Midway through the palace we hit up the Folk Museum, so there are pictures of that too.
After the palace, we went to Inchong Market. This was another street market which was much busier, cleaner, and bigger than the first one we went to. On the way, we encountered a trio of street performers doing some pretty good covers of classic rock music. We listened for a bit and I sorta wriggled through the crowd a put a few thousand won in their guitar case, and as I left, everyone else in the audience started doing it too XD Steph said I started a trend.
So at the market, I went around grabbing souveniers for everyone, so I got all my shopping done in one fell swoop, it was fantastic. The highlight of the market by far was the court cake. I'll be posting pictures of the end result, but check out this video on Youtbue; the act we were given by the makers was very similar, but ours were a bit funnier in my opinion. I'll try to record my own video if I get a chance to go again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK10VEiN3x0
After the market, we left for home. The bus going back to Anjung was absolutely packed, and I ended up giving up my seat to a middle-aged Korean woman. Everyone was staring at me like I had three heads, and I swear this pair of early 20's Korean girls were actually cringing away from me. I guess next time I'll trip an old lady up instead of offering my seat to her. So when I got home, I flopped. LONG tough day, my feet were killing me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 5 (Sunday) - Didn't do much today. Went to Home Plus, which is the go-to grocery/department store in Pyeongtaek, with Steph, Trevor, and some other church friends. Original plan was to get some Popeye's Chicken, which we don;t have at home, but I opted for some more exotic oriental (specifically, Japanese) food. I forget what it was called, but I have pictures~! Grabbed some bread to make my own meals, and after that, just sat around all day and played tanks, staying out of the heat and off my feet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 6 (Teaching) - Ugh, Mondays. I don't know if it was the drag of going back to a work week, or me waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but I REALLY didn't have a good time Monday. And the oppressive heat in the classrooms doesn't make the stress of running around between students and CDs and classrooms any easier, sweat pouring off my head while I try to teach. I was so close to flipping my shit at the kids, but I don't think I actually would be able to, which I think is good.
Day 6 (Evening) - Aaah, the long-awaited Korean BBQ! It was very similar to Japanese sukiyaki that I had years ago; a bowl of burning coals was placed in a crevice at our table, and we were given raw, marinated meat to place on a grill over the coals, along with garlic, vegetables, and lettuce. Also ordered some egg soup - really just a big bowl of boiled egg - which was quite delicious. Also tried some soju, which wasn't nearly as bad as I was led to believe by certain cute wuffies (really, it's much like vodka, but with less bite), though three shots and I was soooorta feeling it. After that, I walked home smelling like smoke and meat! :3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 7 (Teaching) - Another stressful day. Not as bad as Monday or Friday because I made an extra effort to prepare and make ABSOLUTELY SURE I had all the required CDs. Definately went a lot smoother, but the kindergartener kids still have trouble listening to me. It's to be expected; they're just kids, but still... I wanted to boot some of them in the face sometimes, lol!
Day 7 (Evening) - Not much. Went home, got some 5-dollar pizza - pretty good, though not enough sauce, and the crust is nothing special - and... well, pawed. A lot. My libido has been spiking severely since I've been here... not used to being with
Skylerresias to cuddle with, yiffy or not, and it's starting to wear on me ^.^; I'll last, but... I can't get home soon enough <33 Love ya, sweetie.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it for now! I've been here a week, and working where I was before - a gas station - feels like a lifetime ago! It'll be surreal to go back, but I won't turn down a taste of the mundane again! lol.
However, I'm both a lightweight and I don't drink a lot anymore. So you might have a better constitution than I did.
Knocked me on my ass, it did.