A lot has happend since my last posting. I went to Itaewon, started teaching, went to a dog cafe, and joined a gym. First, last weeked I went to Itaewon during the day on saturday. Itaewon is a region in Seoul where there is an American military base. TONS of americans walking around! I mainly went to buy a cell phone since I felt completely cut off from everyone in Korea. It was always hard to get a hold of Emily if she was not by her computer. I got a prepaid phone so I just paid a fee for the phone and then I can add as much money onto the phone as I want. Everytime I make a phone call it tells me how much money I have left. Its really cheap to text message here so I do that much more than actually calling someone. After I got the phone I walked around a little bit. There are many little shops in this area. Most sell knock off clothing which is funny to see. I was stopped by probably 3-4 korean men who wanted me to buy a suit from them. They all gave me their business cards in the hopes that I'll come again, someday. The best part of Itaewon is all of the American restaurants. Quizno's, Coldstone, etc. I'm definately going back there sometime!
Never though I would see this in Korea!!
A few days ago I went with Emily and two of her co-workers (both have dogs) to a dog cafe. It was a fun experience! A place like this would never ever ever be allowed in America with all the health codes. There was at least 20 dogs running around the cafe. Some of the dogs live there all the time and most people who come bring their dog. It's weird, you sit at comfy tables like a normal cafe, order a drink, but there's tons of dogs running around. One job at the cafe is to clean up any mess the dogs make. Two guys were running around cleaning up pee and poop the whole time we werethere. That's a pretty crappy job! (no pun intended).
On Monday I found out from a co-worker that my building has a gym in the basement. He took me down there just to see what it looked like and find out the cost. We sat down for a little bit with the manager who didn't speak english at all and one of the trainers that spoke a little english. My co-worker was a big help when it came time to settle on a membership fee. Normally for a 6-month membership, it would cost about 620,000 Won (a little over $500 USD). We talked them down to 300,000 Won for the 6 month membership which is $250 USD. The place I worked at this summer was a little over $100/month for the cheapest membership. I got an AWESOME deal. My co-worker helped translate because he knows a little Korean and the two workers were saying how they really want a "white" man to work out at their gym. The funny thing about this gym is besides the regular weightlifting/tredmills/yoga room there is an area to practice golf. Korea loves golf and on any street you could probably find at least 3 driving range type places, whether it's inside or outside on top of a building.
After one week in quarentine I finally started work on Monday. Needless to say, Monday was one of the longest days of my life. I woke up and it was raining. When I left my apartment I saw that it was pouring. My little umbrella didn't work well. I got to work wet all over the place. It took forever to dry off! I met so many little kids that all loved me because i'm the tall, white, "new teachaaaaah". The first day, I had a little girl come up and tell me that I looked like a rabbit because I apparently have big front teeth. Koreans don't hold back anything. If they think you're funny looking the will tell you that. The whole first day and part of the second day I observed classes. Its a weird time for me to start teaching because starting tomorrow and Friday the kids have monthly tests. I really had no clue what was going on because every class was in the middle of something. I know that next Monday will be good because everyone will be starting new material. The schedule is a little weird, it takes time to understand and memorize. Basically this is what happens......The Pre-K and kindergarteners come Monday through Friday. They have class from 9:40 until around 2 (with lunch break in the middle and such). Now with the afternoon classes. Some elementary classes come Monday through Friday. Some are just Monday/Wednesday/Friday. And some are just Tuesday/Thursday. It was confusing at first but I know I'll get used to it soon. My homeroom class for the kindergarteners is named the "Hummingbirds". I start off with them in the morning and teach a few classes to them and then switch to another class to teach 1 period. I took pictures of some of the hummingbirds today which I'm posting too. My co-workers have been very helpful these first few days which has helped a lot because I've asked a lot of questions. My favorite class is a "returnee" class. These students lived abroad at some point in their lives. Most of them lived in the U.S., a few in London, Hongkong, Australia, and one in Honduras. As for the kindergarteners, they are VERY smart! We had a spelling bee in class today and it took about 30 minutes to eliminate all but 3 students. Kindergarteners were spelling words such as "Ambulance, Restaurant, Conclusion, Consequence". It was crazy to see them spell these words without any hesitation. Even the kids who mess around in class and don't ever pay attention rattled off the words so fast.
On another note, I've almost figured out my washing machine? I bought a clothes bag that you can fill and put in the washer. It really helps especially with T-shirts. It doesnt stretch the collars anymore like the washer did when I didnt use a washing bag. Other than teaching, I have not done much this week. This Friday we are going to dinner after work to welcome the new teachers. There are also 2 new KT's (Korean Teachers). Each homeroom has a KT that works with the students in english while we are on lunch break. It's nice to see the Hawkeyes winning some games unlike the Cubs. That's the best thing about football season this year! I can finally watch a team that will win. Alright, well I'm about to leave my apartment to meet Emily and Elyse for some dinner. Another post will probably come next week!
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