Only in Korea can you go to a cafe to pay money to have little fish nibble at your toes. Last weekend we decided to take the proverbial plunge and try out this Korean phenomenon. For about eight dollars you get a snack (nachos, a muffin, dried squid or some oranges), a drink (beer, wine, juice, or a smoothie), and unlimited access to the fish pond. It's a great deal!
Sara was a little aprehensive. The look on her face embodies my sentiments when we first sat down at the pool preparing to put our feet in the water. We started by putting just our heels in the water, and then gently (for me it took about 10 minutes, Kelly was in within 2 minutes) lowered our feet (one at a time) into the water.
When Jeff arrived he dove in with both feet immediately. He also monopolized the fish that were in the pool. They seemed to like him much better than the rest of us. It was only when he finally took his feet out that the fish looked to us for some more food. When we were finished with the fish, we had an aromatherapy foot bath - hot water and lavender - followed by a nice lathering of cream for our now uber soft feet!
We thought that a video would best embody the phenomenon that is Doctor Fish.
So Jen and I just picked up our passports. We had to submit them so that we could get our visas to enter China. It's only a week away and now we're really starting to feel the excitement. Can't wait! Everything's booked - hotels, tours, flights. And now that we've got our visas, all we have left to do is change some money and then we're on our way!
Check it out. Look how awesome the visa looks. Full page and a snazzy picture of the Great Wall on it. Even more exciting is the fact that we are soon going to be on the real thing soon! I never thought that I'd actually be able to see the day where I not only would get to visit the country where my parents were born, but where I also get to walk along the Great Wall! Add into that the Terracotta Warriors, Tianamen Square, and the Forbidden City, and BAM!! it's one amazing vacation. Now, I've always preferred to take my time when I see things and to explore at my own pace, but given the amount of things we're going to see, I'll admit it and say that I'm glad we're going on this tour. K, we'll save the real rambling for when we actually go and we have stories and photos to share. Can't wait!!
-jeff
We got "shh"ed in the bookstore today. Well, I guess not "shhh"ed, but told that we were being too loud, and could we please keep it down. We weren't that loud, but I guess by Korean standards we were a little above the normal noise level.
We were laughing with Sue (one of our Korean friends, my ex-coteacher) and Vanessa over this book.
The book was apparently very controversial when it first came out in Korea. It has many "inappropriate" words, and helps foreigners learn how to speak Korean for important situations such as when to tell some one off, or how to pick up and take someone home from the bar. Let me just say that it was hilarious and quite entertaining. They also have the book available for Japanese and Chinese if you are learning those languages.
I can't believe they told us to be quiet!!!
~Jen
I found this on Miss Koco Does Korea and thought it would be fun. Unfortunately she is no longer writing her blog, so I was not sure if I could ask her to interview me. So, I'll just interview you!
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your or blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions
If any of you are interviewed by me, then I will get you to interview me next. I suppose, that you could leave 5 questions in the comments for me (us) if you have no blog....
~Jen
No, there is no earthquake, do not worry! It is just the title of the Carol King song that I am currently listening to - I felt it was somewhat appropriate for some reason....
As I sit here in my office thinking about what I am going to post about this time I cannot help but think about the fact that our time in Korea has almost hit the six month point. We have almost spent six months living here, working here, and exploring here. We have spent six months as a married couple. During this time I have had the opportunity to learn more about myself (I always find that this happens when I travel because I become so much more aware of my own culture when I am faced with things that do not always mesh with my own culture). Jeff and I have discussed our future (and by future I mean what we will be doing in September) and we have talked about where we will end up (when we finish traveling).
Our next adventure will take place during the week of the Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year or Tet if you are Vietnamese! - February 2nd - 9th) We are heading off to China - Beijing. A three day tour begins our adventure followed by 3 days of us staying in a hostel (very close to Tiennamen Square) and exploring the city on our own. I am very exited.
A week after we return from China we are heading home to Canada. As the 16th approaches I am getting more and more excited about going home for a short visit. I am looking forward to eating some foods that I miss and seeing friends and family. It will be an EXTREMELY busy and hectic trip, but I am excited. I am also quite excited that we get to fly into the Waterloo airport!
February is a travel month for us, it is also the month that marks our halfway point in Korea. I cannot believe that the time has passed by so quickly!!
~Jen
P.S. For some reason whenever I try to put an apostrophe in this post the website directs me to a find box. You will notice that there are no apostrophes in this blog - it was quite a feat!
Okay, I'll be the first to admit that we have been TOTALLY SLACKING on this website since the new year began. We have good excuses though... but they're still just excuses....
Since the new year began:
*We have been without internet for a week
*We have been without hot water for more than 3 days (December 31st - January 4th)
*Jeff has gotten sick and thus his normal food consumption has been drastically reduced... he is eating so little now, our food bill has been cut by at least 3/4!
*We have no hot water again - it just started this morning and we can't seem to get it back
*We have been working SUPER hard at camps and have been trying to figure out what the heck we are going to do with ourselves come September, which is quickly approaching!
My newly acquired knowledge is as follows:
*When it gets cold in Korea you are supposed to turn on your hot water and let it run all night so that the pipes don't freeze. We've been letting ours drip (it's so painful to let this happen... so bad for the environment!), but last night we were so tired that we forgot to turn on our tap, hence the frozen pipes today. We've been hoping that the heat fan that we've been blasting towards the pipes (which are hidden in our walls) is going to help, we feel really bad about telling our landlords that we have no hot water again!)
We have been busy, and the busyness is not slowing down. For the next week I have "camp", then I have classes for a week - Jeff has two more weeks of "camp". Our current camp is really just extra classes that we are teaching. I have 2 classes of kids and one class with moms - bonus - we get our afternoons off!
After camp/classes comes Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year or Tet if you're Vietnamese!) We are heading on our week long "honeymoon" to China (I'm hoping we can get another honeymoon to a warmer place booked for our next trip...). It will be cold - I don't know what the heck we were thinking!!! Our other friends are taking their holidays in Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, Hawaii... us, we're going to Beijing - it's freaking freezing there! When we get back from China we spend a week teaching and then have 2 more weeks off. We are heading to Canada for my sister's wedding! Ye Haw! (Yet another cold destination.... again, what were we thinking!!! I'm freezing in Korea, why would we choose to go somewhere cold during the Lunar New Year!!!
So we will be busy.
But, we will try to check in with you every so often. If you don't hear from us for awhile it's not because we don't like you or we're trying to avoid you (at least that's the case for most of you!!!), it's because life has suddenly made us busy.
Okay, I'm off! We'll be sure to keep you informed of our trips (I'm super excited about both of them.... looking forward to seeing the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiennamen Square, and the Terracotta Warriors in China, as well as our friends and family in Canada when we fly in for our brief and crazy visit!
~Jen
Jumping on the Wonder Girls posting bandwagon, I thought that I would share with you this Korean music video.
The Wonder Girls are the latest rage in Korea. Quoting Sara "Spend 10 minutes in any type of clothing store and you will hear it. All of my students have it programmed on their cell phones."
So, without further ado, I present to you a Korean phenomenon - The Wonder Girls!
On another note, please read Kelly's most recent post about "the hearts". She has some great pictures of us and an explanation of where "the heart" came from. And to think, I was always under the impression that it was a Chinese thing!
We have some friends who say that Korea is just a little odd.
*Motorcycles drive on the sidewalk
*Koreans grocery shop on weekend evenings - the later the busier
*Dogs here have their ears dyed hot pink or lime green
*Koreans advertise using white people - there are so many ads with Caucasians!
*Rice is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
*Couples dress alike as a sign of their affection towards one another
*Koreans use umbrellas to protect themselves from the snow
*Everything in Korea is healthy for you - anything you consume, as long as it is Korean, is good for you
*Banks are open Monday to Friday, 10am - 4:30pm, but most people work Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm
*You need your ID card for everything
*Koreans know their blood type (they judge personalities based on blood type)
*Konglish - a mixture of Korean and English that results in quite an interesting language
While these things are definitely odd, I am able to take them all in stride. Today though, we experienced a part of Korean culture that was just a bit too freaky for me.
We went to the Paju English Village.
The village was financed by the Korean government in an attempt to improve the English skills of the Korean population. I was told that many Korean English teachers do not support the English Village. They feel that the village was a huge expense that does not pay off. This place is huge - and it must have cost a ton of money to create (and maintain).
The trip started off with us going through customs to enter the English Village - a fun activity, not too odd.
Next we visited a post office and a police station. The kids loved being locked up in the jail cell, though the programming left a lot to be desired. The hands on activities were sorely lacking - I could have taught a better lesson in my own classroom, but that wasn't the problem.
Walking through this village was just surreal. The village was designed to provide Korean children with the opportunity to speak English. Kids wander around the village (which is HUGE!) and participate in various activities with native English speakers (this could have been my job!) Throughout the village are speakers playing messages in English and English music - Pink, Britney Spears.... There are regular running coffee shops (we had coffee at Tom n Toms), pizza joints, and even a pub (though I'm not sure that they served beer... I hope not!)
The oddest part was the musical that we attended. The whole time that I watched this terrible show all I could think of was - this could have been me.... Think of the outrageous kids shows they have on TV in Canada - over the top songs, really uber energetic actors, and bad story lines. This was an attempt at that, but it kind of failed. The English was spoken too quickly, and the songs were terrible. Now, I love me a good show. I must admit, that even though I was appauled at the show, I was also intrigued. While some of the male teachers fell asleep, I couldn't look away...
I'm sure that I have not fully captured the oddity that was the Paju English Village. It was just freaky. Can't say much more than that... I wish that you could have been there to experience this oddity that is the English Village.
~Jen
So we've been out of touch for a bit. But it isn't really our fault. We lost our Internet for a week and it took three visits from two technicians to finally fix it. We had two visits from an incompetent technician who said that Mac computers can't connect to the Internet and that you can't have more than one computer connected to the Internet through a wireless network (incidentally, we've had our two computers connected to the Internet for the past four months). Anyway, we're just happy to have our Internet and our hot water back (did I mention that our hot water went AWOL again?!? Three days of no hot showers in the middle of winter!!!).
So aside from our home problems, Jen and I have been really enjoying the winter camp at her school. We have our fire back! Teaching normal classes at our schools has been tough, since we have hundreds of students that we see for only 45 minutes each week. But we get to spend our entire days at the camp, from 9 until 3, with the same students and we've been able to get to know them and form relationships with them. The students get three hours of English instruction each day and then they have activities like sports, drama, and cooking in the afternoons. So we're also a lot busier than normal and we don't have all the free time like we do during the normal school year. We come home exhausted after interacting with energetic students all day with few breaks, but at least we come home fulfilled and having enjoyed our days. We'd love it if we could teach camps all year long!
I teach 12 students and then run a sports club after lunch. This is where most of the boys from all three classes (Jen has 16 students, and Justin, another English teacher, has 12 students) get to run around and use up their energy. There are also three girls in the sports club too. I'm having a lot of fun teaching and interacting with these students. It's been a good week and I'm looking forward to the next week with them too.
These are the women I have been sharing an office with for the past four months. (We were at a noraebang - a singing room... so fun!!)
Two of them are my co-teachers who teacher English with me, the others teacher science and music. They are delightful women, however they don't speak that much English. I usually end up listening to Korean chatting at lunch time, and whenever we go out for a meal. Although I truly cherish these women, it makes it difficult to feel a part of the group when you don't understand what they're talking about. Every so often someone will lean over to me and give me a one sentence synopsis about what they're discussing, but that's not enough for me. I want to be able to participate in discussions and not sit there with a fake smile on my face, trying to act like I'm interested, and not bored.
One of the things I've struggled with most in this job is not being able to communicate with the rest of the staff. I am the only native English speaker at my school (which is not odd in the public school system). My principal and vice principal do not speak English which means that I rely on my co-teachers to help me communicate with them. I can't get materials out of the supply room without my co-teachers because you need to sign things out, and I don't speak enough Korean to do so. Even getting photocopying done here is a struggle.
Jeff and I both love Seoul. We have great friends here, we LOVE the subway system, and the city in general. But, we don't love our jobs. We don't hate our jobs, we just don't feel passionate about what we're doing. I don't get up every morning (or any morning for that matter) excited about the day. I would love to have my own class, and teach lessons that are no so regimented by the text book. I would love to be able to communicate with my students beyond "How are you?" And, I would love to know my students' names - I have 300 kids, which makes it difficult to remember all their names. I love teaching because of the relationships I get to form with the kids. My current situation does not allow for a lot of relationships to be formed. There are definitely some kids who are awesome, but I don't even know their names!!
I look forward to the weekends. It is for that reason that we are looking into other jobs for next September. Unfortunately Korea has recently changed their visa and immigration policies due to a Canadian pedophile who was caught after having spent time in Korea. These visa changes mean that we may not be able to work here next year. In addition to visa issues, there are not many (I've only found one) non-religious international schools we could work at. So, we're looking abroad.
Apparently New Zealand has a huge teacher shortage, and someone else mentioned Hong Kong having lots of international schools. A couple of our friends here are thinking about England (I LOVE England...)
So, our plans for the new year? Well, we're not sure. In some ways I hate not knowing what I'm going to be doing in less than a year, but in other ways I find it exciting. I would love to stay in Seoul, but who knows what the future will hold for us. (We'll let you know when we know...)
For now, I'd like to wish you all the best for the new year, whatever adventures it may hold for you.
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