Samishisa

I just said goodbye to two really good friends.  :(   when I see them again, they will be married (!)

So I am going back to the States this coming tuesday.  It's nice to have friends in different places.  But sometimes I really wish they were all in one place.  Then it wouldn't be very hard to decide where to live.

Tokyo

I'm in Tokyo. And have been for almost two weeks. I meant to write when I got here right away, but it somehow just never happened.

It felt really good to get here. As much as I had a good time in Seoul (which I really have to say was because of the wonderful friends I have there. I didn't do much sightseeing or shopping (really!) but I did hang out with and really depend on some great people while I was there. Thank you guys!!)), it felt really good to land here. There was so much more diversity right away! (hah. never thought I'd say that about Japan ^^;)

But so in Tokyo I am. But not for much longer, perhaps. It's all a little up in the air right now.

What will happen? I don't quite know...

Last Day!

It is the official last day of the 'SAT Summer Boot Camp!' woooo!

It was overall a good experience...but I don't think I want to teach SATs ever again. The highlight was definitely some of the kids. Some of them were really great/smart, etc.

What's rather amusing, is that they all have started adding us (the teachers) as friends on facebook. Ah... social networking. what it does and doesn't do for you. or something.

Nothing really profound. I'm just sitting in the teachers' room, as I have finished my last class and just waiting for the bell to ring at 6.

I will write more. On interesting phenomenon. It's a promise.

A place holds for you what you made of it there

The Banging

For reasons totally unbeknownst and incomprehensible to me, there is a man who walks up and down the street banging together two sticks (metal poles? something like this?) together rhythmically at around 9 or 10 then again at 11 at night every night. For a while I merely guessed at this 'happening.' I thought it must be some figment of my imagination that those noises were happening repetitively at night every night... because who in this modern age would actually have some kind of system (for whatever reason?) like that?

But tonight I *saw* him. With my very own two eyes. Banging some sort of thing together (ok, so it wasn't that close up). But he was definitely there, he was definitely doing it, and it was the same sound.


I had something (perhaps) more meaningful to mention, but it was written on today's practice SAT, and I forgot that at work.

Yes, I am, crazily enough, an SAT teacher. (really, the idea. not just the idea. the fact. ... really is kind o' crazy.) only 1 week and a day left of teaching route SAT stuff (yes!) (I politely put that in parentheses, see?)

My computer breathes again.

Of Slight Concern

So my computer has.... bit the dust. making regular blog posts (when has this ever been regular?? heh) a bit difficult

buuuuut

It just so happens that the new dance studio I stopped by today has computers to use (!)

Today was kind of a rough day as one teacher was out sick, and so I (and others) had to cover a couple extra classes. And I have one class that went from being a nice group of kids to rather... hard to deal with, making things slightly unpleasant in the morning.

At any rate, it is time I got some food, got my bag from the place I forgot it, and went home.

Your word of the day is "benighted"

One would hope that Korean (or any) kids studying in another country would especially learn how detrimental stereotypes can be... and hopefully take that time to learn more about others... but as has, somewhat surprisingly, been the case so far, this is, alas, not so true.


If I get a computer up and working, I will work on this newfangled 'picture thing.' :)

Corollary to the ...uh... corollaries

Yes, none was in the slightest bit related.

Corollary to my Corollary

For some reason, it is possible to buy mangosteen gum here. Mangosteens don't exist here. But mangosteen gum does.

Corollary

Whenever I eat something delicious, and I'm very full with it, all I can think of is what amazing delicious thing can I possibly eat next?

Not too good for one's waistline.

Neng Myon

This was going to be a treatise on Nengmyon (Korean cold Buckwheat Noodle Soup)... but instead I'm just going to say:

Don't eat it before dance class.

or really.

Don't eat anything before dance class.

This Neng Myon happened to be particularly good... and so a lot of it was eaten at once. ***
I shall also say that I'm pretty sure it contained some of that nefarious msg, so that must have aided in it's apparent 'deliciousness.' Plenty of 'msg feelings' (let's call them) were had by all afterwards.

Point being. Don't eat it.

Especially not a lot of it.

Especially before you exercise. (I had something more incisive, intuitive, shrewd, let's say, to put here, but I don't really recall what it was.)



Y'know, one thing about living in a place where you don't speak the language/therefore don't fully understand the culture, is that you're given a certain leeway, let's say, to break cultural norms/rules, whatever, right? right.

Like singing loudly on the street. ^__^


(with what's left of my voice)

.... or maybe that's just me?





***A note on eating Korean food: When you go out for Korean food, you are alway given 'side dishes.' You can pretty much judge a restaurant by the quality and amount of its 'side dishes' (pajan). So when one says one ate a certain Korean meal, one usually implies one ate that dish +++ etc. amounts of pajan. And pajan are pretty much refillable.

Korean Restaurants

Restaurants here either seem to run really cheap, like $5-8 for a big/nice meal or like $20. It seems hard to find something in between. What does that say about society/classes? a thought to muse on...


and a note on Starbucks: Here Starbucks internet is free*


*If you're a registered 'alien' or Korean citizen. Really. You have to put your 'citizen code' in to access it.

Corn Husk Tea (and eggs)

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but even if I did, I decided that cold corn husk tea (aka oksusu su-yum-cha) deserves it's very own blog post for its prevalence and ubiquity in my life. (Can you tell Im an SAT teacher? I use large/strange words where they're totally unnecessary.) I drink it a lot. and a lot of it. No caffeine, zero calories, and it tastes good! What more could you want? Oh! And the most common brand has a picture of a girl in an old rural outfit on it. BONUS. It also happens to make the perfect after-dance-walk-home-drink.


and I had to include eggs in this post as well.

If anyone ever suggests to you that you squeeze an egg in a store to see it it's hardboiled or not, I highly recommend that you don't.

The Polo

So I actually have a uniform. I have one of three different color polo shirts inscribed with the school's name I get to wear everyday. The colors are black, bright turquoise (one teacher thinks we look like skittles in this one), and light yellow.

3 shirts.

Hence the rapid/frequent (or at least by Naomi standards), rather rapid/frequent use of the washing machine.

Some 'lucky' ones have the colors from last year, too, including: olive green, orange, and navy blue.

Also, we must wear closed toe shoes. ... Don't ask me on this one.



On a separate note,

Food shows on TV kill me.

Everything looks SO good.


Lately, I have been given the job of grading more student essays. They range from the interesting, to the horrific (a student describes beating his dog) to the painful (where sentences are not... sentences).

Tomorrow is... Pay Day!

Jazz

I was so tired, but I promised a friend I'd go to her jazz gig tonight... and I went. And it was awesome. Of course. And of course, I felt much better after going. Thank you Won!

Music is so wonderful.

The

air in Seoul is not so great.

Korean Food

I really like Korean food. I would even go so far as to say that I really love Korean food. Since I got here, until now, I've been eating a lot of Korean food. and at the same time, slowly but surely, my weight has been going up.

So for a little while, I am going to say goodbye traditional Korean food. I will taste you only a little.

(I've also had a couple run-ins with msg, so it all will work out better this way.)


I met a Japanese woman at dance today. (made me really happy that I could actually speak to somebody^^^^ Though I should say, compared to Japan, far more people here speak speakable english.) And she told me that in traditional Korean food (she's been here for a long time), they actually use more vegetables than even Japanese food--- which I found really surprising. She said what young people eat, a lot of meat, etc, is really different. Seeing as the other day, I had this very 'traditional-y' meal with a friend, and it was all vegetarian, I am very willing to believe that.

But alas. I will still aim for salads at lunch. (They will still be Korean (made). after all, I am in Seoul, right?)

Malapropisms

Sometimes when you look up a word you thought you knew, the definition can surprise you...as it's different or has a different nuance than you thought.

Today's word of the day is malapropism.

It's a great word :)
Look it up!

Happens especially a lot (I know-_-;) when you are trying to speak in a foreign language.

Proctor Land

So here I am proctoring their weekly practice SAT. And using my computer (ie, not doing prep work). I'm a little ahead on my prep work, so I feel (mostly) ok taking a brief respite to type on my computer/update THIS BLOG. which doesn't really get fairly updated with my thoughts, feelings, and experiences in Korea, as it should be (as it's name implies), soooooo:

I'm getting rather good at defining words. It actually takes some serious practice. Think about it. You know lots of words. In fact, you know lots of big words, but can you break down the meaning of each word you find/know into a simpler one? It's hard! I (have to) test myself each time. Even though I might know a word, if I can't come up with a definition for it right away, I (make myself) write it down. (HAH. not that I necessarily remember it or new words for that matter. maybe like the nth time I write something down it sticks.)

Anyway, on to something far more interesting and exciting.

Yesterday evening, we walked from our neighborhood to the river. (The Han River runs through the middle of Seoul). It was really beautiful. The neighborhood leading to it is also really nice and a nice change from our (my) neighborhood of wealthy, expensive cars and not much else. Like cute stores and many restaurants and, well, you get the picture. Meandering down to the river (stopping for good gelato; which I had to sadly abstain from that night) and sitting by the river is really nice. It seems to have become quite the past-time for a few of the SAT teachers.


Next, I was planning to go off on a brief tirade about conbini (convenience stores). But I shouldn't really label it a tirade, as it's really not ALL negative. So. Korean convenience stores. :

They have the necessary items one needs to live (as is expected of all conbini, world over : )

But, they lack a few things:

ok, so they have onigiri (Japanese rice balls; samgak kimbap, whatever you would like to call them). But the KINDs. It's basically tuna or some kind of meat. And interesting variations on that with kimchi, possibly miso, but there's no other fish. and major point: no vegetarian one. I've gotten used to eating meat in my onigiri (mostly)... but I think I still prefer fish. It's a little odd....

Bento. Lunch boxes. So a couple conbini have a few. But mostly they consist of a bunch of carbohydrates. Nothing like the Japanese version of main dish (fish, croquette, etc), and different kinds of salads).

Salad. The conbini's do not sell salads of any kind. So I can't go buy my rice, protien, AND vegetables. What's up with that?? The only 'vegetable' available are little packets of kimchee (the MiniStop (who would have thought that that would turn out to be my favorite Korean conbi... but they have the most variety!) has a green vegetable kimchi). Now don't get me wrong. I like kimchi (though, surprisingly, I have a Korean friend (not American, Korean Korean) who hates it). But one: it's hard to eat as a 'salad' every day. And Most Importantly (I must capitilize, like Pooh): You can't really bring kimchee into an office, because it stinks up the whole room (I was told this by a Korean co-worker). and it's true!.
Ok. Now, this is where we have to deviate a little bit. I *have* found, (although I can't get my conbini salad), I have found a place or two nearby that will make a fresh salad (with chicken) for about $5. Now, that, is pretty unfindable in Japan. Kudos.

(whew. my mind just got totally blown off course. Late kid! Only gets 10 minutes to write his SAT essay).

So back to Conbini. What else.... ah... well I could talk a little about the yogurts... Yogurt here is pretty good. But unfortunately, in the conbini's they don't seem to stock the low cal versions.

The trash cans! Are on the inside of the conbini(where you can stand and eat). It's just a little annoying in that Seoul recently (for some reason that seems unexplainable) got rid of most of its public trash cans. So when you are walking down the street and need a place to throw trash, having trash cans outside all the conbinis is helpful... Having them on the inside makes sense, because thats where you are 'eating' (sometimes), but havng them on the outside... is convenient.

Now for all my tirading about them, here are the extra good/interesting bits:

They all (for the most part), seem to have tables and chairs set up outside, effectually, becoming in their own little ways, cafes. Like welcome to 7-11 cafe. It's cute. You can buy a drink (a beer as it seems most habitually for the random guys who gather) and sit outside and relax.

And they have interesting korean food. Like microwaveable pumpking porridge (the best!), etc.

And today I bought some dried fish crackers for like ... $1.50. And onigiri (samgak kimbap, riceballs) are about 70 cents. You really can't beat that.

So all that being said, still, where would life be without the amazing wonderfuless of the conbinis. And I'm becoming pretty fond of the corn husk tea (no caffeine! happppiineessss).


So back to proctoring land, because this has gone on way too long. And. Is anyone reading this?

Do some work, look up definitions, read passages, proctor... Get ahead for next week, so I can go to dance class, relax, and... look for jobs? write essays? you fill in the _____.

Sun, sun, and more sun

coming up it seems!

after a dreary-ish weekend.

I was going to write about Korean conbini, cafes (Dunkin Donuts), and more.

but that will have to wait another day.

whrrr

ah... the pleasant sounds of a washing machine in action.


(though to tell you the truth, I am not exactly sure what I 'programmed.')


I did not appreciate my washing machine enough when I lived in Tokyo.

Bibimbap

I had the best bibimbap yesterday.

Instead of the 'typical' vegetables, it had lots of little pieces of lettuce and sprouts. Then it had lots of little green fish eggs. and little pieces of the Korean crispy seaweed. and an egg. mixed all together with korean hot sauce. mmmmmm

:)

So. another week down. This week I started with 5 classes a day and ended with 4 a day. A new teacher showed up, so our classes and work load got shifted around a little bit. It's both a good thing (more rest time for my voice/down time to do work) and kind of a bummer, because now I have a few hours to just sit there every day... and let's face it, it's more fun to teach. But such are the ways of the world it seems.

Now at least I have time to get done a lot of my prep time at school instead of at home. That leaves more time to dance (and pretend to get my body back in shape?) and some down time (and possibly freelance... if I can figure that out).

On a total side note, there's this crazy show on Korean tv right now... it's ... almost a porno. and it's on channel 20 on a friday night. like.... that's regular access, right? I'd tell you more about it, but seeing as my korean skills are still rather limited, we'll all have to guess. (Any Koreans reading this, I think it's called 'Alice?' ) (I was trying to enlist a friend to give me a crash course in Korean, but unfortunately it has yet to happen.)

Though, I realized, now that I can read Korean (slowly.) I can use the english-korean dictionary on my cell phone. so now, if you just give me all day, I will decipher a full menu for you. :)

I do need someone to explain my washing machine for me.

At my school (cram school or hagwon to be exact), after the practice test each week, all scores are posted with names attached (intense), then at the beginning of the new week students are shuffled around to different classes based on their scores. It's good in one way, as it's easier to teach a class where everyone is at the same level. But at the same time it's hard, because teachers (and students) have just gotten used to a class,(finally) learned the students names, and everyone gets switched around. Felt like pointing that out.

I like my students, but I miss some of the ones who've been switched out of my classes.

much

I was going to label this post 'not much' because, well, it's not going to be about much. but then I thought that was lame. ... (Because 'much' is SO much better. :) It is!) heh.

I haven't posted much because things kind of get crazy Sun/Mon night with the amount of prep work we have for classes. I have quite a bit to talk about from this weekend but... I'm going to try to get to bed early to see if I can steal more voice back for tomorrow (still?? I know. well, I had a false alarm and was so excited to have what sounded like my voice back that I overused it on Monday and killed what had ...flowered... so to speak. damn. ).

Since we have reached Tuesday night, and Wednesday is always a mock test day for them, I have nothing pressing to prepare for tomorrow and so have some time to write. And ! I don't have to grade essays tomorrow (sweeeeeeet!) (remember how the new SAT combines the writing section? well I had to grade those essays last week from the first test day.... and, well... let's just point out that a lot for a lot of students at the school, English is not their first language and so they haven't been writing english essays for a long time... so ... some can be... painful. ^^;) I get to proctor tomorrow (READ: do my work while they test).

I *did* see my friends from Tokyo this weekend (I know you guys were waiting in suspense).

But I must go.

I will just leave you with this little anecdote.

One of the other english teacher's, who happens to be Korean American (and speaks the language), finally had her internet installed yesterday. aaaaaaand got asked out by the cable guy!


yay nice story.


OH

and


Hot Vanilla.

like. Hot Chocolate but only... with vanilla!

makes me smile.


leave it to the Korean (version of) Starbucks.

Japanese TV

My 'Japanese TV' that I paid extra cable for... has degenerated (well is/was) into period dramas, really bad yakuza dramas, and stories about obaasan in okinawa, separated by really bad and long korean infomercials.

It's a little painful.

Detergent

I should point out. that although I have detergent now.

I have no idea how to use the washing machine.



There should be some kind of 'universal language' on these things.

Groceries

Check.

If anyone was ever afraid I might be without a (rather) large store of apples. Never Fear. All is right again.


Trash bags, I am, unfortunately, still without.

But I have lots of other things. (even detergent. oooooo. (this is actually a minor accomplishment) )

My bank account is a little sad, though, now.

I

feel like I need to leave a happier post after the one before.

Well, it's Saturday.

That means it's...

grocery store day!

excitement to the max.

Leotard

Putting on a leatoard really puts things into perspective.

One, it makes me fully aware of all the lumps and bumps on my body that weren't there last time I put it on.

More so,

it makes me think back to just over 3 years ago, when I was still living in Japan. ... dancing a lot and really in shape. and I wonder if I'm ever going to be able to get back to that level again. It's been 3 years since my body has felt those muscles, has had those muscles, and been able to move in that "correct" of a way.

And I had such an amazing ballet teacher, one that I really never found in New York...

and here I am in a city where I don't speak the language, in some low level ballet class...

and I wonder(ed), am I in the right place?

and it made me kind of really sad.


One girl (who was really nice I should say) said to me, "You should learn Korean."

and I wanted to be like: "Look yo, I already spent years learning another Asian language, ok??"

(heh. But no in all deference to my Korean friends, I have actually learned... some. And I taught myself to read (super logical system). I don't know what the words mean (other than bibimbap, of course) but now, at least, I can read them to you. Oo! And I can now tell you if there is pork in onigiri (samgak kimbap). That's real mastery I tell you. Anyone who's interested, I highly suggest (and the Lonely Planet does, too ^^) learnkorean.com. )

So I really need to go to bed. (and finish up defining all the vocab in tomorrow's homework... buuuut, I think bed wins.)

Two of my friends from Japan are going to be in Korea this weekend!

Unfortunately, I still don't have much of a voice. (When will it come back when I have to teach for 6 hours a day??)


One of the best things ever is Korean pumpkin porridge.

Bereft

I am bereft of my voice.

It sucks.

Hmwk

The kids got assigned a ridiculous amount of homework today. (I teach Critical Reading... whatever, you get it, it's the verbal section minus the essay writing). I actually switched from Essay teaching so that I could study vocab 'along with the students' .... for possible GRE...
-_-;

Did I mention they have a lot of homework? (I don't make up homework assignments; I just have to give them) Yeah. well, I have to go over that homework, too. ... Therefore (see triangular arrangement of dots) ... I have a lot of homework. ... sigh


In other news: I think I'm going to enroll at the ballet school not the jazz/hip hop one. .... but I haven't completely decided. It's too bad one school doesn't have all kinds of classes.

Naomi Desperately wants a teapot

I killed my voice on my first day of teaching. (I taught 6 hours in a row.... well, with lunch in between).

Teapots are useful, handy devices. They make tea. They make water and steam. They give life to dehydrated food items. Teapots are useful, handy devices.


I now have a router (that I still have to plug in, but still.) no more dying waves of internet. Thank you Chol!

Bonus!

A store near me sells my favorite Japanese mascara. (!)



haha.

ok. I promise a real post soon. I have a couple packed days coming up.

phone

oh! and I have a working phone.

It turns out that (most?) a lot of? the time here you get a universal charger and have to buy an adapter piece for your specific phone.

ooooooooh.

^^;

I haven't gone clubbing

since I lived in Tokyo. But I guess what do a bunch of mostly new college grad expats do in a new city when they haven't started working yet(and so are not tired)?

On Bank Accounts

So yesterday I opened a bank account in Korea. It was *ridiculously* easy.

All you need is a passport. That's it. Show them a passport; give them an address. Pick some secret numbers. Oh! Decide whether you want your account to be in Korean Won or American Dollars (craaazy) aaaaaand you're done!

Ok. so maybe this isn't so surprising for some. (Maybe it's this easy in the US?)

But in Japan, there is NO way you can walk into a bank with just a passport (and especially with just the tourist visa stamp on it) and expect them to let you open an account. If you don't have your 'Alien Registration Card' (and getting one of these sometimes requires selling off your first born child) and all the correct visa stuff in order, you cannot open an account.

interesting.

Oh! So I am now in possession of a Korean cell phone. However it has died, and the charger I have doesn't seem to connect to it in any way possible. ... Perhaps I should have paid more attention to what she was doing in the cell phone store? Perhaps I should have made sure he sold me the correct charger. ...

addendum

I must admit. I did end up going with the cheaper cable tv. which means. no more NHK. sigh... (and it now seems I lost CNN, too!)

I feel like I deserve a small fraction of a point for that.

And

For some reason. My web browsers for blogpsot have decided to take it upon themselves to decide what country I am in and therefore what language to display in.

Safari, my usual browser, has taken to Korean. Although they got the country right.... they have lost me.

Firefox, however, likes to display in Japanese. Wrong country ... but uh... there are bells going off somewhere.


Fireox it is.

1st Real Day

So I think I managed to find the most expensive gym ever.

I should have known by the fact that they offer valet parking for their customers that it would be expensive, but I kind of went for it anyway. But I'll have you know, if you join for only 5 million dollars a month (ok. maybe not quite that much) you will look and be as hot as the owner, who happens to be some Korean movie star whose name eludes me at this point (and probably every other point in my life).

So 1st Real Day I'll say.... seeing as yesterday involved a lot more sleeping. (and friend seeing! which was nice:) But today was 1st Day I walked around some.

So I'm kind of in a ritzyish-er neighborhood.... I dont live super close to that station (in fact I live a lot closer to another), but I think it helps explain the dearth of grocery stores around me. I have yet to see one. Conbini. no problem. Grocery store?

The cable guy has just arrived ... for what will be the 3rd time today (I love how even in Korean, he refers to himself as 'cable guy.' Let it be known worldover that cable guys are hereforth and forever cableguys!) It has been a long and silly process. (Less silly when I finally got some food and so could think again. And I have to say kudos to my friend Won who put up with his incessant phone calls.) But In the frugality test of life.... I have failed... at least the first round (oh but Japanese tv! and CNN World. ). So.

Round 1: cable tv 1, Naomi 0

(In other notes, I REALLY need to learn how to say yes in Korean. My answer of 'hai' all the time just won't do. I mean, if I was Korean, I'd probably be pissed off by now.) Though I have to admit that so far my knowledge of Japanese has amused the few Korean folk that I have said I speak to (I was hoping that if we didn't share one language maybe we'd share another.

Frugality tests continue. I intend to eat out very little to make up for my cable TV installation (though I suppose I should just view it as a 'sunk cost' and get on with my life. I'm putting my slim economics education to good use.)

But back to Korean. I've realized (realized? decided? really the same thing in life I think) that I need to learn the alphabet. so I can read. Supposedly one of the most ingeniously designed (so say the linguists).... I think I would be best served investing a little effort to learn it. Asking what everything says... every single time I think would make life pretty cumbersome. (I mean imagine this: me at a conbini with 4 different onigiri (samga-kimbap. is that right?) asking the guy who works there if there is deji gogi (the dreaded pork) in any/all of them. I think it's amusing/might fly for the first week or so but that's about it).

Alas. Back to my neighborhood. Useful places... like grocery stores, the like, don't really seem ...in abundance (Where can I buy trash bags? teiuka, I don't even know where I can throw out the trash even if I had trash bags.) other things? uhhh.... it's hilly.

If I were comparing it to Tokyo, I would say that the neighborhood is Omotesando/Aoyama, and that I live on the edge of it.

I still have no cell phone. The need to text. overtakes one's soul. hehehe.

Hopefully I will have one by tomorrow. I did, however, manage to successfully spot (and use!) a pay phone. (such ooooold technology!)

I start 'training' tomorrow. I think I get two days of training to teach a test I haven't taken in... about 9 years?

woot.

landed

So I have no real means of communication yet. No phone. No internet at home. But a few things I do have to point out.

Take a deep breath aaand...

A few signs I'm NOT in Japan:

As we wait for our luggage at the airport. all these luggage carts are pushed beyond the little floor signs that say "No luggage carts beyond this point."

On the street in Seoul, a middle aged woman is chomping down on a corn on the cob.


These things may seem little. But... they blow my mind.

Welcome to Korea.

:)