Monday, July 26, 2010
School's Out!!
School is out!
Well my life is alright, the new ward here seems alright, it is a little hard to get together since everyone is all over the place and I don't have a cell phone yet but one day!! It is really hot though most the time. I definitely sweat way more than I have in my life! Right now is kind of weird since my school is out for the week, which means I don't have anything planned, and the teachers that I would hang out with are all out of the country... so I have had some days where I go through days not speaking many words to anyone which is not my favorite. Things will be good, I think that it is a really special thing to be able to teach english to people, it isn't something that will save there life, but I do think it is something that will make it much more enjoyable and give them a special set of tools in the world. I think that having a deep motivation to serve is the best way that I will remain happy here in Korea. There will be times where I feel lonely, bored, and REALLY want to watch American sports, but at the very core doing something that helps someone and making it the primary motive is the best way that I have found to improve as a person. It will definitely be a growing time.
So as I alluded earlier no kids! So I have been trying to stay busy the best I can. So what I do, is think of something I need or a place I want to see, find out a way to get it, and then walk around that part of the city till I get bored, eat, and head home. Not too bad really. Tomorrow I am going to hike the mountain by my house. I have spent a lot of time trying to learn the Korean alphabet and feel like I can read a little bit. The sounds that the language makes stil sounds really foreign but it is getting better each day and that is all I can ask for. So I try to talk to people whenever I can on the subway or bus. I met a couple guys from France this week Benjamin and Guillobe(sp?). They were actually really fun to talk to, I gave them my facebook, and we made tentative plans to go see the DMZ this weekend. Facebook is really funny, it is really a nice thing actually to talk to someone briefly on the subway or bus, and then give them your name on facebook, and maybe meet up. I talk to some Korean girls it is really funny some of the reactions. I have found that they will never initiate a conversation, even if they like spill something on you they probably won't say a word. However, once you ask them something they seem to be pretty open. Some of the girls are really funny and kind of give you a weird look and wave you off, which is no big deal, but a lot of them will just talk your ear off which is definitely fun. I want to check out some of the dancing clubs here. LOL The french guys had some funny things to say about it, saying in broken english that it was impossible to make out with a Korean girl! They also said the sounds systems were really good but you are like packed in there and can't really move or talk. It sounds lame now that I type it out but I do want to experience a little bit of everything.
This last week I began teaching alone. It was mixed, some kids were really fun to teach and others weren't having it. As part of my teaching, each day I have an activity class for pre-school and kindergarden age kids. They are all a madhouse! The kids just go bonkers, alternating from being out of their seats, crying, and not doing what they are suppose to do... I started to keep a tally of kids that cry and put it on my desk, so far we are up to four kids, all in the activity class that have made it. Updates to follow heh. The rest of the kids had a test this week, so easy teaching, one class of review, one class of taking the test. LOL I found out there are websites that make you wordsearches and all you have to do is write in your list of words. So... the kids got wordsearches after their tests and they actually really like them. The teachers at our school try to give little prizes if the whole class does well on a spelling test or unit test etc. The prizes range from food to watching a you tube video to stickers and things like that. So a couple of my classes got a hundred this week, so I showed them a Kobe Bryant video. Oh man, I thought it was cool and so did the other boys in the class but I think that the girls were pretty bored :). I made them repeat that Kobe Bryant was the best basketball player and so just spreading the Lakers wherever I go! Another class got all perfect scores and so I gave them a penny each. It might sound like a lame prize, but the kids thought it was really cool! They asked how valuable it was and what it could buy and I told them nothing, and they didn't really believe me lol. Oh well they will find out soon enough.
Well I guess it is food time!!! I had a couple of new things, but I think I will choose Milkis. I am a little tired so I am going to turn it over to wikipedia on this one...
Milkis (Hangul:밀키스) is a soft drink produced by Lotte Chilsung, a Korean beverage company. It combines many of the common elements of traditional carbonated beverages such as corn syrup, sugar, and carbonated water with milk to create a creamy taste; its label proclaims "New feeling of soda beverage". Milkis is available in orange, strawberry, mango, melon and classic (regular) flavors. It is a popular beverage in South Korea, and it remains widely available worldwide.
I had a friend tell me it is like when they do the sprite with sherbet thing at church all the time but like in a soda and that was pretty apt for me. I think I would give it a 7 out of ten. Maybe something i could miss, not something I couldn't live without. I tried to post a picture at the bottom hopefully it worked, but I am super tired so good night!!!
Well my life is alright, the new ward here seems alright, it is a little hard to get together since everyone is all over the place and I don't have a cell phone yet but one day!! It is really hot though most the time. I definitely sweat way more than I have in my life! Right now is kind of weird since my school is out for the week, which means I don't have anything planned, and the teachers that I would hang out with are all out of the country... so I have had some days where I go through days not speaking many words to anyone which is not my favorite. Things will be good, I think that it is a really special thing to be able to teach english to people, it isn't something that will save there life, but I do think it is something that will make it much more enjoyable and give them a special set of tools in the world. I think that having a deep motivation to serve is the best way that I will remain happy here in Korea. There will be times where I feel lonely, bored, and REALLY want to watch American sports, but at the very core doing something that helps someone and making it the primary motive is the best way that I have found to improve as a person. It will definitely be a growing time.
So as I alluded earlier no kids! So I have been trying to stay busy the best I can. So what I do, is think of something I need or a place I want to see, find out a way to get it, and then walk around that part of the city till I get bored, eat, and head home. Not too bad really. Tomorrow I am going to hike the mountain by my house. I have spent a lot of time trying to learn the Korean alphabet and feel like I can read a little bit. The sounds that the language makes stil sounds really foreign but it is getting better each day and that is all I can ask for. So I try to talk to people whenever I can on the subway or bus. I met a couple guys from France this week Benjamin and Guillobe(sp?). They were actually really fun to talk to, I gave them my facebook, and we made tentative plans to go see the DMZ this weekend. Facebook is really funny, it is really a nice thing actually to talk to someone briefly on the subway or bus, and then give them your name on facebook, and maybe meet up. I talk to some Korean girls it is really funny some of the reactions. I have found that they will never initiate a conversation, even if they like spill something on you they probably won't say a word. However, once you ask them something they seem to be pretty open. Some of the girls are really funny and kind of give you a weird look and wave you off, which is no big deal, but a lot of them will just talk your ear off which is definitely fun. I want to check out some of the dancing clubs here. LOL The french guys had some funny things to say about it, saying in broken english that it was impossible to make out with a Korean girl! They also said the sounds systems were really good but you are like packed in there and can't really move or talk. It sounds lame now that I type it out but I do want to experience a little bit of everything.
This last week I began teaching alone. It was mixed, some kids were really fun to teach and others weren't having it. As part of my teaching, each day I have an activity class for pre-school and kindergarden age kids. They are all a madhouse! The kids just go bonkers, alternating from being out of their seats, crying, and not doing what they are suppose to do... I started to keep a tally of kids that cry and put it on my desk, so far we are up to four kids, all in the activity class that have made it. Updates to follow heh. The rest of the kids had a test this week, so easy teaching, one class of review, one class of taking the test. LOL I found out there are websites that make you wordsearches and all you have to do is write in your list of words. So... the kids got wordsearches after their tests and they actually really like them. The teachers at our school try to give little prizes if the whole class does well on a spelling test or unit test etc. The prizes range from food to watching a you tube video to stickers and things like that. So a couple of my classes got a hundred this week, so I showed them a Kobe Bryant video. Oh man, I thought it was cool and so did the other boys in the class but I think that the girls were pretty bored :). I made them repeat that Kobe Bryant was the best basketball player and so just spreading the Lakers wherever I go! Another class got all perfect scores and so I gave them a penny each. It might sound like a lame prize, but the kids thought it was really cool! They asked how valuable it was and what it could buy and I told them nothing, and they didn't really believe me lol. Oh well they will find out soon enough.
Well I guess it is food time!!! I had a couple of new things, but I think I will choose Milkis. I am a little tired so I am going to turn it over to wikipedia on this one...
Milkis (Hangul:밀키스) is a soft drink produced by Lotte Chilsung, a Korean beverage company. It combines many of the common elements of traditional carbonated beverages such as corn syrup, sugar, and carbonated water with milk to create a creamy taste; its label proclaims "New feeling of soda beverage". Milkis is available in orange, strawberry, mango, melon and classic (regular) flavors. It is a popular beverage in South Korea, and it remains widely available worldwide.
I had a friend tell me it is like when they do the sprite with sherbet thing at church all the time but like in a soda and that was pretty apt for me. I think I would give it a 7 out of ten. Maybe something i could miss, not something I couldn't live without. I tried to post a picture at the bottom hopefully it worked, but I am super tired so good night!!!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
1st week in Korea
Darn! Well I thought that I would have some pictures to share but it turns out I have an xD card and not an SD card! Any ideas how I can get it off of my camera? Let me know ASAP!!!!
Well I'll drop an update on you guys. So what a week! My head has really been swimming. This past week was all training, since next week I have to start teaching, which normally they have two weeks of training for you but I only get one. Apparently the kid I am replacing went crazy! Like really crazy! I only get details here and there but there was some sort of breakdown from a already kind of off kid. So that is the reason for all the rush and hub bub. So the first weekend was fun! Everyone from the school went on a retreat which I passed on because I was exhausted from the jet ride. I went on a super awesome adventure. First I went to a Korean restaurant, and with the help of my phrasebook I barely got out that I had no clue what the menu said, what the things were on the menu, if I knew the things that were there, I would have no clue about liking them or not, and that they should pick for me. This all was verbalized by me in about three words and pointing to the "What would you reccomend phrase" in my Korean book. So for my first meal on my own in Korea I had no clue what it was called. It turned out being some soup thing that you put rice, kimchi, and mystery items with an egg in it. It was fine, they brought some peppers for me to try and they were super spicy and tasty! Sidenote, being as there are so many new foods to try I am lowering my already pretty low pickiness and plan on eating every darn thing I can! So at the end of the meal I still had some (((At this point when writing the blog, I had to stop to go get Pizza School with my floormates Kelly and Becca!! Pizza School is Little Caesars on roids, 5,000 won (which at the current rate of 1200 won/dollar is a little over four dollars) for wayyy yummy pizza. It kicks Little Caesar square in the gonads.) leftover food. So I asked the Korean ladies who ran the restaurant for a to go box. So apparently in Korea, people don't have take out boxes. But I kept asking and pointing and gesturing and I got the message through. So they wrapped up the remainder of the food that I had and put it into a dish and sent it home to me. When I got home I took a closer look at the box and saw that it was actually a real dish instead of some sort of disposable dish. So now I got a dish.... which is nice.
So the kids were fun to watch and teach. Adam is apparently a completely foreign word to them. Whenever I tell them they have to say it a couple times. A-dom, Ate-m? Atom? Adom? Ate-am? Once they get this far they all realize, oh wait there is some Japanese character who I think is Atom but is some sort of rocketman. They ALL love that, then that sends them into a excited imitation of a man with rocket shoes.... great. The kids are anywhere from 6-16 in the classes I teach and definitely are interesting. You always go by Adam Teacher. Koreans in addresses and most things I guess start with the broadest category first. Interesting, but I am not sure if it is better. The kids are really sweet and I am sure to have lots of pictures etc. I teach about six classes of english monday through friday from 12:45 to 8:45 with breaks mixed in. Not too bad and there is some downtime throughout the day. Unfortunately I found out you can't wear jeans or shorts so I wore the same pair of slacks for four days lol. Oh well can't have everything.
I want to keep up with new foods that I am trying, so I will profile one Korean food per blog I think. Complete with picture and my personal rating :).
First,
Banana Milk!!!!
Dang will guess the picture is above.
Banana Milk was a prize for one of the classes that I shadowed. Unfortunately they didn't perform the requisite task so the teacher gave it to me and it was sweeeeet! It taste exactly like a banana that has been liquified with a super good texture yummmmm. Needless to say I have bought a ton of it! I know you shouldn't give a high rating right out of the gate but 10 out of 10! Delicious! Something I definitely think that I will miss when I would go home. So if anyone can help me with how to play songs on my blog and how to get pictures off my camera keeping in mind that I do not have the cord, that would be great! Alrighty See you next time!
Friday, July 9, 2010
1st Day in Korea
Hey everyone!
I wanted to set up my blog real quick so I can get in the habit so here we go! So I found a ride last minute that was ok with driving me from Arroyo Grande to LA at midnight Wednesday night lol. I was reallly grateful for the ride and wasn't sure what I would do if he was unavailable. We listened to my favorite late night radio show Coast to Coast with George Norrey (sp?). The show is about conspiracy/alien things and is without fail hilarious. They let people call in at two in the morning so I shouldn't have to tell you most of their calls/ideas are way off the wall and entertaining late at night. I got to the airport around three for my flight that left at 6:45. I went and got my things in line and was second in line, Sweet! But, that would stay that while for a long time since the terminal didn't begin to operate until four in the morning! BOO! I tried lying down and taking a nap... but I am fairly confident that it was not successful at all! Oh well. So finally got through at four, got rid of some bags, went to last inspection area so I could get to my gate. Well at LAX of all places the inspection places where they put you through the metal detector etc. was not open till Five!!! Yikes! So I tried to sleep in an even more uncomfortable spot which failed as well lol. So finally got to get through and was still there an hour for my flight to San Francisco before Korea. I laid down my things and was ready to sleep when some guy starts talking my ear off!!! LOL I was just not meant to sleep yet. He was really interested in talking about the dodgers lakers and other sports, and he was from Boston so I got to rub in the Laker's championship! So I eventually get on the plan and pass out for an hour.
Now we are in San Francisco! My last adventure in the U.S.! I sent out some last minute goodbyes and am really grateful for all my great friends! I will miss you guys a lot! Once on the plane I wanted to stay up and watch the first movie Date Night, with Steve Carell. I thought it was ok I think I just think that Steve Carell is super funny, after awhile I didn't care about the plot but still had fun with it. After the movie I took a nap which would be a recurring theme. The only highlights were me repeatedly waking up nearly/profusely drooling all over the two korean ladies on either side of me... that ones on me Korean ladies! Sorry bout that... I did have a really scary few seconds where I couldn't find my wallet. FOund it though and international crisis averted! The rest of the movies were either sucky or I was tired, the Last Song (Miley Cyrus No thanks), How to Train a Dragon which I would have loved, but I slept, and Ghost Writer which looked really boring. The plane ride took forever, I arrived in Korea on Friday at 3 p.m. Korea time. I left around midnight on Wednesday so needless to say I was exhausted and had only had naps. Once I got to Seoul some guy from the school got me a bus pass and sent me off on some bus. I was supposed to call the school director using this driver's phone. I don't know if it is standard in Korea, but this guy had three cell phones!? One pink, one purple, and one metallic grey. We tried calling the director on all three pretty much at the same time which seemed counterproductive, but who am I to judge. Oh btw, this guy told me his name was Mr. Jong and I had a really hard time understanding anything he said. Finally we found the bus and I was off with vague directions about which stop to get off at. Korean busses are sweet! They have LCD tvs with the news and what not, and thats how I learned Lebron James is going to Miami. LOL what a heartless punk! He ripped the heart out of Cleveland and I have an even smaller level of respect for him. Anywho we get to the stop and I tell the driver to help with my bags. Well he gets one of my two bags out and then goes to get back on the bus! I was like no two bags! Two bags!!! But he kept going! So I banged on the bus and he finally came back and got my other bag out, and then tried to but my first bag back on the bus! It was apparently difficult for him to comprehend that I had multiple bags yikes.... So I was met by another director from the school who took me to the school and got me some dinner which was called (Ja- Ja seum)? I have no clue how to spell it. But it was sweet and only like five bucks. Food is super super cheap, I saw a similar to sushi looking place for a thousand won (about a dollar) you had a huge roll of the stuff! After dinner I met a few of the people that are teachers here. They all seem really nice and not mormon lol. They invited me to go out but I was so exhausted I just went to bed. I'll pick it up from here later!!! See ya!
I wanted to set up my blog real quick so I can get in the habit so here we go! So I found a ride last minute that was ok with driving me from Arroyo Grande to LA at midnight Wednesday night lol. I was reallly grateful for the ride and wasn't sure what I would do if he was unavailable. We listened to my favorite late night radio show Coast to Coast with George Norrey (sp?). The show is about conspiracy/alien things and is without fail hilarious. They let people call in at two in the morning so I shouldn't have to tell you most of their calls/ideas are way off the wall and entertaining late at night. I got to the airport around three for my flight that left at 6:45. I went and got my things in line and was second in line, Sweet! But, that would stay that while for a long time since the terminal didn't begin to operate until four in the morning! BOO! I tried lying down and taking a nap... but I am fairly confident that it was not successful at all! Oh well. So finally got through at four, got rid of some bags, went to last inspection area so I could get to my gate. Well at LAX of all places the inspection places where they put you through the metal detector etc. was not open till Five!!! Yikes! So I tried to sleep in an even more uncomfortable spot which failed as well lol. So finally got to get through and was still there an hour for my flight to San Francisco before Korea. I laid down my things and was ready to sleep when some guy starts talking my ear off!!! LOL I was just not meant to sleep yet. He was really interested in talking about the dodgers lakers and other sports, and he was from Boston so I got to rub in the Laker's championship! So I eventually get on the plan and pass out for an hour.
Now we are in San Francisco! My last adventure in the U.S.! I sent out some last minute goodbyes and am really grateful for all my great friends! I will miss you guys a lot! Once on the plane I wanted to stay up and watch the first movie Date Night, with Steve Carell. I thought it was ok I think I just think that Steve Carell is super funny, after awhile I didn't care about the plot but still had fun with it. After the movie I took a nap which would be a recurring theme. The only highlights were me repeatedly waking up nearly/profusely drooling all over the two korean ladies on either side of me... that ones on me Korean ladies! Sorry bout that... I did have a really scary few seconds where I couldn't find my wallet. FOund it though and international crisis averted! The rest of the movies were either sucky or I was tired, the Last Song (Miley Cyrus No thanks), How to Train a Dragon which I would have loved, but I slept, and Ghost Writer which looked really boring. The plane ride took forever, I arrived in Korea on Friday at 3 p.m. Korea time. I left around midnight on Wednesday so needless to say I was exhausted and had only had naps. Once I got to Seoul some guy from the school got me a bus pass and sent me off on some bus. I was supposed to call the school director using this driver's phone. I don't know if it is standard in Korea, but this guy had three cell phones!? One pink, one purple, and one metallic grey. We tried calling the director on all three pretty much at the same time which seemed counterproductive, but who am I to judge. Oh btw, this guy told me his name was Mr. Jong and I had a really hard time understanding anything he said. Finally we found the bus and I was off with vague directions about which stop to get off at. Korean busses are sweet! They have LCD tvs with the news and what not, and thats how I learned Lebron James is going to Miami. LOL what a heartless punk! He ripped the heart out of Cleveland and I have an even smaller level of respect for him. Anywho we get to the stop and I tell the driver to help with my bags. Well he gets one of my two bags out and then goes to get back on the bus! I was like no two bags! Two bags!!! But he kept going! So I banged on the bus and he finally came back and got my other bag out, and then tried to but my first bag back on the bus! It was apparently difficult for him to comprehend that I had multiple bags yikes.... So I was met by another director from the school who took me to the school and got me some dinner which was called (Ja- Ja seum)? I have no clue how to spell it. But it was sweet and only like five bucks. Food is super super cheap, I saw a similar to sushi looking place for a thousand won (about a dollar) you had a huge roll of the stuff! After dinner I met a few of the people that are teachers here. They all seem really nice and not mormon lol. They invited me to go out but I was so exhausted I just went to bed. I'll pick it up from here later!!! See ya!
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