tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51949326117911937542024-03-05T03:44:20.837-08:00Kimchi QuestVitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-16607611075828430882010-11-03T08:25:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:17:51.907-07:00Horrible bloggerI'm on gchat with my sister and she mentions that I am a horrible blogger. Yes, I know. I apologize it's been so long. The blogosphere world can celebrate once more though because I'm finally posting an update. <br />
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My last post was in May so there is way too much to write about in detail. I'll have to keep this update brief. After coming back from Thailand/Laos/Cambodia/Malaysia, I started working for Wall Street Institute. Working for WSI has been a blessing, I actually look forward to going to work every day. I get to teach adults that really want to learn English, in an environment that is stable and fun. I worked for a bit near Samsung Station but then transferred to a WSI branch near Kangnam Station. The Kangnam area is probably the best place to work in in all of Korea because it's always fast paced, full of people, bright neon lights galore, chaotic, lots of food options, and near my apartment. I found a four bedroom apartment on craigslist.co.kr that's right near the Han River, literally a two minute walk. I share it with a French guy who's in Korea getting his masters. Lately, I've been teaching at Samsung, conducting a conversation class with 6 business people. It's super laid back and the lessons are completely up to me. I teach at WSI each weekday evening from 7:00pm until 10:00pm and on Saturdays. I've been doing odd jobs here and there like writing some material for WSI and conducting interviews for Samsung. </div>
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Seoul is absolutely great. I love living in a huge city that never sleeps. But, I've decided it's time for me to pick up and move on to the next thing. I'm returning to the USA December 22nd, right in time for Xmas. It's been a while since I've seen my parents, so this'll be nice. I'm looking for a job now, hopefully on the west coast, but haven't lined anything up just yet. </div>
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There is plenty of stuff about Korea I should write about but fortunately my friend Joe has been doing just that. Check out his blog, http://joeverdrive.tumblr.com/. He's a better writer than I am and has a better camera. He lives just one subway stop away, so we try and hang out when we can. </div>
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See you soon America!<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-10392094180137061392010-05-15T01:02:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:20:56.901-07:00Thailand - ราชอาณาจักรไทย (and I thought Korean was tough)I guess I like reading a lot more than writing. Sorry, I should have updated my blog much sooner, but better late than never.<br />
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I went traveling through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and a small stopover in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in April. Here are some of the stories from those travels.<br />
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I flew out of Incheon International on April 1st. Jon and I were pushing it close and were kind of late arriving to the airport. As we approached to check in for our flight, a Malaysian Airlines employee motioned for us to come over to the first class check in line (there was actually no one around). We told him were we were going and he said he had an offer for us. If I could change out of my shorts and put some pants on along with some shoes (I was wearing sandals), he'd upgrade us to first class for free. The problem was, I didn't bring any pants or shoes with me, I'm going to scorching hot SE Asia! I tried bribing him with my sweet, pink ray ban like knock off shades, but he upgraded us for free anyways. We got to fly first class. Nice way to start the trip.<br />
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After a layover in Kuala Lumpur, we landed in Bangkok and made our way to Khao San Road, which is the touristy "backpacker ghetto". Right off the bat, I was surprised with how modern, hectic, loud, and chaotic Bangkok was. The city is huge, about 15 million people, skyscrapers to be seen in every direction, and traffic is always a problem, so it took a while to get to our hostel. We got to our hostel, Kawin place, and after a quick Pad Thai bought on the street for about $1, we crashed for the night.<br />
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The next day we saw the Grand Palace, what seemed like a couple hundred Buddhas, and explored the city. If you followed the news at all, you know that that was about the time the red shirt protests began. The red shirts were demanding for the dissolution of the current government, accusing the current people in power of corruption, among other things. Our tuk tuk drivers, and locals we spoke to, insisted that these protests were to be peaceful. A few years ago, the yellow shirts protested and closed down both of the major airports, which crippled the heavily dependent tourist economy, so the red shirts did not want this to happen. Anyway, we could see protesters everywhere, but it was still pretty calm and seemed safe. More on that later.<br />
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The highlight of Bangkok for me was touring the Grand Palace. Our guide, a little old Thai man, would crack jokes every two minutes or so, but none of us got them. We did laugh, because he thought he was so funny, on the verge of chocking. I don't think he realized we were laughing at him, not with him. Either way, I learned a lot and saw a lot.<br />
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Besides the grand palace, I didn't like Bangkok at all. It was fantastic to see it and experience it, but the place was way to busy and in your face to be able to take it easy. For example, walking down Khao San Road, there are hordes of Indian men wearing flashy suits, sporting slicked back hair, trying to sell you a suit or two.<br />
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"Sir, you buy a suit. I'll give you good price, sir. Sir!"<br />
"No, thank you"<br />
"Sir, you will be handsome. Buy suit"<br />
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Less than five seconds later, the same type of thing happens, but with a new guy. These guys were like mosquitoes, unwilling to take no for an answer. Apparently, you can get pretty nice suits, custom made and with high quality materials, but I didn't want one!!! One time, sensing that a suit man was approaching, I simply said "I don't want a suit, man". He replied "Why do you assume I sell you suit?! Why? I wasn't even talking to you yet!" "Sorry, but if it walks like a duck..." "Why you say that!? I no sell you suit!" "Well, what were you going to sell me?" "F**k you, I no sell you suit" So I keep on walking. Half an hour later, as I was leaving the internet cafe, the same guy approaches me and offers me a suit for a good price. "Don't you remember me? You said you don't sell suits and that you wouldn't sell me anything?" The suit man, realizing that he had in fact talked to me earlier, says "I can sell you suit now. Best price, you want?" I didn't buy a suit.<br />
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We met up with two other friends from Korea, Nicole and Sarah, who had already been traveling for over a month, and traveled together for a while. We decided to leave Bangkok and go see a floating market about two hours west of the city. This required getting up at the early hour of 6:00am in order to beat traffic and the protesters, but alas, a hearty McDonalds breakfast put everything in order. (I want to try McDonalds in every country I go to. So does my brother Sasha). The floating market was nice. Get in a long boat with a scrappy looking motor hanging at the back, and drive around this market/village where people sell stuff I don't really want or need, but interesting to see nonetheless. I was most enthralled with the motors on these boats and the driveshafts sticking out of them, going into the water. It was like they tore a motor out of an old Corolla, attached a driveshaft with a propeller at the end, and viola, you've got yourself a motor boat. Speaking of Corollas, the majority of the cars I saw in Thailand, and Cambodia for that matter, were Toyotas. They were everywhere.<br />
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It took forever to get back to our hostel because of protesters blocking roads everywhere. We could see military checkpoints everywhere, but after what seemed like half a day of sitting in traffic, we got out and walked back, at which point we ran into another teacher from Korea, who we spent some time with! This teacher was preparing to go climb to base camp at Mt. Everest. Hopefully he made it. <br />
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After Bangkok, we headed for Cambodia. From Khao San Road, we took a mini-bus to the Cambodian border, which was also pretty chaotic and confusing. It took about an hour of standing in the blistering heat to get our passports stamped, but we were on our way soon enough to Siem Reap. As soon as we crossed the border, it was easy to tell that Cambodia is a much poorer country. Rickety looking stores, what looked like ill nourished cows, and trash were everywhere. Thailand looked like a spotless place compared to Cambodia. Recycling does not exist there, as was apparent from stuff lying around absolutely everywhere. Granted, having food on the table for your family is more important than making sure the plastic bottle you're drinking from ends up being recycled, but it was just an example of how different the place is.<br />
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Siem Reap is the town situated right next to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. We found a reasonably priced guest house (I think it was $7 a night) with AC, which was absolutely necessary. April is the hottest month of the year in south east Asia, with temperatures reaching about 45 degrees centigrade. I remember Sacrame<img alt="" src="file:///Users/vitaliydemyanik/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/Modified/2010/SE%20Asia/DSCN0017.JPG" />nto being unbearably hot, but this, for whatever reason, was worse. When I asked why the internet wasn't working at our guesthouse, the owner, with sweat dripping off his brow, pointed outside and said "Look. It is too hot for the internet. Maybe next month". I had no choice but had to take his word for it.<br />
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We bought a three day pass to the temples, which was $40 USD (US cash was accepted everywhere in Cambodia. I guess the US dollar is a lot more stable). The tuk tuk driver that had driven us to the guesthouse the day before came back again to drive us to the temples. We spent the next three days exploring this massive site, by first visiting the smallest temples around the perimeter and working up the biggest ones, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. We went to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat, which was surreal and definitely worth the 4:00am wake up. <br />
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Along the way to another temple, we stopped to feed some monkeys! Some of these furry guys were the definition of gross obesity, since hordes of tourists stuff them with bananas, bought from little Cambodian kids for less than a buck. Naturally, we couldn't help but do the same. <br />
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A highlight from the Cambodia trip was being invited to a Lunar New Year's party by a taxi driver, who happened to be a local police lieutenant. We had our tuk tuk driver, Jimmy, pick us up and drive us the one hour out of Siem Reap to the village where this cop lives. There were about 50 or so people at this shindig. They already had roasted a cow over an open fire and had plenty of food. Cheasy Cambodian music was blasting in all directions and these people loved talking to us. One thing about SE Asia is that they love saying "same, same, but different". Here is an example of how its used.<br />
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Jimmy, our tuk tuk driver, calls me over. BTW, I told Jimmy that my name is Jimmy too, but that's another story altogether. "Jimmy, come meet my father!"<br />
Me. "It's nice to meet you. Your son Jimmy here has been a very accommodating driver."<br />
Jimmy. "haha, yes"<br />
Five minutes later, Jimmy calls me over again.<br />
Jimmy. "Jimmy, meet my father!"<br />
Me. "Jimmy, I thought your father is that guy. You just introduced us five minutes ago. Am I mistaken?"<br />
Jimmy. "Same, same, but different"<br />
Me. "Same same, but different? No, you can only have one dad, which one is it?"<br />
Jimmy. "haha, same same, but different, Jimmy. Have some cow! Did you try our Cambodian cheese?" (the cheese did not look or taste like cheese at all. More like ground up alfalfa)<br />
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After Cambodia, Jon and I decided to completely change our plans, and decided to go back to Thailand because we heard that Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand, celebrates the new year in only the most memorable way. A three day long, city wide, water fight. We took a bus back to Bangkok, where it took a lot of haggling and negotiating to find a way to Chiang Mai. After only too many travel agents, we booked a flight through AirAsia, which have pretty cheap flights all over SE Asia. <br />
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Chiang Mai was a lot more to my liking, compared to Bangkok. The city has a laid back feel to it, people don't force suits down your throat, and the landscape is gorgeous. We arrived a few days before Songkram (the name of the new year festival about to happen) was to begin, so we booked a two day trek through the Thai jungle. This trek included riding elephants, hiking through mountains to a little village, seeing a long-neck village, jumping off of waterfalls, white water rafting, and bamboo river rafting. Besides Jon and I, our group consisted, coincidentally, another guy from Seattle and his Brazilian girlfriend, three girls from Ontario, who happened to live really close to Jon, an Austrian girl, two recent high school grad from England, and our tour guide, Khan. The three Canadian girls had somehow never in their lives gone hiking before. About a kilometer into the hike, one of the girls was puking while another was crying, begging to turn back. Bear in mind, its about 40 degrees and we are in the middle of the jungle. The only person knows how to get back to civilization is Khan, and we still have a few more hours of hiking to the village where we are to spend the night. Long story short, we got to the village, albeit later than expected. Along the way, Khan showed us what we could and could not eat; off of trees, from the ground, from rotting stumps, etc. I felt like I was Bear Grills. <br />
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Anyway, writing about this takes more time than expected. I'll try and finish soon. <br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-60386636112070169152010-03-31T07:53:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:21:02.844-07:00Things changeI've had a lot go on in the past few weeks. Here's what stands out the most.<br />
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* I don't work for JM English School anymore. :) I won't go into the details, but they let me go with positive recommendations and we parted amicably. I'm glad I don't work there anymore and have consequently lined up a new place of employment, Wall Street Institute. http://www.wallstreetinstitute.com/aboutWSI/overview.aspx<br />
I'll be teaching adults come May, which I think I'll enjoy quite a bit more.<br />
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* Last week, Anja and Sasha visited me for about a week. We did a lot of touristy stuff, doing a city bus tour, memorials, museums, quirky neighborhoods, etc. I was very happy to see them and spend some time with my siblings. I think they also did. Before Seoul, they spent a few days in Tokyo, which sounded amazing and sounded like Sasha really got a kick out of. I think I've now come to terms that my little brother is a grown person, which took a little getting used to. He also got into all the universities he applied to and I have no doubt he will do well in whichever one he chooses to go to. <br />
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* In light of the fact that I don't have a job for the month of April, I'm taking a backpacking adventure through the beautiful countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and maybe a stop in Vietnam. The itinerary includes Angkor Wat, the largest religious site in the world and where Tomb Raider was filmed, the wild jungles of Laos, and Ko Tao, arguably the mecca of scuba diving in the world. I leave tomorrow morning with my Canadian friend Jon. We will be meeting up with some other friends along the way and I can't wait to see what South East Asia has to offer.<br />
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For some reason, blogger.com won't allow me to upload pictures. Hopefully my sister will soon. Otherwise, I'll have to do it in May.<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-40407642151409950132010-03-05T21:46:00.000-08:002011-09-19T12:21:11.280-07:00PijjaKoreans have a hard time pronouncing some of our sounds, like the letter z. Instead of Jesus, it's more like "Jejush". Pizza is more like "pija". My name comes out "Bitari" instead of Vitaliy. I understand though. For the longest time, I couldn't get it why my parents couldn't say things in English the way my siblings and I could. It was so easy for us! Now, when I try to say things in Korean, Koreans often have to ask a few times because I, apparently, can't say it properly and the way they say it. Making sure you're going to the right part of the city is especially crucial when in a cab because there are so many neighborhoods that can be mispronounced.<br />
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Another thing I understand now is that learning a language was sooooo much easier when I was younger. It just came to me. Learning to speak Korean is going to be harder than I thought.<br />
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I loved pizza the moment I bit into a slice and the same remains true today. Fortunately, Papa Johns expanded to Korea and they taste pretty much the same here. Koreans do make a few weird tweaks to their pizza that are just wrong. For example, there is a pizza franchise here called Pizza School that is really cheap, starting at 5000 won for a pizza, which is roughly $4.50USD. They have something called a Deousche pizza with sausages (there are lots of spelling mistakes here, it's supposed to be Deutsche guys), sweet potato, pizza with chicken wings on it as the topping, and another one with I don't even know what as the topping but mayonnaise as the sauce. Almost every pizza has corn on it too. Fortunately, there are some pizzas at Pizza School that taste pretty good. My favorite is bulgogi, which is Korean for beef.<br />
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This picture is of a Papa Johns delivery man with a portable credit card reader. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJLyAO-7juuzESQSlFVCntq408pNovwQpkKDQqhqEvgTQlaA7KGajbmZqoXxSb_Gzry-lYth3QAzEGgAZJlmWMA6onCdrHFp59qjCdUiXQpTlgcchBb81xeH78msGOkBQftcy_0z5EzQ/s1600-h/IMG_0700.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445395041086655986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJLyAO-7juuzESQSlFVCntq408pNovwQpkKDQqhqEvgTQlaA7KGajbmZqoXxSb_Gzry-lYth3QAzEGgAZJlmWMA6onCdrHFp59qjCdUiXQpTlgcchBb81xeH78msGOkBQftcy_0z5EzQ/s320/IMG_0700.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
A delivery bike for Sta Sera, an Italian restaurant in Gangnam.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYeybhac7z-Gj6FFYtJUGXd0kJPAM4gu_CsNosmRgG2dlS29nUHd3wxKO_o452W5HGpLyjJHwVD0TlFcbbcJBWpYoyZsTCm7rHvSSxg_KQ-wMWC1Z2SaqPykqcZ_E5o6cJ23YzxXCRLM/s1600-h/IMG_0694.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445395059437390306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYeybhac7z-Gj6FFYtJUGXd0kJPAM4gu_CsNosmRgG2dlS29nUHd3wxKO_o452W5HGpLyjJHwVD0TlFcbbcJBWpYoyZsTCm7rHvSSxg_KQ-wMWC1Z2SaqPykqcZ_E5o6cJ23YzxXCRLM/s320/IMG_0694.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Below we have Mandoo. It's kind of like Ukrainian pelmeni, stuffed with a mix of beef and seafood or kimchi. Really cheap too at only 3000 won. Which reminds me of something else the rest of America should really pick up on. When paying for things, the tax is included in the advertised price. No one likes messing around with change, so Koreans keep it simple. If something says 3000 won, you pay 3000 won. Not 3000 plus tax. Makes life a little less complicated.<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-53268811605623056052010-02-28T05:26:00.000-08:002011-09-19T12:21:19.628-07:00So much to do, so little time!My blog has become a bit quiet. Sorry about that. Perhaps I'm not a writer, or perhaps I've been preoccupied with other things. Perhaps a bit of both.<br />
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The past two months have been going well, albeit very, very cold. It's finally getting warmer and I couldn't be happier. I did go snowboarding twice, which was great. Coming to Korea, I basically gave up on the idea of hitting the slopes but turns out Koreans love racing down the mountain almost as much as I do. I went to Yongpyong Ski Resort, which is the largest resort in the country. I also went to Vivaldi Ski park on Lunar New Year weekend, which was cool but the park was the smallest one I've been to in my life.<br />
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I'm not an expert snowboarder by any means but compared to most Koreans, I'm Shaun White (he won gold for us in halfpipe). The mountains they have here are nothing compared to what we have back home. I'm attaching a few pics for your viewing pleasure.<br />
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Right before I left for the Philippines, I was Santa for all the kindergarten students at my school. They loved it! I wore shades so that they wouldn't be able to tell who I was.<br />
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What else. I'm playing ball hockey now with a bunch of waygooks (Korean for foreigners). I've never played hockey before, so I've got a lot of learning to do. It's pretty fun, a great work out, and so far I love it. Below is a video from the rookie only game. This was all the first timers playing, with the captains of each team scouting us out to later draft the players they want. Check out cbhk.org for info on the league.<br />
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One of my best friends has decided to move to Korea and become a teacher, which is great news for me. I lived with Joe for three years while in college and having a good friend here will only make living in Korea better. Here's another video he took of us eating galbi. I eat at this restaurant at least once a week. We call it Chuck's Beef Strips. The owner's name is difficult to pronounce for us, so I asked him if I could give him an English name. He was all for it and after some careful thought, I gave him the name Chuck because he reminds me of Chuck Norris. He's well built, stocky, and can probably kick some butt, just like Chuck Norris. The name caught on and everyone I know that goes here calls him Chuck.<br />
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There's plenty of other things to write about but I have to go. 'Til next time!<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-4802239324576217892010-01-13T05:33:00.000-08:002011-09-19T12:21:28.886-07:00The Philippines!Happy New Year to everyone! This year, I had the opportunity to spend Christmas and ring in the new year on the tropical island of Boracay. The island, one of over 7,000 in the Philippines, was voted one of the most beautiful in the world by Yahoo travel and I can attest to its ranking being so high. This place was great.<br />
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I left Seoul with 8 other friends on Christmas eve and landed in Manila an hour before the 25th. I booked a hostel near the airports for us, which cost $5.70 for the night per person. We spent the night there and flew out of the domestic airport for the town of Kalibo, which was about an hour's flight from Manila. After landing, we took an hour and a half bus ride to the port of Caticlan. Caticlan actually has a little landing strip, but its been closed down due to a landing accident a few weeks ago. This is according to the Filipino man I was sitting next too. Apparently, domestic flights don't have the same safety measures as international flights. Not the most reassuring thing to hear, but whatever, when have I ever been afraid of something like a little airplane flight.<br />
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Once we got to the ferry terminal, we were directed away from the port to the "luxury private" ferry boat. There was nothing luxurious about this thing. Basically, if you want to get to Boracay, you have to take a little ferry, which is half built from bamboo poles, for a 15 minute ride. Boracay isn't very far from the main island (I wasn't able to figure out what constitutes a main island) but there are no bridges going here. Transportation is very water based. After hitting the beach in our ferry boat, we had to jump into the water, with our luggage over our heads, and wade on over to the beach. There, we hired a van/truck/vehicle thing. I felt like a sardine sitting in the back of this windowless, bumpy, third world truck. The van dropped me, Jon, and Kevin off at our hostel, Trafalgar Cottages. The girls decided to get a hostel with AC. Being the rugged men that we are, we thought an $8/night room would be just fine. Anyway, the hostel owner was a really nice British lady (Trafalgar...can you make the connection?) who met her Filipino husband while volunteering for the UN in Africa. After unloading our stuff in our room, we met up with the rest of our group and had a predictably fantastic seafood themed dinner. Unpredictably, we had this at a Mexican restaurant, which was recommended by the girls' hostel owner, who was from New Zealand.<br />
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Boracay is a pretty small island, about 9 km in length and only about 1 km across. White beach is the main beach, which stretches for almost the entire length of the island on the side that is protected from the ocean winds. The sand is absolutely wonderful and doesn't get hot in the sun at all. The water, a perfectly cool, clear, and refreshing temperature, could not have been better. Wading around on the beach knee deep, I could see tropical fish swimming around me.<br />
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A few things that really struck me over the course of this 8 day adventure was how nice Filipinos were. No one would bump into me, jump in front of me while waiting in line for something, or rush me like people often do in fast-paced Seoul. In addition to speaking Tagalog, Filipinos also speak English, which was convenient and a nice change from the charades I've grown accustomed to in Korea when trying to get my point across. The people are much poorer though, compared to Korea or the US. I got to see where the locals live, and a lot of these homes seemed like places I could build with my own two hands. Definitely a different world.<br />
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Another thing that was surprising but really cool was how diverse all of the vacationers were. There were people from all over the world. I met people from Norway, France, Russia, UK, Korea, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Poland and overheard Indians, Africans, South Americans. The majority of people vacationing on the island were non-Filipinos.<br />
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One of the days, we went to a beach called Bulabog Beach, which apparently is one of the most famous beaches in the world for kite surfing. The sport, which I had never seen before, consists of a snowboard like board strapped to a persons feet and a parachute pulling the body across the water. Bulabog beach is on the opposite side of white beach and has strong winds, which is perfect for the sport. There were literally hundreds of kite boarders surfin' up a storm. We just stood in awe watching the action for over an hour before finally moving on, it was that cool. I was told the sport is very difficult and believe it, based on the couple of brave souls clearly still attempting to control the free-willing parachutes doing what they please.<br />
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One side note: Korean tourists were the easiest to spot on the island. Boracay is a popular destination for Koreans, especially for newlyweds. I've learned that once in a relationship, Korean women pretty much dress their men from head to toe. Vacation gear entails wearing matching outfits, which was pretty funny to us. Peace signs are ubiquitous when taking pictures. I also saw a Korean girl driving an ATV crash into a parked moped. Hilarity ensued.<br />
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I took an island hopping tour one of the days with my group of friends and a couple other teachers we ran into that were mutual friends. The tour consisted of going to an island that had some caves to explore, a nice beach, snorkeling, another island with an all you can eat seafood buffet, some more snorkeling, and then back to White Beach. While coming to our second snorkeling spot, we asked our guides if it was deep enough to dive. We were told that of course its deep enough, dive right in. Turned out it wasn't, as I got a nice cut on my foot from the coral reef right below the boat. Apparently, corals grow under a persons skin so I had to clean out my wound that night, which turned out to be a bit of nuisance. Be careful where you dive! (my foot is fine now)<br />
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There is only one road on Boracay, that runs the length of the island, which is full of tuk-tuks running around. These things were great. A tuk-tuk is simply a moped with a side car attached that will fit as many people as are willing to get on. Safety didn't really seem like a priority, which Jon experienced first hand when he fell off of one them. I had never been on one of these before but I can't wait to get on one again!<br />
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I don't know if I'll ever be able to beat the new years I had. There were fireworks along the entire stretch of White Beach that lasted for about half an hour. Very memorable.<br />
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We left Boracay at the horrible hour of 4am on January 2nd. This time, we were able to use the official port and didn't have to go into the water...getting onto the ferry boat. Getting off was a different story. I don't know what happened, but the ferry couldn't get close enough to the shore for whatever reason and we were about 25 meters away from dry land. Jon and I were the last two to get off the boat and when I stepped out of the enclosed passenger area, I had to rub my eyes because I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. Everyone that had been on the boat was being carried by little Filipino men on their shoulders. Since we were still kind of far out, there were skinny and what looked like malnourished men in their 50's hoisting people, which held their luggage above their heads, onto their shoulders and walking them to shore. I couldn't help but laugh. A kind looking man tugged on my arm, directing me to jump onto his shoulders. I looked at him in disbelief and said "thank you, but I don't want to break your back". He tugged on my arm harder but I just went ahead and jumped into the water. The man was probably 5'2" and 130 pounds! A little water never hurt anyone, so Jon and I were the only ones that waded to the shore on our own two feet. This last ferry experience was probably my favorite part of the entire trip.<br />
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The travel back to Korea went without hiccups, and before I knew it, I was back in Korea. Cold, snowy, freezing, Korea. The weather went from 33 degrees Celsius to -15. This January has seen the largest snow fall since Korea started recording weather. And it is soooooo cold here. It hit -20 Celsius a couple of times. It feels like someone punches you in the lungs when stepping outside.<br />
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On another note, a friend of mine from Seattle visited. We both worked on a final GIS project in Geography my senior year and have since become pretty good acquaintances. He now works for a Korean bank in Seattle and came here for business but crashed at my place. He is actually Korean-American, having emigrated with his family to Washington when he was 5 years old.<br />
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Below are some pictures from my trip.<br />
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The people I went with at the airport on Christmas day. 4 Americans, 5 Canadians.<br />
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This is the "luxury" ferry boat we took to Boracay.<br />
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The crew on the way to the island.<br />
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Boracay sand castle<br />
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Seafood!<br />
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Paradise<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPoVxU_rNbROmmMZ0NQsas9ODqgh94isztaNm3EFBRHp4Pt-Y4Bgaiv1hSH8mONo0tCYfYjVtgT4q31D8OIRWnPnMw1PZ1jNp92S6wh2B14GdNlxOMRwJxReAUd8_4e4QNN1Cj7eFITI/s1600-h/Boracay20"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426241084489664338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPoVxU_rNbROmmMZ0NQsas9ODqgh94isztaNm3EFBRHp4Pt-Y4Bgaiv1hSH8mONo0tCYfYjVtgT4q31D8OIRWnPnMw1PZ1jNp92S6wh2B14GdNlxOMRwJxReAUd8_4e4QNN1Cj7eFITI/s320/Boracay20" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Tuk-tuks<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTQ7EBiw-INsbvp_5DZm-sZniOc_Hiq1iVM0rU3wwjNKLBKg3kdNeVkM1jAeXYGlP6kTo2vcltJjTZtj8gA-3ivYsqiNOAzKtk4DIFDQ3UXQsANrmT9oCG1PeaAUWiU0okSy_X3vcPHo/s1600-h/Boracay19"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426241021597814402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTQ7EBiw-INsbvp_5DZm-sZniOc_Hiq1iVM0rU3wwjNKLBKg3kdNeVkM1jAeXYGlP6kTo2vcltJjTZtj8gA-3ivYsqiNOAzKtk4DIFDQ3UXQsANrmT9oCG1PeaAUWiU0okSy_X3vcPHo/s320/Boracay19" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Bulabog beach<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZGkLSiD7eaVgqaEjlpWLgG-DjiflpHBuE6qLGLbPREWz37YPblPCTzBD4afR0X6GdQ9pztSyG7PInkXvtedI8S2yKQOmpFtUu-yh1gLr27Gq-oHFPBBF0x9plEC3Cz6dhNGGZw9wMsA/s1600-h/Boracay18"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240941005960226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZGkLSiD7eaVgqaEjlpWLgG-DjiflpHBuE6qLGLbPREWz37YPblPCTzBD4afR0X6GdQ9pztSyG7PInkXvtedI8S2yKQOmpFtUu-yh1gLr27Gq-oHFPBBF0x9plEC3Cz6dhNGGZw9wMsA/s320/Boracay18" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Snorkeling<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoKSGI1bV_7yeEHqo4K4AdK2QajH67dflWaU5y86ui8mW926QPwc4oYal0wJAeEkQeka2qQwAFlKTztgp9rIrVOdeh6dNDrT4jo7-jG4PHVCoe08wbPaQ_SERRazZlw5u85PjZ_84d34/s1600-h/Boracay16"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240867508132322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoKSGI1bV_7yeEHqo4K4AdK2QajH67dflWaU5y86ui8mW926QPwc4oYal0wJAeEkQeka2qQwAFlKTztgp9rIrVOdeh6dNDrT4jo7-jG4PHVCoe08wbPaQ_SERRazZlw5u85PjZ_84d34/s320/Boracay16" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Ice cream man coming out to our snorkeling boat<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_aDpZx0k1CKxnMWNRiJOkCZ4FDQaiVe0RC6Xljj-zuxPv9P64HILYL8r5q6nLHWQ2tWVRNdBIF6UvMmEMk1pkasqCg-LsaitRHh5WDb4-BBb9yzvpCFd6rCb-WXLXoM76nzc2Q3UapXE/s1600-h/Boracay15"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240794280150498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_aDpZx0k1CKxnMWNRiJOkCZ4FDQaiVe0RC6Xljj-zuxPv9P64HILYL8r5q6nLHWQ2tWVRNdBIF6UvMmEMk1pkasqCg-LsaitRHh5WDb4-BBb9yzvpCFd6rCb-WXLXoM76nzc2Q3UapXE/s320/Boracay15" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Filipino kids dancing on the boat and singing a Korean pop song!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWz-eZ8XXHYuBf2Np7ol9lbCcYY4sVT4LMpxxEh23CEorJiItBIhJtxZunkBheptmkDIA8B0uvPMDg8GkkxV2O2NYfUPUyrG0Ue5cSnretGA9qdw6xED9fLkCdSDLyJBXd4-A3-iyQF8/s1600-h/Boracay14"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240704474837218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWz-eZ8XXHYuBf2Np7ol9lbCcYY4sVT4LMpxxEh23CEorJiItBIhJtxZunkBheptmkDIA8B0uvPMDg8GkkxV2O2NYfUPUyrG0Ue5cSnretGA9qdw6xED9fLkCdSDLyJBXd4-A3-iyQF8/s320/Boracay14" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
A cave on one of the islands<br />
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Island hoping<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAT-tQI-ty7XL3XBJpP7-2VPhMNAEpTh3DFzwgAB1YzR9ACEprXVkm1BcQ7VYVn051NuVFPQDBqrhe2Vx2qfWHk9SJmTdG2j6fdPv6EiRR292ZPhyphenhyphennhsjk-yY5tdvIl0uW39aZZdXegsc/s1600-h/Boracay11"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240513912460610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAT-tQI-ty7XL3XBJpP7-2VPhMNAEpTh3DFzwgAB1YzR9ACEprXVkm1BcQ7VYVn051NuVFPQDBqrhe2Vx2qfWHk9SJmTdG2j6fdPv6EiRR292ZPhyphenhyphennhsjk-yY5tdvIl0uW39aZZdXegsc/s320/Boracay11" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Pretty nice<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfm6gqYF1U_jVpirkgblLgguyahMv8B2T6ykv9DGDTbJPSEccH_-3xzZynFZfG3bJM4lG8dmuWVBzmo2k4aY9peJik-ihKhj5sefllQFOSMtnnu9Jn0g0KeMpqsaPPiB-3Nqruw0vqjjo/s1600-h/Boracay10"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240442402849922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfm6gqYF1U_jVpirkgblLgguyahMv8B2T6ykv9DGDTbJPSEccH_-3xzZynFZfG3bJM4lG8dmuWVBzmo2k4aY9peJik-ihKhj5sefllQFOSMtnnu9Jn0g0KeMpqsaPPiB-3Nqruw0vqjjo/s320/Boracay10" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
The view from a ferry boat<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrhbYnKXiq0zontpd3YSGNf38vZZWKqZMElLPo9WxC0wxoMPkTdwHoxuDbNwR4QtSVXzpfAy63eBZzyxJPLnrgcgBGWIHidDNS4EYzRmhdrMKJL-_7Yle231mDzWZxxBMxej9BBQLV_k/s1600-h/Boracay9"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240375841339122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrhbYnKXiq0zontpd3YSGNf38vZZWKqZMElLPo9WxC0wxoMPkTdwHoxuDbNwR4QtSVXzpfAy63eBZzyxJPLnrgcgBGWIHidDNS4EYzRmhdrMKJL-_7Yle231mDzWZxxBMxej9BBQLV_k/s320/Boracay9" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
The sunsets were unreal<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCfGWb8smhyphenhyphen89bLOODMtNkRFUHwEdQFFaKGDQOblmB5JJDnY-EF80QiXSKtpwOFO7GKqAk-_kmwJzX7c4bu9N4x-tJpgZ5v3qk6QqWRmGlQFcx45k_TCT6o3yc5kassIXsZOatcw7bKo/s1600-h/Boracay7"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240286637743042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCfGWb8smhyphenhyphen89bLOODMtNkRFUHwEdQFFaKGDQOblmB5JJDnY-EF80QiXSKtpwOFO7GKqAk-_kmwJzX7c4bu9N4x-tJpgZ5v3qk6QqWRmGlQFcx45k_TCT6o3yc5kassIXsZOatcw7bKo/s320/Boracay7" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
White beach<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPJc0ZfIzFIjcY-RROSxz9VkbLFJ9nPU4BbrflX0iFCQRBSkW9Vn6ny-IGzm0b5wtiLkrYjMbwenqDLCwQmgJUPmAIPNO9lXYJkTREZe2uihbB9Xu9qX_d3U5OJtwG-Sd35qx0zBGTGk/s1600-h/Boracay5"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426240206244785538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPJc0ZfIzFIjcY-RROSxz9VkbLFJ9nPU4BbrflX0iFCQRBSkW9Vn6ny-IGzm0b5wtiLkrYjMbwenqDLCwQmgJUPmAIPNO9lXYJkTREZe2uihbB9Xu9qX_d3U5OJtwG-Sd35qx0zBGTGk/s320/Boracay5" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
My buddy Yo (that's his name) visiting from Seattle<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-55847186160742450832009-12-15T05:44:00.000-08:002011-09-19T12:21:35.998-07:00Ho-ho-ho, I'm a Gorilla?Christmas time is near and the festive spirit can be felt in the air in Seoul, but no where near what its like in America. At school the other day, I joked to my second grade class that if they didn't do all of their homework, I would call Santa Claus and rat 'em out. No cool Christmas presents this year kids! The moment they heard this threat, a reaction occurred that I really did not expect. These kids are 8 year olds, and they still believe in a Santa! They wanted to know how I knew him, what he was like, does he really speak Korean, was I lying (I reassured them I met him personally in Finland), if he could please bring them a Nintendo DS/some Pokemon toy/a new cell phone (most of the toys were heavily technology based. Each kid here has a cell phone), and other questions I can't remember. I then asked them, how does he get into your apartments on Christmas Eve? One of the girls exclaimed "through the chimney!", but before I could help direct my question another kid blurted out "but we don't have chimneys here! Does he know our apartment codes?" After some discussion amongst my little pupils, the consensus was that Old Saint Nick does in fact know their apartment codes.<br />
<br />
The next day, I had one of other teachers call me on my cell phone because I had told the second graders that I have Santa's cell phone number. When they saw it was "Santa Claus" on the caller ID, they had to talk to him. "Santa" reminded them that not completing their English homework would result in last year's Samsung or LG toy instead of this years cool, new one. Needless to say, the students are looking forward to Christmas. One thing to note is that my third graders did not fall for my knowing Santa. I guess that's about the age where they realize Santa is in the same boat as Spiderman, Superman, and King Kong; they don't exist.<br />
<br />
Which leads me to another thing. I've been called a lot of things by my students in my short tenure as a teacher. Here they are, in no particular order (all of these are typically screamed by kids):<br />
<br />
* Supermaaaaan! (A fellow teacher told a group of Kindergartners that's what I actually am. They're 5 year olds. haha)<br />
* Chinaman! Chinaman! (why? I have no idea)<br />
* Koreaman! Koreaman! (I told a few of them I can speak Korean. When 'proved' it by saying a few phrases, I had them convinced I'm actually a Korean in disguise)<br />
* Gorillaman! or Monkeyman! (I have a slight beard right now, and this is a big deal since I'm told its harder for Korean men to grow facial hair. The kids are terrified of touching my facial hair. On the other hand, they love to come and 'pet' my arm hair. For some odd reason, they can't get enough of this. When it was still warm and I wore shorts, they loved pulling on my leg hair.)<br />
* Ajashi! Ajashi! (In Korean, Ajashi is a term for a married man. Now, why they call me this? No clue. I think it might be the facial hair.)<br />
* Pom-Pom (A Cat's name from a book we read in a Kindergarten class)<br />
* Oookraeeen! (Ukraine. Two of my kindergartner's are moving to Ukraine in January because of their father's work. I'm not sure what he does, but these are not poor kids, so I imagine they'll be doing well in Ukraine. Also, talk about coincidence)<br />
<br />
These are but a few of the nicknames I've heard. I'm sure there will be more.<br />
<br />
We are taking pictures will all of our students to send to their parents as Christmas cards. Here are two pics with two of my favorite Kindergarten students.<br />
Dorothy<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSmQiffwQRTy6Y6vgZtXa_dS1gRUI_1jcGjKam_9j4-27pDArUAmUiWTArR6un9oxvTJrHSLV5KmzOTMcaVPSIxdLBreRUe7t1D8US_oNLGmwg4AaH3tMszyjpPBXp0WWzVurtDXmUWQ/s1600-h/DSC04032.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415468039201723330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSmQiffwQRTy6Y6vgZtXa_dS1gRUI_1jcGjKam_9j4-27pDArUAmUiWTArR6un9oxvTJrHSLV5KmzOTMcaVPSIxdLBreRUe7t1D8US_oNLGmwg4AaH3tMszyjpPBXp0WWzVurtDXmUWQ/s320/DSC04032.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Edward<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC648pMCQjZxLwweq3cDwp6Ua-lmnVdL37THI4__kQVTAld2TfuSM1pc7zUjhEQmP_IPCT53Nk7RnVhwrBpbx2dQwEvwmCz48Yi7g6YBas8KrA4WCTkgr0Itak-Tzm_rMNs3AagVGZFKc/s1600-h/DSC03865.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415467880641338130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC648pMCQjZxLwweq3cDwp6Ua-lmnVdL37THI4__kQVTAld2TfuSM1pc7zUjhEQmP_IPCT53Nk7RnVhwrBpbx2dQwEvwmCz48Yi7g6YBas8KrA4WCTkgr0Itak-Tzm_rMNs3AagVGZFKc/s320/DSC03865.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
BTW, my fourth graders are NOT as cute as these little people. :)<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-84054509725237336652009-12-06T04:37:00.000-08:002009-12-06T06:11:42.170-08:00Being thankfulI've past the three month mark of living in Korea. This is the longest I've been out of the United States in my life (besides Ukraine, of course). A few things I want to update the blog about, including Thanksgiving.<br /><br />Seeing how this is my first Thanksgiving away from home, the other teachers and I got together to celebrate Turkey day. In preparation for the day, each person was to prepare a dish for this potluck dinner of ours. The week before, I went to one of the six Costco stores in Korea. Inside, the place was nearly identical to the Costcos in America. The main differences were that there were two levels and half of the food being sold was food no one would be interested in at home. Frozen octopus tentacles sold in bulk probably wouldn't sell like hot cakes.<br /><br />We decided Chicken would have to be the Turkey substitute because a frozen Turkey costs about $70 here, and a ready-to-go chicken is less than $7. We got three and a pumpkin pie. For the dinner, I decided to make the Ukrainian version of potato salad, Olivye. We also had mashed potatoes, Ceasar salad, glazed carrots, stuffing, fruit salad, deviled eggs, bruschetta bread, steamed broccoli, and lots of chicken. For not having any ovens to work with, the dinner turned out fantastic.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbaSMvjKkJEQPwa6BK2AIDF7uvkYuWJyoEAdRy45qrrwQyx5HbBwZXk8LmmwCVoWEkQuVJCc5Ni1S2RJTp8L4aA1HPMgYy7RMe2gnBN2ywPB1bpE_R5UnrVLLUlFUIQX4WxD8ztHavtI/s1600-h/14238_540581005786_161500321_32092455_5201137_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbaSMvjKkJEQPwa6BK2AIDF7uvkYuWJyoEAdRy45qrrwQyx5HbBwZXk8LmmwCVoWEkQuVJCc5Ni1S2RJTp8L4aA1HPMgYy7RMe2gnBN2ywPB1bpE_R5UnrVLLUlFUIQX4WxD8ztHavtI/s320/14238_540581005786_161500321_32092455_5201137_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412119963037633506" border="0" /></a><br />This is the "family" away from home.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Qd8VNAN3hip-um5Yp0M397S8sVU9BxnGyZUW6KEDk1BKPnJ_aW0mAcACtVFg9xYxklmgJYN1uEjD2FqzZPKA5mVjh2mKW2RxFm8WFmeDAjddWIk4oyFl9QISFy5D00h_fgfhGorrFX8/s1600-h/14238_540581030736_161500321_32092460_3958626_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Qd8VNAN3hip-um5Yp0M397S8sVU9BxnGyZUW6KEDk1BKPnJ_aW0mAcACtVFg9xYxklmgJYN1uEjD2FqzZPKA5mVjh2mKW2RxFm8WFmeDAjddWIk4oyFl9QISFy5D00h_fgfhGorrFX8/s320/14238_540581030736_161500321_32092460_3958626_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412122894558422690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Last weekend, I went to a Korean co-worker's wedding. The wedding was held at a building specifically for weddings and was incredibly nice. Chloe, who is about 30 years old, met her husband while studying English in California. The reception was very short, lasting only about 25 minutes, but that was fine since everything was in Korean. We were able to take a picture with the bride, although as you can see I stick out like a giant compared to Ellie, another co-worker of mine.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFlwPYqCSn1jsvY5FDPRp55swozx9nPG5qKZC1f4sDg2rpiZVZfL3BHaLHhDq53QLEUmwjagVirvvWmiy-LvZ90pTMkqEnA3XgSLczkFEPszFUUMy6Ypl8MH4MuJqXQDW_QAzqxbbyfnI/s1600-h/14238_540581010776_161500321_32092456_2283519_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFlwPYqCSn1jsvY5FDPRp55swozx9nPG5qKZC1f4sDg2rpiZVZfL3BHaLHhDq53QLEUmwjagVirvvWmiy-LvZ90pTMkqEnA3XgSLczkFEPszFUUMy6Ypl8MH4MuJqXQDW_QAzqxbbyfnI/s320/14238_540581010776_161500321_32092456_2283519_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412122823745024162" border="0" /></a><br />The ceremony was an "American" style event that really didn't seem much different from anything back home. The most notable difference was the mothers and grandmothers wearing traditional Korean dresses. Other than that, the most notable difference was that it was all in Korean.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglytKdLineoAv0hhCHD27CP_ya5mxvVFG0uk7MZJoegmtsWe2zQNa6jDR7UyprRB9mhyrw7-nJF0r_tCLf6ru0URKU9__B2O1kAHBgQ2ECoQRQbaRUMgbH3NSuJlvbLa1yt22HdDfdSSc/s1600-h/14238_540581035726_161500321_32092461_5496462_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglytKdLineoAv0hhCHD27CP_ya5mxvVFG0uk7MZJoegmtsWe2zQNa6jDR7UyprRB9mhyrw7-nJF0r_tCLf6ru0URKU9__B2O1kAHBgQ2ECoQRQbaRUMgbH3NSuJlvbLa1yt22HdDfdSSc/s320/14238_540581035726_161500321_32092461_5496462_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412123611612496386" border="0" /></a><br />Natalie, Becky, and I were the three that went to the wedding.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-p4msn9fxZPorKwX6YRL3pSCOXJR4zWnOE5XXZRH8w3P9bSPsNuvF0e6RF3UT4zQ5Mr5eK1VwDDV-b6HDwt53jt8ek9ESo9yQN3DyFReILWYBURJcIGnbCXD8QVfT-o6IwGnubejiIw/s1600-h/14238_540581060676_161500321_32092466_5527557_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-p4msn9fxZPorKwX6YRL3pSCOXJR4zWnOE5XXZRH8w3P9bSPsNuvF0e6RF3UT4zQ5Mr5eK1VwDDV-b6HDwt53jt8ek9ESo9yQN3DyFReILWYBURJcIGnbCXD8QVfT-o6IwGnubejiIw/s320/14238_540581060676_161500321_32092466_5527557_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412123187771319746" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-mQS3aBuPJYyRxNTBKj_EKJmy_eBC_7NpcR1cU7AFRgHJb7tr0caYQiKFJGB-rQGSt1L7SEd8KWikvPdfZ7ch4bI_BBqWoI8Q8BpsEZEmFRdoIu506R1ym0HbH3JPeOaHRjbzxR6vko/s1600-h/14238_540581070656_161500321_32092468_2979559_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-mQS3aBuPJYyRxNTBKj_EKJmy_eBC_7NpcR1cU7AFRgHJb7tr0caYQiKFJGB-rQGSt1L7SEd8KWikvPdfZ7ch4bI_BBqWoI8Q8BpsEZEmFRdoIu506R1ym0HbH3JPeOaHRjbzxR6vko/s320/14238_540581070656_161500321_32092468_2979559_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412123351104122514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33E_fHfpqpIkP_EiWASyZy9DBmIFO1hg0aCx4oL8E1HMJ4ZoWu8pzILSsLwiD_-NOg6t9S2EmdhZM0Xy39vAJmqgIrf9DhiLR8MqA6Ag_s5ztb2Ek-oyFg1fubmUJsem0ueVT-HAIZlE/s1600-h/14238_540581105586_161500321_32092475_5736726_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33E_fHfpqpIkP_EiWASyZy9DBmIFO1hg0aCx4oL8E1HMJ4ZoWu8pzILSsLwiD_-NOg6t9S2EmdhZM0Xy39vAJmqgIrf9DhiLR8MqA6Ag_s5ztb2Ek-oyFg1fubmUJsem0ueVT-HAIZlE/s320/14238_540581105586_161500321_32092475_5736726_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412123466379104306" border="0" /></a><br />The reception was held in the same building and was surprising in its elegance and level of sophistication. The catered, seven course meal consisted of raw tuna, shrimp, mashed potatoes, steak, salad, and desert. There were people that came out and spoke about the couple, sang songs, and said their wishes. All in all, I was honored to be there.Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-44844862110631487232009-11-19T00:56:00.000-08:002011-09-19T12:21:42.802-07:00A nine year old's essayThe following are short essays some of my nine year old students wrote for a weekly test. The instructions are to summarize the story "Montigue of the High Seas", a story we covered the week before.<br />
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"In big hole the mole is live. Mole name is montigue. One day montigue's home is flood. So montigue is flow to sea. And He is went ship. Then He find a new home. It is good home."<br />
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"On day montigue's house is swept. So He hide a bootle and He start adventure He met a mice and made a ship and. They are start adventure. On day they see a ground and live together."<br />
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"The main Character is Montigue. Montigue is mog, Montigue live in hole. Montige's home is at afternoon it's cool, and at evening, it's warm. One day, ..."<br />
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These are pretty average essays. Some kids have better writing skills while others are worse, so this is to give you a taste of the level of English I'm working with. There is still work to be done.<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-60087167928718080342009-11-15T23:11:00.000-08:002011-09-19T12:21:55.356-07:00Getting chilly!It's been a while since my last post and a lot has happened. I'm in month three of living in Seoul and I think the honeymoon period has finally worn off. I'll talk about a few highlights that have happened over the past month.<br />
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On Halloween weekend, together with Kevin, we went to a city about 45 minutes south of Seoul called Daejeon. This town is known as the silicon valley of Korea but that's not why we went there for the weekend. Ultimate frisbee is pretty big with the foreign community here, I wanted to try it out, and this weekend Daejeon was hosting a tournament for English speakers. Ultimate is a game that is similar to soccer and football, but played with a frisbee. Kev and I left our neighborhood around 5:30am, took a cab to the KTX train terminal, where we met a few other guys that were going as well. KTX is Korea's high speed rail service that was very comfortable and quick. These trains go up to 350 km/h! We got to the fields, which were on the bank of a river, around 9am and prepared for a day of frisbee. About 50 to 60 people showed up and we played the entire day. I got a chance to meet a lot of new people from all over the world, with people from the states, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Australia, etc.<br />
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Around 11:00am, two Korean businessmen showed up with a bunch of goodies for all of us. These included cases of vitamin water (which are small bottles that people drink for sole purpose of having more vitamins and staying healthy), snacks, drinks, etc. We took a break at noon to each some lunch but were all asked to listen to the what the two men had to say. They provided the drinks and food, so it was the least we could do. The two men in the shiny suits turned out to be representatives from a local pharmaceautical company looking to advertise a new miracle drug their company manufactures. Everything they said went through a interperter (one of the Korean Americans playing ultimate with us) and a few things may have been lost in translation, but what happened I have never seen or experienced before.<br />
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They began by asking us if we had ever heard of their company, a name which now I do not remember. The guy translating told us to just say yes, which we obediently did, much to the joy of the Korean men. They proceeded to tell us they were here today because they would like to share this new pill that will revolutionize the world. Before telling us what it does, they asked us what the number one cause of death in the United States is today. It was decided heart disease is the most common problem (I'm pretty sure that's right...), and we were told that with this new drug, heart disease will become a thing of the past. The representatives with the wonder drug asked us if we knew that smoking and drinking also is bad for one's health. A couple of the guys smoking cigarettes responded that this is just liberal propaganda engineered by Obama and the like (the irony didn't quite transfer to the Korean men as expected).<br />
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Anyways, they revealed that this drug will help lower cholesterol, decrease the chance of liver failure, help quell stomach problems, improve skin, etc. When someone asked if it cures Aids, they said it has not been proven that it does but that it might. At this point, everyone is chuckling to themselves and making jokes about this pill. The reps finally asked if any of us would like to try the drug, since they brought samples with them. A few brave souls decided to give the thing a shot and popped a few pills. One of the guys said his stomach wasn't doing too well but the drug was supposed to make him feel normal in about a half hour. Here's a pic of the man presenting the pill.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtH6nLkGu7e9a5ApMCVpDwxQAr_Pcs3uk6xiMWyKhAzR4eH7iuncRJ072sm0SeODxndd9guOrJyL9qQUjyYzxw5XQSvSeDV41xY8pqJkHyu0_QdLw0p1xfpvruyDg0zNbOUfA-9fNI10/s1600/IMG_0539.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405056354974366626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtH6nLkGu7e9a5ApMCVpDwxQAr_Pcs3uk6xiMWyKhAzR4eH7iuncRJ072sm0SeODxndd9guOrJyL9qQUjyYzxw5XQSvSeDV41xY8pqJkHyu0_QdLw0p1xfpvruyDg0zNbOUfA-9fNI10/s320/IMG_0539.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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It was at this point that one of the representatives pulled out a block of styrofoam form his suitcase and announced that he would like to show us first hand what the drug does to clogged arteries in our body. He punctured the liquid gelcap pill and poured one out onto the inch thick styrofoam. Within five seconds, the liquid created a hole an inch and half in diameter. Everyone was stunned. This is what this thing does!? One of the guys, a brit, that took two pills (you're supposed to take one) was not pleased and let everyone know what his thoughts were, using British style curse words and word 'bloody' quite a bit. Part of the reason for this is because the reps said one of the side effects of this drug is Viagra like (this was revealed after people popped the pills). The reps then showed us a half full water bottle, threw in a few chunks of styrofoam, and then one of the wonder pills. After shaking the bottle up, the styrofoam was gone within half a minute. The name of this drug, btw, is Pine Needle Plus and has yet to be released on the market. We were told it should be approved by the Korean equivalent FDA next year sometime. And in case you're wondering, the guys that took the pills turned out fine in the end.<br />
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After a full day of Ultimate, everyone headed for the motels, or "love" motels as they are called here, due to their romantic aura and themes. Apparently, regular motels do not exist in Korea, they are all called "love" motels. After changing and showering, Kevin, Vinnie (a guy from Montreal I've befriended), and I headed to the dinner party/halloween party. People dressed up a lot more than I expected (I wore a pig snout and a face mask, otherwise known as swine flu). The coolest costume went to two Korean American girls that set up a bars representing a jail in the restaurant, that were 'saved' by a guy dressed up as Bill Clinton waltzing in and breaking them out of 'North Korea'.<br />
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Being on the topic of Halloween, the foreign staff at work also dressed up for Halloween, which our students absolutely loved. We had Jon as a cowboy, Kevin struck by lightning (although his students called him Grandpa), Ian as an elf, Liz as a detective/sherlock holmes, and three cats. Halloween isn't as big in Korea as it is in the states, but some people do dress their kids up. All of the apartments have security doors, so I don't think there was any trick or treating.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-nlmQj2FGiem89m4ypFxWqufUy9Ys6RlSPKyxC3CI-iamSZ4LI6ghbpDVpJYAxMM2oSJL8npytSZmOYSJ1miP9yzQKkBpjJXRTDcu5wuxvPcpd3Ep_019MNmq9ENzhxQBzogI6ukDCU/s1600/IMG_0533.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405056168142517442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-nlmQj2FGiem89m4ypFxWqufUy9Ys6RlSPKyxC3CI-iamSZ4LI6ghbpDVpJYAxMM2oSJL8npytSZmOYSJ1miP9yzQKkBpjJXRTDcu5wuxvPcpd3Ep_019MNmq9ENzhxQBzogI6ukDCU/s320/IMG_0533.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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Moving on to a different topic, work for the past three weekdays has been a joke. The reason being, the school has been kid free. No kids! They've been ordered to stay at home because of recent swine flu outbreak in a few of the classes, so hopefully the spread of the virus will slow down. All of the teachers still have to show up for work, but there is only so much lesson planning to do. Some hagwons have shut down for a week or more, without pay for the teachers but fortunately for us, we will still be paid.<br />
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On November 11th, it was Pepero day in Korea. This is a holiday that is similar to Valentine's day, but seems like a clever way for companies looking to sell more Pepero's, which are pretty much Pocky sticks that come from Japan. The sweets are simply cookie sticks dipped in chocolate. People give Peperos to friends, loved ones, and teachers! I got a note and some peperos from one of my students. The note reads "Hello ~ teacher. I am sally. You are very friendly. and nice. I think you are good teacher. have a nice day!" A lot of the teachers received similar notes and Peperos from their students. Needless to say, I feel that Pepero day should be implemented in the states.<br />
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Another interesting anecdote happened about a week ago or so. Kevin and I decided to branch out a bit and find a new place to eat at after work. We walked a few streets over from ours and walked down a random bright lit, crowded, scooter screaming, pedestrian unfriendly, sign infested street, which is like every other street in Seoul . I saw a place with a picture of bbq chicken strips and a barbecue grill outside. We let the owner know that we would like an order of bbq chicken and pointed to the large picture with what looked like bbq chicken strips. He asked, in broken English, if we would like boneless or bone chicken. Boneless. No bone. Bone 'aniyo' (no in Korean). How could this possibly go wrong? How could one possibly go wrong with boneless chicken you may be thinking to yourself? Well, the plate that the owner set in front of us took a while to figure out. We couldn't believe what was in front of us. After half a minute of pocking and touching the food with our chopsticks, we realized that we had about 50 or so chicken feet. I'm talking about skinny chicken talons. The three claws and the foot that a chicken uses to walk around with. No meat. All bone, cartilage, and skin, smothered in barbecue sauce. BTW, the owner is hovering above us the whole time, waiting for us to take our first bite. We had no choice and had a talon each, which to put it simply, was unpleasant. The sauce, although tasting similar to what buffalo wings are coated with in America, were tear producing. But the main challenge was chewing through the cartilage and skin, plus, there was absolutely no meat. After about 10 minutes of awkward pocking and moving around of the stuff in front of us, we politely paid and fled. Unfortunately for us, our stomachs were not happy with these foreign chicken feet and both of us got to know bathrooms very well that night. I'm all about trying new food, but dakbal, which is what these things are called in Korea, will not be on my to do list anytime soon.<br />
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Fall has been fantastic weather wise, but the past week has brought chilly air to the area, apparently from the God forbidden freeze-land called Siberia. Winters are very cold here, but the good thing is that buildings are heated through the floor. Instead of electrically heated air being pushed into a building, floors are heated by water pipes that lie underneath. Hot water circulates through the pipes, heating the floor, thus heating the apartment.<br />
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I'll finish the post with a picture from the COEX Aquarium, which is in COEX mall, supposedly the largest in all of Asia. "Creepy but Okay, Thanks Earthworms!"<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQZsPOclmWrVdzstXEcm1tjKfvX_A6VVTGYnE-rRgTCHxohxcRJL6HRaTSaNvmecq4VMifsJRsjUtb2x2tte5IefZcVDQrKpaht59WtPi-MtP-vgJGVNdO70uhHehrQWUNbsA2K6ufp8/s1600/IMG_0521.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405056705552268674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQZsPOclmWrVdzstXEcm1tjKfvX_A6VVTGYnE-rRgTCHxohxcRJL6HRaTSaNvmecq4VMifsJRsjUtb2x2tte5IefZcVDQrKpaht59WtPi-MtP-vgJGVNdO70uhHehrQWUNbsA2K6ufp8/s320/IMG_0521.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-59024784273719536832009-10-19T06:42:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:22:04.030-07:00Climbing mountainsThe past few weeks have seen a change in temperature and its safe to say that fall has arrived in Korea. That's fine though, because now is the best time to sight see.<br />
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Last weekend I went paintballing with a fellow teacher from my school through adverturekorea.com. We went out into a forest, northwest of Seoul, with 50 or so other foreigners. Everyone was pumped to shoot some guns and have some healthy battles. It was a little shocking to see so many trees and breath fresh air, seeing how it has been over a month now that I've last had a deep breath of Washington air.<br />
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Paintballing was a whole lot of fun, lasting about 3 hours. The games included team elimination and capture the flag, starting with 25 vs. 25 and dropping in size to 5 vs. 5 at the very end.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOqBr2w1iN7eAFaIh98Z_5OIWqkNe2HHtUPxVLLB1L4nKYQVsg8-kkW6KZbVhVD8zRFmv7CaLMQTXAgnNvLhp6WiIwfCa65KY4Yq_8QgofRJyN1Cw1r8iwz3ZbRD_jhJgn5H6Y_-5wxU/s1600-h/IMG_0483.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394309960713140562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOqBr2w1iN7eAFaIh98Z_5OIWqkNe2HHtUPxVLLB1L4nKYQVsg8-kkW6KZbVhVD8zRFmv7CaLMQTXAgnNvLhp6WiIwfCa65KY4Yq_8QgofRJyN1Cw1r8iwz3ZbRD_jhJgn5H6Y_-5wxU/s320/IMG_0483.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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This past Saturday, together with four other people, I made a hike to the top of Mt. Bukhansan, about an hour and half from where I live. The mountain nestles right against Seoul, but to the northwest of the city, whereas I live in the southeast. I had no idea before coming here, but Koreans are obsessed with hiking. South Korea is covered with mountains, taking up about 70% of the land, so there is no shortage of trails to tackle. But these people take it to a professional level, wearing the latest hiking clothes, backpacks with hiking poles, and everything else that comes along with climbing Mt. Everest. During the weekends, Seoulites flee the city to get some exercise and spend time in Buddhist temples littered all over these mountains.<br />
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The hike started simple enough, a steady but gradual climb up with lots of other hikers. The first half hour was spent weaving through tiny streets sandwitched between korean barbecue stands and little restaurants. Eventually, we were making our way up, enjoying the changing colors that fall brings to the trees. Whenever we took breaks, Koreans would stop to talk to us, practice their English, and brag about their children and their accomplishments. One elderly couple, that had spent 15 years living in Philadelphia, beamed about their son scoring perfectly on the SAT's and graduating from Carnegie Mellon. I guess parents are the same the world over; they love their kids, especially if they have something to brag about.<br />
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After about 3 hours of an increasingly vertical climb, using a cable as the only thing keeping us from falling down the steep slope, we made it to the top, 830 meters above sea level, 4 kilometers from the bottom to the top. The view was absolutely breathtaking and unlike anything I've ever seen. The city of Seoul and its suburbs seemed to stretch endlessly, only to be curbed by other mountains. The pictures don't serve justice to the amazing experience of being on top of this mountain. Needless to say, I'm going to hiking again soon.<br />
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This is the mountain at the start of the hike.<br />
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A description for ya<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyfchbzothsDV0xuLGnTfZO4Smrhegp7lCYI1i3Fuf91eCa3dhdp7eWLanARY6Qiu0s2z2WUckBU25qiHrrqJW6tJu2HhLjC6koH6w3ArWPv09wbyiGC3-fQb957e83XcpU4_oV9GgrI/s1600-h/DSCF2124.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394315522349885474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyfchbzothsDV0xuLGnTfZO4Smrhegp7lCYI1i3Fuf91eCa3dhdp7eWLanARY6Qiu0s2z2WUckBU25qiHrrqJW6tJu2HhLjC6koH6w3ArWPv09wbyiGC3-fQb957e83XcpU4_oV9GgrI/s320/DSCF2124.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 214px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
These food stands are all over Korea, and this trail was no exception. This lady was making some sort of pork bbq and dumplings on skewers. I'm trying lots of new food with mixed success. Unfortunately, even my stomach can't always process everything...gotta be careful.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7rkOBFsb7SoPGNM8mvfZVKoJEoEv0B7UM4O4HdMFkzkPOUx3uzHD4Jhf5tL7rAe5D8SughXFOcBVX114Wxt9-1eYNO4_9G1oIroQcJCl6YZ-yWbPdf6cBA2sixcu8tVGfkVgazw1nkQ/s1600-h/DSCF2130.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394315828715149074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7rkOBFsb7SoPGNM8mvfZVKoJEoEv0B7UM4O4HdMFkzkPOUx3uzHD4Jhf5tL7rAe5D8SughXFOcBVX114Wxt9-1eYNO4_9G1oIroQcJCl6YZ-yWbPdf6cBA2sixcu8tVGfkVgazw1nkQ/s320/DSCF2130.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 214px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
These are kimchi pots. The pots stay outside and ferment for a few weeks or months until they are ready to be served!<br />
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One of the Buddhist temples we saw along the way.<br />
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The inside of the temple. I've been told Koreans come to these to meditate during their hikes. No one was inside when I looked.<br />
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A part of Seoul.<br />
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It was really windy and cold at the peak. The pole behind us is a South Korean flag waving in the wind.<br />
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Near the top.<br />
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I uploaded two short videos from the hike.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om28ifJ_vNo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om28ifJ_vNo</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l4YEfUzvq8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l4YEfUzvq8</a><br />
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After the hike, we went to TGI Fridays because a few of us have been missing American food (myself being one of those people). It was like being right at home! Burgers, quesadillas, mac and cheese bites, etc. They even split the bill, which is the first time I've ever seen it dong in Korea. <br />
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I went to an English speaking church, Jubilee Church, with two of the girls from my hagwon on Sunday. Everyone there was in their 20's and 30's and it really wasn't very different from modern non-denominational churches back home. A band playing and leading worship and one sermon, led by a Korean-American that grew up in Philadelphia. Half of the people there were Korean-Americans and the other half were regular Americans/Canadians/westerners teaching English here. There are other churches here that have English services. The next one I plan on checking out is the largest church in the world in membership. <br />
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A few last tidbits. Don't write a Korean's name using a red-ink pen, its considered bad luck, as I found out at school today. Also, having facial, arm, or leg hair is proving to be problem. My kindergartners love touching my leg hair especially, then jumping back in excitement. Now they're moving on to tugging and pulling the hairs on my toes, and that's not cool at all.<br />
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I'm sitting in a coffee shop right now, called Tom N Toms Coffee and there is a large flyer near the doorway advertising the 2009 Korea International Music Festival. The reason it caught my eye was because of the Ukrainian trident as one of the sponsors. Here's the website, <a href="http://www.kimf.or.kr/eng/index.asp">http://www.kimf.or.kr/eng/index.asp</a>. This isn't the first time I've run into Ukraine here, I've met a few guys that are from Ukraine dancing hip hop for a few weeks in Korea. Small world.<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-47406429817883364852009-10-06T08:24:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:22:11.374-07:00Missing peopleWell, it's been a little over a month now that I've been teaching and I'm beginning to miss a few things, one of them being friends and family. I just spent some time talking to my Dad via Skype and that really made me miss what I had back in Washington. Knowing that someone will always think of you is a difficult feeling to describe for me, but I'm thankful that I have that and its one that helps when feeling a little down. <br />
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The weather is gradually getting cooler with each day, although its still warm enough to walk around in shorts and sandals. I'm pretty fortunate as to where I ended living because of the lakes that are a short two blocks away from my apartment. The track around them is 2.5 kilometers (like the rest of the world, they don't use miles here) and is great for exercise, albeit sometimes difficult to navigate due to all of the powerwalkers and their swinging arms. There were less than a dozen people running, the other couple hundred were power walking. It must be a Korean thing.<br />
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Last night, a group of us went out to dinner with one of the teacher's parents that came to visit for a week. We found a restaurant with decently priced beef! Thank God, because the Burger King here serves some sort of beef that has the texture of wet humus that is sprinkled with beef seasoning. Pork is huge in Korea, but beef is five times what it costs in the USA. I saw an Outback Steakhouse the other day, I'll have to see what they're like.<br />
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I was grading one of my students' tests today. Their use of English can be pretty funny sometimes. For example, the question is "What does the word 'vital' mean?" The seven year old responds "Vital mean leaky faucet." haha<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-68524069994306606292009-10-03T03:25:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:22:20.060-07:00Art, the Olympics, and mosquitoesThis weekend is Chuseok in Korea, which is the equivalent of our Thanksgiving. Koreans leave the city and go visit their ancestral towns to celebrate where they are from, remember their ancestors, and spend time with family. Its remarkable how empty the city is, with many restaurants closed and almost all the stores shutting down for the holiday. Its actually less stressful walking around the streets and the air feels cleaner.<br />
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Before making the big move to Seoul, I was told that the mosquitoes here are the most persistent and annoying in the world. I thought I experienced the worst mosquitoes in Ukraine one summer, but the Korean ones are notch worse. They somehow get into my apartment and wont allow me to sleep. A few nights ago, I was up until 5:00am, dog tired, sitting in my bathroom with the light on, waiting for one to fly in. As soon as one did, I'd shut the door and try to kill the bloody thing. The bathroom trap worked and 10 mosquitoes died that night but I knew that this couldn't continue, I need to sleep! Once again, Mr. Moon came to the rescue by recommending I buy a spray at the local grocery store. Sure enough, the stuff works and I've been sleeping like baby again.<br />
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I've been exploring Seoul almost everyday, but I want to share pics from the Olympic park. Its one subway stop from my place and supposedly the only park in Seoul where people are allowed to walk on the grass. For those that don't know, Seoul hosted the Olympics in 1988.<br />
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This is the world peace gate, which is the first thing you see walking up to the park.<br />
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Pillars with unique faces line both sides of the peace gate.<br />
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This is right near the peace gate. Lotteria is Korea's equivalent of McDonald's (they have McDonald's everywhere too). The burgers aren't to my liking though. Koreans love their coffee and Starbucks is easy to find as well.<br />
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Lotteria advertises a new burger. One patty is chicken, the other is beef (it might be pork, I don't know). I'll pass.<br />
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Similar to Seattle, they have a sculpture park here. The art is from all around the world and there were probably over 50 sculptures throughout the area. Very cool.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY849JYFQrUdN6KUNzhu49PblcBf-vsuexBFvdyT5hNlgmgqs0tMGo9rvPcRvdmN8wMHg_aOU0OPVe3ah1_W1MVTMWfZlI45yd7JmVo7HvCeA3t0_z9o5eMNkvqcCicBg-SI8kdnpm-9U/s1600-h/IMG_0438.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388324066408631570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY849JYFQrUdN6KUNzhu49PblcBf-vsuexBFvdyT5hNlgmgqs0tMGo9rvPcRvdmN8wMHg_aOU0OPVe3ah1_W1MVTMWfZlI45yd7JmVo7HvCeA3t0_z9o5eMNkvqcCicBg-SI8kdnpm-9U/s320/IMG_0438.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
This one is from the USA<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGO_6eqIYAV9iYTjjf-AufYqu9TArHL0EL9BdgOSWxKhzzCXlpQUVONsO2oWyoJRk-jjRMqe15lJlXwjPH3ldo5OL_kOIv_U1LJpo0uHvJEwiYUXnvdZrAzbOl1Js5jg3OHPdEbWqwc_k/s1600-h/IMG_0443.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388324785106246146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGO_6eqIYAV9iYTjjf-AufYqu9TArHL0EL9BdgOSWxKhzzCXlpQUVONsO2oWyoJRk-jjRMqe15lJlXwjPH3ldo5OL_kOIv_U1LJpo0uHvJEwiYUXnvdZrAzbOl1Js5jg3OHPdEbWqwc_k/s320/IMG_0443.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
This one was from Italy, if remember correctly<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzbYx0NO3StNFSDJhY3lQ58_5TN6cImf-w-XY4G9g7kkgEE7r33AanKMH7-UhcJ_90X6IDaJrbl8VJU3pkU3Jld0GtR8fvOQdMhf2VStv1KUfxqHkiF5FZnFnTeIllSzeBgJPCDdkJo8/s1600-h/IMG_0447.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388324961696757426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzbYx0NO3StNFSDJhY3lQ58_5TN6cImf-w-XY4G9g7kkgEE7r33AanKMH7-UhcJ_90X6IDaJrbl8VJU3pkU3Jld0GtR8fvOQdMhf2VStv1KUfxqHkiF5FZnFnTeIllSzeBgJPCDdkJo8/s320/IMG_0447.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
From Spain<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zF-pZfsyAoGTY6ktkOdNHms0F__FezygB3xetS1YSxN6xAH4FPU9QjEt0W3yBTnh66t4YrCBhNVPY1XFtY6e_orBAi4z-N4T6DmmhlnOMHebMt9lww9UghfHdPjjY13mbw4b6bjJcWc/s1600-h/IMG_0448.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388325160159890882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zF-pZfsyAoGTY6ktkOdNHms0F__FezygB3xetS1YSxN6xAH4FPU9QjEt0W3yBTnh66t4YrCBhNVPY1XFtY6e_orBAi4z-N4T6DmmhlnOMHebMt9lww9UghfHdPjjY13mbw4b6bjJcWc/s320/IMG_0448.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
A view of the peace gate from a hill in the park. The park was full of families having picnics and people rollerblading, riding bikes, and enjoying the day.<br />
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Now a few random photos. This is a Kia for sale for 11,000,000 won, which is about $8,800 USD. The cars have the prices right on top of them.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sEVC5aldcJeycI6WqdH6-Zv7HGpOPwt02ZxLW7nIEtk85Bu9WmAs7YMNJ2rvtYwLziljSV8G_b-Sfr0QmCv94bDO0a0YALv8bmIpJ2Fon4P0577BXOiMbi-sk_NbkMbH696-vricc38/s1600-h/IMG_0465.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388326055575005266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sEVC5aldcJeycI6WqdH6-Zv7HGpOPwt02ZxLW7nIEtk85Bu9WmAs7YMNJ2rvtYwLziljSV8G_b-Sfr0QmCv94bDO0a0YALv8bmIpJ2Fon4P0577BXOiMbi-sk_NbkMbH696-vricc38/s320/IMG_0465.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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This is just one of many churches in the this city. Its remarkable how many churches there are here, which are very easy to spot at night because they all have an unmistakable red neon cross on top the buildings.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQ2hS3D-Q7QxwAig1F5KBRKR4NiK8XXhtJgfmGTsiztblkDU_R_PjaXV7qD6t0N-Te8sUrdHwI5xnCRYyhJ1_btFBzBxHjNKa1E_XI149wUWY4KQoWiX66CgWz_bw4RNW446wxjFSOcQ/s1600-h/IMG_0423.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388326548980926114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQ2hS3D-Q7QxwAig1F5KBRKR4NiK8XXhtJgfmGTsiztblkDU_R_PjaXV7qD6t0N-Te8sUrdHwI5xnCRYyhJ1_btFBzBxHjNKa1E_XI149wUWY4KQoWiX66CgWz_bw4RNW446wxjFSOcQ/s320/IMG_0423.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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A large Methodist church. Most of the church buildings are regular looking office buildings, but the way you can tell its a church is because of the red neon cross on top.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsxzf0BA9caXwCsasFhM5OtI95t-SKyG1gIZRkQXHpG0ciKjxOUtHffy7vnSQeInzigP6Uhx29yfHmuXt7l0UZp1wA0XCzSMW1dDn9Y3ZROOc-RVoGRDEec6DNFKBGh-VaqxdJa7VtBc/s1600-h/IMG_0461.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388326982360118450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsxzf0BA9caXwCsasFhM5OtI95t-SKyG1gIZRkQXHpG0ciKjxOUtHffy7vnSQeInzigP6Uhx29yfHmuXt7l0UZp1wA0XCzSMW1dDn9Y3ZROOc-RVoGRDEec6DNFKBGh-VaqxdJa7VtBc/s320/IMG_0461.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
I don't like donuts but in case I get the urge, Krispy Kreme is in my subway station.<br />
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In case of a gas attack, the subways have gas masks. I saw about a dozen, so I'm not sure how they'd be rationed. Women and children first?<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvtQ5d93yCRRROd89cHdT2dNCvpIsZzqh7KFH9Q50XpgFwAuQZw1j-vw4vj1EFck_VkBfYeWgsbJmwEWg9ipi__vNy4WqfkHA5s5DJrVmEhSeu8VOLCfPXOjWgNy40b1BHsku7L_5wDE/s1600-h/IMG_0410.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388327574944948226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvtQ5d93yCRRROd89cHdT2dNCvpIsZzqh7KFH9Q50XpgFwAuQZw1j-vw4vj1EFck_VkBfYeWgsbJmwEWg9ipi__vNy4WqfkHA5s5DJrVmEhSeu8VOLCfPXOjWgNy40b1BHsku7L_5wDE/s320/IMG_0410.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-66018016139225863432009-09-27T03:57:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:22:27.468-07:00A hospital visitMoving to a new country brings a few challenges, one of them being having one's body acclimate to a new environment. This past Monday, my body decided to let me know that it was pissed and wasn't feeling well in the form of a fever, right during the middle of my teaching day. I started the day feeling fine, a little hungry (when am I not hungry?), and ready to teach my little tykes how to pronounce their "r's" and "l's". Three hours into teaching, I had a horrible headache and felt like I should sit down, take a break. Monday's are the longest days and I barely have time between classes to collect my thoughts, so that didn't help. I went downstairs and had Mrs. Moon take my temperature. Sure enough, I had a fever (Mama, I'm not going to say how high, just be assured that I'm completely fine now). The news that I had a fever sent Ms. Lee into a mild state of shock (she told me the next day she didn't sleep a wink because she was so worried). I insisted that all I needed was some rest and that I had to leave for the rest of the day, but this was met with Ms. Lee's strong refusal and insistence that I immediately go to the hospital. After arguing for a few minutes, I succumbed and Mr. Moon and I took a cab to Seoul National Police Hospital. <br />
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Mr. Moon, who is the assistant director, translated everything and explained the situation once at the hospital. I was given a mask to wear and after informing the doc of my medical history (or lack thereof) and taking about a dozen different tests, was ordered to lie in bed while an IV was kindly injected into my body. I asked a few nurses and the doc if this was truly necessary but was told that I could not leave the hospital until my fever was gone. The IV was some sort of saline, which Mr. Moon translated for me with his cell phone Korean-English dictionary. I think they grew a little annoyed with me and my questions, so I just shut up and waited for the fever to go down. It took an entire five hours before I was finally deemed healthy enough to leave the hospital. The tests came back and the flu virus, both regular the and H1N1 strains, were negative. It was the common cold, coupled together with screaming kids and a little fatigue, caused me to have a fever. <br />
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It was an experience, not something I wanted, but fear of catching the swine flu virus here is as common as kimchi being served with your meal. Ms. Lee was not going to compromise her hagwon (which is what private schools in Korea are called) with a white man bringing swine flu and scaring the little bundles of joy, and the money they bring in, away. I'm currently going through a unit in one of my classes that covers illnesses. The unit, a little ambiguous in its naming, is called "What is Wrong With You?" We inevitably had a few sentences that used the word flu in them and one of the girls asked me why there were no sentences in the book with the word influenza. I explained that flu and influenza is the same thing but the students quickly tried to correct me by informing me that no, no, influenza will kill you! I tried explaining that the regular flu kills also, about 36,000 Americans annually, but they wouldn't believe me. How is it back home right now? Are people as paranoid about the flu as they are here? <br />
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I'm totally fine now, after battling this cold with sleep, juice, and what else but kimchi. (If you've seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Weeding, think of using Windex to cure everything. Except instead of Windex, use kimchi. haha.)<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-69393914624951002972009-09-23T06:10:00.000-07:002009-09-23T07:32:58.914-07:00Finally getting situatedIt's been three weeks since I've arrived to the land of the morning calm and I think I'm getting used to life here, sort of. Every day has been one that brings new sights, sounds, and experiences. I think every person sees the world in their own way and so I'll talk about the things that have been most noteworthy and interesting, hopefully they are for you too.<br /><br />As surprising as it is, I really don't miss driving. That may be because I spent an average of 3 hours a day in my car for my last job, but not having to deal with traffic and everything that comes along with it (i.e. road rage) is refreshing. I think I'm pretty aggressive when driving, but driving here would require some sort of mental preparation and a solid insurance plan. Rules of the road seem merely like recommendations of the road. Apart from all of the cars and buses on the road, you have these lunatic guys on scooters weaving in and out of traffic. If they can't get by on the road, watch out and get out of the way because they use the sidewalks too. Walking along on the sidewalks, as wide as they are, aren't wide enough for the scooters. What makes the sidewalks even more congested is that cars sometimes drive down them! Typically this is cars that park in front of buildings and need to drive down a section, since there are trees and barriers preventing them from hoping onto the road. A lot of this is very similar to Ukraine, except for the scooters. <br /><br />Something else to watch out is the old Korean women power-walking down the sidewalks and walkways of Seoul. They have a word for these superhuman women, which is the Ajuma. I understand that elderly should have preference for seating on subways and should be respected, but if you somehow get in the way of her path, don't be surprised when you feel a sharp punch from an Ajuma's fist or elbow. They're treated somewhat like scooters, which is that they have the right of way and if you don't move, expect trouble. What makes it funny is the shoes they wear. I need to take a few pictures of these to fully make you understand what were working with here. Imagine taking the shoes the spice girls wore during their heyday and make them curved on the bottom, so that when walking, you bob up and down. Pics will be up as soon as I get a chance to snap a few.<br /><br />An anecdote I find notable is what happens fairly often to the blond girls that come there to teach. There were about 10 of us sitting outside about a week ago near a restaurant a short walk from my apartment building, hanging out and talking. There were some new teachers that I just met and as I was talking with one of the teachers, we noticed an older Korean man screech to a stop on his bike and stare at all of us in bewilderment. We heard him manage to say "Wow! So many!". I guess it was a big deal for him to see so many white people together at the same time? He stood there for a bit and decided to come over to ask a simple question. He pointed to the two blonds in the group and asked "Russian?" We kindly told him no, we're all teachers. Now, this happens to blond girls here because there are Russian prostitutes that move to Korea and being blond is often understood to define ones way of making a living. The old man said thank you and went on his way. The blond girl teachers I've talked to say this happens to them a few times a week and is considered normal. I can't even begin to think of what kind of lawsuits these inquires would start back home.<br /><br />I'm getting the gist of teaching (or at least I think I am) and my students are getting used to me. The way they refer to us teachers is pretty funny. "Vitaliy teacher! Vitaliy teacher! Hiiiiiiii!" But if its rushed, it sounds like "Bitari teacher, Bitari teacher!" The Korean language doesn't have distinct sounds for the English letters r and l, which is actually one sound (so I've been told). So instead of hearing the letter l, you hear the letter r. "Turtle Bay" was a story one of my classes read and teaching these 8 year olds how to actually say "turtle" and not "tultre" took more time that I expected. <br /><br />I've been venturing out and exploring the city, which has been really cool and there is more than enough to see. Below are some pictures from Changdeokgung Palace, which was originally built in 1405 and served as the residential and administrative complex for the Joseon Dynasty. Most of the buildings were destroyed when the Japanese invaded the country centuries ago, but have been rebuilt since. I took an English tour of the area together with a few other teachers, but one thing that surprised me was the amount of international tourists that were on the tour. People from everywhere and languages I could not decipher.<br /><br />The entrance gate to Changdeokgung<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IyRHX1PYpnHH6-5DjMik3JPx-lV8kKi48Rxh50etWyoNtPIF7zSVVN5hNfCAyMlcvuHY696FrgSMMfmL1pipZlwQvPvve-Lln-StdQ0vfoU3RQkcPoaiCIJ7rXH4n26i9NEcX3gZnxY/s1600-h/IMG_0372.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IyRHX1PYpnHH6-5DjMik3JPx-lV8kKi48Rxh50etWyoNtPIF7zSVVN5hNfCAyMlcvuHY696FrgSMMfmL1pipZlwQvPvve-Lln-StdQ0vfoU3RQkcPoaiCIJ7rXH4n26i9NEcX3gZnxY/s320/IMG_0372.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384664970593964738" border="0" /></a><br />The cliche and ubiquitous peace sign<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMAMrpgdueKtWsb0tSuUq9elD4-IdLjUGT_aHPejOtoh3HKI5qdyo3iPlFT4ePJ4YLRXlC3_KyOvvv7BZ5XioMbWpOK4ClDY-Uif6hMYaXBqN37AAouHGaCzodAzvg3GZ3is_0Pd38Gk/s1600-h/IMG_0376.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMAMrpgdueKtWsb0tSuUq9elD4-IdLjUGT_aHPejOtoh3HKI5qdyo3iPlFT4ePJ4YLRXlC3_KyOvvv7BZ5XioMbWpOK4ClDY-Uif6hMYaXBqN37AAouHGaCzodAzvg3GZ3is_0Pd38Gk/s320/IMG_0376.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384665208397802194" border="0" /></a><br />The underside of the entry gate<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiposU6zizBecygfDlr0d6H6ibM5IbvXUIRJsBH7xdrXoP4NB67-1kPPKtqmrh9rq9WDXFlTqO-uS1NkmiVHErCavs9bSWoFc04asLaB2lYcHEnpWl8dxPJgIk9bPM5yewDF0SDKd3dlOQ/s1600-h/IMG_0382.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiposU6zizBecygfDlr0d6H6ibM5IbvXUIRJsBH7xdrXoP4NB67-1kPPKtqmrh9rq9WDXFlTqO-uS1NkmiVHErCavs9bSWoFc04asLaB2lYcHEnpWl8dxPJgIk9bPM5yewDF0SDKd3dlOQ/s320/IMG_0382.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384665648597164738" border="0" /></a><br />In front of Injeongjeon, which was used for major state affairs, the coronation of new kings, and receiving foreign envoys.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1voCPzfuU6EbX8mt_oTs4XfxKi_23-jkZB2tInBquEzY5p5dM_6Cun-sR43JsG-RIfF8z6zr6KSWk3iQEYDXI-YR11ejHXht2GwcQbmI3QEmQMmw4CEviad5OZ_Bl8YNecwc_E-xU5JU/s1600-h/IMG_0390.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1voCPzfuU6EbX8mt_oTs4XfxKi_23-jkZB2tInBquEzY5p5dM_6Cun-sR43JsG-RIfF8z6zr6KSWk3iQEYDXI-YR11ejHXht2GwcQbmI3QEmQMmw4CEviad5OZ_Bl8YNecwc_E-xU5JU/s320/IMG_0390.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384665896206180578" border="0" /></a><br />From what I remember, a lot of these colors and paints were considered royal because they were imported and only the wealthy could afford them. The Koreans traded a lot with the Chinese, and the influence still remains to this day. Koreans used the Chinese alphabet until Hangul (the Korean alphabet) came to be the dominant and native language. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSrrExIyDac4FUmaov6Dld5ml42T9_fakq_ClOCYKJMYJDU43rItn7-BrsHbvCh0g8TDTDb_BgGf2kuDmRvcbPYa2mONGxMJxv36-hT_gCV2nF4h-tCrHWY2YEoljWd9zGO97ENpwnf28/s1600-h/IMG_0394.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSrrExIyDac4FUmaov6Dld5ml42T9_fakq_ClOCYKJMYJDU43rItn7-BrsHbvCh0g8TDTDb_BgGf2kuDmRvcbPYa2mONGxMJxv36-hT_gCV2nF4h-tCrHWY2YEoljWd9zGO97ENpwnf28/s320/IMG_0394.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384666475751704786" border="0" /></a><br />A type of sun clock, dating back to the 15th century.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-JBDpsqbw7r2cRYmb4dBrBeN1ZYTMSyBoa6h_JBDYxILIQC9weRuTIpN8PYElVreqbptKQM_VMsWjZhed6in6nOftn2RhNBYGXRwFhUmO3ctd8YMGoVYGmVD_U8RFWkIe9Ieb8FxWYQ/s1600-h/IMG_0399.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-JBDpsqbw7r2cRYmb4dBrBeN1ZYTMSyBoa6h_JBDYxILIQC9weRuTIpN8PYElVreqbptKQM_VMsWjZhed6in6nOftn2RhNBYGXRwFhUmO3ctd8YMGoVYGmVD_U8RFWkIe9Ieb8FxWYQ/s320/IMG_0399.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384666861588139778" border="0" /></a><br /><br />안녕히계세요 = annyeonghi gyeseyo = good byeVitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-70188414821899814452009-09-13T02:30:00.000-07:002009-09-13T02:34:21.531-07:00A few pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFNngb0XeL62CPBqwsi4H-G3FW1vPjVmvUapT71BvIs_qRdxaylhfFjdKlienkkiKcXVmdDem3SCmQVlU-qspQVNM92Z3Swgj76sx1xm9TKKeJwJLSgrbjx1WmoM6RbjdAaxs0aQhm8s/s1600-h/IMG_0356.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFNngb0XeL62CPBqwsi4H-G3FW1vPjVmvUapT71BvIs_qRdxaylhfFjdKlienkkiKcXVmdDem3SCmQVlU-qspQVNM92Z3Swgj76sx1xm9TKKeJwJLSgrbjx1WmoM6RbjdAaxs0aQhm8s/s320/IMG_0356.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380882674070651074" border="0" /></a><br />Coca-Cola<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVV1sSoEHSKkbdUgBfLsP8-cYqlkmvwNA-DONzkf85LUXSZJByaUeKI8yAWpa1tQiqZYwRtGf_Qtw1Bzu1yjKYXdCrJzr8ZT0tMWhm8SFSCDlxyLJ7evKggbtb4SNBIGkwqFOJR9TSKo/s1600-h/IMG_0355.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVV1sSoEHSKkbdUgBfLsP8-cYqlkmvwNA-DONzkf85LUXSZJByaUeKI8yAWpa1tQiqZYwRtGf_Qtw1Bzu1yjKYXdCrJzr8ZT0tMWhm8SFSCDlxyLJ7evKggbtb4SNBIGkwqFOJR9TSKo/s320/IMG_0355.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380882576794944786" border="0" /></a><br />Peugeot dealership near my apartment<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6n6ma8i6hZ04fWaZQBqrYh3Pa_3Z3zphmXJnRekU3TqTaC1A5aP6deEfZg7NiDqcQOL3G0IHdSI7plIc1c1q8KTL0ZeMsxB5Kjotc7AyqKpzwfxC9dPFNPq2ac2QqdGi39-vCfcFOnbM/s1600-h/IMG_0349.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6n6ma8i6hZ04fWaZQBqrYh3Pa_3Z3zphmXJnRekU3TqTaC1A5aP6deEfZg7NiDqcQOL3G0IHdSI7plIc1c1q8KTL0ZeMsxB5Kjotc7AyqKpzwfxC9dPFNPq2ac2QqdGi39-vCfcFOnbM/s320/IMG_0349.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380882292759387410" border="0" /></a><br />Socks for sale in one of the subway stationsVitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-81066855147582610082009-09-12T01:07:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:23:27.413-07:00My apartmentHere's a video of my a typical apartment English teacher's get to live in while working in Seoul, South Korea.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_XzKvTSYs0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_XzKvTSYs0</a><br />
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</script>Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-19800810447162007202009-09-11T23:45:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:23:37.449-07:00Time to teach!Wow, where do I begin. I'll start with work. The name of the school that I teach at is JM English School. This is a private English school (called hagwons in Korea) that has 8 foreign teachers, including me, teaching English to kids between the ages of 4 and 15. Walking into the place, one might think that its a pre-school because of the friendly looking animals painted all over the walls. The building is 5 stories and is considered a pretty large hagwon for Korea. Ms. Lee is the director, not Mr. Moon, like I may have mentioned to some people. When I arrived at my apartment the first day, I asked Mr. Moon if he is the director, to which he replied yes. I brought a gift with me, a box of taffy my sister helped me purchase right before the flight, but Mr. Moon set it down and left it at my apartment! The reason? Ms. Lee showed up and I instantly realized she's the person in charge.<br />
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My schedule (as of yesterday, its changed every day I've been here) is 11:00am to 8:00pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday and 10:00am to 7:00pm Tuesday and Thursday. I have two kindergarten classes, in which the kids are 5 years old (which is 4 years old if we use the western system. A child is considered to be a year old on the day they're born). The other four classes are kids that are 9 and 10 years old. Most of them are pretty well behaved but there are a few little brats that are spoiled and won't take direction from me. Now, I don't really have much experience with kids, so I'm not sure what works and its been a learning experience this past week. One thing I have figured out is a carrot and sticks approach can work, in the form of rewarding kids with stars next to their name on the whiteboard if they answer my questions and stay in their seats. Get five stars on the board, and you'll get a star from me in your folder. Get 25 stars in your folder, you'll be rewarded with a prize (prizes have yet to be found by yours truly, I need ideas. Stickers wont do here, maybe pencils? What do kids like that won't empty out my wallet?)<br />
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Some of the kids are really cute though. One of the four year old girls, Dorothy, just looks at me when I ask her "What is this? (pointing to a picture of a table)". I tell her the answer, which she promptly recites, but then looks away with a cute smile, overcome by her shyness. On one of the days, she started crying out of nowhere. Fortunately, one of the Korean co-teachers was in the classroom and took her out in the hallway. Turns out, she simply had to go pee. After her return, the little girl came up to me and gave my leg a big hug. It was a kodak moment, I couldn't help but smile. I'll take a picture with these kids later and post them here.<br />
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When some of the boys misbehave, I simply erase one of their stars on the whiteboard and that works most of the time. Its backfired a few times, in the form of crying, not responding to me, or getting mad and hitting their heads on the table. Its a freaking star on the board kid! When the 10 year olds get crazy and don't listen, I just raise my voice (I've only had to do this once) and the terror quiets them down. All in all, the vast majority are well behaved and like me. The most common question I've gotten from the kids is "Teacher! Teacher! How many centimeters are you?" When I tell them my height, their reactions are hilarious. Its like the answer is the most amazing thing they've ever heard.<br />
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The other foreign teachers have been very helpful in trying to figure out how to teach. It's been difficult understanding the director because of her English abilities, which aren't what I've been used to, but I'll have to make do. One of the guys is from Virginia, another guy from Niagra Falls, Canada, a girl from Ottawa, a girl from Toronto, two sisters from Pennsylvania, and a guy from Seattle that went to SPU. All of us graduated from college recently and everyone is pretty cool.<br />
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I've hung out with the other teachers almost every day. I went to a baseball game last weekend, which are more fun than Mariners games back home. The stadium is divided in two, with each side cheering for their team. There is a platform on either side with cheerleaders leading the crowd with cheers, but they're not like in the US. The entire crowd cheers and sings along with the cheerleaders, which are led by a guy with a whistle and four girls. It really gets you into the game and makes it more interesting to watch.<br />
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Last note. I have a cell phone and you can text me! The number, to text from the US, is 011-82-10-5784-0637.<br />
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Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194932611791193754.post-50699987608819154682009-09-04T01:24:00.001-07:002009-09-04T02:23:59.489-07:00I made it to Korea!Hi guys,<br /><br />Like I told so many of you, I'm creating this blog so that I can keep you updated on my life in Seoul as an English teacher. I've wanted to do this since high school and after graduating from UW, the chance presented itself and so here I am. I loved living in Seattle for the past five years but I felt like if I didn't do this sooner than later, I wouldn't do it at all.<br /><br />I left from Portland's airport a couple hours late, causing the plane to arrive four hours late to Tokyo's Narita airport. The airline put me into a hotel for the night (Radisson, pretty nice) and I flew out to Seoul the next day, but not before running into a friend from college, Anna Bickenbach, at the airport! Super random. After a bite to eat, we parted and I was on my way.<br /><br />I was picked up by a taxi service as I stepped through immigration in Seoul. The guy bought me a cold water bottle right away and drove me to my apartment in Songpa-Gu, Seoul. Driving through the city during rush hour took about 1.5 hours, but then again this city is unlike anything I've every seen, even New York, when it comes to how large it is. 10 million residents in the city, 24 million for the metropolitan area. Mr. Moon, a middle aged man that is my school's co-director met us and showed me my place. My sister helped me get a gift, a box of taffy, for the director before taking off, but the guy forgot to take it after handing it to him! The reason might be because Ms. Lee, the other co-director, seems to be the one in charge. I'll talk about her in a future post.<br /><br />Three of the teachers came by and introduced themselves that night. We walked over to the subway station, Jamsil Station, got some food and I got to see a bit of where I'll be living for the next year. The walk to the subway station takes a little under 10 minutes. The area is pretty cool though and is dominated by Lotte everything. Lotte world, Lotte department store, Lotte hotels, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_World My apartment building is only four stories tall, but the area is incredibly dense, with a variety of shops everywhere you look. Walking through the streets, I can't help but notice the plethora of smells culminating behind every building. The air is nothing like what the pacific northwest has to offer, and the street vendors, restaurants, cars, mopeds, garbage bins, and people walking by with their own scents, will take some getting used to.<br /><br />The next day, one of the new teachers and I went to a hospital about 45 minutes away via the subway to get our health exams. Seems like everyone here is on edge about swine flu. Just today, I was wandering through the isles of a little convenience shop and the lady behind the counter, in her limited English, asked me if I was new. I told her yes, just a few days. She immediately covered her face and said something like "influenza! influenza!", to which I replied no, no, I'm fine, I promise (I think). Needless to say, she didn't seem to want me in her store so I left. A lot of the women here wear masks over their face due to the scare. But I digress. The health exam (which cost 88,000 Korean won, which is about $70 USD) consisted of 13 stations, testing us on things ranging from weight, height, temperature, blood draw, urine samples, chest xrays, hearing, eye sight, and a few others. I had to change clothes and wear a hospital gown (XL large was the largest, not long enough for my body though), but the tests were done with the highest efficiency I've ever experienced. The 13 tests took about 45 minutes, which I doubt our current US system would be able to pull off for $70 without reform (Go Obama! :) Afterwards, I wandered around downtown for a bit and saw some more sights.<br /><br />I'm going to start teaching on Monday, so I'll blog sometime next week. Later! (Below are some pics I've managed to take during the past few days)<br /><br />A tower, driving through the city. I can't remember what this one is called.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-bDtV3g07dD5UhA_EM5KAjwgoO4vbGF7KPhCdTam82dlUG0Tc-o9DMAxSk6vTMl1S64_dQNTu71F52owVuLyGFl2T_JHtIZTkWaDQMR4S-g1knCdZLt_kbWPA_NZ32J7rixFknVN-Z4o/s1600-h/IMG_0320.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-bDtV3g07dD5UhA_EM5KAjwgoO4vbGF7KPhCdTam82dlUG0Tc-o9DMAxSk6vTMl1S64_dQNTu71F52owVuLyGFl2T_JHtIZTkWaDQMR4S-g1knCdZLt_kbWPA_NZ32J7rixFknVN-Z4o/s320/IMG_0320.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377537482197614322" border="0" /></a><br />A tower in Jung-Gu. I walked inside and Samsung seemed to dominate most things, although I did see Boeing had offices on one floor.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghn2CtvGNsq7VDkjIQJxQicmsjQ6w9jM7HHvaaw6NztrLRxUhoAEKttsNOojrrAiT2Ckd3JGIs9z8cr24pWDtfJqDuNwIsp1PBSte5oWuxBewcafHRGfZU_fy1ZsFfdd6bGvIJNEEW7y4/s1600-h/IMG_0330.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghn2CtvGNsq7VDkjIQJxQicmsjQ6w9jM7HHvaaw6NztrLRxUhoAEKttsNOojrrAiT2Ckd3JGIs9z8cr24pWDtfJqDuNwIsp1PBSte5oWuxBewcafHRGfZU_fy1ZsFfdd6bGvIJNEEW7y4/s320/IMG_0330.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377539958905507634" border="0" /></a><br />This is a five minute walk from my apartment. Lotte amusement park with two man made lakes surrounding it.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgff1Jwge10zxL_8_8m7q2u2YwUO0Qo0u-AT6KMykr2m28xPj5ujf3E9ot2lG6BGFM6USu4jylgIrTomExR0sR27FlM12ih4to21Ih6-WQmGaqDl_EF6o7zgbUKmpkXCwbHVocGNzMGD-8/s1600-h/IMG_0326.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgff1Jwge10zxL_8_8m7q2u2YwUO0Qo0u-AT6KMykr2m28xPj5ujf3E9ot2lG6BGFM6USu4jylgIrTomExR0sR27FlM12ih4to21Ih6-WQmGaqDl_EF6o7zgbUKmpkXCwbHVocGNzMGD-8/s320/IMG_0326.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377537941535004914" border="0" /></a><br />Lotte amusement park<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ofoLH2ns3YdVqt_Lj5E4oUcKqbRZC3das6E2n6Ow6TNVDFPZVF4FhfwwK5xhZlvTJ1YHrhaaE7PzSx4-opH57BbOkNypdTVAgT32KLxWgtO7WgoqFt_tNdx-WsNcN8y1E4dPj9z9vys/s1600-h/IMG_0327.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ofoLH2ns3YdVqt_Lj5E4oUcKqbRZC3das6E2n6Ow6TNVDFPZVF4FhfwwK5xhZlvTJ1YHrhaaE7PzSx4-opH57BbOkNypdTVAgT32KLxWgtO7WgoqFt_tNdx-WsNcN8y1E4dPj9z9vys/s320/IMG_0327.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377539677355851794" border="0" /></a><br />An ancient gate in Seoul, sorry, don't remember the name. Jung-Gu area<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2XayfWIhkBfV_1Tq6HN3RtgGu2uaBLk5BtnX-XI0QSzK-EN2TdnhGtCHCBN5w6Sy5b3o1NJdgv492q1xmNAMuhQjIZUk72humucrzSq6f7qfjWfLk_bp9wy2305428Fe8Rv_i2-sqlE/s1600-h/IMG_0329.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2XayfWIhkBfV_1Tq6HN3RtgGu2uaBLk5BtnX-XI0QSzK-EN2TdnhGtCHCBN5w6Sy5b3o1NJdgv492q1xmNAMuhQjIZUk72humucrzSq6f7qfjWfLk_bp9wy2305428Fe8Rv_i2-sqlE/s320/IMG_0329.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377538881317601362" border="0" /></a><br />Jung-Gu area<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1TQa4GUXCP1WOU7fi8OrOflkfBGE19im1N0mH1pmGLr18xJ7JjnojT2eV_gTvkP03v0NUMvRvixwMKHV27sNI-y1viqlgvBfFXmrrN5sNJOBbCjil4prDO_IcjqO4XfzDN4jfLgtEIA/s1600-h/IMG_0333.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1TQa4GUXCP1WOU7fi8OrOflkfBGE19im1N0mH1pmGLr18xJ7JjnojT2eV_gTvkP03v0NUMvRvixwMKHV27sNI-y1viqlgvBfFXmrrN5sNJOBbCjil4prDO_IcjqO4XfzDN4jfLgtEIA/s320/IMG_0333.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377539255374830994" border="0" /></a>Vitaliyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947930900621148814noreply@blogger.com4