Wednesday, December 23, 2009
hooray!!
In 12 hours we will be finished with school and boarding a plane to come back to the States for Christmas!! We are so excited to see everyone!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Hibernation Update
It’s Thursday night and I’m exhausted from the day. I know I’ve been really slack on the blog lately, and I apologize to all my faithful readers. Honestly, it’s been very cold here, so we’ve been in a kind of form of hibernation. Weekends have been spent either lounging around in our apartment (when I write and David edits pictures/peruses photography forums) or going to church and hanging out with friends. Sadly neither of these activities is very adventurous/blog worthy.
School has been as mundane/crazy as ever. I spend so much time with my students that I’m getting to know all of them ridiculously well. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. I feel like I could write a twenty page paper on the psychology and the dynamics behind my kindergarten class. Lately there has been a very large amount of drama between my three girls. They are mean to each other, their friendships are conditional on behavior and Queen Bee has a new favorite every day. It reminds me of my own elementary school days. I remember the emotional rollercoaster that was girl drama. It’s all very unpleasant, yet interesting to watch it unfold before my eyes as an adult. I try talking to the girls and getting them to play nice with each other… but it’s pretty much a lost cause. One of the girls is uber-sensitive and takes any glance as an offense against her. There’s a girl drama related complaint at least every ten minutes of my day. The boys are fine. Sometimes I wish I just had a class full of boys like my co-teacher Helen.
An exciting thing happened in class today though. I was teaching from a Phonics book when one of my girls, Anna, starts screaming. I look over and her foot is somehow stuck through the tiny opening of the wooden chair she’s in. The open slat is so thin that she can’t get her foot out by herself. She starts screaming and crying hysterically while I run over and try to free her. She was freaking out too much for me to do anything, so I sent my other children to go find the Korean co-teachers. At this point pretty much the entire Korean staff pours into my classroom, including my two bosses, to find Anna screaming with her foot stuck in the chair. They managed to calm her down by speaking Korean and eventually they slid her foot out. It was quite an ordeal, but as my wonderful boy Inwang said, “We all worked together to solve the problem!!”
Lately my life has been school and writing. I’m working furiously on the rough draft of my second novel. It’s coming along quite well—I’m nearly done (as in maybe a month or two away from completion). I’m writing and submitting short stories to journals and contests in the meantime. David is working hard on his photography. We both really desire to pursue writing and photography as career paths and we’re working hard to make that happen.
In two weeks I’ll be home for Christmas!! I’m so ridiculously excited beyond belief. I’ve started a Christmas countdown in my classroom on my whiteboard. One thing that really sucks between now and then is that we have to work two Saturdays to make up for the days we missed school due to the swine flu. Sigh. Maybe working on the weekends will make time go by faster. (HA! NOT!). Oh well. Soon I’ll be back in America stuffing my face with Christmas cookies and cuddling with my dog. It will be a blissful and busy week for sure. I’ve been pretty homesick over the past month. I’m really excited to just get back and walk around Charleston. My home is such a beautiful city. I really took it for granted those 22 years I lived there—Korea has a charm of its own, but its nothing compared to Charleston’s mesmerizing spell. So if you’re reading this from Charleston, do me a favor and walk around the city for a while. Soak in the beauty. Don’t take it for granted.
School has been as mundane/crazy as ever. I spend so much time with my students that I’m getting to know all of them ridiculously well. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. I feel like I could write a twenty page paper on the psychology and the dynamics behind my kindergarten class. Lately there has been a very large amount of drama between my three girls. They are mean to each other, their friendships are conditional on behavior and Queen Bee has a new favorite every day. It reminds me of my own elementary school days. I remember the emotional rollercoaster that was girl drama. It’s all very unpleasant, yet interesting to watch it unfold before my eyes as an adult. I try talking to the girls and getting them to play nice with each other… but it’s pretty much a lost cause. One of the girls is uber-sensitive and takes any glance as an offense against her. There’s a girl drama related complaint at least every ten minutes of my day. The boys are fine. Sometimes I wish I just had a class full of boys like my co-teacher Helen.
An exciting thing happened in class today though. I was teaching from a Phonics book when one of my girls, Anna, starts screaming. I look over and her foot is somehow stuck through the tiny opening of the wooden chair she’s in. The open slat is so thin that she can’t get her foot out by herself. She starts screaming and crying hysterically while I run over and try to free her. She was freaking out too much for me to do anything, so I sent my other children to go find the Korean co-teachers. At this point pretty much the entire Korean staff pours into my classroom, including my two bosses, to find Anna screaming with her foot stuck in the chair. They managed to calm her down by speaking Korean and eventually they slid her foot out. It was quite an ordeal, but as my wonderful boy Inwang said, “We all worked together to solve the problem!!”
Lately my life has been school and writing. I’m working furiously on the rough draft of my second novel. It’s coming along quite well—I’m nearly done (as in maybe a month or two away from completion). I’m writing and submitting short stories to journals and contests in the meantime. David is working hard on his photography. We both really desire to pursue writing and photography as career paths and we’re working hard to make that happen.
In two weeks I’ll be home for Christmas!! I’m so ridiculously excited beyond belief. I’ve started a Christmas countdown in my classroom on my whiteboard. One thing that really sucks between now and then is that we have to work two Saturdays to make up for the days we missed school due to the swine flu. Sigh. Maybe working on the weekends will make time go by faster. (HA! NOT!). Oh well. Soon I’ll be back in America stuffing my face with Christmas cookies and cuddling with my dog. It will be a blissful and busy week for sure. I’ve been pretty homesick over the past month. I’m really excited to just get back and walk around Charleston. My home is such a beautiful city. I really took it for granted those 22 years I lived there—Korea has a charm of its own, but its nothing compared to Charleston’s mesmerizing spell. So if you’re reading this from Charleston, do me a favor and walk around the city for a while. Soak in the beauty. Don’t take it for granted.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
This Thanksgiving was my first ever away from home and away from family. Other than the homesickness that one would expect-- it was a pretty nice holiday. We still had to go to school and teach classes, which was a huge bummer. Kid's College went all out for Halloween but didn't do too much for Thanksgiving. Before lunch our classes learned how to make mashed potatoes. They enjoyed squishing potatoes with their spoons, and thought it was really weird that we added garlic, milk, butter, salt and pepper into the mix. In the end they decided that it was "machusayo" (delicious!).
Lucy, Joycelyn and Anna mashing potatoes.
After a long day of school we popped downstairs to what has quickly become our favorite restaurant, "What's David's."
The restaurant's owner, who also happens to be the mother of one of our students, had thrown together a special Thanksgiving meal for foreigners. She imported turkey from America (for some reason it's not possible to get here). This restaurant was literally one of only three places in Korea that a turkey Thanksgiving was available.
Our evening started off with a delicious pumpkin soup and freshly baked bread.
The next course was a salad with greens, mushrooms and shrimp. So delicious.
And finally the main meal of the night. White meat, dark meat, mashed potatoes, and deliciously sauteed vegetables. There was also gravy and cranberry sauce!
The night was full of fun and bonding over all of this amazing food. Of course I missed my family, but my KC family was more than adequate to complement the evening.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lucy, Joycelyn and Anna mashing potatoes.
After a long day of school we popped downstairs to what has quickly become our favorite restaurant, "What's David's."
The restaurant's owner, who also happens to be the mother of one of our students, had thrown together a special Thanksgiving meal for foreigners. She imported turkey from America (for some reason it's not possible to get here). This restaurant was literally one of only three places in Korea that a turkey Thanksgiving was available.
Our evening started off with a delicious pumpkin soup and freshly baked bread.
The next course was a salad with greens, mushrooms and shrimp. So delicious.
And finally the main meal of the night. White meat, dark meat, mashed potatoes, and deliciously sauteed vegetables. There was also gravy and cranberry sauce!
The night was full of fun and bonding over all of this amazing food. Of course I missed my family, but my KC family was more than adequate to complement the evening.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Templestay
This weekend we had a very interesting trip to Bubheungsa temple in the Gangwan-do province. We went with Adventure Korea, the same travel group we went with to the DMZ. The weekend started early, at 8:30 Saturday morning when we got onto the bus. We traveled for a few hours before stopping off at Jucheon River. We climbed a nearby hill to get some fresh air and admire the scenery. There was a small Buddhist pagoda at the crest of the hill that overlooked the river. It was quite beautiful, but also incredibly cold! When we went down to the water the stagnant parts had a pretty thick layer of ice. Ferrin and Steven (our co-teachers) even had a contest to see who could hold their feet in the water the longest!
After our hiatus at the river, the bus brought us to the 1400 year-old temple. We were given “training wear” that we changed into (although it was so cold that we really just put it over our existing clothes). I felt like a Jedi padawan or something similar to that. The first thing we did was have an orientation to the temple. Apparently some of Buddha’s ashes are kept at the main pavilion—so they don’t have any statues of Buddha there. We learned the different forms of bowing. They were all very elaborate: involving lots of crossing of legs and popping of joints! Part of the templestay program involved participating in their “services” or rituals. Our temple guide was quick to assure us that bowing to the Buddha statue was not considered “bowing to idols or gods” because in Buddhism it was simply a sign of lowering yourself. David and I decided not to bow anyway. Whenever the opportunity presented itself we simply sat respectfully and observed the service while the rest of the tour group bowed.
Our next temple activity was a “meditative walk” in the mountain. The Master of the temple took us out into a nearby wooded hillside and explained to us through a heavily accented translator that our evilness (ie. our sinful nature) is simply a product of our habits. In order to overwhelm our bad habits we must grow an acute awareness of our actions—empty ourselves of all purpose and thought. He had us walk very slowly up a trail through the forest, walking painful step by painful step. We were supposed to empty our minds of all purpose or thought and concentrate only on the step we were taking. My toes grew excruciatingly cold and eventually numb in the course of our thirty minute walk. I didn’t even really try to empty my mind. Instead I used the lengthy walk to pray.
When we got back to the temple it was dinner time. We experienced the Balwoo Gongyang (traditional dinner). It was quite an ordeal. There was a certain order in which things were done. You had to put your napkin on your left knee and put your bowls in a certain order. The meager portions of rice and vegetables were served and eaten in silence. At the end of the meal we had to wash our bowl with water and a kimchi radish which we then had to eat and drink. It was such a rigid and, in the words of a fellow participant, “oppressive” meal.
After dinner we had tea time and a dialogue with the Master. The topic of discussion was dreams (as is our life goals). He had some good advice about pursuing your dreams. And I did enjoy the tea.
We went to bed at 10:15. All of the girls slept in one room and the boys in another. We were on plain mats with a blanket, but the floor was heated, so that was incredibly nice. Our wakeup call was at 3:00 for the Dawn Yebul (more like pre-dawn, but whatever). The night before I’d decided that I wouldn’t attend, since, aside from being incredibly grumpy and sleep deprived, I wasn’t really going to participate in the service anyway. The service consisted of 108 bows, lots of mantra chanting and some very uncomfortable meditation (at least, that’s what I hear). David attended, and he managed to get some pretty great pictures of the temple lit at night.
I slept until the nice wonderful hour of 6:00 am, when we were herded to a breakfast of kimchi, radishes and rice. Buddhist monks are vegetarians, and as far as I can tell, they’re vegans as well. I don’t know how they can do it. Even after just three meals of rice and kimchi I was craving meat and fatty foods! While I admire their intense discipline when it comes to rising up at 3 am for prayer and only eating tiny amounts of the most basic food, I don’t see their lifestyle as very necessary. The Master even said, “I have been doing this every day for ten years and I am still tired and in pain and not yet enlightened.”
We made lotus lanterns, which was fun. The Buddhists use this flower as a symbol because it grows out of mud into a beautiful bloom. I guess it’s a distant metaphor of the resurrection: life springing up from death. The lanterns were really pretty, and I enjoyed making them. Unfortunately they fell to pieces on our bus ride home.
After the lanterns we strung Buddhist prayer beads. There are 108 beads on each strand to symbolize our past, present and future sufferings. We were supposed to bow for each bead we strung on and contemplate on suffering. I didn’t bow—yet instead, with every bead I strung I decided to utter a prayer for all of my Buddhist friends in Korea and Cambodia. I plan on keeping my string of prayer beads as a reminder of those friendships and my need to pray for them.
By the time we were finished with the beads it was time for another lunch of rice (this time there was vegetable curry). After the meal we packed up our bags and headed back to Seoul. I was very glad we decided to do this temple stay. To get a glimpse into the daily life of a Buddhist monk was very interesting. Their rigid lifestyle of meditation, prayer and discipline was fascinating. It made me very grateful for the freedom that we have as believers in Christ. Our salvation doesn’t depend on how much we pray or how many good things we do. It rests only on Christ’s sacrifice. What a relief! No 3 am wake up calls for me…
After our hiatus at the river, the bus brought us to the 1400 year-old temple. We were given “training wear” that we changed into (although it was so cold that we really just put it over our existing clothes). I felt like a Jedi padawan or something similar to that. The first thing we did was have an orientation to the temple. Apparently some of Buddha’s ashes are kept at the main pavilion—so they don’t have any statues of Buddha there. We learned the different forms of bowing. They were all very elaborate: involving lots of crossing of legs and popping of joints! Part of the templestay program involved participating in their “services” or rituals. Our temple guide was quick to assure us that bowing to the Buddha statue was not considered “bowing to idols or gods” because in Buddhism it was simply a sign of lowering yourself. David and I decided not to bow anyway. Whenever the opportunity presented itself we simply sat respectfully and observed the service while the rest of the tour group bowed.
Our next temple activity was a “meditative walk” in the mountain. The Master of the temple took us out into a nearby wooded hillside and explained to us through a heavily accented translator that our evilness (ie. our sinful nature) is simply a product of our habits. In order to overwhelm our bad habits we must grow an acute awareness of our actions—empty ourselves of all purpose and thought. He had us walk very slowly up a trail through the forest, walking painful step by painful step. We were supposed to empty our minds of all purpose or thought and concentrate only on the step we were taking. My toes grew excruciatingly cold and eventually numb in the course of our thirty minute walk. I didn’t even really try to empty my mind. Instead I used the lengthy walk to pray.
When we got back to the temple it was dinner time. We experienced the Balwoo Gongyang (traditional dinner). It was quite an ordeal. There was a certain order in which things were done. You had to put your napkin on your left knee and put your bowls in a certain order. The meager portions of rice and vegetables were served and eaten in silence. At the end of the meal we had to wash our bowl with water and a kimchi radish which we then had to eat and drink. It was such a rigid and, in the words of a fellow participant, “oppressive” meal.
After dinner we had tea time and a dialogue with the Master. The topic of discussion was dreams (as is our life goals). He had some good advice about pursuing your dreams. And I did enjoy the tea.
We went to bed at 10:15. All of the girls slept in one room and the boys in another. We were on plain mats with a blanket, but the floor was heated, so that was incredibly nice. Our wakeup call was at 3:00 for the Dawn Yebul (more like pre-dawn, but whatever). The night before I’d decided that I wouldn’t attend, since, aside from being incredibly grumpy and sleep deprived, I wasn’t really going to participate in the service anyway. The service consisted of 108 bows, lots of mantra chanting and some very uncomfortable meditation (at least, that’s what I hear). David attended, and he managed to get some pretty great pictures of the temple lit at night.
I slept until the nice wonderful hour of 6:00 am, when we were herded to a breakfast of kimchi, radishes and rice. Buddhist monks are vegetarians, and as far as I can tell, they’re vegans as well. I don’t know how they can do it. Even after just three meals of rice and kimchi I was craving meat and fatty foods! While I admire their intense discipline when it comes to rising up at 3 am for prayer and only eating tiny amounts of the most basic food, I don’t see their lifestyle as very necessary. The Master even said, “I have been doing this every day for ten years and I am still tired and in pain and not yet enlightened.”
We made lotus lanterns, which was fun. The Buddhists use this flower as a symbol because it grows out of mud into a beautiful bloom. I guess it’s a distant metaphor of the resurrection: life springing up from death. The lanterns were really pretty, and I enjoyed making them. Unfortunately they fell to pieces on our bus ride home.
After the lanterns we strung Buddhist prayer beads. There are 108 beads on each strand to symbolize our past, present and future sufferings. We were supposed to bow for each bead we strung on and contemplate on suffering. I didn’t bow—yet instead, with every bead I strung I decided to utter a prayer for all of my Buddhist friends in Korea and Cambodia. I plan on keeping my string of prayer beads as a reminder of those friendships and my need to pray for them.
By the time we were finished with the beads it was time for another lunch of rice (this time there was vegetable curry). After the meal we packed up our bags and headed back to Seoul. I was very glad we decided to do this temple stay. To get a glimpse into the daily life of a Buddhist monk was very interesting. Their rigid lifestyle of meditation, prayer and discipline was fascinating. It made me very grateful for the freedom that we have as believers in Christ. Our salvation doesn’t depend on how much we pray or how many good things we do. It rests only on Christ’s sacrifice. What a relief! No 3 am wake up calls for me…
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A Dialogue (II).
[Scene]: I’m coloring with my kindergarteners when the conversation takes an obscure turn.
Kid: Teacher, what’s the bad guy’s name?
Me: Bad guy?
Kid: Yeah, Jesus’s bad guy.
Me: Um, Satan?
Kid: Yeah! Satan! Halloween is Satan’s day, right, teacher?
Me: [trying to figure out how to explain Halloween] Um…
Kid: Mommy and Daddy say it’s very bad.
Me: [trying to divert the conversation in a different direction] Are you excited about music class later?
Kid: What song are we singing?
Me: “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
Kid: How does that go?
I hum “Puff the Magic Dragon”
Kid: Oh! Oh! I know! That’s a Jesus song!
Me: I don’t think so…
Kid: Yes! It is! It’s on my Jesus CD!
Me: Okay then…
What can I say? School is rarely boring. =)
Kid: Teacher, what’s the bad guy’s name?
Me: Bad guy?
Kid: Yeah, Jesus’s bad guy.
Me: Um, Satan?
Kid: Yeah! Satan! Halloween is Satan’s day, right, teacher?
Me: [trying to figure out how to explain Halloween] Um…
Kid: Mommy and Daddy say it’s very bad.
Me: [trying to divert the conversation in a different direction] Are you excited about music class later?
Kid: What song are we singing?
Me: “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
Kid: How does that go?
I hum “Puff the Magic Dragon”
Kid: Oh! Oh! I know! That’s a Jesus song!
Me: I don’t think so…
Kid: Yes! It is! It’s on my Jesus CD!
Me: Okay then…
What can I say? School is rarely boring. =)
Monday, November 16, 2009
Brrr....
The past three weeks have been so ridiculously haphazard: first with the departure of our dear friends Brett and Abbi and the arrival of our new teachers, then with my contraction of the swine flu. Now that I'm finally getting back into a normal schedule, things feel weird. After a week of being sick and staying home, I forgot how much I have to teach in a normal day. It's a long time- but I've really enjoyed spending time with my kindergarteners. My class is relatively calm and chatty, so I can sit and talk to them about stuff for a whole hour in the morning. It's pretty cool. I've gotten to know them really well. They're neat people. :)
This weekend the temperatures plummeted to below freezing. Normally Koreans heat their houses by heating water pipes beneath the floors, but our floor is broken. :( Apparently it's unfixable as well. So all we have is a tiny little space heater that we place on the floor between us. I've been discovering other innovative ways to keep warm: bundle up in lots of layers, take warm showers, drink hot tea and spend more time in bed with the blankets on. Tonight the temperature is predicted to drop to 17 F. My thin Carolina blood can't handle it. I'm in for a really long winter.
We went Christmas shopping in Insadong (an open air market in Seoul) this weekend. We only got stuff for about half the people on our list. The whole experience was overwhelming, wandering through stalls of street food and wares. I'm really satisfied with our purchases-- and even more excited about traveling back home in 5 1/2 weeks to give them to people!
Other than the Christmas shopping and a married couples luncheon we attended at our new church we laid low for the weekend. Ergo I don't have much more to tell you guys. But next weekend we're signed up to go on a temple-stay in a 1200 year old temple! That will be really interesting as well as exciting.
Stay warm everyone!
This weekend the temperatures plummeted to below freezing. Normally Koreans heat their houses by heating water pipes beneath the floors, but our floor is broken. :( Apparently it's unfixable as well. So all we have is a tiny little space heater that we place on the floor between us. I've been discovering other innovative ways to keep warm: bundle up in lots of layers, take warm showers, drink hot tea and spend more time in bed with the blankets on. Tonight the temperature is predicted to drop to 17 F. My thin Carolina blood can't handle it. I'm in for a really long winter.
We went Christmas shopping in Insadong (an open air market in Seoul) this weekend. We only got stuff for about half the people on our list. The whole experience was overwhelming, wandering through stalls of street food and wares. I'm really satisfied with our purchases-- and even more excited about traveling back home in 5 1/2 weeks to give them to people!
Other than the Christmas shopping and a married couples luncheon we attended at our new church we laid low for the weekend. Ergo I don't have much more to tell you guys. But next weekend we're signed up to go on a temple-stay in a 1200 year old temple! That will be really interesting as well as exciting.
Stay warm everyone!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Apartment Tour
And now I give you the long overdue tour of our apartment! Just a warning, it's tiny.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Stages of Swine Flu...
It started with a wave of exhaustion. I sat in my late Wednesday afternoon kindergarten class, watching my kids scrawl all over the white board when it hit. I shook my head, surprised by how faint I suddenly felt. Something wasn’t right.
That night I woke up soaked in sweat and frigid. Despite my layers of covers I lay in a fetal position most of the night, shuddering.
In the morning I felt fine. I went to work, and the strange waves of dizziness and exhaustion struck at random times throughout the day. My temperature was a normal 36.6 Celcius.
Thursday night wasn’t as severe as the night before. I woke up only once, slightly uncomfortable with my sticky blankets.
Friday was Halloween. Although I woke up feeling what I might term as “less than chipper,” I slipped on my black cat costume and took the bus to work. I laughed at the kid’s costumes and doled out miniature snickers bars while trying to ignore how increasingly awful I felt. By lunchtime I could barely stay seated without wanting to fall asleep on the table. My back ached and I was prone to awfully scary fits of coughing. I took my temperature: 38.1 Celcius (100.5 F). I wandered over to the nearest Korean teacher and showed them the number. It was greeted with a gasp and I was ushered over to my bosses.
“We must take you to the hospital,” they decided. “Go sit in the teacher’s room until we can take you.”
I washed off my facepainted whiskers and nose and went with Anne to the hospital. After a forty minute wait, I was pushed through the conveyor belt of H1N1 checkups. The doctor spoke very good English. He called me Miss Marie (I didn’t have the heart or the cognitive abilities to correct him) and told me my throat was inflamed. He then proceeded to proscribe me several dozen medicines. Tamiflu was among them.
A nurse stuck an unpleasant swab down my throat and I gagged at least ten times before she got what she was looking for. Another nurse stuck a syringe in my thigh and slapped me. Anne picked up my medicine and took me home. I slept the rest of the day.
Saturday and Sunday were spend in various states of vegetation. Among them: sleeping, internet surfing, watching television and writing. The two times I ventured out of the apartment I was so doped up on medication that I couldn’t walk in a straight line, so I decided it would be best for my safety if I stayed inside (there are a lot of fast cars near my apartment…). Overall I felt pretty good. The Tamiflu and other pills did their work well.
This morning I was all set to go to work again (although I did sleep an hour past my alarm). I got on the bus and made it to school. I even got through my first lesson with the kids when Anne hurries up to me and ushers me into the teacher’s office.
“Ryan, you—“ she hesitates. “You have H1N1. They just gave me the results.”
She says it like its cancer.
“You have to go home now!” she urges.
I’m not going to argue when my bosses want to send me home. I packed up my purse and took the bus back. When I got back to the apartment I slept THE ENTIRE DAY. I guess I really wasn’t ready to go back to school yet.
And now that I have it, I really don’t know why Koreans (or the world for that matter) are so ridiculously paranoid about the swine flu. It’s just like any other sickness. You get it and you’ll probably get over it. That’s that.
So, I’ve still got another day of convalescing to do. Hooray for being sick and not having to go to work!
That night I woke up soaked in sweat and frigid. Despite my layers of covers I lay in a fetal position most of the night, shuddering.
In the morning I felt fine. I went to work, and the strange waves of dizziness and exhaustion struck at random times throughout the day. My temperature was a normal 36.6 Celcius.
Thursday night wasn’t as severe as the night before. I woke up only once, slightly uncomfortable with my sticky blankets.
Friday was Halloween. Although I woke up feeling what I might term as “less than chipper,” I slipped on my black cat costume and took the bus to work. I laughed at the kid’s costumes and doled out miniature snickers bars while trying to ignore how increasingly awful I felt. By lunchtime I could barely stay seated without wanting to fall asleep on the table. My back ached and I was prone to awfully scary fits of coughing. I took my temperature: 38.1 Celcius (100.5 F). I wandered over to the nearest Korean teacher and showed them the number. It was greeted with a gasp and I was ushered over to my bosses.
“We must take you to the hospital,” they decided. “Go sit in the teacher’s room until we can take you.”
I washed off my facepainted whiskers and nose and went with Anne to the hospital. After a forty minute wait, I was pushed through the conveyor belt of H1N1 checkups. The doctor spoke very good English. He called me Miss Marie (I didn’t have the heart or the cognitive abilities to correct him) and told me my throat was inflamed. He then proceeded to proscribe me several dozen medicines. Tamiflu was among them.
A nurse stuck an unpleasant swab down my throat and I gagged at least ten times before she got what she was looking for. Another nurse stuck a syringe in my thigh and slapped me. Anne picked up my medicine and took me home. I slept the rest of the day.
Saturday and Sunday were spend in various states of vegetation. Among them: sleeping, internet surfing, watching television and writing. The two times I ventured out of the apartment I was so doped up on medication that I couldn’t walk in a straight line, so I decided it would be best for my safety if I stayed inside (there are a lot of fast cars near my apartment…). Overall I felt pretty good. The Tamiflu and other pills did their work well.
This morning I was all set to go to work again (although I did sleep an hour past my alarm). I got on the bus and made it to school. I even got through my first lesson with the kids when Anne hurries up to me and ushers me into the teacher’s office.
“Ryan, you—“ she hesitates. “You have H1N1. They just gave me the results.”
She says it like its cancer.
“You have to go home now!” she urges.
I’m not going to argue when my bosses want to send me home. I packed up my purse and took the bus back. When I got back to the apartment I slept THE ENTIRE DAY. I guess I really wasn’t ready to go back to school yet.
And now that I have it, I really don’t know why Koreans (or the world for that matter) are so ridiculously paranoid about the swine flu. It’s just like any other sickness. You get it and you’ll probably get over it. That’s that.
So, I’ve still got another day of convalescing to do. Hooray for being sick and not having to go to work!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...
Here we are, beginning our third month in Korea. It’s so crazy to think that we’ve been here for that long. The time has seemed both very long and very short. So much has happened that it’s been a very full two months.
On Friday night we had to say goodbye to our friends Brett and Abbi. They flew back to America on Saturday! Even though we only spent two months with them, they feel like family to us… so it will be pretty hard with them gone.
Me, Ferrin and Abbi
The four of us!
At the end of our kindergartenless week David and I decided to go to the zoo. We packed up our bags and took the bus from Yeonsu over to Seoul Grand Park. The zoo here is about twice as big as Riverbanks zoo in Columbia SC (which is about the extent of my zoo experience). We were all set to explore and see all of the wonderful animals, yet as soon as we stepped inside the gates the heavens opened and rain poured down. We pulled out our umbrellas and trekked through the torrential downpours to see some very soggy animals. In the end we were quite soggy as well. My jeans were riding quite low due to the water weight and even my rainjacket got soaked through. The contents of my purse were turned to mush as well. We did get to see quite a few more animals than I expected despite the torrential downpour. The tigers and otters were frolicking in the rain. There were seals and penguins in the water displays. Elephants played in the mud. During some of the worst part of the storm we went into an auditorium to see the dolphin show that was on display.
The ZOO!
I was a bit taken aback by this sign, but apparently this is a real type penguin. It's named so for the sound it makes, which people have likened to the braying of a donkey.
The dolphin show.
The train ride home was pretty soggy, but we enjoyed our nice dry apartment. I’ve never seen it rain so much in one day before—figures it would happen on a time we decided to do an outside activity. The fall colors were really beautiful though. It’s so crazy to see such long lasting and colorful leaves!
On Sunday we went to church at Jubilee. We’ve really enjoyed our times there—they have such a great community and their style of worship is really refreshing. Also, it’s nice to be around a lot of Asians who speak English fluently!
My kids were really happy to see me this week after an entire week off! Unfortunately I just found out that one of my girls, Esther, dropped out of the class to go to a different school. I hate that I cannot say goodbye to her… but such is life here. One day you see someone and then the next they can be gone. Koreans aren’t really good at giving out warnings about stuff like that.
Also, this week has been ridiculously cold so far. We woke up to a thirty degree Monday morning, which only got worse (in the twenties). I hate it. I can’t wait for winter to be over already.
On Friday night we had to say goodbye to our friends Brett and Abbi. They flew back to America on Saturday! Even though we only spent two months with them, they feel like family to us… so it will be pretty hard with them gone.
Me, Ferrin and Abbi
The four of us!
At the end of our kindergartenless week David and I decided to go to the zoo. We packed up our bags and took the bus from Yeonsu over to Seoul Grand Park. The zoo here is about twice as big as Riverbanks zoo in Columbia SC (which is about the extent of my zoo experience). We were all set to explore and see all of the wonderful animals, yet as soon as we stepped inside the gates the heavens opened and rain poured down. We pulled out our umbrellas and trekked through the torrential downpours to see some very soggy animals. In the end we were quite soggy as well. My jeans were riding quite low due to the water weight and even my rainjacket got soaked through. The contents of my purse were turned to mush as well. We did get to see quite a few more animals than I expected despite the torrential downpour. The tigers and otters were frolicking in the rain. There were seals and penguins in the water displays. Elephants played in the mud. During some of the worst part of the storm we went into an auditorium to see the dolphin show that was on display.
The ZOO!
I was a bit taken aback by this sign, but apparently this is a real type penguin. It's named so for the sound it makes, which people have likened to the braying of a donkey.
The dolphin show.
The train ride home was pretty soggy, but we enjoyed our nice dry apartment. I’ve never seen it rain so much in one day before—figures it would happen on a time we decided to do an outside activity. The fall colors were really beautiful though. It’s so crazy to see such long lasting and colorful leaves!
On Sunday we went to church at Jubilee. We’ve really enjoyed our times there—they have such a great community and their style of worship is really refreshing. Also, it’s nice to be around a lot of Asians who speak English fluently!
My kids were really happy to see me this week after an entire week off! Unfortunately I just found out that one of my girls, Esther, dropped out of the class to go to a different school. I hate that I cannot say goodbye to her… but such is life here. One day you see someone and then the next they can be gone. Koreans aren’t really good at giving out warnings about stuff like that.
Also, this week has been ridiculously cold so far. We woke up to a thirty degree Monday morning, which only got worse (in the twenties). I hate it. I can’t wait for winter to be over already.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Week of Good Eats
We've eaten well this week! On Tuesday night was the Shabu Shabu, on Wednesday night we took the new teacher Helen out to galbi and last night David and I went to dinner with our Korean friend Gyeong Hee. The last time we went out with her we were stuffed to the brim with traditional Korean food, so we prepared ourselves for a large meal. Even the preparation wasn't quite enough. There were at least 4 or 5 courses of food! There was no room on the table. Our options ranged from sushi to amazing meat soup. During the meal Gyeong Hee taught us some useful Korean words. We each had notebooks to write down what we would learn.
We sat on the floor to eat and used only chopsticks. I consider myself decent at chopsticks, but certain foods proved rather slippery (ie. challenging). The restaurant was so traditional there was even a chicken coop in the front. :)
The wonderful eats!
Us and our gracious Korean hostess!
We sat on the floor to eat and used only chopsticks. I consider myself decent at chopsticks, but certain foods proved rather slippery (ie. challenging). The restaurant was so traditional there was even a chicken coop in the front. :)
The wonderful eats!
Us and our gracious Korean hostess!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
And this is where I work...
This week has been very slow-- I've had a lot of free time at Kid's College, so I decided to conduct a video tour of the place to help you visualize where we work! (oh and I'm wearing the hat I just finished knitting!)
This is the front of the school. I didn't get to get it in the video.
My new cap!
This is the front of the school. I didn't get to get it in the video.
My new cap!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Shabu Shabu
Last night we went out for dinner and and ate a traditional Korean meal known as "shabu shabu" (which in Korean means "shake shake"). It's a very family style meal. A large boiling soup bowl was placed in the middle of the table. There was a spread of fresh vegetables and rice cakes which were them dumped into the boiling broth. Every one got some really thin strips of beef which you can dip into the soup and then shake off (thus the name "shabu shabu"). It was really delicious! When you're finished eating all the beef and vegetables they pour noodles and dumplings into the pot. When you finish those they cook rice in it for you to eat, so it's a pretty filling meal. Along with galbi, this makes the list of meals we're going to take people to.
The boiling soup.
Ferrin with the meat spread.
The spread. There's no room on the table for eating!
Our apartment is a mess right now since we're inheriting a lot of stuff from Brett and Abbi, who are leaving to go back to Miguk (America) on Saturday. As of now, our apartment definitely looks better, if not a bit crammed. I think we'll be saving up some new stuff for the new teacher who's coming in today.
The boiling soup.
Ferrin with the meat spread.
The spread. There's no room on the table for eating!
Our apartment is a mess right now since we're inheriting a lot of stuff from Brett and Abbi, who are leaving to go back to Miguk (America) on Saturday. As of now, our apartment definitely looks better, if not a bit crammed. I think we'll be saving up some new stuff for the new teacher who's coming in today.
Monday, October 26, 2009
H1N1
As I mentioned in the previous post, last week was a rather emotionally stressful week. This week began with me walking into our hagwon to find out that one of the students has come down with H1N1. Now, the South Koreans are incredibly paranoid about this sort of thing- so all of the parents yanked their kids out of the school for an entire week! We sat around all day without any kindergarten classes to teach. Some elementary students came early in the afternoon and their were some international students later, but for the most part we sat in the office all day doing nothing. As far as we can tell, kindergarten is going to be closed all week and it may be that we'll have to "make up" the lost days by going in the next five Saturdays. This has yet to be determined. (Arg.)
In addition, we have a new teacher coming in tomorrow. Ahhh!
Please, God, let this week get better.
In addition, we have a new teacher coming in tomorrow. Ahhh!
Please, God, let this week get better.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Cirque Eloize
It’s been a stressful week. While I can’t really elaborate about it on such a public place as this blog, I’d be happy to share all of the goings on with you in private. This said, we had a really nice treat on Wednesday night to help distract us from all of the craziness going on in our lives. One of the more generous parents in the school got all of us tickets to go see the Cirque Eloize, which is a world-class acrobatics show going on at the Incheon World Fair. I didn’t quite know what to expect—but the show was absolutely fantastic. We had a little trouble getting our tickets. We were supposed to get VIP seats, but there was a mixup and by the time we realized it the show had already started. I spent half the time craning my neck to look over the heads of the people in front of us. The entire show was built around an urban theme. There were several different acts within the seventy minutes: there was a girl so flexible she could walk her legs around her body. There was a man who could hop on a bike all the way up some really steep steps. There was a girl who could spin around inside a metal ring. There was another girl who did acrobatics with a ribbon dozens of feet up in the air! All of the performers were so strong and talented. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I scrounged a few shots from the internet to help you understand our Cirque Eloize experience.
I've really enjoyed living in a city where huge acts like this routinely visit. Although the art in Charleston is great, it's nice to be in a cultural hub like Seoul (for the time being of course).
I've really enjoyed living in a city where huge acts like this routinely visit. Although the art in Charleston is great, it's nice to be in a cultural hub like Seoul (for the time being of course).
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