OMG... I'm leaving Korea so soon (a month and 12 days!), so I am going to spew memories that I don't want to forget. In no particular order, I want to remember...
Korea smells like fish.
Ajummas in their visors with their perms and their attitudes.
Old men drinking makgeolli and soju at 8am in front of the Family Mart.
Rexion Officetel, Banghak dong, Dobong-gu
Galbi.
"Big-sizee opsoyo!"
Crossing your arms in an "X".
Dakgalbi.
Pat-Bing-Su!!!
My students... all 900 of them (that includes those who graduated midway through).
My expat friends... too many to name but I will say especially Carolyn and Laura. :)
Ms. Joo and her family.
Ms. Goo.
Jee-Young.
Eun-Young and her family.
Jennie.
Rari and her family.
Those delicious little walnut and red bean cookies on the corner.
Skiing.
Everest Restaurant.
Ankara Picnic - my fave kebab place in Itaewon.
Hongdae.
Living on Line 1.
Cass. Hite. Max. Dongdongju. Bokbunja.
Kimbab.
Banana Milk.
Korea in the fall.
The long, cold-ass winter and how much I despised it. (Except for the big snow which was fun!)
^^
Now that I attempted to make a list I can't think of all of the things... I'll add more later.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
3rd Grade Couple
While I was walking to school, I saw one of my favorite 3rd graders holding hands with a girl. How cute. He realized I was behind him and let go of her hand then turned to say "Hi, Amanda Teacher", but as he did he tripped and fell. :( Poor guy. Embarrassed, he got up and gave the signal that he was okay at which point the little girl promptly slapped him in the back of the head. She'll teach him not to let go of her hand to wave to another woman! Sorry buddy.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Flying High
This past Wednesday I went zip-lining with my surrogate Korean family. It was sooo much fun! The place that we went to was about 2 hours outside of Seoul and it was a zip-lining course that included 9 different zip-lines. Every one was a lot of fun and I made sure to really run and jump so that I'd get some momentum. I was a pro by the end. ;)
I think even better than the zip-lining was getting to go for a long car ride and get out of Seoul, and also to spend the day with a family. It was really great.
You know what else was really great... all of the employees at the zip-lining place were cute Korean guys who just got cuter as the course went along. One of them asked me my name and once I got to the other side I could here him radioing his friend about me. lol. A little ego booster... hey, I'm single now... I can talk about this stuff.
Anyway, it was a great day altogether and I will never forget it.
Seriously, my life is going swimmingly. I don't know if that makes sense but I thought it sounded like a good adjective.
I have a great job, I have made some amazing friends in Korea, I have plenty of free time to do anything that I could really want to do, I am leaving for Southeast Asia in 2.5 months, I am going to be home for the holidays this year and I have so little responsibility that I shouldn't possibly be unhappy...
But I'm so dang homesick lately that it's ruining my buzz. I want to go home and hang out at my parents house while my dad barbecues. It's getting to be summer and I want to do all the summery things that I always do in California: hang out and do nothing, drive around with my windows down, make a trip to the beach now and then, drink white wine sangria, hang out at Rafa's until all hours of the night/morning, eat Yogurt & More once a week... the list goes on.
What I think that it all comes down to is the fact that I need to learn to just live in the moment. I need to enjoy what I have here and at home without fretting about not being here or there and not being able to be everywhere at once. I have done a good job of accomplishing my goal; after college I wanted to travel for an extended period of time and live in another country. Check and check.
So, now that I've purged myself of this feeling of hopelessness, I am going to live it up! As the Koreans would say: "FIGHTING!"
I think even better than the zip-lining was getting to go for a long car ride and get out of Seoul, and also to spend the day with a family. It was really great.
You know what else was really great... all of the employees at the zip-lining place were cute Korean guys who just got cuter as the course went along. One of them asked me my name and once I got to the other side I could here him radioing his friend about me. lol. A little ego booster... hey, I'm single now... I can talk about this stuff.
Anyway, it was a great day altogether and I will never forget it.
Seriously, my life is going swimmingly. I don't know if that makes sense but I thought it sounded like a good adjective.
I have a great job, I have made some amazing friends in Korea, I have plenty of free time to do anything that I could really want to do, I am leaving for Southeast Asia in 2.5 months, I am going to be home for the holidays this year and I have so little responsibility that I shouldn't possibly be unhappy...
But I'm so dang homesick lately that it's ruining my buzz. I want to go home and hang out at my parents house while my dad barbecues. It's getting to be summer and I want to do all the summery things that I always do in California: hang out and do nothing, drive around with my windows down, make a trip to the beach now and then, drink white wine sangria, hang out at Rafa's until all hours of the night/morning, eat Yogurt & More once a week... the list goes on.
What I think that it all comes down to is the fact that I need to learn to just live in the moment. I need to enjoy what I have here and at home without fretting about not being here or there and not being able to be everywhere at once. I have done a good job of accomplishing my goal; after college I wanted to travel for an extended period of time and live in another country. Check and check.
So, now that I've purged myself of this feeling of hopelessness, I am going to live it up! As the Koreans would say: "FIGHTING!"
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Couch Surfing
I'm finally doing it. I'm going to surf someone's couch in Busan!
www.couchsurfing.org... check it!
So, I've always been intrigued by this whole idea and I have always wanted to participate. I signed up while living in Rancho Cucamonga and nobody wants to hang out in Rancho Cucamonga. I was also living with Steph and Adam so that wasn't ideal.
Anyway, I came to Korea and was really stoked to put my couch on the site so that people could come stay. Then life happened... you know, boyfriends don't want their girlfriends having strangers sleeping on their couch. Well now, the fate of my CouchSurfing history is in my hands! I changed my couch status to available and waited for the requests to flood in. Alright, I didn't expect the requests to flood in because I live in a really inconvenient area of Seoul and I explicitly stated that on my profile so that people will know what to expect. I've gotten 2 requests. One was a mistake... lol... they thought I lived in GwangJu. And the other is a French dude who is coming in June and might stay, but we'll see. Mom and Dad, don't worry.
So, as for me actually riding these waves, I am going to stay in Busan on June 10th to the 13th and I am surfing 2 couches. Well, technically 1 couch and 1 blow up mattress. :) There are 2 girls who seem to be quite active in the CouchSurfing community who have both accepted my request to use their facilities. I'll be at one place on Thursday night and one place on Friday and Saturday night. I'm excited to meet some new people and to travel on my own!
What is the best part of CouchSurfing is really meeting new people from all over the world. Recently, I have met some people for dinner and such and it was all initiated through Nathalie, an exchange student from Sweden, sending me a random message. I have met some awesome people so far and I hope to continue to meet more. I have not met another English teacher yet, which is actually a little refreshing. Usually all of the foreigners in Seoul are either English teachers or G.I.s.
I look forward to meeting plenty of new people through CouchSurfing and making tons of memories along the way! Here's a picture of my couch... wouldn't you want to surf it? ;)
www.couchsurfing.org... check it!
So, I've always been intrigued by this whole idea and I have always wanted to participate. I signed up while living in Rancho Cucamonga and nobody wants to hang out in Rancho Cucamonga. I was also living with Steph and Adam so that wasn't ideal.
Anyway, I came to Korea and was really stoked to put my couch on the site so that people could come stay. Then life happened... you know, boyfriends don't want their girlfriends having strangers sleeping on their couch. Well now, the fate of my CouchSurfing history is in my hands! I changed my couch status to available and waited for the requests to flood in. Alright, I didn't expect the requests to flood in because I live in a really inconvenient area of Seoul and I explicitly stated that on my profile so that people will know what to expect. I've gotten 2 requests. One was a mistake... lol... they thought I lived in GwangJu. And the other is a French dude who is coming in June and might stay, but we'll see. Mom and Dad, don't worry.
So, as for me actually riding these waves, I am going to stay in Busan on June 10th to the 13th and I am surfing 2 couches. Well, technically 1 couch and 1 blow up mattress. :) There are 2 girls who seem to be quite active in the CouchSurfing community who have both accepted my request to use their facilities. I'll be at one place on Thursday night and one place on Friday and Saturday night. I'm excited to meet some new people and to travel on my own!
What is the best part of CouchSurfing is really meeting new people from all over the world. Recently, I have met some people for dinner and such and it was all initiated through Nathalie, an exchange student from Sweden, sending me a random message. I have met some awesome people so far and I hope to continue to meet more. I have not met another English teacher yet, which is actually a little refreshing. Usually all of the foreigners in Seoul are either English teachers or G.I.s.
I look forward to meeting plenty of new people through CouchSurfing and making tons of memories along the way! Here's a picture of my couch... wouldn't you want to surf it? ;)
Monday, May 3, 2010
Oh, Korea!
Baby Koreans are still super cute...
Yesterday I was shopping at the Lotte Mart, my local grocery/department/everything store, and while in the produce section I saw this teeny little Korean boy fumbling in the carrot bin. Cutest thing ever: he had a little list and a hand-held basket and a whole bunch of carrots. He was trying so hard to get the carrots into the bag and thoroughly enjoying himself but not being very successful... So of course I took this opportunity to help the precious little Korean boy and he got all of his carrots into the bag. I then opened my bag and let him help me with my carrots, which he was delighted to do. When I was finished I thanked him and he proceeded to put almost his entire body into the little basket and market off the carrots on his list that was sitting at the bottom. Then he struggled to pick up the basket, that was now quite heavy because of the carrots, and search for his mom to show her what a great job he did. :) So cute.
The little business man...
I have a student in the 4th grade who speaks English like a pro. This story is not going to be nearly as funny without my impression, but I'll tell it anyway. Every time I see him he always says in his little business man voice "Hello Amanda, how are you doing today?" I always reply with something bland like "I'm fine/good/okay. Thank you. How are you?" But he always replies with something like "I'm fantastic" or "I'm great" and more recently he said "I'm awesome!" with a perfectly timed double thumbs-up. So cute. Such a little business man. He's going to be in infomercials someday and make his mama proud.
Hi Mom!...
I have a student that calls me "Mom". He walks into class and without fail he says "Hi Mom!". I asked him why he calls me "Mom" but he just stared at me blankly like "What? You're not my mom?" I corrected him and said to just call me "Amanda" or "teacher" or "Amanda Teacher", but not "Mom". His response? "Okay Mom!"
Noraebang Debacle...
Recently I went to Gangwha Island with some girl friends for a "Girl's Weekend". It was a great time and it was so nice to be out of the city and near the water! We went for a walk on the beach and we ate tons of sashimi and drank plenty... and then we went to the noraebong. To clarify, for those of you reading this who have not been to Korea, a noraebang is a "singing room". It's like karaoke without having to get on a stage.
So the girls and I are singing away and having a grand ol' time, when some random middle-aged Korean men come into the room. One of the Korean men proceeds to happily dance for us and though we didn't really want him there, it was quite amusing. Then he took it too far and started lifting his shirt and unbuckling his belt. We were all shouting at him "no, no, bye!" hoping that he would get the idea, but no, he full-on pulled down his pants. Now there was speculation to whether or not he really exposed himself... some of the other girls closed their eyes at just the right time, but I saw and I say that it was practically a full strip tease. Needless to say in a room full of girls we all screamed and shooed him out. The look on his face was like "What? You no like?" He proceeded to try to come into the room about 3 more times... he didn't get the message that we didn't like his little ajusshi bod. Ew.
I don't know how I went from 3 stories about kids to one about a perverted old dude... sorry, bad transition!
Yesterday I was shopping at the Lotte Mart, my local grocery/department/everything store, and while in the produce section I saw this teeny little Korean boy fumbling in the carrot bin. Cutest thing ever: he had a little list and a hand-held basket and a whole bunch of carrots. He was trying so hard to get the carrots into the bag and thoroughly enjoying himself but not being very successful... So of course I took this opportunity to help the precious little Korean boy and he got all of his carrots into the bag. I then opened my bag and let him help me with my carrots, which he was delighted to do. When I was finished I thanked him and he proceeded to put almost his entire body into the little basket and market off the carrots on his list that was sitting at the bottom. Then he struggled to pick up the basket, that was now quite heavy because of the carrots, and search for his mom to show her what a great job he did. :) So cute.
The little business man...
I have a student in the 4th grade who speaks English like a pro. This story is not going to be nearly as funny without my impression, but I'll tell it anyway. Every time I see him he always says in his little business man voice "Hello Amanda, how are you doing today?" I always reply with something bland like "I'm fine/good/okay. Thank you. How are you?" But he always replies with something like "I'm fantastic" or "I'm great" and more recently he said "I'm awesome!" with a perfectly timed double thumbs-up. So cute. Such a little business man. He's going to be in infomercials someday and make his mama proud.
Hi Mom!...
I have a student that calls me "Mom". He walks into class and without fail he says "Hi Mom!". I asked him why he calls me "Mom" but he just stared at me blankly like "What? You're not my mom?" I corrected him and said to just call me "Amanda" or "teacher" or "Amanda Teacher", but not "Mom". His response? "Okay Mom!"
Noraebang Debacle...
Recently I went to Gangwha Island with some girl friends for a "Girl's Weekend". It was a great time and it was so nice to be out of the city and near the water! We went for a walk on the beach and we ate tons of sashimi and drank plenty... and then we went to the noraebong. To clarify, for those of you reading this who have not been to Korea, a noraebang is a "singing room". It's like karaoke without having to get on a stage.
So the girls and I are singing away and having a grand ol' time, when some random middle-aged Korean men come into the room. One of the Korean men proceeds to happily dance for us and though we didn't really want him there, it was quite amusing. Then he took it too far and started lifting his shirt and unbuckling his belt. We were all shouting at him "no, no, bye!" hoping that he would get the idea, but no, he full-on pulled down his pants. Now there was speculation to whether or not he really exposed himself... some of the other girls closed their eyes at just the right time, but I saw and I say that it was practically a full strip tease. Needless to say in a room full of girls we all screamed and shooed him out. The look on his face was like "What? You no like?" He proceeded to try to come into the room about 3 more times... he didn't get the message that we didn't like his little ajusshi bod. Ew.
I don't know how I went from 3 stories about kids to one about a perverted old dude... sorry, bad transition!
Dude, this blog is dormant... time to revive it!
So... what's been going on in my world?
Well, since my last blog post I went to China (in February... a long time ago) and I'd been coping with being utterly grouchy about Seoul's cold weather until voila! Warmth. :)
It's finally spring and I am beginning to feel like I am done hibernating. This bear woke up and scratched herself and then realized she had gotten chubby and decided to do something about it! So I am going to lose 20 lbs before I get home. I've lost 5 lbs so far, so... go me! All I am doing is all of the stuff that people tell you to do your whole life but you never listen; eat right and exercise! I have been eating tons of fresh fruits and veggies and staying away from processed foods. Of course, at school I eat whatever they give me, today it was spaghetti... so... I had to eat it. I didn't gorge myself so it was all good.
Lately, I have Costa Rica on the brain. I want to go there and possibly live there and learn Spanish while teaching English. Sounds like a fantastic plan to me! I want to go to a warm happy place where dancing with all of your might is encouraged.
Also, I read Eat. Pray. Love. and it was amazing and if you haven't read it, you should! It was a great book about a woman finding herself through traveling, eating, praying, and finally loving again. Good stuff.
To be honest, I'm ready to leave Korea. I think it's Seoul's fault. I am done living in a big city. I want to live in a little village where I can ride my bike from one end to the other. And eat fresh food from the local market. And know everyone. And live by the beach. In Costa Rica. Ha! I guess I might have to change the name of this blog then, eh?
I'm going to put some little stories about my life in the next entry, so I'll be ending this one now. Main points: Amanda Revived, Blog Revived, Costa Rica or Bust. :)
I miss you all back home!
Well, since my last blog post I went to China (in February... a long time ago) and I'd been coping with being utterly grouchy about Seoul's cold weather until voila! Warmth. :)
It's finally spring and I am beginning to feel like I am done hibernating. This bear woke up and scratched herself and then realized she had gotten chubby and decided to do something about it! So I am going to lose 20 lbs before I get home. I've lost 5 lbs so far, so... go me! All I am doing is all of the stuff that people tell you to do your whole life but you never listen; eat right and exercise! I have been eating tons of fresh fruits and veggies and staying away from processed foods. Of course, at school I eat whatever they give me, today it was spaghetti... so... I had to eat it. I didn't gorge myself so it was all good.
Lately, I have Costa Rica on the brain. I want to go there and possibly live there and learn Spanish while teaching English. Sounds like a fantastic plan to me! I want to go to a warm happy place where dancing with all of your might is encouraged.
Also, I read Eat. Pray. Love. and it was amazing and if you haven't read it, you should! It was a great book about a woman finding herself through traveling, eating, praying, and finally loving again. Good stuff.
To be honest, I'm ready to leave Korea. I think it's Seoul's fault. I am done living in a big city. I want to live in a little village where I can ride my bike from one end to the other. And eat fresh food from the local market. And know everyone. And live by the beach. In Costa Rica. Ha! I guess I might have to change the name of this blog then, eh?
I'm going to put some little stories about my life in the next entry, so I'll be ending this one now. Main points: Amanda Revived, Blog Revived, Costa Rica or Bust. :)
I miss you all back home!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
What's up with this blog?
I know that I don't write blog entries as of late and I am ashamed.
Due to Rafa's request I will do my best to rejuvenate my blog and put some new entries on here. Hi Rafa! ;)
So...
I have officially been in Korea for 5 months and some-odd days and it's freezing cold here, though it's warmer than it was a couple of weeks ago. I am ready for winter to be over and for things to turn green again!
I have recently been having dreams where I am back in California. It's like I fall asleep and end up in Rancho Cucamonga. I had this dream the other day where I came home from Korea and went to some house that was supposedly my parents and they were having a party. I was like "Hey everyone I'm back from Korea!" but nobody seemed to care. So I sat on the couch and then my dad walked in, a plate of barbecue in hand, and I was like "Hi Dad! I'm home!" and he said "Nice of you to show up" (with a hint of attitude) and I was sad because everyone didn't care that I was home. In fact they seemed a little mad at me.
...Don't be mad at me or forget about me people!...
Oh I just remembered that I also had a dream about going to Six Flags with my sister and I saw some old friends there and I just kept saying "I have to go on Tatsu! I've never been on Tatsu!"
...Is this one of those moments when you tell somebody your dream and they just stare at you blankly because it has no relevance to them? Sorry if it is...
Anyways, I miss California. It's seeping into my subconscious. Korea is nice and all but I need some sunshine or something.
What else?...
Oh yes, John and I are going to China in 5 days. Woo hoo! We will be in Beijing for the first 3 1/2 days and will ring in the Chinese New Year there. I am looking very forward to that. From there it's off to see the Terracotta Army in Xi'an and see the pandas in Chengdu then we're gonna try to get into Tibet and then somehow get back to Shanghai by the 25th. It's not precisely planned, but that's the fun in it. I am quite excited to see the sights, but I am even more excited to eat the food! I cant wait! I'll have to write about it when I get back. :)
Other news...
My Korean class got canceled! Booooooo. So it's no Korean class for 2 months (Jan & Feb). Though I have been taking my one-on-one lessons with Ms. Joo, so I am still learning. I might try to take some free classes that are at a library closer to me, so we'll see about that.
My co-teacher told me that my vice principal really likes me and that she tells her to treat me well because she wants me to re-contract for another year... we'll see about that...
I ran my fastest mile in the history of my life at the gym. 8 minutes. Maybe that's not all that good, but to me it's great. I am getting better at running and have been to doing okay about getting to the gym. I even "went" 5 miles the other day. (I say "went" because I can't technically say that I "ran" 5 miles... I probably ran 3 miles and walked 2.)
We went skiing again a few weeks ago and I did a lot better than my first attempt. A big shout out to my ski instructor, John. :) Thanks for not giving up on me despite the fact that I got frustrated and grouchy. Muah!
That's about it. I have been hibernating like a bear because of the cold so I don't do much except watch Sopranos and eat and sleep and work...
I miss everyone back home and I think about you often! Happy Lunar New Year! (it's the year of the tiger as of February 14th, rarrr. ;)
Due to Rafa's request I will do my best to rejuvenate my blog and put some new entries on here. Hi Rafa! ;)
So...
I have officially been in Korea for 5 months and some-odd days and it's freezing cold here, though it's warmer than it was a couple of weeks ago. I am ready for winter to be over and for things to turn green again!
I have recently been having dreams where I am back in California. It's like I fall asleep and end up in Rancho Cucamonga. I had this dream the other day where I came home from Korea and went to some house that was supposedly my parents and they were having a party. I was like "Hey everyone I'm back from Korea!" but nobody seemed to care. So I sat on the couch and then my dad walked in, a plate of barbecue in hand, and I was like "Hi Dad! I'm home!" and he said "Nice of you to show up" (with a hint of attitude) and I was sad because everyone didn't care that I was home. In fact they seemed a little mad at me.
...Don't be mad at me or forget about me people!...
Oh I just remembered that I also had a dream about going to Six Flags with my sister and I saw some old friends there and I just kept saying "I have to go on Tatsu! I've never been on Tatsu!"
...Is this one of those moments when you tell somebody your dream and they just stare at you blankly because it has no relevance to them? Sorry if it is...
Anyways, I miss California. It's seeping into my subconscious. Korea is nice and all but I need some sunshine or something.
What else?...
Oh yes, John and I are going to China in 5 days. Woo hoo! We will be in Beijing for the first 3 1/2 days and will ring in the Chinese New Year there. I am looking very forward to that. From there it's off to see the Terracotta Army in Xi'an and see the pandas in Chengdu then we're gonna try to get into Tibet and then somehow get back to Shanghai by the 25th. It's not precisely planned, but that's the fun in it. I am quite excited to see the sights, but I am even more excited to eat the food! I cant wait! I'll have to write about it when I get back. :)
Other news...
My Korean class got canceled! Booooooo. So it's no Korean class for 2 months (Jan & Feb). Though I have been taking my one-on-one lessons with Ms. Joo, so I am still learning. I might try to take some free classes that are at a library closer to me, so we'll see about that.
My co-teacher told me that my vice principal really likes me and that she tells her to treat me well because she wants me to re-contract for another year... we'll see about that...
I ran my fastest mile in the history of my life at the gym. 8 minutes. Maybe that's not all that good, but to me it's great. I am getting better at running and have been to doing okay about getting to the gym. I even "went" 5 miles the other day. (I say "went" because I can't technically say that I "ran" 5 miles... I probably ran 3 miles and walked 2.)
We went skiing again a few weeks ago and I did a lot better than my first attempt. A big shout out to my ski instructor, John. :) Thanks for not giving up on me despite the fact that I got frustrated and grouchy. Muah!
That's about it. I have been hibernating like a bear because of the cold so I don't do much except watch Sopranos and eat and sleep and work...
I miss everyone back home and I think about you often! Happy Lunar New Year! (it's the year of the tiger as of February 14th, rarrr. ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
