Pizza Party for 2.

08.05.2010

Going out and having dinner with Michael was on my agenda for the day. Until then, I planned on a relaxing day. It’s nice having a vacation aka time to spend on projects, plans, and catch up on sleep. My only issue is most of my time is spent on my laptop at my desk on my office chair. I do take periodic breaks to stretch my legs and stop for mealtime. I lead a simple life for once. And I actually have some time for videogames, mainly for my DS. I’ve been listening to my favorite music from back home too; I’m either streaming The Current or KVSC. It rained again today; thankfully it stopped around the afternoon, shortly, for a couple of hours. I met Michael around 5pm for a dinner in Osan. We tried walking there, but ended up taking the bus at about the halfway point due to the continuous rain. I was clever and packed an umbrella, but unfortunately Michael did not. We ate at Mr. Pizza and had some great rice-breaded chicken for an appetizer and shared a Potato pizza, which is basically the typical Korean-style pizza available at most pizza joints.

Korean pizza is very different from American pizza, I wouldn’t even put it in the same category, but it’s still delicious, but the flavors are more complicated. We then walked home and made plans to get together on Saturday for a trip to Seoul to see the electronics district, both legal and illegal for an educational tour for me. I need to become more familiar, I feel it is entirely important to learn as much as possible to survive and become savvier with the culture and the geography of Seoul.

Wednesday Already?

08.04.2010

My vacation is passing by fairly quickly. I slept in the morning until 8am. Woke up with acute pain in my legs and I promptly took an ibuprofen or two. I quickly decided today was going to be a lazy day and the weather agreed with my decision as it rained the whole day. Monsoon season, if it’s not hot and humid then it’s wet and humid.





I took a hot shower to relieve my aching legs and I kept off my feet as much as possible for the day. I worked on my summer camp book ppts and watched some Korean dramas on TV. I’m still pretty lost with the language, but you can get the basics of the scene by the body language and intensity of the music. I spent the day inside working on little bits and pieces of projects for work, wedding, and vacation ideas. I started re-watching “The Big Bang Theory” and I’m tempted to start re-watching “The Office” too, but I think I might wait a bit closer to the start-up of the new season. Did I mention that most Koreans don’t go out in the rain? It’s true; the fear of acid rain lingers here. Most women will not go out as they don’t want a baldhead or lose their hair, physical beauty maybe a larger importance to culture than I could imagine. Odd, yes.

Exploring/Wandering

08.03.2010

I slept in until 7:30am, again. I talked with Phill over Skype for most of the morning and took it easy. It was raining lightly outside so I took my time getting ready for the day.

After a quick lunch I decided to go on walk after the rain stopped. As I was walking I was listening to Pimsleur ‘Learning Korean’ on my iPod as I was walking and exploring the Osan area. I had plenty of free time and no real plans so I went out walked for a very long time. I went to the Osan Arboretum across from the Osan College train station.





Very beautiful and peaceful, but the insects were quite loud in some areas.

As I left the arboretum, I went further into the Osan area. Went in a PC and just looked around, a lot of guys playing computer games.


Then I went into Osan and walked around the Park near the river. It’s very beautiful and peaceful during the day.





I went further into the city and went shopping at the LotteMart for some free AC and relief from the heat, I looked at a good majority of the store and purchased a medium-sized cheap pot for cooking. I probably walked around 8-10 miles, just wandering. When I grew tired of walking I went back near the train station and took the 20 bus home at 4pm. I promptly took a catnap and relaxed. When I awoke I made some dinner and watched some Korean TV. I think I might have walked too much, as already my calves began to ache as I went to bed.

No Work, No Sweat?

08.02.2010

I slept in until 7:30am. Woke up relaxed, talked with my parents and Phill over Skype for the whole morning. I enjoy speaking with them so easily. It felt odd not going in to work. I took a catnap after my late lunch. I revised my English Camp lectures.

Then, in the early evening I went exploring/hiking up a ‘small hill’ near my neighborhood.






It’s safe to say I broke a sweat and it wouldn’t stop. Exercising in this heat and humidity isn’t easy, not for a long shot. I even used the Design Park exercise machines afterwards.

When I headed home I immediately turned on the AC and took a quick shower to cool down. I can’t wait for Autumn, maybe then it will cool down, after all Osan does get four true seasons just not as extreme as Minnesota.

Relaxing Weekend

07.31.2010-08.01.2010

My only goal for today was to go grocery shopping, as my supplies were down to an all-time low. Before I did anything of that sort I talked with friends and family back home. It’s easier for me to communicate back home on the weekends, as with the time difference I can actually talk to them in the evening, as it is the late morning/afternoon for me. I vacuumed my apartment for the first time.

Even the vacuum is a Samsung! After that I started on my laundry using my sweet washing machine, when it’s finished with the load it actually plays a little tune so I know its done, rather than the American washing machines that just buzz loudly. I have no dryer, as it is common in Korea to go without, so I hung up my clothes around my apartment to dry. After a late lunch, I got ready to go to Osan for my various supplies.


I walked to the Osan College train station and took the train to Osan. I walked about 2km to the Southeast in hopes of finding the LottoMart I went to once, instead I found the E-Mart, which works just as well for me. The E-Mart is a Korean version of Wal-Mart. There are no Wal-Marts in Korea, shockingly enough. Across from the E-Mart was the McDonalds. I tried to tempt fate and eat dinner there.

I had the #6 combo: Shanghai Spice Chicken Sandwich with a Sprite (4,900 Won). The fast food restaurants do not have options for larger sizes; it just comes as a ‘medium American size’, which is plenty for me to eat. I’d have to say, overall, it was pretty good for a McDonalds, and I’m NOT a fan by any means, this was a scientific study. After I ate my filling dinner I went to the E-Mart and went shopping for supplies, in total 50,500 Won. I only made four splurge purchases: a Miffy towel, walnut cookies, lavender nylons, and a Hello Kitty mug.

I took the 20 bus back home and stopped by a local FamilyMart for an ice cream bar for my ‘reward’ for the day (500 Won). I’ve been craving ice cream too much in Korea. :/ I went to bed.
On Sunday, I woke up and had a lazy Sunday. I finished my laundry and spent most of the day inside, as it was too hot and humid outside. I got caught up on paperwork and housework. I talked with my family and Phill; today was my father’s birthday, so I wished him an early happy birthday. It was very nice to catch up with my family, as the last time I spoke with them was about a week ago. Then, I watched some TV and did some Rosetta Stone Korean. I even took various naps in the afternoon. I haven’t had a lazy Sunday like that in a long time and it was nice to unwind completely.

Last Day of Summer Camp for 3rd/4th grade

07.30.2010

I had a hard time getting out of bed at a decent time. I got my stuff together (I took a coffee for extra energy) and ran to school. I didn’t make a ppt for my lecture today, as the topic was Time. Instead, I used up the entire whiteboard for the lecture. Plus, we had to move the class to another room so I could show clips with better audio, with a full classroom of students it’s too hard to hear anything at times. So class was moved upstairs to the 3rd floor in the Computer room. I finally got my supplies for summer camp, a week late.

Better late than never, at least I can still use the supplies for the next English summer camp in August. The students were even more restless than the previous day. We got through the lecture, time survey, the book “Bats Around the Clock”, and the worksheets.




At that time there was about an hour left of class and I let them watch ‘Shaun the Sheep’ episodes for the remainder of the time. Overall, the students were pretty good, but they had a few low points towards the end of the week with class attentiveness, which was to be expected, after all they’re just kids that want to play and not be stuck in a classroom for three hours a day.


I had a quick lunch since All Day Class was at 1pm, not the 2pm usual. We covered part three of Animals, describing: spots, stripes, shell, scales, and etc. And I had a quick worksheet as well, with the ten minutes left of class I let them watch one episode of ‘Shaun the Sheep’. I think that show is a savior, as there is very little dialogue and its simple concepts for children, so no matter the language they understand the situations. I thanked the All Day Class teacher and went to the English room to decompress.

I survived my first week of teaching alone with ease and a few technological issues. I started prepping for the next English camp after my holiday with the remaining time at school. Then I went home and slept a blissful sleep.

Day Four of Camp and Evening in Seoul!

07.29.2010

I woke up in anticipation of a long day ahead. Today’s English camp theme was the body and clothes. I had two units planned, which included a full day. The students were not as attentive as they were earlier in the week. We covered: lecture/ppt on body parts “this is an arm”, taught them the “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” song as we pointed to the body parts, body parts worksheets, taught the “hokey pokey” song/dance, and we read the “Feet Book”. To transition into the clothing unit I played an episode of ‘Shaun the Sheep’ from youtube (one of my favorite Aardman Animations). The students really liked the video clip and wanted to watch more, but I wanted to get through the lesson plan first. We covered: lecture/ppt on clothing “do you wear a scarf in the summer”, “What are they wearing” speaking exercise, fashion/clothing worksheets, and Clothing Bingo. We had about ten minutes to spare before class ended so I showed another ‘Shaun the Sheep’ episode. And the students left happy. I had lunch again with the ‘guys’; we had some sort of spicy seafood soup with rice and kimchi. I reviewed my ppt for all day class and made copies of my worksheets. All day class lecture was on Animals part 2, different/more animals than the day before. I also included with each slide “where do they live” multiple choice on the whiteboard. It gave them a chance to use their brains a bit more. After that they had the worksheets and to conclude class we read/sang ‘Old MacDonald had a Farm’. The students really enjoyed it, after class ended many of them were still singing ‘e-i-e-i-o’, it was really cute. Then I worked on the next day’s lectures and printed out copies of worksheets for the last day of English camp. I got a ride home from one of the teachers, thankfully, since I had to rush to get ready to meet Jen in Osan and I desperately wanted to get into some comfy clothes. I hurried to the Osan College station to take the train to Osan and I met her there around 5:45 pm.


We took the bus to Seoul (3,000 Won) at the Express Bus Terminal and then got on the subway to meet her friend Lucy two stops over at the Nambu Bus Terminal. At Nambu we ate some dinner at a food court, we tried three different dishes: iced noodle soup, fried fish and chicken, and sushi. After dinner we went downstairs to the ‘low-priced’ shopping area, were we looked and looked at over 40 small shops. Many were reasonably priced, but low quality fabrics. It took me a while to find what I was looking for. I made a couple key purchases while shopping there and I got some great discounts with the help of Jen and Lucy. You’re always supposed to barter for a lower price in Korea. Which I’m still getting use to. In total, I spent 45,000 Won in all my purchases: 10,000 Won for a cute headband, 10,000 Won for edgy shoes, 15,000 Won for a light blue summer dress, 10,000 Won for a white t-shirt and a rose-colored shirt.



Then we parted ways with Jen’s friend and waited to take the last bus home at 9:40pm. From Osan we took the 20 bus to our homes, Jen got off first and I got off near the Osan College station. I walked home and sent her a message to let her know I made it home okay. I got home around 11pm and went to bed at midnight. A long day, but every minute was worth it. I know tomorrow I will not be as willing to get out of bed. :p