Goal #2
By the time I leave, I want to be able to wear Korean lingerie. They have the cutest little frilly lingerie and unfortunately, nothing comes bigger than an A cup.
I can do it!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Daily Life in Korea
Here is my routine..
5:30am- wake up. Hit snooze. Repeat.
6:45am- snooze is now broken... disassemble battery from alarm clock while still asleep.
7:15am- wake up in a panic wondering why my alarm never went off. Turn on water heater.
7:20am- jump into the shower.
7:35am- squeegy the puddles from the floor into the floor drain
7:40am- get ready for school
8:15am- shove a scoop of peanut butter down my throat (try to convince myself that it's actually a decent breakfast)
8:20am- run out the door. Curse at the elevator for taking so long. Power walk to school.
8:33am- Arrive at school. Only 3 minutes late, hell, that's practically on time!
9:00am- Start classes. Repeat the words: Hi, Hello, Hello, Hi, Hi, Hi, Bye, Hello, Hello, Hi, Hello, about a million times. Sing the damn ABC song just as many times.
12:20pm- Lunch. Push rice around my plate with chopsticks. Try to hide octopus and squid in my soup bowl so no one notices I didn't eat anything.
1:20pm- back to class. Repeat the following phrases over and over: No, I don't speak Korean...Yes, I live at Chong Ho too... No, I don't remember my phone number. (because that's what I need... 4th graders texting me all night long.)
2:20pm- After school classes. Try my damnedest to wrangle these kids who would rather be anywhere but here. Give up and play hangman until their hearts content.
3:30pm- Sit at my desk. Stare aimlessly at the clock. Write silly little blogs and check facebook 350 times.
4:30pm- Walk home. Wave to the people leaning out the hospital windows smoking cigarettes. Stop by the little market and pick up a few veggies and something to drink.
4:50pm- Wash my hands repeatedly. Damn germy little vermon! Must not get sick again!!!
5:00pm- Head out to the trails... running, biking, anything to clear my head.
6:30pm- Come home and shower. Forget that I opened the corridor window earlier and now all my neighbors can see me naked. Hmmm... rig up some contraption so I can keep the window open without people seeing in.
7:00pm- Paint, watch tv, think about what to eat for dinner.
8:00pm- Cook dinner. Usually involving chicken, onions, greenpeppers and garlic (those are the veggies my little market sells!)
10:30pm- Get on Skype and talk to my mom and sis... and anyone else that drops by my mom's house!
11:00pm- Watch episode after episode of CSI.... catch Man vs. Wild if I'm super lucky!
2:00am- Curse at myself for being a tv junkie and force myself to go to bed!
Repeat 5x a week...
except on Wednesdays. That involves me taking a bus 30 min outside town and repeating the phrase "No punching, fighting, kicking, hitting...."
5:30am- wake up. Hit snooze. Repeat.
6:45am- snooze is now broken... disassemble battery from alarm clock while still asleep.
7:15am- wake up in a panic wondering why my alarm never went off. Turn on water heater.
7:20am- jump into the shower.
7:35am- squeegy the puddles from the floor into the floor drain
7:40am- get ready for school
8:15am- shove a scoop of peanut butter down my throat (try to convince myself that it's actually a decent breakfast)
8:20am- run out the door. Curse at the elevator for taking so long. Power walk to school.
8:33am- Arrive at school. Only 3 minutes late, hell, that's practically on time!
9:00am- Start classes. Repeat the words: Hi, Hello, Hello, Hi, Hi, Hi, Bye, Hello, Hello, Hi, Hello, about a million times. Sing the damn ABC song just as many times.
12:20pm- Lunch. Push rice around my plate with chopsticks. Try to hide octopus and squid in my soup bowl so no one notices I didn't eat anything.
1:20pm- back to class. Repeat the following phrases over and over: No, I don't speak Korean...Yes, I live at Chong Ho too... No, I don't remember my phone number. (because that's what I need... 4th graders texting me all night long.)
2:20pm- After school classes. Try my damnedest to wrangle these kids who would rather be anywhere but here. Give up and play hangman until their hearts content.
3:30pm- Sit at my desk. Stare aimlessly at the clock. Write silly little blogs and check facebook 350 times.
4:30pm- Walk home. Wave to the people leaning out the hospital windows smoking cigarettes. Stop by the little market and pick up a few veggies and something to drink.
4:50pm- Wash my hands repeatedly. Damn germy little vermon! Must not get sick again!!!
5:00pm- Head out to the trails... running, biking, anything to clear my head.
6:30pm- Come home and shower. Forget that I opened the corridor window earlier and now all my neighbors can see me naked. Hmmm... rig up some contraption so I can keep the window open without people seeing in.
7:00pm- Paint, watch tv, think about what to eat for dinner.
8:00pm- Cook dinner. Usually involving chicken, onions, greenpeppers and garlic (those are the veggies my little market sells!)
10:30pm- Get on Skype and talk to my mom and sis... and anyone else that drops by my mom's house!
11:00pm- Watch episode after episode of CSI.... catch Man vs. Wild if I'm super lucky!
2:00am- Curse at myself for being a tv junkie and force myself to go to bed!
Repeat 5x a week...
except on Wednesdays. That involves me taking a bus 30 min outside town and repeating the phrase "No punching, fighting, kicking, hitting...."
Koreanized: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em!
Today I was proud of myself.
At lunch, I managed to bone and skin a piece of fish, using chopsticks - with one hand! Even Koreans sometimes use two hands when trying to eat fish (one chopstick in each hand pulling the meat from the bones.) Even more impressive was the perfect little fish skeleton that was left on my tray.
I wish I had brought my camera to lunch.
Last week I had dinner with some Korean teachers from another school and the Head of the Yeongcheon Education Office.
The head guy, Mr. Hwang, looks across the tiny little table we are sitting at and says, "Buck-lew, you have become Koreanized." Mr. Hwang is the only person in Korea who knows my last name, let alone calls me by it.
The reason I have become "Koreanized" to
Everyone here smells like garlic... so screw it! Bring on the funk!
At lunch, I managed to bone and skin a piece of fish, using chopsticks - with one hand! Even Koreans sometimes use two hands when trying to eat fish (one chopstick in each hand pulling the meat from the bones.) Even more impressive was the perfect little fish skeleton that was left on my tray.
I wish I had brought my camera to lunch.
Last week I had dinner with some Korean teachers from another school and the Head of the Yeongcheon Education Office.
The head guy, Mr. Hwang, looks across the tiny little table we are sitting at and says, "Buck-lew, you have become Koreanized." Mr. Hwang is the only person in Korea who knows my last name, let alone calls me by it.The reason I have become "Koreanized" to
Mr. Hwang is because while loading up my lettuce wrap with barbecued pork, he saw me throw in a few CLOVES of garlic. Koreans eat garlic like it's a vegetable that stands alone, not like it's a spice like the way we westerners use it. I love garlic, the only thing that prevents me from eating more of it at home is that it makes you smell like garlic.
Everyone here smells like garlic... so screw it! Bring on the funk!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Teacher's Pet? or... Teacher Gets Pet?
Well, it took 4 months.
My 4th grade girls finally discovered my hair today.
I teach after school classes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Today we played "Go Fish". Two weeks ago I taught them animal names. Last week we made animal cards that they drew themselves. This week I taught them how to play "Go Fish". They picked it up immediately, and to my delight, they loved it!
Unfortunately, the classroom we are usually in was locked. So I found a big round table in some random knook and we played there. As each kid finished their hand, they would go around the table and help other students. After a while I started to notice all the girls were behind me. Then I noticed 4 little pairs of hands "accidentally" pulling strands of my hair. Then it became 8 little hands feeling big chunks of my hair, and within moments it was fully on beauty parlor!
The little girls would run their palms over my hair and go, "Ooooohhhohhh" at the texture. I'm not a big fan of being rubbed or touched by strangers. (It happens to me an awful lot here)... but, people messing with my hair, well that I'm not going to stop! And they aren't exactly strangers. They are my students, and some of them I almost recognize when i pass them in the halls!
My 4th grade girls finally discovered my hair today.
I teach after school classes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Today we played "Go Fish". Two weeks ago I taught them animal names. Last week we made animal cards that they drew themselves. This week I taught them how to play "Go Fish". They picked it up immediately, and to my delight, they loved it!
Unfortunately, the classroom we are usually in was locked. So I found a big round table in some random knook and we played there. As each kid finished their hand, they would go around the table and help other students. After a while I started to notice all the girls were behind me. Then I noticed 4 little pairs of hands "accidentally" pulling strands of my hair. Then it became 8 little hands feeling big chunks of my hair, and within moments it was fully on beauty parlor!
The little girls would run their palms over my hair and go, "Ooooohhhohhh" at the texture. I'm not a big fan of being rubbed or touched by strangers. (It happens to me an awful lot here)... but, people messing with my hair, well that I'm not going to stop! And they aren't exactly strangers. They are my students, and some of them I almost recognize when i pass them in the halls!
So knock yourselves out ladies, go nuts! And while your at it, whose going to rub teacher's feet?
Korean Compliments
Though always indirect, I always find Kim Dong Uk's compliments to be genuine and sincere.
KDU: Britne, do you have a date tonight?
BB: What? Um, no. Why?
KDU: Because of the way you look.
BB: Are you saying I look nice today?
KDU: Yes. (then covers his blushing face and walks away)
Another good example of a Kim Dong Uk compliment:
KDU: (Staring at me from across the desk) Your eyes got bigger.
BB: What?
KDU: Your eyes, they are bigger than before.
BB: Are you trying to say that I've lost weight?
KDU: Yes.
I really like this, slightly lost in translation, method of giving someone a compliment. It's not overdone, it's not embellished, it is what it is. They could be misconstrued as backhanded compliments.... but I don't see them that way. I like the brutal honestly of it because at least I know they aren't bullshit.
KDU: Britne, do you have a date tonight?
BB: What? Um, no. Why?
KDU: Because of the way you look.
BB: Are you saying I look nice today?
KDU: Yes. (then covers his blushing face and walks away)
Another good example of a Kim Dong Uk compliment:
KDU: (Staring at me from across the desk) Your eyes got bigger.
BB: What?
KDU: Your eyes, they are bigger than before.
BB: Are you trying to say that I've lost weight?
KDU: Yes.
I really like this, slightly lost in translation, method of giving someone a compliment. It's not overdone, it's not embellished, it is what it is. They could be misconstrued as backhanded compliments.... but I don't see them that way. I like the brutal honestly of it because at least I know they aren't bullshit.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Transgendered Fruit
I want tomatoes to go back into the veggie category!
I know, I know... they are technically a fruit. Yes, they were born a fruit but they identify with vegetables so much better. They are tart, not sugary sweet, and they should never be on top of your ice cream or other desserts, so therefore they are a veggie!
Koreans love tomatoes. They are included in every social gathering. They'll present you with plates of watermelon, apples, pineapple, oranges and cherry tomatoes. Don't get me wrong, I love tomatoes, I put them on everything (sans dessert) but I'm tired of being force fed plateful after plateful of cherry tomatoes!
I know, I know... they are technically a fruit. Yes, they were born a fruit but they identify with vegetables so much better. They are tart, not sugary sweet, and they should never be on top of your ice cream or other desserts, so therefore they are a veggie!
Koreans love tomatoes. They are included in every social gathering. They'll present you with plates of watermelon, apples, pineapple, oranges and cherry tomatoes. Don't get me wrong, I love tomatoes, I put them on everything (sans dessert) but I'm tired of being force fed plateful after plateful of cherry tomatoes!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Shop Till You Drop-Kick Someone!
I hate shopping in Korea.
That's not such a bad thing though. It has kept me from spending very much money.
Korea must have a very low unemployment rate... when you are in a store, every rack of clothes has a sales associate waiting for you.
Even in the US, I'm the kind person who likes to be left alone when I'm shopping. I appreciate when they ask if I need anything, but once I've said no thanks it drives me nuts when they hover. So being in a store, where every 5 feet another person is standing over my shoulder as I browse, drives me crazy. If you look at something longer than just a fleeting glance, they will yank it off the rack and present it to you in a very, The Price is Right, kind of spokesmodel way.
I hate it.
What's even more annoying is when I do find something I like. I take my potential purchase to the fitting room lady, and then this is always the next scenario:
Lady looks at me,
Lady looks at the dress,
Lady looks at me,
Lady looks at the dress,
Lady looks at me,
Lady flips the dress inside out searching for the tags...
Uhhhg. So frustrating and such a blow to your ego! I'm always thinking, "I know I'm twice the size of the emaciated little people that usually shop here, but I swear that dress is the right size!" Luckily, I've yet to be proven wrong. The clothes always fit and it does make me feel good that I can actually fit into these itty bitty Korean sizes.
But I hate shopping here!
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