Chapter 8 Part 1

One particularly funny memory we have is when we went to E-mart one evening.  We were there for a while and with three floors of stuff to look at, we were all over the place.  What makes it funny is that there was old man just staring at us.  On the third floor, there he was.  Second floor—same. 1^st—same. We were checking out and he was outside the checkout area staring away.  “He’s following us!”  We couldn’t help but chuckle a little as there was never an attempt to conceal what he was doing.  He stayed standing off to the side—body facing us and looking our way. 

They had several of these around...creepy

One part of Dongdaemun area

One weekend about a month after we got to Korea, we decided to venture into Seoul.  We headed to some of the popular  tourist shopping areas:  Dongdaemun, Namdaemun, and Myeondong.  Really and truly, they are nothing special.  They have tons of shopping but nothing I wanted.  Plus, the prices were a bit steep.  I’m used to TJ Maxx and Marshalls—great clothing—low price! So we spent our day walking—a lot of it.  We walked so much.  Then we came to a stop—why—we smelt Krispy Kreme.  Could it be so?  Yes, there was the sign but where was it?  We had to follow our noses which led us into the shopping mall.  But we didn’t get any.  It is the equivalent of $12 for a dozen glazed.  In the states, the same is only $6.  We passed on donuts and continued our journey soon making our way back home. 

Chapter 7 Part 2

Ick...nasty crash

Traffic in Korat

Any who…in order to go many places that took longer than 10 minutes to get to, it was best (and safest) to take the bus.  Buses were very common along the main roads bound for all sorts of destinations throughout the whole country as well as the local town buses taking you to the larger city, Nakhon Ratchasima, aka Korat.  It was roughly 80 cents to $1 per person to get to Korat.  Along the way, passengers were picked up and smushed into the bus to where some were hanging out the door (yes with the door open and yes driving down the highway…) and instead of paying when you got on, you waited til it was full and the bus assistant would fight his way through collecting money.  Craziness.  On the time we’d take the motorbike on the busy streets, our hearts were pounding with every passing vehicle.  Thai people aren’t afraid to die—they think they go to a better place after death.  With that belief, they are always trying to die.  They look for opportunities to kill themselves—driving poses the best chance for that.  You can understand why our hearts raced.  

Can you tell we are driving in two lanes?--Bangkok Thailand

Korea was much better than Thailand.  They still drive like crazy and are oblivious to what’s going on around them though.  Lots of horn blowing and weaving in and out of traffic.  What gets me is—once again the traffic light situation.  Red lights are noticed—however, you will see many people inch through and go.  Or as the buses tend to do, honk their way and glide right on their way.  Here’s the kicker:  it is illegal to turn left on a green light.  You must have a green arrow—this is the only thing they follow—weird isn’t it?  

After a while, things don’t really surprise you anymore—you grow used to it and come to expect it. 

Chapter 7 Part 1

Communicating in Asia poses the greatest challenge.  Main reason:  the written language is crazy.  It's symbols and each Asian country is different.  Example:  Thai: สวัสดี  Korean:  안녕하세요  Chinese:  您好   Japanese:  こんにちは…you get the idea.  Can you figure out what that says?  Didn’t think so…they all mean hello.  Also, the inflections they use are quite difficult as well as the not being able to understand anyone who isn't fluent in their language.  In English, if a foreigner says a word, we can pretty much figure out what they are saying.  If we say something to them, they look at us like we are stupid and either stare or brush us away because they don't understand even the simplest words.

Transportation also proves to be challenging.  In Thailand, people were absolutely crazy…it’s hard to imagine any worse drivers.  We were scared to even walk out on the street.  They drove all over the place—sidewalks, wrong side of the street, anything goes.  Traffic lights and stop signs are more of an optional thing rather than mandatory.  There was even one light in Sungnoen that stayed red and green—what exactly do you do in this case?  I’m so confused.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of it.

Chapter 6 Part 2

I was over 6 year old kindergarten classes in the morning and elementary kids and other kindergarten classes in the afternoon.  Teaching kids that young is a challenge because they perceive native English teachers as a chance to play around, cut up, not listen, be rude...I even had a girl kick and hit me.  Awesome, right?

Teaching here was different than Thailand.  Instead of just teaching basic speaking and listening, you teach normal classes (reading, math, art, etc...).  To help aid in student's understanding and use of the language, the subjects are taught in English.  However, this is still a challenge.  Being so young, the students aren't fluent.  Though some are much better, others who aren't as advanced can struggle with understanding.  The rule in the classroom is to speak English only...that rule doesn't seem to actually exist to the students.   They love to speak in Korean...mostly because I can't understand them. 

Chapter 6 Part 1

After unloading our bags into the room, we headed over to the school for orientation--I had to start on the coming Monday...it was Friday.  Next came to learn...EVERYTHING.  Where was Emart (a Wal-mart equivalent)? Transportation system?  Communicating?  How to get back home?  Etc...?

E-mart...or as they say it E-martuh

Luckily, the owner of the school met us that afternoon to bring us to Emart.  It was quite funny because he doesn't speak much English.  He kept throwing everything in the basket.  It turns out he was paying for it as a "Welcome to Korea" present.  Can't complain with that.  We greatly appreciated it.

We got back home and crashed.  We were so tired.  I can't really remember what we did that weekend but I think we walked around the area.  Let's skip to Monday morning...off I went to school.  I was able to meet everyone and then just sat at my desk without a clue of what to do.  It got closer to class time and I was still lost.  I couldn't observe the previous teacher because they were no longer there so I was on my own.  I was told to pick up where they left off (and still had to figure out that part too). What fun....notice the sarcasm.