compliments and funnies

I just picked up a worksheet a student was working on for another English class. There are Korean sentences and spaces for the student to fill in the blanked out English words.... Sentence 1: (student has written in the answer)
"Is this the high IQ (sperm bank)?" .......

2: "I know, and I do (yearn) for (faster downloads)"

3: "Maybe we can (have coffee sometime)"

Makes for a creepy combination....


A number of compliments today!

Girls just randomly coming up to me or passing me in the hallway and saying "ㅖ뽀", or pretty.

One student just said, "Pretty skin today."

but the BEST COMPLIMENTS that i have received in Korea thus far:
"Your mom and dad must have raised you well."
And along the same lines,
"David must be great because you two are together."
Thank you for loving me right.

And 주석 (Chuseok - the korean thanksgiving holiday) shopping is crazy. I am trying to avoid emart but i don't know if i will be able to. I made a super quick trip to 롯대 (Lotte) department store today to get a couple - scarf for host mom, socks for host dad, and sock/slippers for middle sister.

It's the thought that counts, right? anyway, the sock/slippers come in the cutest box i've seen.

Cafe Time

Cafes in Korea are on the steady rise due to a popular Korean TV drama. I believe it resembled a very tame Sex in the City, with pretty women meeting at coffee shop to discuss their problems. Koreans don't generally use cafes like libraries like college students are wont to do in the US, spreading out their life's homework, cell phone, laptop, settling down to spend the entire day steadily chugging coffee and writing an essay due the next day on James Joyce or economic policies. They are supposed to be social places to meet with friends, have a drink, and leave.

anyway, they have meticulously created some beautiful spaces for people to chill with one another in Jeonju. Like 11:19 in Chuncheon, there are two cafes with such ambiance and good drinks, you'll definitely be visiting them if you come see me.

1) Cafe Haruilgi in 시네 (downtown). Decked out like a kitschy antique store in the US, it serves a wicked plate of waffles and ice cream, makes a beautiful cafe latte, and has a nice selection of wines and beers. The first time i came here, I poured out my soul to two of my Jeonju friends. Teaching was a bit rough and I needed their council. Second time, this weekend, I went to Jenny and Julie. We shared a bottle of red and had brownies with ice cream on top.

2) Naruita in 전북대 (university area). Looks like a cross between Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters turned cafe. They have a ginormous 밭빙수 (patpingsu) and really fabulous 녹차 (green tea) smoothie/frappuccino. There are little hideaways with pillows on the ground and a little loft where people can share their drinks.

so the next time I get the urge to go and study in some cafe, and return to my american college student roots, I think I'll feel a little more comfortable in these posh, adorable little cafes. Also, they're open late, so for a chill night, they're my new favorite hang out.

A grandma's birthday surprise

Last weekend, my family notified me that we would be going to the beach to celebrate the grandfather's birthday. did I have any 역속 (appointments)? No.

So, they told me we'd be staying in a resort next to a beach I got to swim in last month. When they said resort, I prepared myself for the worst, and decided it would be a great family experience.

We ended up at 대명 (Daemyong) resort, a chain of 8 verrry nice resorts all over Korea. their spokesperson is this very pretty famous korean celebrity, Hyori. I remember these advertisements best from the Seoul subways with Hyori standing in front of a tidal wave....

The resort actually had a wave pool, water slides, swimming pool with a current, jets that massage your body along the pool's edge, differently scented hot tubs, and a playground of small slides and climbing things with a huuuge bucket at the top that filled with water that came crashing down every couple minutes. There was a sauna and spa. This was a very good decision on my part. We were actually celebrating the grandma's birthday as well.

We ended up going to the spa on my second morning there where we proceeded to get our faces painted with mud, listening to underwater music, lying down in a big vat of thoroughly crushed up heavenly smelling bark, and finally getting sound therapy with a gently massaging/vibrating bed. And of course... the sauna... grandma, aunts, host mom, all proceeded to get naked and enjoy the varying temperature pools and hot sauna. I don't even know what to say, other than, bring your own towel to sit on.

We ate really well including fresh sashimi ( I hoped to god it was fresh and from whichever water that dr guy said was safe to eat...... fresh? salt? I had no idea....) It wasn't until later that we were walking outside of the restaurants with vats of living fish, that i saw the ugly things alive and with fins.... they were the ugliest fish ever! I'm just glad I ate it before I saw them....

Then we finished up the birthday weeekend with two younger sisters that were mad at each other all the car ride home. I believe they both ended up falling asleep on me, as I took the middle seat in the back of the car to appease them... Never again. I was thankful to grow up as an only child. Thank you, mom and dad.

Some good moments from school

One boy who proclaims his love every class, "I love you."

My students' reactions to Happy Feet - "Kiyowoah" - cute... even from the boys' class.

The classes that make fun of a poster making activity for being childish and then throw themselves into it with full abandon. Crayons and all.

Any class that gets to class on time.

The boys that sit in front of my desk during their work period before finals and just stare at me. We're about 4 feet away from each other.

The girls that shyly say "Hi" and giggle in the hallway.

The co-teacher that tries to have me tell him that "bank clerk" is a more acceptable term than "banker".... Do you know? Who says "bank clerk" anymore? Mostly "bank teller" and "banker," right?

The whole week of classes where i give supervised study because they have midterms next week.... so i catch up on emails, my blog, my chats, my korean studying.

The Jeonju Crew aka bibimbaps

Here's the Jeonju crew. This is April and a math teacher from Jenny's school. Then JJ and Amy. Below = Jenny, me, and my coteacher Ahn or Hae jong. This is what we like to do when we hang out! Eat good ribs, kalbi, and go out to have some fun in Jeonju! Our favorite place to meet up is in Jeonbuk dae which is the university area. It has many restaurants and lots of bars.

My apartment is located around the center of the city. This helps when I want to go downtown or to the university area. Everything is at most about a 7,000W taxi ride, or maybe $6 max? Most of the time, I'm paying around 3,000W.

This is especially fortunate when compared with our friend JJ. He's courageous enough to bike 40 min from nearby Iksan with Korean drivers on the freeway.

Tomorrow, we'll be having a cooking extravaganza at Jenny's house. We will definitely be cooking cookies and then hopefully some good old mexican food!! WOO!!! Our lovely Amy is talented enough to make her own tortillas. Really.

I'll share pics soon.

A Daegu and Gumi Weekend

Last weekend I took at 3 hour bus ride to Daegu. The bus was three across, leather-type seats, and very comfortable. It's really a shame that the US doesn't have more comfortable buses like in other countries! I went with two of the other bibimbaps (the nickname was given to us by the orientation leaders! it's the famous food here), Jenny and April. We met up with Akta, Susan, and Emily!

After a failed attempt at eating at the Holy Grail, the best western food place in town, (it was 9pm and the place had an hour and 15 min wait!), we ended up at a pasta place where you chose your own pasta, then sauce, then toppings. The house wine was definitely a let down. Luckily, we ended up at a bar afterwards for some more bonding time.

Our trip to Gumi the next morning was a half hour train ride. We met up with some orientation leaders and they led us to the orphanage where we helped prepare a party hosted by our past orientation's leader, Aimee. She has a non-profit organization called Dream in Korean that puts on functions for this orphanage. It was fantastic to see other ETAs and past OCs. In addition, the kids were amazing.

We helped make western style meals (spaghetti, waffles, etc), face painting, noraebang (karaoke), and play, play, play.

This is what a funeral looks like

Last month-ish, one of the past Korean presidents passed away. There was a very large funeral procession a couple days later in Seoul, but also in my little city of Jeonju - check out this gala event. I have no idea how they mobilized so much stuff so quickly: