April 5 Sunday
Well North Korea launched their rocket or missle or whatever it was...
Here's the link to the news article: North Korea Launches Rocket
Today is just my day of rest. I went to bed around 5am and got up around 3pm. I was sleeping good! It was probably because of that Nyquill I took!
Today I need to find motivation to:
a)make tests
b)correct essays
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Day 108..craziness in the early morn
April 4 Saturday
I'm going to Japan on Wednesday. I leave on Wednesday morning and I'll be back on Thursday night. I'll only be there one night. I won't get to see much. I'll take lots of pictures. They have to find someone to take my place while I'm absent. They asked me if I knew of anyone who could teach for me. I told them I didn't know anyone. Everyone that I know teaches at night. And I don't know that many people either. I have to meet with MK on Monday. He's going to tell me everything I need to know about the trip.
Last night I went out to eat with one of the Korean teachers. One of the other Korean teachers that I met on Thursday came with us. We went to a restaurant called "Cowboy".haha.We had chicken. It was like rotisseree chicken. I liked it. The restaurant was like a tent that was fully enclosed. There was no floor. The ground was the floor. It reminded me of a setup like you would have at a festival or something. There was a roll of toilet paper on each table. That was your napkins. I liked the place. Its something totally different from what I'm used to. One of the men that worked there was happy to see me. He was saying all kinds of things in Korean. Then the Korean teacher said he thought that he knew me. He thought I had been there before.haha. Nope it was my first time. He showed us his cowboy hats. He had one that was made of pig leather. He showed us that it was too small for him. There was a picture of him wearing the hat in a picture, but now the hat is too small. I guess his head grew bigger. The Korean teachers wanted me to take the leftovers home since I live alone and don't have anyone to cook for me. They both live with their family. We each paid $8,000 won for the meal. (about $6 usd)
The Korean teacher from my school drove us to the restuarant. On the way home we stopped for gas. It was 1327 for the lowest price gas. They pay by the liter. So 1327 is about $1. There are 4 liters in a gallon. So there gas is nearly $4 a gallon. expensive. She asked me about gas prices in the USA. I told her that gas was in the $2 range when I left the USA, but I told her how it was almost up to $4 not too long ago.She dropped me off in front of my officetel.
Then I went to my room and decided I wanted a coke. wow. I kinda wish I hadn't! I got on the elevator and there was another person on the elevator that got off at the same floor as me. It was a Korean guy. He knows very little English. It was around midnight. He said hello to me and I said hello back. He wanted to come into my officetel but I wouldnt let him. He wanted to talk to me so we went into this office thats right next door. I met the man who works there. He teaches kids how to play soccer. His office is in the room next to mine. I guess this guy knows that man because he knew the code to the office. So we went there and he had google translation on the computer-I didn't even know google had a translation page. I always just use yahoo babelfish when I'm trying to figure something out. We sat down and tried to communicate using the translation on google. It was very difficult. He couldn't understand me when I would answer. Then he would ask me to type my answer and let the computer translate. That went on for a while. He was upset that I wouldn't invite him to my house for drinks and eating. I tried to explain that I don't invite strangers into my house, especially men. (He said "im an angel. I'm not bad") You never know what a man will try to do to you. I'm just safe and I dont let them into my apartment. I don't think men and women should be alone in a bedroom. Its my own personal moral code. So we just went to the office.(he still kept asking to come to my home but I still said no). He was getting upset that he was having a hard time communicating with me. There was a lot of confusion on both ends. His English wasn't good so he didn't use proper grammer. Verbs were usually left out. Then I kept writing "I dont understand". At one time he was talking about a french kiss. I told him that I didnt want to kiss. he wanted to know why. I said because I don't kiss people that I just met. After much more confusion I found out what he was talking about. He said he watched a movie and when they said goodbye they kissed on the cheek. He kept calling that a "french kiss". I'm glad we cleared that up-I thought he was asking me to give him a french kiss. I told him that we didn't do that in America. Then he said, "but I saw it on a movie." Then I tried to explain that some countries do that but not Americans.
He asked me if I would be his friend. I told him I would be his friend. This should be interesting.
I am always sick. It's too cold and its making me sick. Everytime I think its getting better it gets worse. I have a runny nose and a nonproductive cough. I really hate taking medicine but I should probably get some because I can't get this cough to go away. If I still have it in a week or two then I might just break down and go to the hospital.
I went to bed at 5:37am! And woke up around 3pm.
I had to meet one of the directors for lunch at 6pm. Mk called me at 5:30 and said "i'm waiting on you". He said "where are you". "I'm at my house". Then he says "don't be late". ok whatever. I got there at 5:50 after leaving my house at 5:35.
I went out to eat with Mk,a woman director,another man who works at the school. The director's husband met up with us later. We got off at Anguk station. We walked around Insa Dong for a little while then we decided to eat fried chicken at a place called "Two Two Fried Chicken". It was pretty good. The director doesn't speak very good English so Mk kept asking me to talk slow. Its hard to really think about talking slow because I'm not used to it.And Mk keeps telling me "ask her a question. don't be shy". The director had a piece of paper with questions she wanted to ask me. The grammar was bad on most of the questions so I corrected it. She had a pen for me to write with. Then she would ask me the question. She wants me to help her with her English. They were asking me if I could recommend a good textbook for someone who wants to learn English. I told them I only know about the books I use in class. I'm not familiar with any other English textbooks. They asked me a lot of questions like do you like Bush, Do you like Obama, Do you like Lincoln, Do you like Clinton, and all sorts of other people. I think the woman wants me to go with her to a club sometime in Hongdae. She's never been to a club in Korea. She was also telling me how she just bought a car 3 days ago and she is poor at driving. They all want to come to my home sometime. And MK wants us to go to a singing room sometime. All he ever talks about is "I want to hear your voice." Yes I am a trained singer, but I don't like singing for other people. Karaoke is fine. I love Karaoke.
I think they want to meet again next week.
While we were at supper I got some text messages. This person messages me all the time. I think its the girl that I met a few weeks ago, but I'm not 100% sure. I didn't give her my number. I showed the number to MK and he had that same number in his phone, but he keeps asking me "who is it?" "is it a man or a woman?" I keep asking him "is it that girl I met a few weeks ago?" and he acts like he doesn't know. He even said that the person who texted me called him while we were at dinner, but he doesn't even know who it is.oh my. I'll ask her when I see her again.
I'm going to Japan on Wednesday. I leave on Wednesday morning and I'll be back on Thursday night. I'll only be there one night. I won't get to see much. I'll take lots of pictures. They have to find someone to take my place while I'm absent. They asked me if I knew of anyone who could teach for me. I told them I didn't know anyone. Everyone that I know teaches at night. And I don't know that many people either. I have to meet with MK on Monday. He's going to tell me everything I need to know about the trip.
Last night I went out to eat with one of the Korean teachers. One of the other Korean teachers that I met on Thursday came with us. We went to a restaurant called "Cowboy".haha.We had chicken. It was like rotisseree chicken. I liked it. The restaurant was like a tent that was fully enclosed. There was no floor. The ground was the floor. It reminded me of a setup like you would have at a festival or something. There was a roll of toilet paper on each table. That was your napkins. I liked the place. Its something totally different from what I'm used to. One of the men that worked there was happy to see me. He was saying all kinds of things in Korean. Then the Korean teacher said he thought that he knew me. He thought I had been there before.haha. Nope it was my first time. He showed us his cowboy hats. He had one that was made of pig leather. He showed us that it was too small for him. There was a picture of him wearing the hat in a picture, but now the hat is too small. I guess his head grew bigger. The Korean teachers wanted me to take the leftovers home since I live alone and don't have anyone to cook for me. They both live with their family. We each paid $8,000 won for the meal. (about $6 usd)
The Korean teacher from my school drove us to the restuarant. On the way home we stopped for gas. It was 1327 for the lowest price gas. They pay by the liter. So 1327 is about $1. There are 4 liters in a gallon. So there gas is nearly $4 a gallon. expensive. She asked me about gas prices in the USA. I told her that gas was in the $2 range when I left the USA, but I told her how it was almost up to $4 not too long ago.She dropped me off in front of my officetel.
Then I went to my room and decided I wanted a coke. wow. I kinda wish I hadn't! I got on the elevator and there was another person on the elevator that got off at the same floor as me. It was a Korean guy. He knows very little English. It was around midnight. He said hello to me and I said hello back. He wanted to come into my officetel but I wouldnt let him. He wanted to talk to me so we went into this office thats right next door. I met the man who works there. He teaches kids how to play soccer. His office is in the room next to mine. I guess this guy knows that man because he knew the code to the office. So we went there and he had google translation on the computer-I didn't even know google had a translation page. I always just use yahoo babelfish when I'm trying to figure something out. We sat down and tried to communicate using the translation on google. It was very difficult. He couldn't understand me when I would answer. Then he would ask me to type my answer and let the computer translate. That went on for a while. He was upset that I wouldn't invite him to my house for drinks and eating. I tried to explain that I don't invite strangers into my house, especially men. (He said "im an angel. I'm not bad") You never know what a man will try to do to you. I'm just safe and I dont let them into my apartment. I don't think men and women should be alone in a bedroom. Its my own personal moral code. So we just went to the office.(he still kept asking to come to my home but I still said no). He was getting upset that he was having a hard time communicating with me. There was a lot of confusion on both ends. His English wasn't good so he didn't use proper grammer. Verbs were usually left out. Then I kept writing "I dont understand". At one time he was talking about a french kiss. I told him that I didnt want to kiss. he wanted to know why. I said because I don't kiss people that I just met. After much more confusion I found out what he was talking about. He said he watched a movie and when they said goodbye they kissed on the cheek. He kept calling that a "french kiss". I'm glad we cleared that up-I thought he was asking me to give him a french kiss. I told him that we didn't do that in America. Then he said, "but I saw it on a movie." Then I tried to explain that some countries do that but not Americans.
He asked me if I would be his friend. I told him I would be his friend. This should be interesting.
I am always sick. It's too cold and its making me sick. Everytime I think its getting better it gets worse. I have a runny nose and a nonproductive cough. I really hate taking medicine but I should probably get some because I can't get this cough to go away. If I still have it in a week or two then I might just break down and go to the hospital.
I went to bed at 5:37am! And woke up around 3pm.
I had to meet one of the directors for lunch at 6pm. Mk called me at 5:30 and said "i'm waiting on you". He said "where are you". "I'm at my house". Then he says "don't be late". ok whatever. I got there at 5:50 after leaving my house at 5:35.
I went out to eat with Mk,a woman director,another man who works at the school. The director's husband met up with us later. We got off at Anguk station. We walked around Insa Dong for a little while then we decided to eat fried chicken at a place called "Two Two Fried Chicken". It was pretty good. The director doesn't speak very good English so Mk kept asking me to talk slow. Its hard to really think about talking slow because I'm not used to it.And Mk keeps telling me "ask her a question. don't be shy". The director had a piece of paper with questions she wanted to ask me. The grammar was bad on most of the questions so I corrected it. She had a pen for me to write with. Then she would ask me the question. She wants me to help her with her English. They were asking me if I could recommend a good textbook for someone who wants to learn English. I told them I only know about the books I use in class. I'm not familiar with any other English textbooks. They asked me a lot of questions like do you like Bush, Do you like Obama, Do you like Lincoln, Do you like Clinton, and all sorts of other people. I think the woman wants me to go with her to a club sometime in Hongdae. She's never been to a club in Korea. She was also telling me how she just bought a car 3 days ago and she is poor at driving. They all want to come to my home sometime. And MK wants us to go to a singing room sometime. All he ever talks about is "I want to hear your voice." Yes I am a trained singer, but I don't like singing for other people. Karaoke is fine. I love Karaoke.
I think they want to meet again next week.
While we were at supper I got some text messages. This person messages me all the time. I think its the girl that I met a few weeks ago, but I'm not 100% sure. I didn't give her my number. I showed the number to MK and he had that same number in his phone, but he keeps asking me "who is it?" "is it a man or a woman?" I keep asking him "is it that girl I met a few weeks ago?" and he acts like he doesn't know. He even said that the person who texted me called him while we were at dinner, but he doesn't even know who it is.oh my. I'll ask her when I see her again.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Day 107....
April 3 Friday
I picked up my jeans today. It was only 4,000 won for hemming 2 pairs of jeans. Thats $2.99 for 2 pairs of jeans. About 1.50 a piece. I know a tailor in the USA wouldn't do it that cheap!
The exchange rate today is only 1337. Please keep going down! or at least go down on the 13th when I want to send money home.
January
1361.64 KRW (21 days average)
February
1442.59 KRW (20 days average)
March
1453.89 KRW (22 days average)
April
1351.22 KRW (2 days average)
I only have 3 classes today. 2 speaking and 1 writing.
The students still won't bring their essays! I told them Monday was the last day to bring it. After Monday I'm not going to ask anymore. If you don't turn it in then you get a zero. Its not like we are actually recording the essay grades anywhere anyway. We have a speaking score and a writing score.
2 students in my 2nd class wanted to change their names. One wants to be "Kill" and the other "Dark". Okay-if that's what they want to be called. I have a kid in my first class who's name is "sonic". And a girl named "loody". I don't know where they come up with these names.
I redid my grades again.I put all the grades together and made an average. At first I was told to add up the scores and come up with a score. So I thought that meant average all the grades together and make one score. Then I found out we need a writing score and a speaking score. So I had to average up my speaking scores. I entered in all the values into a spreadsheet and sent them to the Korean teacher.
Its Friday!!
I don't have anything planned for this weekend besides eating dinner with the director on Saturday.
This weekend I need to:
a)make tests for all of my classes
b)correct essays
c)sleep in!
I picked up my jeans today. It was only 4,000 won for hemming 2 pairs of jeans. Thats $2.99 for 2 pairs of jeans. About 1.50 a piece. I know a tailor in the USA wouldn't do it that cheap!
The exchange rate today is only 1337. Please keep going down! or at least go down on the 13th when I want to send money home.
January
1361.64 KRW (21 days average)
February
1442.59 KRW (20 days average)
March
1453.89 KRW (22 days average)
April
1351.22 KRW (2 days average)
I only have 3 classes today. 2 speaking and 1 writing.
The students still won't bring their essays! I told them Monday was the last day to bring it. After Monday I'm not going to ask anymore. If you don't turn it in then you get a zero. Its not like we are actually recording the essay grades anywhere anyway. We have a speaking score and a writing score.
2 students in my 2nd class wanted to change their names. One wants to be "Kill" and the other "Dark". Okay-if that's what they want to be called. I have a kid in my first class who's name is "sonic". And a girl named "loody". I don't know where they come up with these names.
I redid my grades again.I put all the grades together and made an average. At first I was told to add up the scores and come up with a score. So I thought that meant average all the grades together and make one score. Then I found out we need a writing score and a speaking score. So I had to average up my speaking scores. I entered in all the values into a spreadsheet and sent them to the Korean teacher.
Its Friday!!
I don't have anything planned for this weekend besides eating dinner with the director on Saturday.
This weekend I need to:
a)make tests for all of my classes
b)correct essays
c)sleep in!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Day 106..bippity boppity boo...
April 2 Thursday
I took my pants to a tailor. They should be done tomorrow. They didn't speak any English. I just took the pair that is the right length and held them up to the ones that are too long. Then she measured and made lines on the pants where they need to be hemmed. Then she pointed to tomorrow's date on the calendar. HAHA. Going to the tailor without even saying a word.
All my students must be watching disney movies...all of them are singing about "bippity boppety boo".
I had to go to Nokbeon today for a class with the other teachers. After the class mk wanted to talk to me and the other foreign teacher. He showed us what a bill looked like. He was telling us about paying our bills. He said he will go with us to the bank the first time then we will go by ourselves. I don’t need his help. I know how to pay bills. I just paid one yesterday and I didn’t even have a bill-just a text message. Then he was telling us about how we need to pay them quickly. We aren’t stupid. You get a bill-you pay it soon. It’s that simple. He called me yesterday and asked me to bring my bill but my mailbox was empty.
I might be going to Japan next week. I don’t know. He’s waiting on my Visa number. He said he might book my flight for 9:20am. That gives me time to get to the airport. Then he said he will tell me how to get there. I told him I already know. He acts like I’m stupid and can’t read a subway map. He says “how did you know that?” I said “Another teacher told me”. Then the other teacher said “She’s not that stupid” (my thoughts exactly!)Then he tells me about “don’t miss your flight”. He tells me of how another teacher missed their flight. The way he says it sounds like it was their fault. He should know that it actually takes time to get to the airport. It’s not a short distance!! It takes time!! It’s going to take me 2 hours to get to the airport by Subway. I wrote him an email last weekend and I said “Don’t book my flight for 8am”. That’s why one teacher missed their flight. He didn’t have enough time to get there.
Then a Korean teacher from my school introduced me to other foreign teachers that teach math. They aren't too confident in their English abilities so they didn't say much. They all wanted me to guess their ages. I guessed a lot lower. I guessed 25 for the girl that was 30. 26 for the girl that’s 34 and 30 for the one that was 37. The girl that was 30 looks like a little girl(Korean women look young). They told me that I looked about 22. Then I told them that my Korean age was 29. The Korean teacher from my school said she wants to introduce me to more of the Korean teachers. That’s cool.
I let the students in my 1st 2 classes play games. We don't goof off that often. Most of the time its all about the learning. In the first class we played hangman. In the 2nd class they played a game. I don't know what its called. One person had a coat over their head and they tried to find the other students. Sorta like hide and seek.
Today I wore a dress to school(students in my 2nd class asked me to on Tuesday). All the students liked it. Some of the students said it was beautiful.
I had another "I can't communicate" moment today. I saw a box with my room number on it in the guard's office. He doesn't speak any English. I handed him my paper with my address on it and he looked at me and said something in korean. Then I pointed to the box. He gave it to me. It was my mattress topper! I put it on the bed. Tonight I'll see if it was worth the investment!
I took my pants to a tailor. They should be done tomorrow. They didn't speak any English. I just took the pair that is the right length and held them up to the ones that are too long. Then she measured and made lines on the pants where they need to be hemmed. Then she pointed to tomorrow's date on the calendar. HAHA. Going to the tailor without even saying a word.
All my students must be watching disney movies...all of them are singing about "bippity boppety boo".
I had to go to Nokbeon today for a class with the other teachers. After the class mk wanted to talk to me and the other foreign teacher. He showed us what a bill looked like. He was telling us about paying our bills. He said he will go with us to the bank the first time then we will go by ourselves. I don’t need his help. I know how to pay bills. I just paid one yesterday and I didn’t even have a bill-just a text message. Then he was telling us about how we need to pay them quickly. We aren’t stupid. You get a bill-you pay it soon. It’s that simple. He called me yesterday and asked me to bring my bill but my mailbox was empty.
I might be going to Japan next week. I don’t know. He’s waiting on my Visa number. He said he might book my flight for 9:20am. That gives me time to get to the airport. Then he said he will tell me how to get there. I told him I already know. He acts like I’m stupid and can’t read a subway map. He says “how did you know that?” I said “Another teacher told me”. Then the other teacher said “She’s not that stupid” (my thoughts exactly!)Then he tells me about “don’t miss your flight”. He tells me of how another teacher missed their flight. The way he says it sounds like it was their fault. He should know that it actually takes time to get to the airport. It’s not a short distance!! It takes time!! It’s going to take me 2 hours to get to the airport by Subway. I wrote him an email last weekend and I said “Don’t book my flight for 8am”. That’s why one teacher missed their flight. He didn’t have enough time to get there.
Then a Korean teacher from my school introduced me to other foreign teachers that teach math. They aren't too confident in their English abilities so they didn't say much. They all wanted me to guess their ages. I guessed a lot lower. I guessed 25 for the girl that was 30. 26 for the girl that’s 34 and 30 for the one that was 37. The girl that was 30 looks like a little girl(Korean women look young). They told me that I looked about 22. Then I told them that my Korean age was 29. The Korean teacher from my school said she wants to introduce me to more of the Korean teachers. That’s cool.
I let the students in my 1st 2 classes play games. We don't goof off that often. Most of the time its all about the learning. In the first class we played hangman. In the 2nd class they played a game. I don't know what its called. One person had a coat over their head and they tried to find the other students. Sorta like hide and seek.
Today I wore a dress to school(students in my 2nd class asked me to on Tuesday). All the students liked it. Some of the students said it was beautiful.
I had another "I can't communicate" moment today. I saw a box with my room number on it in the guard's office. He doesn't speak any English. I handed him my paper with my address on it and he looked at me and said something in korean. Then I pointed to the box. He gave it to me. It was my mattress topper! I put it on the bed. Tonight I'll see if it was worth the investment!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Day 105
April 1, 2009 Wednesday
I have been here 15 weeks.
I actually know when I'm suppose to meet the director on Saturday. I found out on Monday. Saturday at 6pm. At least I knew earlier this time.
I went to the bank today. Paid a bill and I found out why my card wasn't working. If you type in the wrong pin number 3 times then your card is disabled at ATMs. Its a good security feature. When I first got my card I kept typing in my old pin number. ITs hard having 2 bank accounts with 2 different pin numbers. I would have used the same pin for both but I couldn't.So I guess I did it 3 times then my card was disabled. She let me change my pin. Now I have to remember to use the right one!
I only have 2 classes today. The first one starts at 7:10pm. I'm done with classes at 8:45pm.
I have to average up all my grades in the classes to go on their report card. That took a long time. It would have been a whole lot easier if I would have had the bright idea to input the grades into a spreadsheet first. I added up everything manually and made an average. Then,I made a spreadsheet with formulas for all of my classes to input grades and make an average.
I found out that one of my students quit-she had been absent for 2 days. I have 43 students in all between 9 classes. They are ages 9-13. My smallest class has one student and my largest class has 10.
I still need to correct essays. I actually had one class where everyone turned in their essays on time! only 1 of my nine classes though!
This week I haven't had much time to introduce new material because I had to give them a writing project to go on the walls during my class. The activity I had to make them do took up most of class. Plus I didn't introduce much new material last Thursday because the monthly test took up most of the class time. Plus I had to take time to describe how to write an essay and give a topic. I don't have much material to make a test from so I'm not going to give a test this week. I'm just going to give 2 tests next week so I will still have the right amount of tests.
Today was April Fool's day, but no one celebrated it at school. Im glad. I think its the most stupid holiday!!
I have to go to Nokbeon tomorrow for a class with the other teachers. I'm going to take my pants to the tailor finally.
When I withdrew money from my American account Wachovia only charged me $1.48 for each transaction. Not bad at all.
I have been here 15 weeks.
I actually know when I'm suppose to meet the director on Saturday. I found out on Monday. Saturday at 6pm. At least I knew earlier this time.
I went to the bank today. Paid a bill and I found out why my card wasn't working. If you type in the wrong pin number 3 times then your card is disabled at ATMs. Its a good security feature. When I first got my card I kept typing in my old pin number. ITs hard having 2 bank accounts with 2 different pin numbers. I would have used the same pin for both but I couldn't.So I guess I did it 3 times then my card was disabled. She let me change my pin. Now I have to remember to use the right one!
I only have 2 classes today. The first one starts at 7:10pm. I'm done with classes at 8:45pm.
I have to average up all my grades in the classes to go on their report card. That took a long time. It would have been a whole lot easier if I would have had the bright idea to input the grades into a spreadsheet first. I added up everything manually and made an average. Then,I made a spreadsheet with formulas for all of my classes to input grades and make an average.
I found out that one of my students quit-she had been absent for 2 days. I have 43 students in all between 9 classes. They are ages 9-13. My smallest class has one student and my largest class has 10.
I still need to correct essays. I actually had one class where everyone turned in their essays on time! only 1 of my nine classes though!
This week I haven't had much time to introduce new material because I had to give them a writing project to go on the walls during my class. The activity I had to make them do took up most of class. Plus I didn't introduce much new material last Thursday because the monthly test took up most of the class time. Plus I had to take time to describe how to write an essay and give a topic. I don't have much material to make a test from so I'm not going to give a test this week. I'm just going to give 2 tests next week so I will still have the right amount of tests.
Today was April Fool's day, but no one celebrated it at school. Im glad. I think its the most stupid holiday!!
I have to go to Nokbeon tomorrow for a class with the other teachers. I'm going to take my pants to the tailor finally.
When I withdrew money from my American account Wachovia only charged me $1.48 for each transaction. Not bad at all.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
More pictures
Click on the link to my facebook pictures....
South Korea Album #2
New Officetel
Itaewon
Seodaemun Prison
Dongnimmum/Independace Park/Hall
crappy motel in Nokbeon
Nowon
Yeouido Park
largest church in the world
Korea Album #1
Snowboarding in Korea
meeting other ESL teachers
Korean Money-Won(KRW)
Christmas Eve with coworkers
All of my pictures so far are up now!!
South Korea Album #2
New Officetel
Itaewon
Seodaemun Prison
Dongnimmum/Independace Park/Hall
crappy motel in Nokbeon
Nowon
Yeouido Park
largest church in the world
Korea Album #1
Snowboarding in Korea
meeting other ESL teachers
Korean Money-Won(KRW)
Christmas Eve with coworkers
All of my pictures so far are up now!!
Day 104
March 31 09 Tuesday
I got a package today from my mom! It had grits, mac and cheese and marshmellow eggs! I always get the marshmellow eggs for Easter!
I'm having trouble with my IBK card. It doesn't work in ATMs. I called customer service and they said that it should work. I think I'm going to the bank soon to ask them about it. I was going today, but I found out that I could use my foreign card at the ATM at GS25. I'm probably going to be charged a fee from wachovia but oh well. I withdrew 200,000. I'll probably withdraw more so I'll have money for my trip to Japan. I'll just have to dip into my American account for now until I get my atm card problem straightened out-hopefully tomorrow-if Im in town. I'll transfer money home soon to replace the money I took out.
100,000 won = $73.96 usd
I was looking at the exchange rate today between the won and the yen(japanese). If I take 200,000won to exchange at todays rate I will only get 14,000 yen. Thats not going to get anything. My visa costs 6,000 yen. Then I'm left with 8,000 yen for transportation, hotel, and eating. The hotel alone could be near 8,000. I think I'll have to take more.
The won is back up again. It went down to 1344 and now its up to 1395. Its so depressing! When I transferred at the beginning of Feb. 1.4 million won I only got 1,000 usd when the rate was 1399. I don't know what it will be when I plan to transfer around April 13 or so.
I can't wait till pay day! I need a few new outfits and a chair.
I got a text message the other day (the 26th) from KT saying I owed 24,000 for their stupid 001 charge. I didn't receive a paper bill so I didn't know how to pay it. Yesterday I got another text. Its always in Korean so I have to get someone to translate. It said that the payment was due today (the 31st). I asked her where I could pay it. She said the post office.
I went out to eat lunch with the korean teachers after 3pm. I had dunkas or how ever its spelled. Its pork. We were done around 3:55. (school starts at 4:10). I asked her "do we have time?". She said "you have to pay it today". So I went. When we got there we were 2nd in line but the person in front of us took forever! We didn't get to the counter till around 4:20. Then when we get to the counter they said I couldn't use my debit card. It had to be cash. I didn't bring any cash. So we sat there for 20 minutes for nothing. And I was late to school. I'll have to go to the bank tomorrow and pay it. Plus i need to find out why my card doesnt work in the atm.
My first class wanted to know why I was late. I was 20 minutes late! I told them I was at the post office. Then I got them to do an activity. They wrote about their hobbies and drew pictures in class.
In my 2nd class there are 5 girls and 1 boy-12 and 13 year olds. The girls asked me to wear shorts to school. I told them I don't wear shorts. Then they wanted me to wear a dress. I told them I would wear a dress sometime. I just hate that I'll have to show my ghost white legs. I brought 2 pairs of panty hose and both of those have runs in them. I know I can't find my size hose around here. I think I'll wear one on Thursday if I'm here. In this class we just did the activity for the whole time. We were done with the unit anyway.
Its really busy around my building (I'm on the 2nd floor). Home Plus express just opened on the 1st floor so there are a lot of people there. I haven't went to check it out. If its open at 9:30 I might go look.
I got a package today from my mom! It had grits, mac and cheese and marshmellow eggs! I always get the marshmellow eggs for Easter!
I'm having trouble with my IBK card. It doesn't work in ATMs. I called customer service and they said that it should work. I think I'm going to the bank soon to ask them about it. I was going today, but I found out that I could use my foreign card at the ATM at GS25. I'm probably going to be charged a fee from wachovia but oh well. I withdrew 200,000. I'll probably withdraw more so I'll have money for my trip to Japan. I'll just have to dip into my American account for now until I get my atm card problem straightened out-hopefully tomorrow-if Im in town. I'll transfer money home soon to replace the money I took out.
100,000 won = $73.96 usd
I was looking at the exchange rate today between the won and the yen(japanese). If I take 200,000won to exchange at todays rate I will only get 14,000 yen. Thats not going to get anything. My visa costs 6,000 yen. Then I'm left with 8,000 yen for transportation, hotel, and eating. The hotel alone could be near 8,000. I think I'll have to take more.
The won is back up again. It went down to 1344 and now its up to 1395. Its so depressing! When I transferred at the beginning of Feb. 1.4 million won I only got 1,000 usd when the rate was 1399. I don't know what it will be when I plan to transfer around April 13 or so.
I can't wait till pay day! I need a few new outfits and a chair.
I got a text message the other day (the 26th) from KT saying I owed 24,000 for their stupid 001 charge. I didn't receive a paper bill so I didn't know how to pay it. Yesterday I got another text. Its always in Korean so I have to get someone to translate. It said that the payment was due today (the 31st). I asked her where I could pay it. She said the post office.
I went out to eat lunch with the korean teachers after 3pm. I had dunkas or how ever its spelled. Its pork. We were done around 3:55. (school starts at 4:10). I asked her "do we have time?". She said "you have to pay it today". So I went. When we got there we were 2nd in line but the person in front of us took forever! We didn't get to the counter till around 4:20. Then when we get to the counter they said I couldn't use my debit card. It had to be cash. I didn't bring any cash. So we sat there for 20 minutes for nothing. And I was late to school. I'll have to go to the bank tomorrow and pay it. Plus i need to find out why my card doesnt work in the atm.
My first class wanted to know why I was late. I was 20 minutes late! I told them I was at the post office. Then I got them to do an activity. They wrote about their hobbies and drew pictures in class.
In my 2nd class there are 5 girls and 1 boy-12 and 13 year olds. The girls asked me to wear shorts to school. I told them I don't wear shorts. Then they wanted me to wear a dress. I told them I would wear a dress sometime. I just hate that I'll have to show my ghost white legs. I brought 2 pairs of panty hose and both of those have runs in them. I know I can't find my size hose around here. I think I'll wear one on Thursday if I'm here. In this class we just did the activity for the whole time. We were done with the unit anyway.
Its really busy around my building (I'm on the 2nd floor). Home Plus express just opened on the 1st floor so there are a lot of people there. I haven't went to check it out. If its open at 9:30 I might go look.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Day 103....I want to touch you
Day 103 Monday March 30, 2009
My cough isn't as bad today. I think its moved to a more nonproductive cough. I don't cough that often either. Maybe I can finally get over this.
I just started my fifth week teaching at the new school. I'll be in South Korea for 48 more weeks. Teaching 46 weeks.
I was on the subway this morn and I usually stand up since I only have to go about 4 stops. A man sitting in the "special seats"(for the handicapped, elderly, with child, and pregnant) said Hello. Then he wanted me to come sit beside him. He knew English and he talked to me until his stop. He wanted to know what my job was, where I was from, etc. I told him I was only staying a year and he is trying to convince me to stay longer. There were some women sitting in front of us and when they got off they all came by and touched me. He told me that "they thought I was pretty and they wanted to touch me."haha.
Today I had to give my students a project. They have to write a few sentences about a topic. These will be laminated and put up to decorate the walls of the classroom. It took my first class forever to finish. Their topic was "Introduce Yourself". They dont know where they live so I just wrote a sentence on the board "I live in South Korea". I had to explain what "grade" in school meant. They don't know what grade they are in. Last week I assigned a writing assignment for the class. No one brought it today.
In my second class they had to introduce themselves. This class actually used the colored pencils I brought in. I still had to explain everything. I gave them a writing assignment last week and only one person turned it in. The writing project took almost all of class so we only covered one page of material.
In my 3rd class we also did the writing project. His was "introduce your school". I didn't have to explain anything to him. I just wrote some ideas on the board of what he could write about. I gave him a writing assignment last Monday and he still hasn't done it yet.
I don't know why but my check card for IBK doesn't work in the ATM. one of the other teachers told me about an ATM in Bulwang for IBK bank so I stopped on the way home. I tried numerous times, but nothing was happening. I know I put in the right password. I'll have to go to Nokbeon tomorrow and see what is wrong. I'll try calling the customer service number first. If that doesnt work then I'll just go to Nokbeon and withdraw the money I need.
Am I going to Japan this week? I don't know. I'll probably know at the last minute. That's the way things go around here. Mk called and said he's waiting on my visa. He's waiting on the confirmation number so I can go. I don't know when I'll be going.
My cough isn't as bad today. I think its moved to a more nonproductive cough. I don't cough that often either. Maybe I can finally get over this.
I just started my fifth week teaching at the new school. I'll be in South Korea for 48 more weeks. Teaching 46 weeks.
I was on the subway this morn and I usually stand up since I only have to go about 4 stops. A man sitting in the "special seats"(for the handicapped, elderly, with child, and pregnant) said Hello. Then he wanted me to come sit beside him. He knew English and he talked to me until his stop. He wanted to know what my job was, where I was from, etc. I told him I was only staying a year and he is trying to convince me to stay longer. There were some women sitting in front of us and when they got off they all came by and touched me. He told me that "they thought I was pretty and they wanted to touch me."haha.
Today I had to give my students a project. They have to write a few sentences about a topic. These will be laminated and put up to decorate the walls of the classroom. It took my first class forever to finish. Their topic was "Introduce Yourself". They dont know where they live so I just wrote a sentence on the board "I live in South Korea". I had to explain what "grade" in school meant. They don't know what grade they are in. Last week I assigned a writing assignment for the class. No one brought it today.
In my second class they had to introduce themselves. This class actually used the colored pencils I brought in. I still had to explain everything. I gave them a writing assignment last week and only one person turned it in. The writing project took almost all of class so we only covered one page of material.
In my 3rd class we also did the writing project. His was "introduce your school". I didn't have to explain anything to him. I just wrote some ideas on the board of what he could write about. I gave him a writing assignment last Monday and he still hasn't done it yet.
I don't know why but my check card for IBK doesn't work in the ATM. one of the other teachers told me about an ATM in Bulwang for IBK bank so I stopped on the way home. I tried numerous times, but nothing was happening. I know I put in the right password. I'll have to go to Nokbeon tomorrow and see what is wrong. I'll try calling the customer service number first. If that doesnt work then I'll just go to Nokbeon and withdraw the money I need.
Am I going to Japan this week? I don't know. I'll probably know at the last minute. That's the way things go around here. Mk called and said he's waiting on my visa. He's waiting on the confirmation number so I can go. I don't know when I'll be going.
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