My Korean Thanksgiving...

Sadly, we did not celebrate American Thanksgiving at school.  I was really hoping that day a turkey and mashed potatoes would miraculously show up and we’d be able to feast.  Sadly, this didn’t happen.  To be honest, I kept forgetting it was Thanksgiving.   When I did remember though, I was a little sad.  It was one of the first times since I’ve been here that I wish I was home.  Or I wish I could teleport home for 3 days and then come back.

To ease our depression, all of my friends from school decided we’d have our own Thanksgiving on Saturday.  We’d all cook something Thanksgivingish and bring it over to our friends’ (mom did I put the apostrophie in the right place haha!) Cassie and Adam’s place.  With my limited space and accessibility to foods, I ended up making pasta (and way too much pasta at that).  But we had pot pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, pies, wine… the works! 

It was so fun and nice to celebrate in the best way we could.  Although I think I want to be home next year for a real Thanksgiving with my family!

My trip to the lantern festival...

I’m not exactly sure how many years the lantern festival has been going on for, it seems relatively knew- but seriously what do I know?

My friend Kissairis and I have been trying to “do something fun” on Wednesday’s to split up our week.  No, we don’t hate our jobs… it’s just nice to have something to look forward to every once in a while. Usually our Wacky Wednesday’s as we like to call them involve just treating ourselves to dinner.  But one week we heard about the lantern festival we decided to take our Wednesday’s to a new level. 

The lanterns are in Seoul, of course what isn’t in Seoul, so we took the subway after work for about an hour.  After a few transfers we had made it.   I didn’t really know what I was expecting. I thought it might just be beautiful lanterns… boy was I wrong.  These lantern’s were the size of floats in the Macy’s Day parade.  They were huge!

It was really cool to walk along the canal and just see these giant lanterns.  They were very beautiful!

My Korean Halloween...

Halloween.  A day of fun, candy, trick or treating, costumes.  I was so happy that in Korea we go to celebrate completely at school.  I couldn’t wait to see my kids all dressed up in their cute costumes.  The week before we practices all the words associated with Halloween- cat, witch, monster and of course- candy.  The kids all told me what they were going to dress up as- princesses and power rangers were the top choice (also convenient because we were learning about the letter P that week too!).

Before the actual day, we had lots of preparations to do.  We wanted to make it special and fun for the kids (or special and fun for us?).  There were many games to be planned, activities to be done and of course trick or treating.  Finally we came up with these ideas- face painting, a “Frankenstein” show with a mad scientist, haunted house, and relay games.  Each classroom was designated to a different activity and the kids ran around all from room to room playing.  And once all activities had been finished- it was time to unleash the beasts and let them trick or treat in each room. 

Candy in Korea is not the same.  Since I’ve been here I’ve yet to see a Reeses Cup.  Although disappointing, it was probably best I didn’t have access to those- a minute on the lips is forever on the lips you know?  The candy here is pretty much all hard fruit flavored candy.  Obviously that didn’t stop my kids from going to town on those little bad boys.  We had decorated candy bags earlier, so each kid had their own bag to put all their treats in.

One final note on Halloween, I was very surprised and proud of my kids throughout the haunted house.  It was pitch black, there were teachers popping out and scaring kids at the end of it- but none of my kids cried.  I guess they’re just used to having scary Anne Teacher all the time nothing else can scare them? Hmm…

 These princess girls are 7 years old, I teach them science on Tuesday

My first SLP trip...

Once a month my boss, Mr. Jeong, likes to take all the teachers out on a Saturday for a day trip.  It’s a really nice thing that we do at SLP.  It allows us to spend the day together and just relax.  Oh, and there’s always lots of beer involved.  Some might think this is crossing the line… that your boss provides you with drinks and good times, but in Korean that’s what they do.  And when in Rome…

The first trip I went on was to an Island not too far away.  We had to take a ferry ride that was about 1.5 hours away.  We had planned to go on a “small hike” on a mountain and then sit, relax and drink on the beach.  Once we got to the Island, and found a guide to take us on the hike there was the option given to skip the hike.  Now don’t be me wrong, climbing up a mountain sounds cool and all; but if given the option to sit on the beach and drink beers instead- I think we all know which way I’d go. 

So a few girls and I skipped the hike, took the cooler, and made our way to the beach.  It ended up being a beautiful day, we went swimming in the shallow water, basked in the sun, and enjoyed the moment together.  We had brought snacks and had our own little picnic.  And we also had some well deserved “girl time talk”, it was really great.  Later when we met up with everyone we ate Korean BBQ (cooking meat on a personal griller) and then went home.  It was really fun, and really nice of Mr. Jeong to pay for all of his staff to just be able to enjoy a day together.  Can’t wait for the next trip!

My sports day...

Every year at SLP for the kindergarten classes they hold a day even t on a Saturday.  Sports day is kind of like a giant color war.  Two teams- blue and white- competing in silly games for no real prize.  However, this fun idea is taken to a new level.  Not only do the kids compete, but their parents (who have been drinking all day) are competing too.  Let me just say, Korean mothers are quite competitive!

It ended up being a beautiful day for sports day.  All the teachers showed up wearing black (although we were on respective teams but I honestly can’t even remember what team I was on).  We rented out a schools soccer field for the day.  Competitions included- mothers racing trying to grab the “prize” at the finish line (prizes included- toilet paper, toothpaste, zip-lock bags), tug-of-war, and other relay races.  It was so hilarious to see these women, who might have trained for this, race and push each other to win!

I have to admit I was a little nervous that day, it was the first time I was going to meet all my children’s parents.  I put on my cute face, was nice and polite.  I had nothing to be worried about considering we don’t speak the same language.  We were happy to meet each other, they laughed at my attempt to speak in Korean, and they were happy to see their children love me.  All in all, it was pretty good.

Of course my 5-year-old babies could care less about the competition parts of the day.  It’s always fun though to have a day off from teaching and just be able to play together, without the pressure of “learning” involved. 

Let the games begin!

My trip to the farm...

Hello everyone!  Sorry it’s been a very long time since my last post.  However, we can all agree that sometimes once we put something off for long enough we feel silly going back to it.  But I’ve really been meaning to post… so now everyone can enjoy a few posts!!

JeJu farm is a farm owned by my school SLP.  Once a year in the fall we take the kids there to have a “farm day experience”.  I’m not going to lie, I went in very apprehensive.  I was just imagining there to be something weird going on at the farm.  Yes I was judging the Korean farm before I had even seen it.  But, let me tell you, Koreans know how to farm just like Americans do!

*Here is the inside of the buses we take anywhere... its like a 70s disco party in there

It was a dairy farm so there were cows like everywhere (my dream come true).  The farm was small, but there were so many activities for the kids to do.  We “made” ice cream by whisking milk over ice until its frozen and adding chocolate syrup, we milked a cow, we fed cows, went on a hayride, and had a picnic!   Although, the picnic was filled with kimbop and dumplings.  Yes, I’m still in Korea.

Overall it was a great day.  Everyone had a great time!  Oh, and all the kids wore their green and black SLP jumpsuits… enjoy….

 

<-- This is YeSeo, she is one of my favorites.  She’s hilarious and her English is pretty great.  She is super creative and always has an elaborate story to tell me.  And she tells me every day that her dad is fat.

My SLP-Chuseok celebration...

Chuseok is the Korean Thanksgiving celebration.  It is a huge deal in Korea.  Many of my older children told me they have off for a whole week from their regular schools, SLP only gives 2 days (but I’ll take what I can get right!?).  Koreans travel far and wide to visit with their families on this day, they eat and “pay worship to their ancestors” (at least that’s what Wikipedia told me). 

SLP Kindergarteners had a whole day of celebration for this holiday.  Every student came into school wearing their traditional Chuseok outfits known as Hanbok (HAN-BO).  The Korean teachers even bring in Hanbok for all the foreign teachers to wear.  It was a really fun day, and a learning experience for me to learn a little about the traditional celebration.

First, we made songpyeon.  Basically it’s a rice cake outside (rice cake is very soft and can be molded like play-dough).  You flatten it into a circle to symbolize the moon, fill it with sugar and sesame seeds, and then fold it in half and pinch it closed (this symbolized a half moon).  All the kids made a bunch to take home to their families, very fun but very messy- sugar was everywhere!

Then we played traditional games.  One was a board game called yutnori.  I didn’t really understand the rules, but you throw these sticks that are marked and they tell how many spaces you can move forward.  Another game, jegichagi, is where you kick a shuttlecock like a hackie-sack… just trying to keep it up.  We also threw these colorful sticks into the garbage can.  * I can’t remember the name of this game, I’ll have to get back to you all on this one * The sticks were pointed at the end almost like arrows.  We had “chicken fights” where the kids stood on one leg and tried to push each other over (a little dangerous and violent for 5 year olds don’t you think).  And we did some arm wrestling (again, slightly inappropriate for 5 year olds).

This is Sunny... my partner teacher, we share the two classes of 5 year old kindergarteners! 

 

I hope these videos work… one is just of my kids being silly and one is of the “chicken fighting”.

It was a really fun day for everyone!! Hope you enjoy the pictures of me and my kids, the Hanbok were are really beautiful!  Check back soon for a post about my 4 day weekend (I LOVE CHUSEOK FOR GIVING ME TIME OFF!!)

My trip to the swimming pool...

During the summer the kindergarteners at SLP go to the every once in a while.  Children here LOVE to swim. My kids talked about it for weeks and weeks they couldn’t wait.  Now I had heard the swimming pool was not just an ordinary swimming pool, but more of a mini water park.  There were a bunch of small pools each with something special in them.  One pool had a pretty big water slide, one had pretty small lazy river, there were sections in the pools for sprinklers, etc.  Overall, a very fun place for kids to play. 

I was pretty excited about the adventure.  I knew it was going to be a great chance for me to really get to know the kids on another level.  There was no education involved at the swimming pool, so we could just play and have fun.  Also, as a swim instructor for the past 8 years, playing in the pool with kids is totally up my alley.

What I was not prepared for was the following: each child had their own huge blow up floatie.  Not just your average around the waist tube, these kids had blow up cars that literally had horns to beep.  I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the first kid bring one in at the beginning of school, but then they all had them and I realized it was just normal.  Luckily, parents had blown up these devices pre-school because that would’ve been hell.

Anyway, here are some pictures to share. Oh yeah, the boys all cover up their whole bodies and everyone wears swim caps (I mean everyone- I had to borrow one).  Oh! And the water only went up to about my waste… so the kids could all stand… floatation devices unnecessary.  Enjoy!

 

My visa run...

In the middle of June I got an urgent email from Mr. Park explaining that I needed to obtain my visa ASAP because I would be leaving for Korea in July.  Unfortunately, our government was ‘months behind’ on paperwork and my FBI background check (which I needed in order to obtain my visa) was just sitting in a pile of papers waiting to be sorted through.  Granted there was nothing I could do, but SLP needed me desperately (Janet, the woman I was replacing could not wait any longer to return home).  So they sent me to Korea without a visa to begin work.  Now before anyone gets hot and bothered by this, just know you can live in Korea for up to 3 months without a visa (to be honest, I’m not sure if working is legal- but I know SLP would have my back if anything were to come up).  For many, this might have seemed like a nuisance- but for me it was a blessing.  I ended up getting a free trip to Japan for 4 days!  And by free I mean that SLP paid for my flight, and my parents paid for my hotel for 3 nights (thanks mom and dad!!).  Oh, and I got to take 2 days off of work- SCORE!

Japan is like a better Korea.  Now don’t get me wrong, Korea is amazing… but Japan is sunny- so it automatically wins!  After not sleeping at all the night before, I boarded a bus at 5:30am for an hour long bus ride to the airport.  There, I waited for 3 hours for my 9:40 flight (why I took a 5:30 bus… I’ll never understand).  The flight to Fukuoka, Japan was about an hour from Ansan.  Fukuoka is closer to Seoul than it is to Tokyo.   The first thing I did when I got there was take a cab to the South Korean Consulate.  After this approximately $55 cab ride, I realized I would need to master the subway station before I went broke.  I dropped my passport off and was instructed to come back at 10am the following day to pick it up.  I was eager to get to my hotel and take a nap, so I took another ridiculously expensive cab ride back (I had no idea where I was going so I had no choice).  I checked into the Reisenkaku Hotel Ekimae went to my room on the 9^th floor- and slept for 3 hours.

My hotel

When I woke up I decided to learn about my surroundings- so I ended up walking around for about 4 hours.  I walked up and down any street I saw.  Fukuoka was really a great place to stay; I was not bored just wandering around for hours.  Finally, I decided it was time for dinner, I ended up eating a burger place (I know, not sushi!).  I went for a teriyaki burger though, for some Asian flare.  It was already getting late, so I stopped in a café for some tea, then headed back to my hotel.  I was going to be at the consulate at 10am on the dot tomorrow, I needed to get my visa right away so I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore.

The following morning I woke up very well rested, ready for a day of adventure.  I headed to the Starbucks I had found the previous night and ordered a low-fat iced Vanilla bean frappuccino (my first of about 20 throughout the 4 days I was there).  The barista kind of laughed at me, I think it was due to the fact that I ordered the only thing labeled as “low-fat” on the menu (such an American).  On my way out of Starbucks a Nigerian man approached me.  I was interested in making some friends for my few days there; at least I’d have someone to hang out with.  However, after getting oddly hit on (his first question to me was “are you married”) I decided it might just be better to spend the next few days alone. 

After picking up my visa, I headed out on my first adventure of the trip- I was going to the zoo which also had a botanical garden to explore.  I hopped on the subway… took it a few stops down.  Then my instructions told me to take a bus, which would stop right in front of the zoo.  I got off at the right subway stop, but didn’t know how to get to the right bus.  So I asked this man who worked in the subway/bus station.  He spoke no English, brought me to a phone where you could talk to an English-speaking person.  I spoke on the phone to this guide, who then translated to my worker friend.  The man then proceeded to leave his job and walk me through the streets of Japan to the bus stop.  He waited with me until I got on the bus, and then explained to the bus driver where I was going.  People here are all very nice and helpful.  If they can’t help you they’ll take you to someone who can help you.  I also met an old Japanese woman on the bus, she spoke beautiful English.  She asked me where I was from and what I was doing in Japan.  She also asked me if there were any specific animals I was looking for at the zoo.  I said no, that I was just going because I like animals, she laughed at me- it made me feel like I was too old to be going to the zoo, maybe I was.

I spent about 4 hours at the zoo/gardens.  The sun was beating down on me, burning me to a crisp.  I was also getting attacked by mosquitoes.  The zoo was also somehow completely all uphill on an intense incline.  So after 4 hours I decided to head back to my next activity (a visit to Ohori Park).  I somehow found the bus that would take me back to somewhere I knew.  I loved the bus.  It was air-conditioned and bug-less.  I then took a subway to Ohori Park… a beautiful and relaxing spot.  I literally just sat there for 2 hours.  The park is also home to the Fukuoka Art Museum, in which I saw a really cool Buddhist exhibit.  After the park I walked around looking for the Ruins of Fukuoka Castle, I really believe I was in the middle of the ruins but didn’t see anything that seemed ruin-ish.  So after walking around aimlessly for an hour, I bought a hotdog from a lady in a van and headed back.

There are so many shrines and temples around Fukuoka- you could literally spend a whole day walking around looking at them.  So that’s exactly what did.  I’m not exactly sure which shrines are which but some I saw were Kushida Shrine, Shofukuji Temple and Jotenji Temple.  They were all beautiful and spiritual (I actually ended up watching some people pray in them).  Very cool to see! 

Canal City is this huge mall in Fukuoka.  Some of it is outside, or just open to the outside.  I went one night just to check it out and saw this laser light sprinkler show for kids.  It’s really just a DJ playing music for kids to run around in sprinklers too.  It was very interesting to be in an “outdoor” type mall.  There were many two buildings of the mall which were connected by these overpass walkways.  There were also many small alleyways around the mall which were just lined with smaller stores and boutiques.  It was easy to lose track of time just walking around looking at everything.

 

Udon noodles are very popular in Japan.  It’s basically just a noodle dish topped with different things (fish paste, veggies, etc). There was a small ‘restaurant’ right next to my hotel.  What you do is walk in, put money in a vending machine type thing, and press a button of the food you want to eat.  I, of course, got a spicy noodle dish.  Every time I went back I promised myself I’d try something different, but I love spicy food too much to pass up on it.  I also ate a lot of gyoza  which are basically dumplings.  Very delicious!

Going to Japan was an amazing experience! Before coming to SLP I was nervous about not having my visa, knowing I’d have to go on a “visa run”.  However, it ended up being a great thing… I got a trip out of it all! It was exciting to see the country on my own, with no real plans.  A very relaxing four days!