Hockey in Korea

Remember we told you about our friend Laura and how she is leaving Korea soon? Well her brother Jason has arrived in K-land to help her enjoy her last few days. He had the most BRILLIANT idea ever the other day which was to see a Korean Hockey Game. Yes, another foreign teacher outing (much to Benjamin's dismay). We saw a game between Korea's High-1 team and Japan's Ice Bucks team, and was apparently equivalent to an NHL game in Korea as both teams are from the Asian Hockey League. Apparently the boys thought these teams weren't as enjoyable as an NHL team but I (Kate) enjoyed myself very much. The team may even recruit me as a future cheerleader once this current gig's up. Joking, of course. They gave out these great inflatable noise makers so that we could cheer on the team to the chorus of "dun dun High- ee- one!" and "dun dun DEPENS! DEPENS!" (or "defense" for you native pronouncers). I would also like to put it out there that the music was FAR better than NHL music. You see they played lots of Kpop, which I am beginning to really like. In fact I might go as far as to say that I like it a LOT. The crowd was maybe the only disappointing thing-- not a whole lot of fans out to see the game. The night's events were free, which was awesome. It cost about $1.00 to get to the stadium and then I think we spent about $4.00 on some dippin dots and a very soggy corndog. We hit up a Chinese restaurant on the way home for some ja ja myun and tong suel yok. In any case here's a quick video and a few pictures to showcase our evening out. Sorry for the shaky part on the video that might make you a bit nauseous, it was a first attempt at making a video with my big-girl lens that weighs too much to hold without shaking!

Hiking in Korea

So this past weekend we had the chance to go hiking up a real-life mountain. Our boss arranged the outing with all of us (foreign teachers) on Saturday morning. I have done this in the past with a gondola starting from halfway up, but this was a completely different experience. Not a whole lot to report, in fact I'm unsure of the actual mountain's name. All I can tell you is that it was beautiful, and also incredibly tiring. We basically made it all up to the top, but there was one last steep hike to the very top pincicle that I opted out of as it was quite steep and I was fine with the view from where I was.

Picture of my coworkers: Evan, Rob, Steve & Simon.

Click on this one to see a bigger view--- these people were on the other side of the mountain.

First view of the city (beginning of the hike)

My favorite shot--- it looked like this in every direction. So pretty.

Shooting Guns in Ilsan

So one of our very wonderful friends here in Korea, Laura, is leaving in a few weeks. She has been a very busy girl, chipping away at her "last few things to do in Korea" list. One of these things Evan and I were most happy to participate in. Our friend Laura has been eyeing up a wee shooting range in Ilsan, near Western Dom.

Anways, us kindergarten teachers decided to hit up this wonderful/magical place tonight after class. I mean, after a week of teaching our little darlings it seemed like the perfect activity to partake in. Kidding, of course. In any case here's a little movie I made with some video clips and photo's from our evening-- please excuse the shaking/blurryness, I've only had the new camera for 48 hours!

Song Competition at Kids Club

Every month at school we have a singing competition that all the kids participate in. Here are a few of the cute videos! Who has your vote?

Another Lazy Weekend in Korea

So not an overly exciting weekend here in Korea, but in any case we thought we'd share what we got up to. #1. We went with our fabulous work friend Laura into Seoul Saturday afternoon. Here's a picture of Myong-dong, more on that in a little bit. Anyways, we started off in Yongsan Electronics market for the second time. You see, I (Kate) was wanting to go and finally buy my camera after being paid on Thursday. The guy I wanted to buy it from didnt have it in stock so I was going to have to pay an extra 20$ extra if I wanted it that day. I mistook this for $200 and decided I would come back. Sigh, it was a sad realization once I got on the subway and realized I'd have to re-do another hour long trek into Seoul to buy the damned thing later this week but whatever, I'll live!

#2. HOOTERS! I've never been inside a hooters before in my life, but we saw that there was one and decided we had to go and check it out. It was authentic for sure, with the spandex shorts and tank tops. It was also (of course) full of foreigners. I had a burger and it was pretty decent, the first red meat I'd eaten in Korea! Fun times.

#3. Okay so more on Myong-dong. I'm drooling a little while writing this by the way. This is my (Kate's) new favorite shopping land. We know what that means/how bad this is. We went into one store (ONE store) and I was able to buy 11 items and spend $130. However, I got 5 tee shirts, a pair of jeans, 2 dresses, a pair of earrings and a cardigan. We didnt make it to H&M as we had planned but I figure this was for the best.

#4. This is an (awful) picture but a picture nonetheless of the crowded subway on Saturday afternoon. This is not just people getting on, this is how full the train is-- to the point you might fall out once the doors open. There was alot of throwing elbows happening here. We took a picture because we couldnt get on.

I dont have pictures for the rest, but afterwards we got back to Hwajeong and went to McDonalds. I mean we already ruined our nutritional plan of the day by eating at Hooters so we decided we needed to try the "Bacon Tomato Delux Burger," that is delicious by the way. Once we sat down a kid from Kids Club came up to see me and say hi. She was there with her parents and baby sister. She told me to "wait here, mom getting something." About 5 minutes later her mom came back in with 2 boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for us. It was so sweet! I actually ate one in my sleep last night, like literally woke up to see one bite of a doughnut left. Krispy Kremes are the bomb and the likely cause of any future weight gain here in Korea. Today we woke up late and then headed into Ilsan. The original plan was to go into Costco and stock up on our favourite foreigner foods (cheese, bacon, pasta noodles, alfredo sauce, pesto, and a rotisserie chicken) but we ended up going to an Arts festival that was going on outside of Jeongbalsan station. We had lunch, got too full and came home instead. We will have to hit up Costco in the next few days! Hopefully we don't starve to death in the meantime, lol.

Time for school!

So I know everyone's just been sitting and waiting in anticipation for pictures of the school we're teaching at. Who am I kidding? We only have 3 followers on this blog!! Haha, anyway....

#1. Here is my "Yale" class. They can be alot of fun, but often seem to be the reason why I have no voice or energy at the end of the day.

#2. Below is my "Cornell" class. Those kids are 90% darlings that are mostly well behaved and alot of fun.

#3. This is our office. Yes, 12 teachers are crammed into this place and there are also several little people who frequent the room as well. It's crowded to say the least. At the far end by the bookcase is where Evan's desk is, mine is the one with the yellow basket and (but of course) an iced coffee.

#4. Here is the handwashing and teeth brushing area. These sinks are shorter than my waist. The kids line up here before and after they eat anything, and they also brush their teeth here (as do I). Good luck getting to the sink after the kids have eaten lunch-- its a madhouse!

#5. Here is the hallway. Notice I took a picture at the beginning of the day where it looks clean and spacious. You should see it after class has ended-- its a miracle I haven't broken a leg yet! All the kids come rushing out at once when the bell comes on and it is CRAZY.

#6. This is the playroom. There are a few instances where I have used this particular room as a bribe to get work done. None the less, it is awesome and personally the slide is my favorite.

#7. These are (obviously) the kindie urninals. They look like something out of Despicable me if you've seen it....When Vector uses his shrink ray and shrinks the toilet. Either way these urinals are small and come to about my knee. They're so cute that I had to take a picture of them!

#8. This is my "Cornell" classroom. It has a big open window which I enjoy. My other classroom feels a bit more like a dungeon.

And that concludes the phototour of Kids Club Fun Language School!

Paju English Village

So I'm sitting here right now thinking about my life this past June and how I was planning a wedding, trying to get a job in Korea and quitting my jobs in Canada hoping all of these plans were going to work out and basically going crazy in the process. In any case, the month of June was chock full of interviews for all sorts of jobs all over Korea. One of the positions we had been offered was at "Paju English Village." We turned it down thinking it might be like living in Frosh week for an entire year with the amount of foreigners living and working within the same isolated vicinity.

Anyways, this past week we had a field trip where we got to visit the place and see first hand what it's like! We were pretty excited about a half-day away from the school and ended up having a pretty decent time. Paju is like a Canada's Wonderland only without rides and only English is allowed to be spoken. First the kids had to go through "immigration" and then after we did some english games and saw a pretty decent musical. I mean it was lame as %&# but the kids seemed to like it alot. The lyrics of "change for you, change for me...." is still burning my ears. Anywhere here are a few pictures of the very fun day!

-- Kate

Evan and "Harvard" class. The one kid has the best fashion sense I've ever seen on a boy, hopefully we'll have a picture in the future.

We got the whole school (kindergarten classes) together for a picture. Feeling the Wonderland vibe yet? The picture before this was of Kate's "Yale" class. They drive her absolutely crazy but look pretty innocent in a picture.

Evan's "Oxford" class. Yep they're that cute but just turning 4 years old. Crazy.

A tiring day for a kindergartener!

An embarrasing moment for Kate in Korea!

So in the future I will likely make a more complete post about Ramen selection in Korea but today I just thought I would share with you a VERY embarrassing story that will likely make everyone laugh at my expense. The following story should come as no surprise to those who know me as Kate the complete klutz/disaster.

Firstly, Ramen= Mr. Noodles for those who don't know. They are everywhere in K-land and VERY cheap. Lately I've been opting out of the lunch options at work (Evan is a fan, I'm...working on it) and going for the bowl o' Ramen. You can find every flavour from lobster to cheese to beef brisket and we usually get a new variety each week from the grocery store to try out. You can also buy them individually at the convenience store for less than a dollar if you're feeling too lazy to walk across the street to your apartment where you have a cupboard full. Wow this embarrassing story is getting boring fast eh?

So I moseyed (yeah, I looked up the spelling for this one) down to the 7-11 downstairs yesterday at lunch time to get a bowl of Ramen for the first time as I didnt want to go to the apartment and then have to take the dog out afterwards. You know in Canada how when you make one of those bowls of Ramen there is the option to microwave instead of add boiling water? I purchased my ramen and thought "yeah, microwave baby." And thats when I saw the sparks starting to fly.....in the microwave as my bowl of ramen set fire. Yep, I'm the dumb-arsed foreigner who nearly burned down a convenience store or at least came close to setting off some smoke alarms. Before you think I'm a complete idiot I should add that I had taken off the foil top! Anyway, I managed to put out the flame on my ramen bowl, thinking I could at least escape the store just leaving the scent of smoke behind but it was clear as I made my swift exit that I hadn't fooled anyone because everyone burst out laughing as soon as the door closed.

Sigh, it's a pity because I really liked that store and now I can't step foot in there again. I also had great ambitions of practicing my future Korean language skills with the cashier there. Oh well....

At Home in Korea

So it's officially been over a month now that we've been living here in K-land. We keep being asked how its going and honestly, I freaking love this country. Sure, at the end of the day when I'm trying to peel off the little arms and legs that attach themselves to my leg, or when a kid breathes on their hand before giving me a high-five I sometimes feel like screaming but then it's quickly over and I'm still here to enjoy all that's here. This post might seem a little random but here's a little snapshot of all the things I'm loving about Korea right now.

Familiar food: I'm going to start off by being the typical foreigner, raving about all the comforts of home that Korea has to offer. NEW YORK FRIES IN KOREA. I know, so maybe not the most adventurous cuisine I could be eating but yummm. Who cares you ask? I'm not in Canada but I can still get poutine!

Face Masks: So if you knew me well you would know that I'm a bubble bathing, face-masking, hair conditioning, Lush-whoring kind of girl. Well.....I've got a shower and no tub (and havent found the blow-up tub I've heard urban myths about) and Lush products in this country (yes Korea has this as well) are far too expensive so it's a good thing that Korea can satisfy your every face-mask desire. These puppies are EVERYWHERE and there has to be at least 300 varieties. You can't walk 5 minutes without being able to find these. The best part is their price!

Knock-offs: So, just as in any other country, a brown and tan bag with L's & V's all over it, or a sweater with a wee little crocodile means style and prestige. In Korea this appears to be no different.....however it's been sort of amusing to see some of the knock-offs here. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that in this picture the crocodile is supposed to be smaller, as is the man riding the horse. I'm not sure if this is actually an error in manufacture or if it's supposed to be a way of saying "yeah, that's right I'm wearing Ralph/Lacoste." Either way, I like it.