Where in the World is Montana?

According to one of my favorite students, Brian, Montana is larger than Oregon and Washington put together, but labeled with two question marks.

Montana is also home to some of my favorite relatives. Let me show you just one reason they are so amazing.

By the Beautiful Hannah Fraley

By the Hilarious Benjamin Fraley

I am now knee deep in my favorite American candies and have enough reading material to make 2 collages out of. I also have more personalized art on my walls, which is exceptionally awesome! I commissioned paintings from the great artists Hannah and Benjamin, and they gave me master pieces.



I also want to send a shout out to the woman who made this package possible. Heidi, my cousin through marriage, but really like the big sister I never had and one of the best women on this earth!



John, if I were better at photo shop I would have super
imposed your face into this picture.

Thanks so much to the Montana Fraley's for an amazing package! I love and miss you guys!

Loogies and Snot Rockets

Seeing an ajuma blow a snot rocket on the corner in front of Dunkin Donuts has forced me to write this blog.

An ajuma is a middle-aged Korean woman who has already had kids. Unfortunately, no matter what words I type here, I will not be able to describe the Power of the Ajuma. She is all-knowing and can smell an open seat or a sale from a mile away. She is also well versed in the art of pushing others out of her way, for absolutely no reason at all. She is poised to attack with her perfectly coifed perm and her sock/sandal clad feet. I am under the impression that they get some sort of high off of being rude to others. I should know since I have been victim to this senseless body contact multiple times.

According to UrbanDictionary, a snot rocket is when you plug one nostril with your finger, and blow out of the other nostril with everything you have, sending a snot projectile out of the nose.

So yes, I saw an ajuma blow a snot rocket with perfect precision. Let me just tell you that I attempted a rocket of my own once when I was younger, and it did not go well at all. I have not attempted one since and I am certain that I never will again. I have been here for three months now, and it is very apparent that Korean's hate flem of any sort being in their bodies. Got flem? Feel free to get rid of it no matter where you are. Here, there must be 1 million loogies hocked per second, leaving the person flem free and the sidewalks littered with the undesirable mess (which then freezes in the winter cold taking a whole new form and shininess). You don't like it in your body, but I don't like it on my shoe, there must be a compromise here. I also have the pleasure of hearing my neighbor hock things from the depths of his body any time he showers, which seems to be more than once a day. This will be one thing I won't miss about Korea when I leave...

Korean PDA

As a perpetually single woman, my opinion on PDAs of any kind is a bitter one. PDA stands for Public Displays of Affection, and I have never enjoyed seeing it, be it holding hands, hugging, or making out. I arrived in Korea to find that people don't kiss in public, so you might think there is a happy ending to this story. However, I have come to learn of a far different, far more sinister form of PDA that we shall call Korean PDA. At first glance in a crowded store, you will not see it, but when it looms closer it will hit you like a baseball bat to the forehead.

Couple's Outfits

I am not sure when "putting a ring on it" stopped being the quintessential way to show your love and devotion to one another, but it has happened in Korea. Don't get me wrong, not every couple spends hours planning their matching wardrobe, but you do see it from time to time. It is one of the strangest courting rituals I have ever witnessed with my own two eyes, and one I hope does not travel back to the states. Just becuase you have found "the one" and travel together in matching ignorant bliss, does not mean that I should be subjected to such a hokey display of affection. That is my two cents for January 15, 2011, I 'm out.

Year of the Rabbit and Christmas Celebrations

Happy New Year!



2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. This is a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake!
No better way to ring in the new year than eating ice cream in the shape of a rabbit.



"According to Chinese tradition, the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves.  It is a time for negotiation.  Don't try to force issues, because if you do you will ultimately fail.  To gain the greatest benefits from this time, focus on home, family, security, diplomacy, and your relationships with women and children. Make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise."

I rang in the New Year with Jennifer and Lawrence, an amazing Canadian Couple (eh?) that I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few months. I just realized we didn't take a single picture of ourselves during the festivities, only about 500 of the rabbit cake. We gorged on pretzels, bread, kimbap, and tofu rolls. I also had the pleasure of eating the rabbit's face for dessert.



Surprising, the difference between
frozen solid and sitting out for a few minutes.

While waiting for the New Year to roll around, we watched Uncle Buck. It is a great 80s movie featuring John Candy, one of my favorite actors ever. When it neared midnight, Jen became frantic because we could not find the Seoul Bell Ringing (which is South Korea's equivalent of the Ball Dropping in America) on television. Luckily, 30 seconds to Midnight a channel switched from an orchestra performance to the telecast of the Bell, and we counted down from 30 to the New Year.

As for Christmas 2010, it was a delightful and low key affair. Erin and I made a delicious breakfast, opened presents and watched Harry Potter.

My wonderful Mum knitted us some AMAZING scarves and they arrived just in time for the holiday!

I also received some awesome presents from Erin, including a book and Christmas lights to decorate with.

It took me a few minutes to comprehend that the box titled
"Christmas Twinkle" meant a strand of Christmas lights.
This process was also prolonged because I thought the box
read "Christmas Winkle"...

We ate dinner at a restaurant called Dos Tacos. Korean's take on Mexican food is very interesting, to say the least, but it definitely satisfied any cravings I had.

I also received some amazing presents from home. Elaine and Carl sent Christmas decorations that I had to color and put together myself, which was awesome!

From my BFFFE Kelly, I received personalized artwork from her collection. It is now the lone item that graces these South Korean studio apartment walls. Kelly's pieces normally sell for $250 to $300, so I am a very lucky girl. I also now own my first home decor items from IKEA. She knows me so well.

In conclusion, the holidays were amazing and I had so much fun. Thanks to everyone who has been sending positive thoughts my way, I love and miss everyone. Here is to an amazing Year of the Rabbit, and happiness and health for all!

The Reason I Am Here

It is time I devote a blog to the hagwan that I am really happy I have become a part of. I have heard many horror stories of other schools, so I truly do feel very lucky to have been placed in one that is clean and has some really great staff and kids. The interior designer inside me also appreciates the decor and color scheme.

The view from the hallway. We are located on the 4th floor.
Color Scheme: green, blue, yellow, red/orange

We have 13 classrooms, each decorated in one of the 4 colors from the color scheme.

Our largest classroom size is about 14 students.

I enjoy teaching in the yellow and green rooms the best. I get sleepy in the blue rooms, and the orange room is too orange. Luckily, I don't have a class in the orange room...knock on wood.

The teacher's room: it looks a little crazy, but it is actually really fun
to talk to all the teachers. As anyone who ever tried to study with me in
college knows, I would rather socialize than work.



My personal work space...luckily I am on the end,
so I have some breathing room.

That is it in a nutshell. I like all the colors and overall it is a great work environment.

Sunae

I am quickly learning my way around my little neighborhood of Sunae and/or Bundang. I see many interesting things on my little travels, and I have come to the conclusion that Sunae must have more playgrounds per capita than any other town in the world. All the playgrounds appear to be in great condition, and each offers different features for different interests. I have only seen one playground that restless teens have detroyed with their many cans of spray paint.

I don't know who did this, but I am glad they like Daft Punk.

One important feature of Sunae is the department store called the Lotte. This is about 4 or 5 stories of shopping greatness. It is also the subway station for my neighborhood. The basement is my gateway to many places.


Something that has been bothering me: the majority of the ads use white models.

Top: Buildings to the Right of the Lotte.
Bottom: Buildings to the Left of the Lotte.

There are many high rise apartment buildings in South Korea. Where Koreans lack any efficiency or rationale in many areas, I have to give them credit that they may have found something with the way they move. Are those pesky stairs and small elevators making your move difficult?


Never fear, the ginormous outdoor furniture elevator is here!

Just pack your boxes, open your window, and shove them out onto the giant platform waiting outside. No hassles, no gimmicks, no staircases, no elevators.


Once your belongings are loaded on the platform, the operator will push the down button, quickly and efficiently delivering your items to the moving truck on the ground below. I think this could be a good lesson for any of us who live in high rise apartments, which, at the moment I cannot think of anyone I know that does.

The Movie-Going Experience

One of my all time favorite things to do in this world is to see movies. I was apprehensive how this pastime and South Korea would work together. Well my friends, I am excited to say that it will work out just fine. I now know where the movie theater is and how the process works, and will hopefully be able to see some good movies while I am here. This is the Korean movie-going experience:

1. In Korea, you arrive early to buy your seats, not to save your seats...to buy them. The seats are all assigned seating, like in a live theater. So when you pay for your ticket, you look at the screen of available seats and pick the ones that will provide you with the most comfortable and enjoyable movie watching experience. No more arriving early, waiting in line, and running into the theater to save seats for you and your friends who are habitually late, with your coats, hats, arms, scarves, and purses.

2. After you have purchased your ticket with an assigned seat printed on it, feel free to have a leisurely dinner, a nice stroll, heck, get your hair did. You have all the time in the world before the movie starts, and seat with your name on it.

3. Once you meander back to the theater, have a seat in the lobby. Enjoy the salty smells of freshly popped popcorn and take in all the people watching greatness that a movie theater lobby can offer. No need to wonder when you will be allowed to enter your theater, there is a screen that will tell you when your theater is ready to be seated.

4. Once you are in the seat you hand picked, sit back and enjoy the 20 minutes worth of strange Korean commericals and jingles and ask yourself "What the hell was that?" after each one. If you're lucky, they may play the same commerical two times in a row, so that you can be just as confused as you were the first time. And when the movie finally starts, rejoice that you can finally understand what is going on, and most of the others around you are forced to read subtitles, while simulataneously trying to watch the action packed movie. It was an incredibly pleasant experience and I cannot wait to do it again.