Costco Pictures

Some pictures from our shopping trip to Costco...

i thought it was funny that they were right next to each other

"mom" and me on the escalator at Costco

octopus anyone?

Me, Whitney, and Sung Ju (Whitney's "sister")

I want one!
(this is for you Matthew)

Last night we ventured off to Costco so that I could buy candy to bribe my students with. It was very similar to the Costco in the United States although this one was 2 stories instead of one. Upstairs were all the electronics, bedding, clothing, home goods (detergents, batteries, etc), and downstairs is where all the food was. I was surprised to see that they had the exact same muffin carton as we do at home, chocolate, blueberry, and ----- I cant remember the third one but I know my family knows what I am talking about. I got two big big big bags of assorted chocolates (milky way. snickers, twix). My mom bought me broccoli soup which I learned the hard way tonight had lots of bacon chunks in it, once I made that discovery I stopped eating the soup.
Today was my second day of teaching. I had one class of 10 and another of almost 30. My class of ten went really well, everyone was excited to meet me and wanted to talk. My second class is was like pulling teeth to get them to talk to me, but a few were talking to their neighbor... i have 5 class rules:
1. no talking when the teacher is talking
2. try and don't be shy
3. no sleeping in class
4. no cell phones or ipods out in class
5. no fighting
if they break any of the above rules they receive consequences:
strike 1: hold the English dictionary over your head until I say so (can be the whole class if I choose)
strike 2: copy the English dictionary until the end of class
strike 3: stay 60 min after school to write from the English dictionary
i did not invent these strikes, it is what is used in the school but I am pretty sure strike 1 is illegal to do in a US classroom... o well... in my second class I had 3 boys holding books over there heads for 10 min each because they broke rule 1. I was told if I don't start hard they will walk all over me, so I am trying hard to earn respect in the classroom. It is nothing like the schools back home, students here do not listen to their teachers, follow rules, they fight all the time, and in return the teachers don't discipline them hard enough or say anything when they act up... it is a little frustrating at times
I am also finding that my school is micromanaging us to the extreme... when they asked us to write our lesson plan ideas there were no guidelines or expectations given to us.. after all the work of planning and actually making the lessons, worksheets, and powerpoints they are telling us to change things. They keep telling s we are doing a good job but then follow by listing things to change or do different... it is extremely frustrating and is getting Whitney and myself down. We both almost lost it today at our daily meeting that in addition to all the work we now have to do they also expect a daily journal written to the vice principal who at the end of the day we will have to hunt down and have sign.......... WOW for something we are a. not getting paid for b. are volunteers for c. not getting class credit for they are expecting us a lot and are being very hard and almost unreasonable.. for instance, today (Friday) EVERYONE left at 3:30 but we were told that we HAVE to stay until 4:30 why???? I sincerely hope that they let up because this is not the experience I signed up for... I think some of the other girls in the program are feeling that way too and so we may as a group write a formal letter to Mr. Lee who is in charge asking him to help us fix things... I'll keep you posted on that
I don't want you all to think that I am having a bad time. I am enjoying myself with the exceptions of my co-teachers bearing down on me so hard. Tonight my family took me to the theatre in downtown Seoul to see "Korea's Old Story" from what I understood a baby was found by some peasants, she grew up and was told that she was not their daughter but actually royalty, she ran away to find her real parents. When she reached them everyone in the palace and community was sick and/or dying. She ran away (maybe to find help) She met a crazy old lady and a drunken man who neither one helped her. She was then taken to hell and thrown around on stage (she might have been dead) She was then lifted to heaven/paradise and found a tiger man who she fell in love with once he decided not to eat her (beastisim??) The happy couple then had 3 children, upon the birth of her 3rd child she gave him and the other two to the tiger and she ran away. There was a funeral procession for her father, but she said something and poof he was resurrected from the dead... she then ran away again and that was the end of the performance. There were no words and a beautiful full orchestra that narrated the ballet. It was a wonderful show the props, sets, and costumes were out of this world. Tomorrow my dad is going to explain to me what the ballet was really about, but I think I understood most of it
That's all for now. I love you all!

Pictures From the Airport and Meeting

Here are the pictures that I received from Mr. Lee the program coordinator in Korea...

Breakfast

Its official I have eaten meat... this mornings breakfast was a chicken salad sandwich... not as bad as I would have thought but we will see how my stomach feels in a little while

Ahn-nyong-ha-se-yo
(how are you?)

Today (5.20) and I had a meeting with the mayor this morning followed by a quick photo shoot. I should receive copies of those pictures soon and then I will post them. I took a picture with out interpreter who was very excited to become my friend, she gave me her email and phone number!

The Mayors office welcoming us to Seongdong-Gu

The interrupter and me

Driving here is crazy and some of the roads have diamonds on them. I am not sure what they actually mean but I call them black diamond roads, like black diamond slopes in skiing, because they are difficult to maneuver

After the meeting it was off to school to sit in the office again. Thankfully we begin teaching tomorrow. I have 3 classes to teach tomorrow and were going to play a get to know you game :)

Whitney and me at Ok-Jung Middle School

The office where I am sat for 8 hours the past 3 days

As I have mentioned before the bathroom conditions are quite different here than they are in the states. The following pictures will help you understand what I mean...

Looks like a sink but that's not all this is... its my shower. Washing my hair is easy, I just flip it into the sink over my head and wash... its the rest of my body that's tricky... I am still figuring things out but I was able to shave my lower legs today so things are looking up

My shower

This may look like a male urinal at first glance...

But oh no no no no no this my friends are how the female toilets in the public schools look... You pretty much lift your dress/skirt or take one leg out of your pants and squat over the hole and pee... similar to how you would go outdoors if you were camping... there is a door on the stall and we don't have to go barefoot, so I guess it could be worse but it is safe to say I try really hard to hold it until I get home

Catch Up

Hello everyone!

It has been a rough few days without the internet to blog and update you, but they were able to fix the wireless and I should be good

Sunday:
We only stayed in the hotel one night (Saturday night) and the next morning I had a meeting with the mayor and met my host family. The father came to meet me and take me to their church. At church I met Mrs. Parks who was very excited to meet me :) I then went to church and listened to the different language. I was not able to understand any of it, but I thought it was very interesting and the chorus sang beautifully. I will attend church with the family next Sunday as well. After church he took me to his home. They live in the Sam Sung apartments on the 7th floor. It is one of many apartments that rise high above the city. There are so many skyscrapers and towers in all different shapes and size, I may have to start photographing them and make a blog dedicated to the buildings.
In my family there are three boys, Young Chun who is 15, Yea Chun who is 13, and Ye Chun who is ten (I am sure I miss spelled their names but I have not seen then written. They are very smart boys who love to play with their friends, but seem a little shy towards me, I am sure they will warm up to me soon My family and I went to the park for a couple hours and I watched all the boys play soccer and basketball they are very competitive and it was fun to watch. After we went to dinner at VIPS which was a buffet style family restaurant. I tried many new foods some were very good and others I managed to swallow but did not go back for more. My family and I talked a lot during dinner, and the boys helped translate. However, my parents are good at speaking English and acting out what they are trying to say. After dinner we went to the E-Mart which I would compare to a Walmart, but much much bigger! They had everything you could ever wish to buy in the store. It was two stories and very busy. I had a good time looking at all the different goods and foods. My family bought me foods that they thought I would like so I am excited to try.
I wanted to take a shower and Mrs. Parks showed me the "girls" bathroom. The shower was a sink with a handheld shower hose... I was able to wash my hair with ease, but I was completely lost on how to bath the rest of myself... I think I will learn with practice, but the first time was very awkward haha

Apartments in the sky

My hotel room
My Family playing basketball
E-Mart view from the escalator

Monday:
Today was my first day at school. I was very nervous and woke up extra early although sleeping would have been very nice. For breakfast I had sushi (kimba), a strawberry yogurt shake, and corn tea. I really liked the sushi and corn tea, but the yogurt shake will take some getting used to. I went to school at 9:30am escorted by my dad and we met with the principal, vice principal, head teachers, and other English teachers. We talked about many things, when the principal heard my name was Angie he started to sing "Angie" by the Rolling Stones which I immediately laughed at because everyone in the states does the same thing when they meet me haha

I was not teaching today, but rather sat in a large office and worked on lesson plans and ideas with Dennis, the 1st and 3rd grade English teacher. I will be teaching 12 classes a week of 2nd grade English, which is more like 8th grade in the states. I am a little nervous but Dennis assured me with a pocket full of candy and positive attitude they will love me. For lunch I had rice, octopus with noodles, white sweet potatoes, beef soup, apple,grape,yogurt salad, and kimchi. It was all very good. I did not eat the chunks of meat in the soup, but the teachers I was sitting with insisted that I eat everything so I couldnt be rude...

The rest of my day was uneventful. School let out at 4:30 and I went home and napped until the rest of the family came home. I went out with Mrs. Parks, Whitney (another KSU students) and her homestay mother and daughter. It was a nice evening and now I am ready for bed.

Sorry this one was so long, but I wanted to catch you up on my experiences

Love you and miss you all!