Playing in Peyongtaek

We have been making trips to Pyongtaek rather frequently. Its so nice having Chris, Katelan and Chase so close to us! Sometimes I forget I’m in South Korea because I get to see my friends from WSU so often. On Thursday night we went out for dinner in Pyongtaek and ended up staying out and missing the last subway back to Dongtan so we had to wake up at 6am, after about 4 hours of sleep, and taking the first subway back to get to work on time.

We weren’t too worried about being tired all day because we knew we didn't have classes to teach that day, but it was still rough. I was so tired from the night before, all I wanted to do was crawl under my desk and take a long nap, but my classroom was empty, so I had no time to waste. It was sorta funny that I was getting paid to do arts and crafts, but I hate arts and crafts, so I wasn't happy about it. Everyone else is moving so much faster than I am and almost done setting up their entire classroom, but mine is bare and empty. I kept telling myself that it wasn't a big deal because I have weeks to fill the walls with activities my students complete in class, or I can just finish later, but I cant help but think about how my new students will react to such a boring classroom. I want my kids to come in and be so excited about being in my class. I think the spaceship theme was a bad idea; cutting out stars and spaceships gets pretty damn monotonous! When it is all done, I think it will look great though. I’ll be sure to post some pictures up when my classroom is more put together.

We decided to stay in on Friday night to save some money and let our bodies rest from the long week. But on Saturday we packed over-night bags to take to Pyongtaek. We were all heading up to Seoul together, and wanted to have a Sunday-Funday, so we came prepared. We went out in Hongdae to a few different places. It was Andrew’s first time in Seoul so we wanted to show him a good time- I think we were pretty successful! After the bars, we decided to go out for some food. Andrew ended up flirty with a little Korean girl for a while and she decided to buy all of our dinner. I knew we became friends with Andy for a reason ;-) We headed back to Pyongtaek at 5am but at some point Katelan and I got left behind, alone to navigate this giant city! We ended up getting off at the wrong spot, walking around for a bit, then heading back to the subway to buy train tickets The train wasn't leaving for another 45 minutes, which sounds miserable when its already 6:45am, but it gave Katelan and I a chance to get some Duncan Donuts and sit and chat for a bit. I’ve really missed having such a great friend around all the time. I can talk to her about anything, and she knows me so well, so she understands and offers a good point of view ☺ As soon as Katelan and I got on the train we passed out, mid- conversation.

We finally made it back to her apartment at 8:30am. I felt bad for coming in and seeing Andrew asleep on the floor, and Tia on the couch, but I was feeling pretty excited to snuggle up in Katelan’s big comfy bed!! We only slept for about 3 hours before we were woken up by Katie, Chase, Andrew and Tia. It was time for McDonalds and Sunday Funday to begin! This was my first time at McDonalds in forever! The menu overall the same as it is in the States but included things like kimchi and shrimp sandwiches.

Sunday Funday was a blast! We just hung out, watched some funny videos, danced around, laughed and told jokes, nothing too out of the ordinary. Later on we went to a restaurant for some food and beer. The chicken we ordered was like fire in your mouth. I forced Andrew to each some and his reaction was priceless! Tia and I were really upset that we left the camera at home because he was huffing and puffing, looking like he was going to cry and making hilarious faces. I think you had to be there, but it was probably one of the funniest things I have seen in months!! They should put a warning on their chicken!

The day after Sunday Funday was a not-so-fun Monday! Everyone went back to Dongtan, but I Katelan and I had plans to get her hair cut so I wanted to stick around. We watched 3 movies and Skyped with her mom before we finally got up to get her hair cut. The hair salons here are so nice and so cheap. They brought me candy and juice and I wasn't even the customer. A woman who spoke pretty good English came over to talk to me while I waited, asking me where I was from and if I was in the military. Apparently she owns a nail salon in Songtan, where a lot of militants stay, so she is used to seeing a lot of English speaking people. While I was at the salon with Katelan, I watched a girl get extensions, another getting her hair permanently straightened, and guy getting a perm. It was all pretty interesting to me- another example of how much Korean’s value good appearances. Katelan’s hair turned out great! She chopped off about 6 inches! She looks more mature and trendy now. I like it a lot!

I received a phone call from Katie around 4 saying that I needed to hurry up and get to work, so after Katelan cut her hair, I went straight back to Dongtan so I could spend my day off getting prepared for my next few weeks of ciaos and hell. This official transition to LCI is going to be such a pain!!! I’ll let you know how it goes, if I ever get the extra time. AGGGG

Graduation Tears, Congratulation Cheers

This week has been a crazy busy week of babysitting our students as we practiced and prepared for graduation. Now my babies are gone! Everyday we have been practicing our student’s speeches that they had to say at their graduation yesterday. I get a little chocked up every time I hear them say their speech because I am just so proud of them. Every time I correct them or tell them sentences to say slower or more clearly, they always come back having it down perfectly. Makes me so proud!! It blows my mind how much the students are required to memorize for the graduation! My students have to memories a one-minute speech, a story, and songs. The stories they have to memorize are entire children’s books. For example, Brian is telling the story If you give a Mouse a Cookie, and Bebe is telling Daddy, Bring me the Moon. These are exactly the shortest stories, especially when they are in a second language!

My class is so smart; I am going to miss them so much! I thought I was going to miss Bryan the most, but he’s been acting up and giving me a lot of attitude these past 3 days, so I’m not sure how much I like him anymore. Lol I am going to miss June so much, though! He is just so darn small and cute! He is always climbing on me and making silly faces at me, he never fails to put me in a better mood! Every morning when I wake up I don't want to go to work, but as soon as I get around all the students, I can’t help but smile and enjoy my day. I have absolutely loved getting to know them and play with them! I'm so sad that they are gone now!! But I am happy that graduation is finally over. This week has been hectic, trying to keep a handle a room full of 6 and 7 year olds. I mean you can only play Simon Says so many times before you run out of things to do. However, I did enjoy helping them get dressed and ready for the graduation ceremony. All of the students looked adorable in their dresses and mini tuxedos. My favorite part of graduation is the adorable songs the kids sing at the very end. The entire graduating class, about 30 students, sing really sweet songs such as, Mommy I Love You, and Graduation Tears, Congratulation Cheers- truly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! It’s funny to see the one that don't sing at all, and others that scream it as loud as they can. The fun part is when they throw their caps up into the air at the very end of the final song, like we do for a high school or college graduation.

Seoul = No sleep!

I cut my bangs! I am now officially Asian! Lol I have been feeling the need to do something bold, something I would never do if I were back at home. Cutting my bangs was the first thing I could think of that wasn't permanent or involved me changing my hair color. I already feel like I am doing something drastic by coming to South Korea for a year, but it wasn't enough, apparently. Amy, another teacher at LCI, offered to take me to the same place she went to get her hair cut, which was really nice. I knew it was going to be a challenge for me to communicate to them what I wanted to get, so I brought a picture to show the hair stylist. She was incredibly nervous to cut my hair because she didn't want to cut too much, or thought I didn't understand what I was getting myself into. Fortunately the woman sitting in the chair next to me spoke a little bit of English, so she could translate the hair stylist for me. Cutting my bangs was only 3,000 won! I like how they turned out, but they are a huge pain in the ass and take up extra time in the morning that I could be saving for my precious sleep! ;-)

I finally got a cell phone this week! Not that I have any real purpose for it, unless I get lost somewhere. I don't see myself using it too much since I'm always with at least one friend at all times. Maybe that will change though…

It was Michelle’s birthday on Friday, so her and her friends invited Katie, Tia and I to celebrate with them. We met up at Alia and Michelle’s apartment to hang out for a bit before heading to Suwon. Their apartment was about 3 times bigger than mine, I was pretty jealous! They had a huge living room area, 3 bedrooms, a large kitchen, a huge bathroom with a normal shower and a laundry room. It put mine to shame!!! I'm happy to be living alone though, so I guess that is the trade off. We played a few “get to know you” games first, which were hilarious!! All of the girls have a great sense of humor, cracking jokes and saying inappropriate things that we all got a good laugh from. I definitely see us hanging out with these girls on a regular basis, thank goodness they are all living in Dongtan too!

We took 2 cabs to Suwon and walked around for a while before deciding on going to a club called Tao- easy for me to remember because it is the name of my favorite club in Vegas. It was the first club we have been to while being here in South Korea, and it didn't disappoint! The lights were bright and wild and the crowd was full of Koreans. This is probably what I love most about going out in Korea, you can never get lost because I have red hair and my friends are blonde, so you can spot them from a mile away! Alia and Michelle lead us up to an area where we could dance on the stage. They played great music and we were SO happy we decided to go out tonight! Katie was like a kid in a candy store- ecstatic about everything that was going on around here. I loved watching her excitement, but eventually we had to leave early because we worked at 10am yesterday (Saturday) ☹

Yesterday was the orientation for the parents of the new students that will be at LCI, beginning on March 2nd. We have been cramming all week to teach our classes and set up our classrooms! I was also busy trying to complete my Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate, so I wasn't as prepared as the other teachers were. I had to bring a bunch of art and crafts home so I could finish my Welcome sign for my door. By the time the orientation started, I only had a fraction of my room complete, while other teachers were much farther along. Other than working on our classrooms, we had to introduce ourselves to the parents at each of the four orientation times. This consisted of all of the teachers running across the street to the Brown English Language School and standing in front of about 200 parents and students for 3 minutes, then running back to LCI to hangout for 2 hours until the next orientation. It was incredibly boring and unproductive! But the worst part was that we weren’t getting paid!! We worked ALL day on a Saturday with no pay! I strongly believe in overtime pay, so I was NOT happy about this! But we made it through by keeping in mind that it was Sarah’s birthday and had a fabulous night out in Seoul to look forward to!

While we were getting ready to go out in Seoul for Sarah’s 24th birthday (Katie, Tia and I are the babies of the group), the new boy, Andrew, arrived!!! There are only female teachers left now that Kevin and Daniel are gone, so we were all looking forward to the new boy coming! I only spoke to him briefly, but he seems like a really friendly, fun guy and I cant wait to see what the new dynamic will be. His room is in between mine, Katie ‘s and Tia’s apartments. It is interesting to think about how this complete stranger could be one of my best friends in only a few short months. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he’s surrounded by girls every day, he said, “It could be worse”. Hahaha seems like a funny guy, too. We invited him out to Seoul with us, but he ended up sleeping through the night – which turned out to be to his benefit ‘cause last nights trek home was insane!!!

A bunch of us left for Seoul at around 9pm. We started at cute Irish pub that was really expensive, so we only stayed for one drink. Sarah’s Korean boyfriend and his friend Jake came to celebrate with us, which was great because they are both so nice. Jake and I spent a lot of time trying to teach each other the simplest phrases- He taught me some Korean and I taught him some basic Italian and Spanish, he thought I was a genius! Haha After the Irish pub and one other bar, we headed to an area of Seoul called Hongdae. Hongdae has a lot of bigger clubs where most of the Koreans go. We had to pay a 15,000 won cover, but it was worth every penny! It was huge and full of people and great music. We danced for hours and met some really fun people. A danced near a few Korean guys and they loved watching me dance and jump up and down. We would make faces and laugh at each other, it was pretty entertaining! At some point we met a few guys who spoke English and they happened to be from Tacoma, of all places! I was SO excited! How random is it to be in Seoul and meet people who live 20 minutes away from you in the US?!?! Jake, my new Korean tutor ☺, must have received some mix signals because he was following me around all night, I played it friendly, but it was a little awkward. He even grabbed my purse to hold it for me. I'm not the kind of girl that likes it when people hold onto my stuff or pay for me, but Lyla explained to me that all Korean guys hold the purse of the girl they like because it shows other guys that you have a woman. Nice little fun fact!

Eventually we were all exhausted from dancing and decided it was time to head back home because it was 5am, but the subway didn't open until 6am and we didn't want to pay for a cab back to Dongtan. To pass the time we went to a little restaurant to eat some food. When 6am rolled around we walked to the subway station, freezing and feet aching! Little did we know that from Hongdae it takes 3 different subway transfers just to get to Itewon, THEN you have to walk to the bus stop to take the hour-long bus ride to Dongtan. During the 3 long subway rides we would take naps and somehow wake up for our stop and moan about how cold we were and how bad our feet hurt. The frigid weather and walking in 4-inch heels was unbearable by the time we made it to the bus stop. Tia was pissed!! The bus finally picked us up at 7:30 am, when the sun was out and people were wondering the streets starting their day. It was miserable!!! We slept the whole way to Dongtan. We arrived in Dongtan at 8:30 at this point we were almost in tears because we were so tired, cold, and wanted to take our heels off. We finally made it home at 9am- 12 hours after leaving!!! The night was incredible, but the 4 hour trek home with never be forgotten, or missed! Now we are positive that the cost of the cab home is worth every penny!!!

Today we slept until 5pm and spent the whole day watching TV, and now bloging. Oh, but I FINALLY figured out how to use the laundry machine, after 2 weeks and translation of the user guide by Lyla- our little Korean savior ;-).

My Own Classes!

My babies:





I’ve been taking over for Kevin these past two days, teaching my own classes. It took little or no time at all for the students to warm up to me, now when they see me they scream and yell my name – Bri Teacher, Brianna Teacher. Some of them come run with and jump, climb or just me a hug. This one little boy, June, in my Pluto class loves it when I pick him up and making animal noises for him to guess what animal I am supposed to be. Just always puts a big smile on my face, but today he decided to climb onto my shoulders, which I think is cute and fun, but I get really nervous that I will drop him! That would suck!! Lol

Kevin didn't give me any instruction on how to what to do with each of this classes, so I usually just play with the students for the first ten minutes then get them to settle down so they can actually learn something. I feel like I have pretty good command over the classes I teach. I find it effective to bribe them with stamps or say “zip!”, the students will take their hand and act as if they are zipping their mouths. I say “lock”, and they pretend to lock their mouths shut, then I take their keys. They have fun with this and it gets the classroom quite!! Pluto class is my favorite because I spend the most time with them and they are pretty smart so it is easy for me to teach them. The kids across the street at Brown English Language School (LCI isn’t officially open until March 1st so we are in a weird transitional period that required us to run from building to building between classes) are a completely different story! They barely understand what I say and some of the girls even glare and make fun of me – not in a nice way. It is interesting to be a teacher and having your own array of students that I noticed in my classes at a student. I have the sweet kids, class clowns, smart student, slower students, problem children, name it.. I have one in my classes! It is getting very close to graduation so I have been really easy with my youngest classes at Brown, letting them play games, watch educational DVD’s and listen to me read them simple stories. Today I read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie – one of my favorites growing up ☺

After class today we went out to celebrate Ta-Leah’s 10-month anniversary of being in South Korea. Any excuse for all of us to get together and go out to dinner, I guess. We took the bus and then a subway to Suwon for some Indian food that everyone has been raving about. Unfortunately they were closed because they are leaving for India tomorrow- imagine that! Haha We decided to walk around Suwon for a bit until we could agree on a place to eat, this become quite the task when you’re in a group of 9 people with different allergies and food preferences! We ended up at a Korean BBQ restaurant and the food was phenomenal! A bit spicy, but I am beginning to get used to that! We ordered some type of chicken stew that had noodles, onions, rice paddies, sweet potatoes, spinach and an array of other vegetables in it. We are all very satisfied!

Once we were stuffed with all of the food we could stomach. We walked around Suwon to shop a bit. I didn't end up buying anything but I enjoyed the experience. Being in Suwon really felt like being in Korea. The bright lights, huge signs with Korean symbols, side streets filled with little shops and chatter in a language that fascinates me… Before I left the US, my friend Brittany (my BFF from Roma) asked me if I would be wearing kimonos in Korea, and I have to mention that Koreans (or many Asians) are some of the best dressed people I have ever seen. They wear bold, funky clothes, each with their own unique spin on today’s fashion – from classic to outrageous! Clearly years ahead of the US. I am looking forward to adopting some this saucy style and coming home with suitcases of fabulous shoes, dresses and bags!

We took the bus home from Suwon; I was taking mental notes of the bus numbers and bus stops for future references. I had a fun day today, but now I am exhausted. Night-night

My Korean Valentine's Day

Cheers-ing to Tanya


My Valetine's

No school today! We had the day off because this weekend was the Lunar New Year, one of the many Korean Holidays I can look forward to. It has been a pretty good first weekend, however, it was not as amazing as I anticipated. The boys, Kevin and Daniel, left Korea on Saturday morning. It was sad to say goodbye because they made this week so much fun, and having more familiar faces around was nice. We all agreed that it would have been such a blast if we showed up a few months early. I'll get over it though...They are heading to Vietnam for a week, and then they have a trip planned to Cambodia. I hope I have enough money saved up to travel around Asia for a few weeks once my contracted is completed! Katie, Tia and I went to say goodbye to Kevin and Daniel this morning, then we picked up a bunch of their stuff. I picked up an iron, shelves, teapot, broom and some hangers. We still need a ton more stuff though!!!

Saturday night we went to Seoul with the other girls from LCI. We decided to go out in an area called Itaewon, which is the main area or district that many foreigners go to hang out. We walked into a bar and I was shocked to see that it was filled with white people. It consisted of mostly military men that are stationed in Seoul. Too bad I’m not into military men ;-) The bar was fun and it was nice to be able to have conversations with people who spoke English, but as I mentioned before, I am looking for more of a cultural experience. I want to be where all the Korean’s are, seeing what the word “nightlife” means to them. Walking around Seoul was exciting! I loved seeing Katie as happy as she was. This is her first foreign experience, so her eyes light up with excitement as she sees all of these new things in this big city. We were talking down the street feeling on top of the world, even though we weren't actually DOING anything. This is the sort of stuff I live for. I love watching the Korean's, seeing the bright light and new, interesting things!

For Valentine's Day we relaxed most of the day before heading to Pyongtaek to see Chase. I brought the plastic, red, heart champagne glasses that Tanya and I bought together last year. I miss Tanya everyday, so I thought it would be nice to have her as our Valentine and cheers to her with the glasses we bought together... Chase, Katie, Tia and I just hung out in Chase and Katelan's amazing, big apartment for a few hours before we met of with Chris and another one of Chase's friends at Garten Beir. We played some games for a few hours, drank some Soju before heading back to Chase's place to sleep. The subway and busses stop running at 11pm, so we didnt make it. Luckily Katelan's bed was available, so we had a place to sleep. The ride home the next day was hilarious because we were wearing the clothes from the day before and everyone was staring at us, a little more than the usual. I guess you had to be there, but for us it is just another awkward adventure to laugh at. Overall, Valentine's Day was pretty unromantic! I kept thinking about how I spent my past two Valentine's Days. In Roma, exploring the most spectacular city in the world with my Italian boyfriend Massi, and cooking, decorating and getting all cheesy/cliché for our boys with Tanya last year. Nothing can top either of those...

We spent today hanging out and relaxing, happy not to be at work. Tia made Katie and I dinner while we watched Fried Green Tomatoes. It's an older movie, but now one of my favorites. I highly recommend it if you haven't already seen it! I had the chance to Skype with Joe, Addy and Evan, which was MMM-azing!!! I always love getting to talk to my friends from home! It makes being so far away much more bearable! I just hope my friends from home don’t get too used to me being gone and forget about me!! I also had some time to set up my room and unpack. I am still missing furniture and some other necessities, but I was relieved to have my clothes hung up, and my bathroom and kitchen organized. I can't wait until I am all settled in and have a regular routine. I wish I had more time to sightsee and explore the city, but I have a year for that I guess. Once we get back on the 5th, we will be joining a gym and doing yoga, I'm excited for that too! Right now I am just looking forward to the weeks ahead and getting PAID! haha

Wow! I am SO tired! Yesterday was hectic! I had to teach Rhonda's classes all alone today and I have never met any of the students before, so they were nervous, shy and just starred at me when I tried to talk to them. Luckily it was science day, so I just had to slooowly and clearly give instructions on how to make a clock, and try to have a conversation about clocks... what shapes they come it, why they are important.. blah, blah. I really want my students to learn, so I move really slowly and try to get them to understand and talk as much as possible. I notice that some of the other teachers just give the students answers or just show them the project and do nothing for the rest of the period, but I don’t want to be like that. I had four periods of science, and the last two I slacked off and decided to combine with Daniel's classes so we could work together and talk about Korea for a bit. As frustrating as it was to be just thrown into teaching today without any prior instructions, time flew by! I was pretty sick of sitting in the back of the classroom and watching someone else teach. I was told that I would be taking over Kevin's classes starting on Monday, which I am pretty happy about. His students are much warmer to me and play with me. They call me names and make fun of me a lot, but I just do it back- it's pretty entertaining. I never thought I would like kids so much!

Last night we went out for Kevin and Daniels last night in Dongtan. We went to a big bar where there were mostly Koreans, which I appreciated. I don't want to be the American who goes to a foreign country just to hang out with other Americans. The coolest part about this bar, and many other nice bars and restaurants in Korea is that at the end of each table, there is a button you can push, and your server will be there in a minute or less sometimes. I bet the servers in the US would kill their owners if they put something like that in their bar or restaurant! In Korea, you can literally yell for your server to "come here" -"oggy-yo!" and it isn't considered rude! I thought that was interesting. All of Kevin and Daniel's friends came to hang out with us. They are all so great and also live here in Dongtan, which is exciting, so we can hang out people other than the LCI teachers we see everyday. It's been pretty easy to make new friends here, the girls where so nice and excited to have us here. What I love most about meeting people in foreign countries is having something in common with them. We all came here to see the world and gain new experiences, so we all have some sort of common ground. Aliah was extremely close with Daniel and Kevin while they were here, she is sad to have them leave, but I think we will adopt her and one of our closest friends… ;-)

Later, we went to a different bar that had darts and billiards for the boys to play, but I was just anticipating seeing Chase when he showed up! I screamed and jumped on Katelan when I saw that she came too!!!! Chase gave me a huge hug, picked me up and swung me around. I can't even describe how happy I was to see them and to have them here with me for the next 7 months! I have a lot to look forward too! I spent most of the night talking and catching up with Katelan and laughing with Tia. It was a great night; I can't wait for more just like them!

Tonight we are heading to Seoul to go out for the first time, I hear amazing things about Seoul, should be another fun adventure! :-)

Orientation and The Outback Steakhouse

Yesterday Katie, Tia and I went to an LCI orientation in Seoul so we could learn more about how the new school will work in the beginning of March. We sat in classes to observe the current teacher, yet again :-/ It was much different from how I have seen Brown work these past few days! The students have a much higher vocabulary and understand English a lot better than the Brown students! I was blown away! I was really excited to see the teachers with their own classroom and own students, versus switching students each period. I will be able to get to know my students much better and understand their learning process in order to help them learn better. I love how I actually feel like I am making a difference in these children’s lives! I was joking with Tia and Katie, saying that my kids with me the smartest by graduation! Katie says hers will be the cutest. Hahaha.

After the orientation, Jade drove us to Suwon to the Outback Steakhouse for Daniel and Kevin’s going away dinner. Jade was paying, so we could order ANYTHING we wanted! I ordered a big steak with coconut onion rings- it was delicious! It was a blast to have everyone we work with all together in one place. I’ve especially enjoyed getting to know the Korean teacher we work with. It’s difficult to communicate with them sometimes, but they are so sweet and laugh a lot. Daniel and Kevin told us that we had to go out with the Korean teachers sometimes because they are so much fun outside of the work setting.

Today was a lot of fun, I am super nervous for tomorrow though! I have to teach all of Rhonda’s classes so she can go to the LCI orientation; I have NO clue what to do in any of the classes!!! We’ll see what happens…