Overwhelmed

I still need to post the blog I have in the works, another about getting Lasek, and I'm sure a dozen others.  I was feeling a very urgent need to post this instead.  I don't know if it's because I think the writing will be theraputic or if I just wanted to share a less positive topic.  Before I started writing this blog, I knew that I would have a difficult time writing about the negative aspects of being here.  I really want to be honest though! 

I. feel. so. overwhelmed.  This is insane!  It's not even work I'm talking about.  I just feel like there are a zillion and two things I WANT to see and do and don't have enough time to do all of them.  We work all week long until way after the sun sets.  Because of this, all other activities have to wait until the weeknd.  I have been here roughly 3 months or 14 weekends.  In that time, I have seen and done soooo much.  I've never lived in a big city and it is all so unbelievable.  I don't even have to look for things to do here. 

Every week someone at work mentions something amazing that I don't want to miss out on...film festivals, expos, exhibits, palaces...the list goes on forever.  Other friends are wanting to do things too.  I don't see them during the week, so the weekend is the only option.  With the time difference, the weekend is the perfect time to Skype friends and family back home.  I've found a church that I really love!  When I get done at Jubilee, the day is already almost over.  Also, I need weekends to regroup, relax, and get ready for the coming week.  Aggghhhhh there's just not enough time.

The funny thing is, my complaint is hardly a complaint at all.  I love Seoul, and I love that there are so many amazing things to do here.  One of my friends said it best though, "We are trying to act like we are on vacation here even though we still have to go to work."  That might be a slight misquote, but she was dead on.  I need to take the time to enjoy life here and not cram every weekend full of things I have to see.  I'm planning on being here for a couple years, so if I miss somthing this year, I'll just catch it next time around!

 "I would I could stand on a busy corner, hat in hand, and beg people to throw me all their wasted hours."  ~Bernard Berenson

How did it get so late so soon?

It's night before it's afternoon.

December is here before it's June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?

~Dr. Seuss

Typhoon Update

Well, I promised I would update after the typhoon.  It was pretty disappointing.  Turns out it was over before we knew whether or not it had started:

I woke up at 6 am because the wind was really loud.  When I look out my window I can see a large tree across the parking lot.  The wind was completely thrashing it around.  I said a prayer and willed myself to go back to sleep, but I kept looking at the tree and getting nervous.  The wind was just blowing a little and then every 2 minutes or so there would be a large gust that lasted for about 15-20 seconds.  It was really strange.  It was raining, but not super hard or anything.  I decided to get up and get dressed just in case.  I ate breakfast while trying to figure out where the typhoon was.  I couldn't find any live doppler for the area and all of the weather reports were conflicting.  Most of the news articles on Kompasu were at least a day old, so I didn't know which was accurate. 

Here is my first attempt at uploading a video to my blog.  It is the view from my veranda when the wind was bad, but not quite at it's worst:  I have a video to put here, but can't seem to get it to load.



I decided to leave for work a little early in case it took me awhile to get there.  I donned my raincoat and boots and grabbed my umbrella.  By this time, the wind was barely blowing and it was raining lightly.  I made it to school with plenty of time to spare, so I decided to stop at a bakery.  As I was walking back to school from the bakery, a large wind gust turned my umbrella inside out and snapped the joints.  Looks like I'll be buying a new umbrella!

So when I got to work, we weren't sure if the typhoon had already passed, or if it was just getting started.  I recently signed up for safety alerts from the U.S. Embassy.  This is part of the message I got yesterday:

This warden message is being issued to alert U.S. citizens residing or traveling in the Republic of Korea that the Korea Meteorological Administration has issued alerts for a Category 3 storm, Typhoon Kompasu. As of 1230 (local time) on Wednesday, September 1, Typhoon Kompasu was located approximately 263 kilometers or 163 miles southwest of Cheju island and traveling north at 33 km/h (20 mph). It is expected to turn in a northeast direction and pass very near Seoul at approximately 1500 (local time) on Thursday, September 2. The Korea Meteorological Administration reports that the maximum sustained wind speed in the storm is 157 km/h (98 mph). While Typhoon Kompasu’s winds are expected to decrease over the next 36 hours, sustained maximum winds when the storm reaches Seoul are still predicted to be as high as 150 Km/h (93 mph).

So we were at working thinking "if the storm isn't supposed to come until 3pm, and what we just saw was the edge of the storm, it must be REALLY bad!"  Turns out that at that point the storm was already over.  It is extremely surprising how inaccurate the warning was. The message does say "local time," so we were not sure if that meant local time in America.  It makes zero sense to send a message to Americans living in Korea and list the American time. 

No classes were cancelled at our school and it ended up being a normal day.  Another typoon is south of Korea and heading in a northerly direction, so I wonder if we will see any more action.

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you'll never enjoy the sunshine.” -Morris West

Wild Week (and it's only Wednesday)

It's been a semi-eventful week so far.  I wanted to give ya'll an update.  I wrote this quickly and after a draining day of teaching, so please forgive any grammatical mistakes.  Kamsamnida!

The semester ended on Tuesday and I got ALL new classes today. At first I was pretty bummed because I have to learn the names/learning styles/etc. of a zillion new kids. I get to start fresh though and introduce all my rules and we got all new books. The reason I have all new classes is because I switched to all 2nd floor. Before, I taught half the day on 2nd floor and then had to go upstairs to 4th floor. So if I needed to plan or grade anything, I'd have to run up/downstairs to get my stuff.


Before, I used to teach a ton of reading. Now I don't teach ANY reading. Reading is a little bit more difficult to plan for because they just tell us what story to do and what practice book pages. We have around six worksheets but those have to last for two weeks usually. With my new classes, (grammar, vocabulary, writing, math, reading comprehension, speaking) there is less prep work. Mostly it is one lesson per each class. I will usually plan fun activities to do in my classes, but it's not like I HAVE to come up with tons of other stuff. I was super excited to get to teach math again, until one of the teachers told me it's a pretty confusing curriculum. I've only glanced at the book, so I'll have to see what it's like later.

I only got all new first-third graders.  My pre-K classes stayed the same.  From what I hear, they never switch teachers because the younger kids need stability.  That makes complete sense.  I feel very blessed to teach my adorable pre-K kiddos every morning and wouldn't trade (most of) them for the world!

Wow!  I almost left out a very important part of my week (well I did leave it out and added it later.)  On Tuesday night, we had a sort-of-going-away dinner for a foreign teacher.  Her usual contract has come to an end, but she has agreed to teach part-time in order to help out the hagwon.  All of the pre-K teachers, and all of the Korean co-teachers headed to a little restaurant that specializes in dok-boki.  You know as I'm typing this, I'm not 100% certain that is the name of what we ate that night.  I will check with someone and edit this later.  The meal was a wee bit spicy for my taste, but overall really delicious.  They even give you aprons so that you don't splash the juices onto your clothing :)

After dinner, we went to a small, mostly-empty place called Ice Bar.  It was great to get to hangout with coworkers and I even got to sample some beer from North Korea!  Apparently the maekju slightly altered my sensibilities, as I agreed to go to noraebang with the group.  We sang and danced our hearts out and finally called it a night much, much to late.  After the anxiousness of waiting for and receiving a new teaching schedule, it was nice to cut loose, have some fun, and bond with the group.

So as some of you know, my hot water has been off for an INSANE amount of time; 12 days so far.  They are cleaning and possible repairing the plumbing. I was at Erica's place on the third day so I got to take a hot shower then. I freaking loathe taking cold showers!  Plus, I feel less clean after several days without hot water. My solution? I went to the jimjilbang tonight!

I paid $6 entrance fee and got my uniform and 3 small towels. I had to take off my shoes and put them in a little locker. Then, I walked around a corner. I immediately noticed stuff for sale. They had food, lotions, shampoos, clothes, undergarments, accessories, and lots of scrubby tools. Next, I noticed naked ladies. O_O I knew that this was what I was getting myself into so, "when in Rome"...I headed for the locker and stuffed all my clothes in. I went and bought little packets of face wash, shampoo, and conditioner. Then, I went into the "bath" room. All along the walls they had showers and on one end of the room they have little vanities. Ladies sit at those and wash/scrub themselves and each other! I took a shower and used all my little packets of Korean cleansing products. I left the conditioner, or "rinse" as they call it here, in my hair. After that, I went and sat in a hot tub. So awesome! I dipped my toe into another hot tub, but it was way too hot. I tried out another tub with clear brown water. I have a feeling it was some kind of tea. After the tea tub I rinsed off again and rinsed out the conditioner.

I thought about going into the sauna, but when I opened the door my glasses fogged from the overwhelming heat. Next, I went to the scrubber ladies. The scrubber ladies wear undies while they exfoliate people. I didn't know they would only take cash, so I only had $3.50 left on me. They had one service that cost $3 so I pointed at that one. The lady seemed confused. She motioned that it was a hair shampoo and I agreed. She was trying to get me to do the $5 service, but I mimed that I only had a card. She told me to lie down on her table and washed, conditioned, and scrubbed (ferociously) at my head. It was assah!

Next time, I'm for sure going to take cash so that I can get a full scrub down. If you don't want to pay to have someone scrub you, then you just go with a friend or relative. I saw lots of mom/daughter and friend/friend couples scrubbing on each other. In the nude. So unusual.  I rinsed off again, changed into my uniform, and paid around 10 cents to blow dry my hair.  Not too bad for my first jimjilbang!  My skins feels squeaky clean and rejuvenated.  They also have a unisex sleeping room (pass out on the floor), a small restaurant, and masseuses.  I sooo would've gotten a massage if they took debit cards!  This guy does a really good job of explaining jimjilbangs.
 
In other news, Typhoon Kompasu is supposed to hit Korea tomorrow!  I wouldn't be very nervous about this, except that it looks like the eye is going to pass straight through Seoul.  Most of my coworkers are unconcerned, but we did talk quite a bit about whether or not school will be cancelled.  Most likely not.  I read in one place that it was a category 3, but I believe it has been down-graded to a 2.  I will blog with an update after the storm passes. 
 
 

"God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. " -William Cowper