A Shopper's Day

Today Ben and I had ourselves a little adventure!  We really wanted to go to E-Mart so Ben could get toys for his kids-- he promised them a goody if they remembered all their lines for their plays this week.  They did!  So we planned a day out.

It's fairly easy to get to the E-Mart...  We just took the subway up one stop to the Jukjeon station, which leads out onto this nice little view.  Most of the buildings you see are apartment buildings.

The Shinsegae building.

Right outside the subway station is Shinsegae, the "fancy" Korean mall around here.  We decided to go in and check it out.  We only saw three floors, but what we did see was pretty impressive/intimidating.  Cartier, Coach, Chanel, Bvlgari, Burberry, Gucci, etc.  Lots of sparkles and sophisticates.  They even had a VIP entrance with a red carpet and an awning out to the street.  I saw some interesting characters walk through that entrance with some couture-ish dresses.  They themselves were dressed like they were from Jem and the Holograms.

Nevertheless, I did take one really nice thing away from Shinsegae.  They have an amazing make-up section!  Make-up Forever, Benefit, MAC, and Bobbi Brown for starters.  And I think I spotted a shu uemura station across the way.  I'm a happy little make-up artist!

We finally made it across the street to E-Mart, the 3-5 story big box store.  It's like... a really confusing Wal-Mart if you need a comparison.  There were sooooo many people there, it was hard to stop and actually look for things.  We walked out with the toys, a hair straightener for me, and some school supplies.  I think I'd rather go back in the morning when it's not quite so busy.

Home sweet home!

We got home, dropped our stuff off, then went over to Home Plus to eat pizza and shop for groceries.  It was a bit of a long day, so we were glad to see this building up ahead.  Home sweet home!

Next week is going to be fairly easy for us.  Monday and Tuesday are the last days for our kindy (kindergarten) kids, and our elementary students take their monthly tests those days.  Wednesday is graduation for the older kindergartners, and Thursday we don't come to work at all.  National holiday!  Friday we may even come in late since the kindergartners will still be out... Wednesday and Friday will probably be dedicated to redecorating our classrooms for the new students.

Cheers!

The Welton Festival

As promised, here are some cute Korean kids!

This week was a big week!  We have been practicing almost everyday for our class play performances, and today it is finally over.  Every class in the school had to prepare at least one play and song to perform to their parents as well as student introductions (aka "Hello, my name is Brad.  My birthday is... My favorite color is...").

Here is my class, St. Louis class!  We were waiting in the library for our performance!  I entertained them by having them play the quiet game... which served to keep them quiet in the interim.  Oh, to be a sneaky teacher!

My kids did two short plays, sang a song, did student introductions, and laughed a lot.  The parents seemed super happy!  Many of the students, boys and girls, got flowers from their parents.  One of the parents even gave me some roses.  They took soooooo many pictures afterward, I felt like a celebrity. It was precious, and I really do love these kids.  I'm so glad we are here!

Next week begins a new school year for the students, and I don't know what class I will get.  If I don't get this class again, I'll be very sad.  They grow on you.  :)

Happy Friday!

Got a cold? Suck it up!

In South Korea, one doesn't just take off work from a cold.  Colds are an accepted part of life, particularly when you are working with small children everyday.  Well guess what-- I got a cold.

If you are coming to SK or planning to come to SK in the future for a teaching job, my advice to you is this:  fill your suitcases with as much cold medicine as you can.  My drugs of choice are DayQuil/NyQuil, cough drops, and Alkaseltzer tablets.  Koreans don't have the luxury of a medicine section in their HomePluses (their version of Walmart).  In fact, from what I've learned there are only a few ways you can really get medicine around here.

First, you can go to the doctor or to the hospital, which is actually pretty cheap even without insurance.  This option allows you to get prescription strength drugs... but sometimes they might just give you an antibiotic when you don't need it.

Second, you can go to a pharmacist, describe your symptoms (with broad gestures and a few Korean words you may have picked up), and hope that what they give you is appropriate for what you have.  Up until a few years ago, pharmacists could actually prescribe medicines for customers.  Since that has been shut down, their domain is the over-the-counter stuff.

Third, you can search for it on the black market.  I've heard of a few places around the Seoul metropolitan area where you can find Theraflu and other Western cold remedies.  These are often bought off of the American military supply trucks, so the prices are sometimes three times as high.  If you can find a place that sells it at a price you can stomach, I say go for it.

I strongly advise bringing your own stash, though.  I thought I brought enough medicine to last a year, but a week-long cold has knocked us down to about half our supplies.

Of course, I could also go try some accupuncture...

A Day in the Life - Bekah's POV

Good evening friends! I hope everyone had a delightful Valentine's Day.

It's been a little while since our last post, so I thought I would give you guys a much-needed update.

Everything is fine-- we're getting adjusted, and we already have lots of stories to tell!

The view at our bus stop on the way to school.  If you are looking for a business in SK, look up.

Today I'm going to give you guys a little look into what our average day is like.  The school day is different for Ben and me, but this can give you an idea of what we are up to during the week!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are long days for me, but today, Wednesday, wasn't so bad.

Here's what my Wednesday looked like today!

7:00am - Wake up and eat a bowl of a weird chocolate rice chex cereal.

8:50am - Leave the apartment to go catch the bus outside the subway station.

9:15am - Arrive at the school.  It isn't too far from us, and it's easy to get to.  We take the "810" or the "50" bus to a stop about half a mile up the road from the school, and we walk the rest of the way.  Our school is on the 7th floor of an 8-floor building.

9:40-9:50am - Stretching/warm-ups for the kids.  There are 6 "foreign" (American/Canadian) teachers at the school, and we rotate this "duty" all week.  Basically, it's all about wrangling about 30 kids and getting them to stretch before class.

9:50-10:30am - First Period.  My homeroom class is "St. Louis" class, which has 9 six-year-olds.  3 boys, 6 girls.  For me, first period is always focused on vocabulary and reading comprehension.  On a side note:  An interesting thing that you may not realize is that in Korea, age is counted from conception.  So if you ask the kids how old they are, you have to take into account that they are usually a year younger than they say they are.  My kids say they are 7, but actually, they are 6.  

10:30-10:45am - Snack time!  We have to line the kids up to go wash their hands.  Snacks range from fruit to rice pasta to tiny bowls of cereal.  This is a small break for us foreign teachers!

10:45-11:25am - Second Period.  This ranges from drama class (the kids have a performance next week of two plays per class!  EEK.  Talk about pressure to perform) to an Accelerated Reader program to P.E.  They have so many different classes in the school, and they rotate them all week.

11:30-12:10pm - Third Period.  Again, these classes vary.  By this time we are definitely ready to have a break!

12:10-1:00pm - Lunch!  We have to line up the kids again to wash their hands, and then we have to serve them.  They eat lunch in their classrooms-- they have their own personal lunch trays that they bring everyday.  Once we serve them, we can go eat in the teachers' room.  Lunch usually consists of rice, soup, some kind of meat, kimchi, and another vegetable.  The kimchi actually isn't so bad, once you get used to the taste (and the slimy cabbage texture).  We eat with spoons and chopsticks!

1:05-1:45pm - Fourth Period.  At this point in the afternoon, we switch to a different class.  My afternoon class is "San Francisco" class, and we usually focus on math, science, and vocabulary.

1:50-2:30pm - Fifth Period.  Same goes.  My afternoon class isn't as big as my morning class (6 students instead of 9), but they can still be a handful.

2:30pm - The Kindergartners go home!  We have a little break to prepare for our elementary classes at this point.

2:50-3:30pm - I had a break today, but Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't get a break at all.  This is the first period for the afternoon elementary classes.

3:35-4:15pm - MAP class (the Accelerated Reader class).  Ben and I teach this one together every Wednesday, which basically means that I get to be the nice one, and he gets to be the one that scares all the boys into submission.  Basically, they read books on their allotted reading level, we ask them basic comprehension questions, and then they take the AR tests on the computer.  Just like junior high, guys...

4:20-5:00pm - Seattle class.  In this elementary class, we study reading comprehension and vocabulary using a textbook as well as novels.  I have two students in this class, and today we almost finished up Alice's Wonderland.

5:05-5:45pm - Washington DC class.  This is one of my favorite classes because the three students are very advanced.  They speak English fluently, and we study science (using "Time for Kids" magazines) and novels.  They are almost finished with the book, Chemical Secret.  Our next book will be A Christmas Carol.  Fun fun.

5:45-6:30pm - Teacher prep time.  We have to stay until 6:30pm everyday except for Friday.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, classes run until 6:30, but on Mondays and Wednesdays, we have "Teacher prep time," which allows us to review material for the following day's lessons, grade homework, and work on evaluations, creating tests, and making props for our upcoming play performances.

6:30pm - We run to catch the bus home!  We take the same bus home, and we are usually too exhausted by the time we get home to go out much.

In the evenings, we usually watch some Burn Notice, eat some food (tonight we got take-out... we were tired), and relax.  Our apartment is pretty cozy, and we'll be glad to spruce it up whenever we get our first paycheck!

I hope you enjoyed my "tour" of the day.  Like I said, each day is different for us.  Keep your eyes peeled for a post from Ben soon!

If you have any questions or requests on blog topics, please comment below!  We are happy to accommodate!