Life Update

An update on my life during the past couple of weeks...

School:
Well, the second semester started 4 weeks ago and so far it's been a lot better than last semester. I have an bangin new desk next to the copier and laminating machine (I have a minor obsession with laminating things). I have a heater only a couple feet away which means no gloves and no jacket when I'm working on lesson. My schedule is awesome this time around;I'm teaching 9am-11:30am and then have free periods until 3:10. This semester I'm teaching 3rd and 5th graders, along with the usual advanced classes and teachers' classes. My third graders are the cutest things in the entire world. I want to hug them all. Their English is very poor and in some cases non-existent, but they're a lot of fun and it gives me a chance to use more of my Korean in class. One third grade boy says to me at the end of every class, "Thank you for teaching me!" and my heart melts every time. I have a new co-teacher who teaches third grade with me. She's younger and her English is really good, but I can't decide whether or not she likes me. I'm hoping her reservedness is because she's afraid of me because I'm a foreigner (like the majority of people are), and not because she just doesn't like me. I'm making little breakthroughs with her everyday though. Yesterday she told me I'm a really good teacher and today she gave me a vitamin packet because I'm sick. My fifth grade classes are the same as before. It's nice this semester because I know all of my students already. Actually it's nice just having an idea of what's going on in general at school. I finally know the routine and know what to expect...for the most part.
I've been spending a lot of time helping my co-teachers rework the English curriculum workbooks (they were absolutely horrible and the activities made no sense) which I'm actually enjoying. I was talking to Seth earlier and he mentioned having a job where I help schools create better English curriculums, and I thought that was a great idea. Maybe someday down the road I can end up working in a job like that. I really do love teaching English as a foreign language, and I don't think the end of my year in Korea is going to be the end of that for me. I'm considering getting my Master's Degree is ESL and/or teaching English overseas during my summer vacations from regular teaching. There's so many things I want to do...
This semester I'm also teaching the evening teachers' class again for extra pay. This time the teachers are beginners, so it should be really different from the last class where we were having conversations in English about relations between North and South Korea. But at the very least I'll get to practice my Korean more.
Speaking of practicing Korean, I've been studying Korean with my host mom twice a week and I also just signed up for a free Korean language class at a local university 2 nights a week for 2 hours each. I'm excited for it. I realize that I'm leaving in 4 months and may never have the chance to use my Korean skills again, but its kind of become a hobby of mine. For my pride's sake, I'd like to leave here with at least a decent knowledge of the language.

HOME:
I've been back home with the host family for about 5 weeks now. It's been a little difficult readjusting to living with a family after traveling around Asia and Korea with Seth for 2 months straight. The biggest difference is that I feel like they are my family now, and therefore my constant cheeriness and "oh, it's okay" attitude have dissipated. When Tammy is annoying me I find it a lot more difficult to hide it now. I know that she's noticed because she's been apologizing a lot more which makes me feel bad, but I just don't have the patience to entertain her every single night. Don't get me wrong, I still love them just as much as I did before; I just don't feel the need to act like as much of a guest in their house as I used to.
Recently I've been cooking more for my family. They surprisingly really like my American food. I've made spaghetti and garlic bread, chicken and steamed vegetables, and their favorite: burritos and quesadillas. I was lucky enough to randomly find a packet of taco mix for sale in a Mexican restaurant in Busan. I've never seen Taco mix here so of course I had to buy it. My host sister has asked for quesadillas everyday since I made them. Her friend and Math teacher who were over when I was cooking even tried them and loved them.

In other news, I've been going to the gym at least 3 times week. Sadly, part of my motivation to go is so that I can watch TV while I use the treadmill or elliptical...best 45 minutes of my day. I've also started going to Hanji class again. I'm in the middle of making my best piece yet and I'll post a picture next week once I finish. The rest of my free time is spent job searching and watching online episodes of Lost (except I think I'm getting to the part where things start to get weird and don't make any sense, so we'll see how long that lasts).

Last night my host family decided to play a trick on me. There is constant confusion at dinner time when I ask what we are eating because "dog", "duck" and "deok" (Korean food) all sound the same when spoken by Koreans. So I always have my host mom spell what it is. [Sidenote: Koreans eat dog meat.] So last night, my host sister tells me that we are eating "dog/duck/deok". I say "dog?" and she says "yes". I ask her to spell it and she says "D O G". I didn't believe her so I asked my host mom and she assured me that we were in fact going to be eating dog. Well, I had a panic attack for about 20 minutes while dinner was being prepared because I couldn't think of a polite way to tell my host family I couldn't eat dog. So I sat down at the table and my host mom and sister kept asking me if it looked good. I literally almost cried looking at the meat on the table. Then the two of them started cracking up and told me that it was actually duck, not dog. I'm really not sure why I'm so morally opposed to eating one animal over the other but regardless, I was really relieved.

HERE IS A RANDOM LIST OF SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT KOREA (That I haven't mentioned before):

1. Universal Health Care: I thought this would be the appropriate time to explain the beauty of Korean universal health care. I'm obviously don't know much about it except what I've experienced, so my opinion may be biased or mistaken. Regardless, Korean universal health care is awesome. I've gotten sick on a regular basis here this winter, so I've had a number of experiences lately with doctors and medicine. First of all, I can go to any clinic around me and they will see me without any questions. The clinics are always empty, so I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes to see the doctor. Most of the time, I'm in and out of the clinic in 5-10 minutes with prescription in hand, and the doctor's visit costs me about $3.00. Then I walk downstairs in the same building to the pharmacy, where the pharmacy tech fills my prescription in about one minute. My prescription has never cost more than $5.00 (and that includes the times they've given me about a weeks worth of 6 or 7 different pills). The one time my prescription did cost about $5.00, my host mom said "Oh my god! So expensive!" So overall, it only takes me about 10-15 mins and less than $10 to see the doctor AND get prescriptions for my cold. Amazing.

2. Public Transportation: Public transportation here is also amazing. I'm attributing part of that to the fact that it's a very small country. However, getting around anywhere in the country is painless. Inter-city buses have large comfortable seats that recline and have leg rests. Taxis start at less than $2. All of the bus stops in my city have electronic TV-type things that show the exact number of minutes before each bus is arriving. And the Seoul subway is by far the best subway system I've ever been on.

3. Glasses Shops: If you come to Korea, you must buy Asian style glasses...I think it's a law or something. Let me tell you the short story of my recent glasses shopping experience. Went to the glasses shop. Looked at a whole table of frames that were like $10. Picked out a pair of glasses. Gave the woman behind the counter my old glasses. She told me to come back in 5 minutes while she scanned my old glasses and cut my new lenses for me. I came back in five minutes, paid about $40 and went on my way with my new glasses. It turned out that the prescription was a little off so I went back the next day with my contact box. She told me to wait 5 minutes, cut me new lenses and sent me away free of charge. Best shopping experience ever.

4. Hair Salons: Because a haircut costs me $7.00.

5. Washing Machines: All electronics in Korea have to make some kind of noise or play some kind of song...even washing machines. My host family's washing machine plays a little tune each time a cycle is done. And since my host mom is never NOT doing laundry, I hear the music in my sleep.