My home!..and cats :)

The next few entries are to catch everyone up on the hap in my life!! They are somewhat brief and broken up, but I did not want to be cut off and I wanted to get everything in! Smoother reading blogs to come but enjoy the ones below! Thanks for reading!!

Ill begin with my humble aboad in the Mannyeon dong. My apartment is nice. It has a bathroom, laundry room with solely a washer( which I found out today is broken..awesome), a kitchen ( with only a stove to cook anything on), a bedroom and a small room with my “wardrobe” in it. It is in a skinny building next to a Dvd and Books store that sells everything but dvds and books and kiddy corner from a bar called “Mr. Seven” of which I have yet to visit. It’s a good area with places to eat up and down every block. I love being able to walk everywhere I need to go! The building seems old and has hallways that have motion detecting lights that turn on when you get to a floor; this is how my entry way is as well. I have doorbell that is quite charming and thin walls which makes it easy for the dog next door to yip its little face off so loudly it seems as if it is right next to me. I cannot complain though, its decent, close to work and does the job. The other night while I was sleeping my thin walls woke me up. I heard a rustling in the hall way and thought at first someone was just taking something upstairs at the wee hours of the night, but when it did not move from in front of my door I got a little concerned. So, light as a feather I climbed out of bed and tip toed my way gracefully to the door to peek out the eye hole. I know most are probably laughing at my description of how I got to the door because “light as a feather” or “graceful” were never words to describe me, but at any rate you weren’t there and in my sleepy stooper this is how I remember it J. I get to the door and nervously peek out the eye hole and there they were.. cats. Three stray neighborhood cats have somehow managed their way into my building and were hanging out on my floor. One was pawing something around while the others just sat next to each other watching it. I sort of giggled to myself and pictured that the two cats watching the one were some sort of club leaders and the other cat was trying out to get in their club. The two spectator cats were judging the cat on his grace and pawing skills to see if it was fit for the club. With this thought, I smiled and went back to sleep.

I will be sure to get pictures up of my apartment and the places I walk in the city. I have a few pictures so far but kept forgetting to bring my camera every time I went out! I am sorry blog followers as I am sure you are tired of my ADD seeming rants and moment by moment description of my days. These last few entries were mainly to catch up with the blog and give brief synopses of my life. I will try and touch back on more things, but if there is anything you want to me to get into more let me know! Lovin all of you!

They call me "Miss Abbie"

My school is in a tall building within walking distance from my apartment. It is a fairly tall building with more than 7 floors; I don’t know how many exactly as I never go past the 7^th floor! Anyway, we occupy the 3^rd, 5th, and the gym on the 7^th floor, that’s my domain from 9:40am to 2:40pm. I teach gym to ages 5, 6 and 7, however, in America they are considered to be ages 4, 5, and 6. Koreans count the time that a child is in the mother’s stomach as part of their age.  They are the cutest kids ever and so respectful! Obviously they act as kids and need to get reeled back in at times, but not a day goes by that I do not hear a, “Thank you miss Abbie” or “See you next week, have a good weekend,” from my littlest kids. I absolutely love them and have not dreaded work yet! Hopefully that day does not come! Of course I am the favorite too, I mean it’s not because I am the gym teacher and get to do fun things with them all the time, it is obviously because I am
awesome! In the afternoon I teach 3^rd through 6^th grade kids reading, writing, grammar, vocab, debate and social studies. I do not teach these classes daily. Each class is on a certain day of the week. These kids are respectful and hardworking. I often admire them for coming to Poly, even though it is due to their parents’ wishes but the kids I teach in the afternoon had gone to their regular elementary school all day then come to Poly to learn English and many times have extracurricular activities even after they leave us at 6:30pm or later. So far I really enjoy teaching at this school, not only because of the kids, but because of the staff. They are great and I am meeting some cool people! Unfortunately many are in their last few months, but I look forward to meeting the new crop of teachers come March!

Ab

4 day weekend woohoo!

We had a four day weekend this past weekend due to the Lunar New Year. I can’t complain about that! I did not venture extremely far, but I branched out, or attempted to, quite a bit more than I did last weekend. We went to a field trip on Friday to see a movie, Puss in Boots, (which was adorable by the way, I loved it) and within the area that the movie theater was in was a mall. I scoped out a few places and decided that I was going to do a little shopping over there during break. I wrote down the street name and was going to attempt to get a taxi to bring me there. It was fool proof, or so I thought. Totally confident in what I had written and that the taxi driver would know where to go I hopped in a cab feeling good due to coffee and the stolen Wi-Fi I had just found. I say hello to the cabbie and tell him where I would like to go, trying my best to say the Korean words right. After a battle of understanding each other the cab took me where he thought I meant. I at first thought I had done it and got excited and soon realized he did take me to where a movie theater was, but it was not the right one and it was only a few blocks from my apartment. I decided I would maybe see a movie instead since my shopping venture did not pan out and the confusion with the driver left me feeling a little defeated, and crammed in an elevator to the 12^th floor with other movie goers.  When I say crammed, I mean it, no sarcasm. They fit as many people in an elevator as possible so you better hope you don’t get stuck next to someone smelly, or get cast as the smelly one yourself. Once reaching the top I had changed my mind and decided to go explore the town by foot instead. I popped in my headphones and hoofed off down the sidewalk in search of anything to peak my interest.

I found a couple of cool restaurants, a few Hofs/bars and another coffee shop I could steal wi fi from. While I was on the walk I passed a lot of “loogie hawkers.” This is where I need to break from telling you about my somewhat mundane adventure on foot and fill you in on more Korean tendencies, besides the elevator cramming. Let me explain “loogie hawking” for those who are unfamiliar with this term. A loogie is phlegm that works its way to a bothersome place in your throat. Hawking is the action you do to get that phlegm right where ya want it to spit it right on the street. I failed to tell you about all the “loogie hawkers” I came across in Seoul and while I was there I thought maybe it was just a fluke and because I noticed it once it was one of those things I could not stop noticing. Like when you buy a new car, let’s say the color of your new car is red, now you notice a ton of red cars on the road that you never really noticed before, and I realize my example is not the same and a lot less grotesque, but you get the picture. I realized this weekend that loogie hawking is wildly accepted here in Korea. I don’t think I will partake in the act as I think it is kinda gross, but hey I can’t hate. If they want to hawk, let em’ hawk.

Koreans also like to slurp things, like soup or noodles. I mean you can’t blame the noodle part 'cus believe you me eating noodles with chopsticks is quite the task, but they love a good slurp. My boss told me that it’s okay to slurp because it means that you think the food is good so it’s a compliment, which made me feel better when I looked up at him embarrassed due to the noodles that were half in my mouth. Anyway, point is, I can’t judge them for this or think it is rude or gross, because I am here in their culture and if this is their norm then so be it! (Plus the slurping thing is something I can maybe adopt while being here).

Loving and missing you! Ab

A quick Thank you!!

On one of the nights I had sitting in my apartment watching the shows I had downloaded I had somewhat of an epiphany, or maybe more of a realization. I was watching Top chef Texas ( living vicariously through those who can cook well while I sit making instant mashed potatoes), and they talked about phone calls they got from loved ones and how each one started off with, “ Are you happy?” It made me think about the moments I am able to Skype with the people I love and who love me back home. Each time I talk to them, a form of “Are you happy?” comes out of their mouth. It may not be those words exactly, but without fail everyone makes sure that I am doing okay and that I am having a good time. That’s love. No matter how many miles away I am from those who I share love with, I know that I am supported and will come back to that same love. This is what keeps me going on days when I so badly miss familiarity and comfort. It’s not that I don’t feel like I won’t meet people here, because I have and will meet more, but those people back home, that mean so much to me... they will always be there. They are my cheerleading squad giving me the strength to push through those days I feel alone. I would not take back my decision to travel and move to South Korea for anything, but I must say that knowing I have such a great safety net back home makes everything that much easier. So thank you, for being there for me before I left, while I am here, and when I come home. J

And Im back!!..blogging of course, still in Korea!

I have been MIA from my blog for quite some time, but I am alive!! I realized that one of my blogs just cut off mid entry... even my blog is telling me to stop talking! I want to quick fill you in on what I was going to tell you as I feel it is somewhat...interesting. I think I ate intestines.

Apparently intestines are big here in the food world. In fact there is a place that is in my dong (yes dong, it is the name of my neighborhood), and all they serve there is intestine!! Now, for the record, I did not know I was going to be dining on some animal’s innards. I did not know what this lady was saying and so we just pointed at pictures and she made it seem like I would like it. I thought it was all chicken, but boy was I wrong. Once I saw the actual chicken legs I had wondered what else I had just eaten. Then I saw squid and then the long thing spiraled onto the skewer. I examined it briefly and with a shrug I took a bite. It was chewy, but not terrible, just not my style so I refrained from eating the rest. This is the mystery meat that a coworker later informed me was more than likely intestine. Well, cross that one off the bucket list!

Now to fast forward... I am now in Daejeon and have been for a couple weeks. I love it here. I feel really comfortable and safe and my school is great. The people here are incredibly nice and it’s really funny because there has been many times where someone tries to talk to me (in Korean) and I obviously have no idea what they are saying, yet they keep talking and laughing. So, I laugh with them and give the occasional head nod acting like I have even a slight idea of what they are saying. I actually bonded with a Korean man in checkout line over booze. He pointed at my bottles, yes bottles, and did a drinking motion and laughed. Then he said some other things and pointed to places like he was telling a story and I acted like I knew what he was saying. We laughed and bonded in that checkout line having no clue what each other were saying. It was beautiful.

I am constantly learning new things and becoming more confident and comfortable with my surroundings. Transportation is very cheap here. I took a taxi by myself for the first time on Saturday and told the driver, in Korean where I needed to go! It was pretty neat, we still relied on non-verbal’s for left and right turns, but I made it home and all was good!

The next step is to get my ARC card. I am an immigrant alien, if that does not make someone feel like an outsider I don’t know what will! I will fill everyone in on my school, classes and the kids, but I wanted to give a quick update as I had time. I hear screaming kids in the hallway now, this means its gym time. It is time to put on my Miss Abbie pants! Until next time! J

Ab

6 Things that do NOT remind me of home

As everyone can tell it has been quite the learning process within the last week. Not a day goes by that I do not learn something. In this post I am going to tell you about the interesting things I have come across that affect my daily life apart from adventures I have had. I will give you the nitty gritty details as I explain how I came upon these customs and how I am dealing.

1.  Here in Korea, a lot of public bathrooms do not allow you to throw your toilet paper in the toilet. You must throw your toilet paper into the trash that resides in the stall.
Now, the first time I saw this I was like "you have GOT to be kidding me." There I was in a bathroom at the place I was training at and there was a sign posted on the door reading " Please do not flush your toilet paper down the toilet as the plumbing is a little different here" or something along those lines. To this I laughed and continued to do as I always do and throw my toilet paper into the toilet. I cant say that I wasn't a little worried that the result of my doing that would make the toilet clog or squirt dirty toilet water at me just to shove Karma in my face, but to my delight it did not. I shrugged this moment off and thought that maybe it was just this one place that this was a rule. I couldn't help but wonder what people did when they took a poop. I mean, poop does NOT smell like roses no matter who you are. So imagine poopy toilet paper that belongs to someone else hanging out in the trash can that sits only a foot away from you as you do your business. Luckily, this has not happened to me and I am lucky enough to have a toilet paper friendly toilet at my apartment, but at my school campus.. I do not. I have just been going with the flow and doing as the natives do, but I am not fully comfortable with it yet. Dont get me wrong the bathrooms are really clean, its just that little tid bit that throws a foreigner off.

2. The shower is the entire bathroom. Yes, you read it right, there is no shower door or even a little nook with a 3 foot long wall that separates the other parts of the bathroom. Once you step into the bathroom you are essentially in the shower as well. I will show pictures as I post about my apartment, but basically there is a shower head that sits in a holder on the wall of my bathroom. It connects to my sink, so think of your bathtub and how you can choose the bath setting or shower setting and when you want a shower you push in the  metal stick thing, thats what I do with my sink only I loosen it to open the flood gates to my shower head and badabing bada boom I'm scrubba dub dubbin. Everything gets wet in there, but theres a fan and a drain on the floor that takes care of that. Pretty different, but its the Korean way!

3. They have floor heaters and water heaters  that combine. If you want water heater, you must turn it on a certain way and turn off the floor heater. If you do not do this or learn how to do it properly you will have cold showers and it will suck. This is a little more of a personal hatred as I have been taking luke warm to cold showers for the past 4 days. I cannot seem to figure it out and I have the hairiest legs I have ever had because I do not want to stay in the shower long enough to give them a quick shave, by now I would have to have a stand by razor to take over when the other one clogs with my braid able hairs. Maybe, Ill just go with the corn row look on my legs.. ;)

4. At E mart,which is like K mart but in a tall high rise building and has a full grocery store built in, you use boxes to carry your stuff in home, NOT bags. After you are done checking out you take your things to a table that's across from the check out lanes and there sits tape, scissors and flat boxes to choose from. There is a method to this and you must quickly form a box, put your things in, and get the heck out of the way. Surprisingly there has not been a long wait at the boxing station. It was a little weird though and when I decided to venture out to E mart by myself, which was a 5 block walk from my apartment, I was not happy to carry a large box back the entire way.  They do this to reuse the boxes they had food and product in, for a more green way to live. Kind of smart actually.

5. They split up trash, recycling and food waste. They have special trash bags they use and they do not like it when you use just a regular bag for your trash..oops. They are very particular about splitting everything up to create a green environment. I have yet to fully adopt this, but will get there once I figure out when to even bring my full garbage bags.

6. Being a minority. I have never been a full fledged minority where basically everywhere I went there were way more people different than myself. Obviously I knew this would be the case upon even signing up for the job. I do not mind at all but it is really weird at times. People looking at me funny or a kid once even pointed at me as I was carrying my E mart box back to my apartment. I at first chalked it up to him pointing at the building behind me, but when his finger moved as I moved as His faced pressed up against the cab window I knew he was looking at me. I couldn't blame him though, I did look really good that day :).

Those are just a few things, as of now that I can think of that are way different than what I am used to at home. I am still really enjoying myself even though I have yet to make friends with people that I hang out with outside of work. Its fine though I have to remind myself that I have only been in Deajeon a week and that friends will come. Also, that I have plenty of time left here to see things. I often think about how I shouldn't be at home watching countless episodes of Sex and the City after work but should be out checking things out! I will have plenty of time to do that as I become more comfortable with my surroundings, plus these kids whipe me out! That's all for now, as I have to go tutor the cutest little boy in a few minutes. I will post again soon with updates on housing and my first week at work! My confidence and Independence are being tested, but so far I think I am acing it.

Ab

And the adventures never stop..!

Remember when I said I wouldn't venture far to look for food because I would get lost? Well, I got lost. The sad part is that I really didn't venture far at all but just walked too far down past my hotel that really looks like a parking garage on the outside. Yep, a parking garage.. with blue and red strings hanging down from the ultra wide entrance to the garage like those octopus looking things in a car wash, one would never know that there was a quaint little hotel somewhere in there. Anyway, I went to find food and sadly settled for "Paris Baguette" (wtf?!) I'm in Korea and this is what I choose. I am going to be honest though and say that venturing into a Korean restaurant is a little daunting when by yourself. I mean if they don't have pictures on the menu, I'm screwed. So yes, I settled for a pastry to save for breakfast and a chicken wrap, BUT the wrap did have a Korean twist on it so I didn't sucker out all the way. Once I left I followed that "gut feeling" I was telling you about, the one that I should never listen to when it comes to directions, but somehow ALWAYS listen to, and to what shouldn't be a surprise to me and yet somehow was, I got lost! So I decided to take advantage of this aimless wandering I have accidentally stumbled upon and go into a little grocery store to find a snack and drink to accompany that half way Korean dinner I chose. And here comes the awkward. When I went to pay I couldn't see the total on the machine like at the other place so when the nice lady spoke and told me the amount I owed I stared blankly. This was a look that I have somewhat mastered in the few days I have been here. Luckily the lady caught my drift and held up the number 2 on her fingers. Thank God for non-verbal communication. When I received my change I tried my best attempt at a Korean thank you and good bye and tried to leave. Yes, tried. The door said automatic, but for my dumb self it wouldn't move. I sat there and touched it, pushed it, moved left and right ( looking like an idiot), and finally it opened.. nope not for me, but for a man coming into the store. I then proceeded to get more lost in the frigid cold. Obviously I found my way back, scarfed down my food and passed out at 7:30pm, being an immigrant is tiring.

Thursday was the day I shadowed another gym teacher with my fellow newbie, Matt. I learned that basically gym was a time for the kids to let off steam. I did just see the young ones participate in gym, but even so it seemed to be a time for the kids to run and play while practicing speaking and understanding English. The kids were adorable and called me "Abbie teacher" as we played. I spent a lot of my free time in the ball pit when the kids were not in gym class.

Lunch was interesting. The teachers get served lunch daily and apparently Matt and I came on a good day, which was somewhat frightening. There were soups, salad, chicken and spaghetti. Sounds good right? Well the fact that there was spaghetti and salad made the teachers wonder what the special occasion was, yep, frightening.Oh and I forgot to mention that they serve everything with chopsticks and spoons. Eating spaghetti with chopsticks was difficult and embarrassing as I would miss my mouth or have noodles hanging from it. It will be interesting to see what my school serves as its just a shmorges board of items in plastic covered containers and giant pots. I'm hoping that there are places near by I can eat or a Costco that will supply me with lunch meat and cheese for sandwiches. Otherwise, I may lose weight quicker than expected, not complaining, but you all know how I like to eat.

Around 4:30pm my main man Eddie picked us up at school and brought us back to our spots. Sucks to be Matt,though cus he still had a few hours left of work at his campus to do. I got to go back to my hotel and pack, rest and build up the courage to venture out for food again. I actually contemplated living off of the bag of pea pod chips that I acquired at the store the previous day, but decided to suck it up and push my limits. I had to try and order some food even though I knew it would probably be a disaster.  I left and walked by many places looking like a creeper peeping in the window to see if there were pictures on the menu or any incling that the place would provide take out. I also went into a couple stores to see if there was anything I could make back at my hotel trying to take the easy way out instead of trying an actual restaurant. The funny thing is, one of the stores I went in was the store I bought my snacks at the night before. The place that I left and got lost from and turns out it was kiddy

Love you!
Ab

Watch out Korea the fun HAS arrived!

Bababadaaaa I'M FINALLY HERE!!

After a long day of plane rides and airport sitting I finally made it to the other side of the world around 6pm Tuesday So Ko time which I believe is somewhere around 4:00am Tuesday for all you U.S folk. I had great flights, but decided next time I need to be a little more prepared for a 14 hr flight. I watched 3 movies, one being Dolphin Tale, a movie I had never thought I would feast my eyes upon. All in all, though, the food was good and the flight attendants were more than nice. Luckily I did not sit next to a chubby smelly person, nope he was across the aisle, and I had a seat between me and the nice girl in my row. When I had arrived I had no idea who to look for  when I came out of the airport, but there it was..my dream had come true... I got to be one of those people who has someone waiting at the airport for them with a sign with their name on it!! I felt pretty awesome to say the least.

His name was Eddie, a nice little Korean man who spoke little English. How did I know this? Because I tried talking his ear off of course. He had to tell me he wasn't good at speaking English so id lighten up a bit and no this wasn't just to get me to shut up ;). Once Eddie got me, and bought me vitamin water, we picked up another teacher waiting at the airport. Matt was his name and being Canadian was his game.

After leaving the airport we did lots of driving and dropped Matt at his apartment and then I was driving to my temp housing, a hotel. On the way I obviously talked Eddie's ear off disregarding the moment he told me he was not good at speaking English. It wouldn't be true Abbie fashion if I didn't try to communicate, he often laughed or smiled prob thinking  "Crazy American wont shut up!" Anyway, he was awesome and brought me to my new digs and got me situated! Koreans are super nice and accommodate visitors very well. I received a care package from the front desk filled with all the essentials; toothbrush, face wash, bubble bath, and lovers plus strawberry condoms..yum. (haha)
After shooting the parents a quick email about my well being I hunkered down and went to sleep. Waking up periodically through the night to new sounds and  an unbearably hot hotel room. I had to suck it up,though, 'cus the next morning I had my first training.

Training was at headquarters in one of the many tall buildings in Seoul. We met with a couple very nice people who brought us coffee and began the training. The man was actually kinda cute, so I obviously did not have much of a problem paying attention. I found out that I would most likely not only be teaching gym, but possibly other subjects too. NO MATH..thank God, these kids would suffer. At least I would be teaching things I can do like spelling, writing and reading. After a few hours of riveting curriculum talk we were taken out to lunch at a full fledged Korean restaurant. Nothing was in English and the food was traditional and nothing short of delicious. After lunch we had a gym training where I learned that my gym rocks and the other guys is going to suck. Why? I have a larger space and more equipment (including a zip line that goes into a ball pit! Heaven.) So while I was learning about all of the possibilities I had for gym I was trying to hold in my smile as we went through all the things that applied to my school thanking God this was where I was hired!

Now I am in my hotel thinking of a quick nap, then a solo adventure to find food and check things out. I wont go far though because even though the signs are in Korean and English I will most definitely get lost. Those who know me know I am quite directionally challenged even when my "Gut feeling" tells me to go one way..I'm more than 90% of the time wrong.  I am hoping that my friend Steve will get back to me and show me around a little. This will save me some awkward moments trying to order food from people who may or may not know what I am saying. But hey, it wouldn't be an adventure without stories and the best stories begin with awkward moments.

Love you all!
Ab

OH HELLO!

Welcome to my blog everyone! This is my first post and my last full day in America. SO CRAZY! My emotions are that of a person with multiple personalities. I am excited and nervous, sad and happy and go through suirts of each! Ill begin by giving you the low down on how my big move to South Korea came about.
I've always wanted to travel around the world. I mean there is so much to see, learn and experience that I cannot imagine living my life without exploring more of the world than just the bubble in which I live. Last January, almost 1 year to date, I traveled to Italy and this is where I got bit, big time, by the travel bug. I had one of the most amazing times of my life thus far so, naturally, I could not suppress my adventurous spirit and decided it was imperitive that I see more.
 A friend of mine introduced me to the idea of teaching english in South Korea and at first I was a little bit unsure about the idea. I origionally looked at Spanish speaking places to teach since I know more Spanish, but the benefits just werent there, Upon researching the Korea Poly school that I would be teaching through and talking to more people about what it is like I was more than positive that South Korea was the place I needed to go. I realized that it would be tough and quite the culture shock, but I kind of enjoy putting myself in situations that may be tough, but make me learn.To my surprise I got offered the most perfect job for a lady like me. I will be a gym teacher at a private school in Korea. The first one at my campus (WOOPWOOP!). I feel bad for the second as they have to live up to my awesomeness..nearly impossible to do. ;)
Long story short, after a long test of patience and loads of paperwork I am ready to go and am now an immigrant. I know 6 Korean words and am learning phrases on how to order not one, but 2 beers. So all in all I am clearly set to go.
Follow my blog to keep up with how I am doing, where I have been and the things I have experienced. Knowing me I will have some pretty odd stories as the wierdest things seem to happen to me. I will post photos so you can feel like you are right there with me!! In my attempt to be entertaining hopefully throughout my entries you will laugh, cry and high five those you are reading with as you celebrate my triumphs. Your destiny is what you make and I am grabbing hold of mine and making it amazing!

Thanks for visiting!!

Ab