We have posted a new slideshow. There aren't too many photos but there are a few of our excursions and two of our classes. Enjoy!
This is the last week of the term, so we have received our new schedule for winter term. Ian and I will both be teaching 27 hours/week. Including prep for the classes, we'll be working about 35-40 hours/week.
The level of classes are: EC (the youngest/lowest level), Memory (middle level), Bridge, Par, Birdie, Eagle, Albatrosse (very fluent level), and Masters.
Ian will be teaching two types of Memory and Albatrosse Listening and Reading.
I will be teaching EC 4 again and Eagle Listening and Reading.
We are both excited about our schedules, especially that we will not not be working 6 days a week! However, starting at the end of December we will be teaching extra classes that are "Intensive Courses." These are extra courses the students can take during their Winter vacation. So, in a month we will be working in the morning and nights. It's sad when the kids actually get a break from school, they get to attend more classes at CDI.
This weekend we will be enjoying a Korean Thanksgiving. Ian, myself and some friends are planning an actual Thanksgiving feast. You may ask, "If you don't have an oven, how do you possibly cook Thanksgiving?!" Well, we can get a pre-cooked turkey and gravy from the U.S. Army base, our friends have a microwave oven (which will be used to cook candied yams), add some mashed potatoes, rolls, pumpkin pie from Costco and you have a full Thanksgiving meal!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
How it all Began!
In previous posts you might have remembered us mentioning how exhausting, confusing, and at times terrible our first couple weeks in Korea were. We would now like to explain these first weeks in graphic uncensored detail, just so you can share a bit of our pain.
Lets start from the beginning....After 14 hours of flying we landed in Korea. At this point we only had one hard fact regarding what was awaiting us upon arrival: a van from our school was going to pick us up at the airport and take us to a hotel. However, once we got through customs and the swine flu check we sadly realized there was no such van waiting for us. We had no phone and there were no pay phones. Thankfully, a nice Korean man let me borrow his cell phone and I called the one Korean number I had brought with me, that of an employee at Chungdahm headquarters.
She proceeded to tell me that we needed to take an hour bus ride from the airport to a bus depot, and that our mysterious van would be awaiting us. So, carrying our 8 pieces of luggage through Incheon airport we found the appropriate bus and actually made it to our hotel without much more incident.
Upon arrival at the quite plush Hotel Prima (this is when we actually learned we would be staying at the same hotel together) we were given the keys to our room, along with a pair of thermometers and complementary Chungdahm coffee mugs. Not knowing what the hell the temperature checkers were for, we gladly accepted them, found some dinner, and promptly passed out on our extra stiff bed.
Once morning arrived we finally received an email detailing the course of events for the next week and a half. We already knew that our training didn't start for another five days, but we had no idea what was happening during the interim. We now found out that we were technically in "quarantine," which meant that we were strongly discouraged from leaving the hotel and had to email our body temperature twice daily to Chungdahm headquarters. Since the hotel was the only place we knew where to get internet it was Chungdahm's way of insuring we couldn't venture far from the hotel.
Thus, we spent the next five days connected to the hotel by a moderate leash and spent most of our time discovering the immediate surrounding area, sleeping and waking up at odd hours, and trying to hunt down some semblance of a western-style breakfast. It wasn't until over a week later that we learned our hotel had a massive and delicious free breakfast buffet every morning. (This fact apparently got lost in translation.) Therefore, most days we spent our breakfast time walking nearly a mile in the rain to Dunkin Donuts, spending almost $20 on shakes in the hotel lounge, or buying orange juice and pastries from 7-11.
After five days of aimlessly milling about we started training. Training was a week long event from 9:00am to a little before 5:00pm every day. Once back at the hotel after training we usually had to do about 3-5 hours of studying and prepping to prepare for the following day. The actual training day consisted of hours of mindless structural memorization and unrealistic mock classroom situations, followed by intensely stressful periods of practice teaching and evaluations. All of this was endured on about 5-6 hours of sleep as well. But I guess we should have expected nothing less considering Chungdahm condenses what would be a year-long program in the U.S. to a mere week. Oh, and did I mention we had to wear stifling face masks the entire time and get our temperature checked multiple times, along with continued hand sanitizing.
After our final day of training, which consisted of grammar tests and a final extensive mock teaching period we were finally told we had passed training and were officially Chungdahm instructors. Literally minutes after hearing the news we, along with all our belongings, were jammed into a cab and sent across town to our school, even though the cab driver wasn't exactly sure where he was going, but somehow it worked out. Exhausted, semi-delusional, and still extremely nervous we arrived at the front steps of our school. We were immediately carted inside, and given the introduction to at least 20 people. Then, we were whisked away again by two Koreans we didn't know, and who didn't really speak English, to our temporary apartment. (Which was just a small room with nothing inside except a bathroom.) We dropped off our bags and then were told that it was time to have dinner with the owner of our school.
Stomachs still sensitive from the Korean food we'd been eating all week, we made small talk and had what would have been a quite delicious meal of barbecued meat, if we only had the energy and stomachs to enjoy it. I just worked on keeping my composure, eating all the food on my plate, and trying not to look unappreciative or foolish in front of my new boss.
After dinner we were dropped off again at our room with no bed, no food, no toilet paper, no blankets, and no idea what was going to happen next. All we knew was that we started work in two days. Thank god our friend Dan was working at the school. He came over and gave us pads to sleep on and blankets, showed us where to get food and toilet paper, and took us out to breakfast the next day. If we didn't have him I don't know what would have happened!
And as they say, the rest is history. We have now been technically teaching for almost 4 months and we are about to start a new term. Starting in December we'll be teaching some of the highest levels Chungdahm has to offer, so we'll see how we like it. Those first few weeks in Korea were extremely tiring and difficult and something we never want to repeat again. But everything worked out well in the end. Still, every Monday Leslie and I pray for those poor souls who are about to embark on their training process and have no idea what lies ahead!
Lets start from the beginning....After 14 hours of flying we landed in Korea. At this point we only had one hard fact regarding what was awaiting us upon arrival: a van from our school was going to pick us up at the airport and take us to a hotel. However, once we got through customs and the swine flu check we sadly realized there was no such van waiting for us. We had no phone and there were no pay phones. Thankfully, a nice Korean man let me borrow his cell phone and I called the one Korean number I had brought with me, that of an employee at Chungdahm headquarters.
She proceeded to tell me that we needed to take an hour bus ride from the airport to a bus depot, and that our mysterious van would be awaiting us. So, carrying our 8 pieces of luggage through Incheon airport we found the appropriate bus and actually made it to our hotel without much more incident.
Upon arrival at the quite plush Hotel Prima (this is when we actually learned we would be staying at the same hotel together) we were given the keys to our room, along with a pair of thermometers and complementary Chungdahm coffee mugs. Not knowing what the hell the temperature checkers were for, we gladly accepted them, found some dinner, and promptly passed out on our extra stiff bed.
Once morning arrived we finally received an email detailing the course of events for the next week and a half. We already knew that our training didn't start for another five days, but we had no idea what was happening during the interim. We now found out that we were technically in "quarantine," which meant that we were strongly discouraged from leaving the hotel and had to email our body temperature twice daily to Chungdahm headquarters. Since the hotel was the only place we knew where to get internet it was Chungdahm's way of insuring we couldn't venture far from the hotel.
Thus, we spent the next five days connected to the hotel by a moderate leash and spent most of our time discovering the immediate surrounding area, sleeping and waking up at odd hours, and trying to hunt down some semblance of a western-style breakfast. It wasn't until over a week later that we learned our hotel had a massive and delicious free breakfast buffet every morning. (This fact apparently got lost in translation.) Therefore, most days we spent our breakfast time walking nearly a mile in the rain to Dunkin Donuts, spending almost $20 on shakes in the hotel lounge, or buying orange juice and pastries from 7-11.
After five days of aimlessly milling about we started training. Training was a week long event from 9:00am to a little before 5:00pm every day. Once back at the hotel after training we usually had to do about 3-5 hours of studying and prepping to prepare for the following day. The actual training day consisted of hours of mindless structural memorization and unrealistic mock classroom situations, followed by intensely stressful periods of practice teaching and evaluations. All of this was endured on about 5-6 hours of sleep as well. But I guess we should have expected nothing less considering Chungdahm condenses what would be a year-long program in the U.S. to a mere week. Oh, and did I mention we had to wear stifling face masks the entire time and get our temperature checked multiple times, along with continued hand sanitizing.
After our final day of training, which consisted of grammar tests and a final extensive mock teaching period we were finally told we had passed training and were officially Chungdahm instructors. Literally minutes after hearing the news we, along with all our belongings, were jammed into a cab and sent across town to our school, even though the cab driver wasn't exactly sure where he was going, but somehow it worked out. Exhausted, semi-delusional, and still extremely nervous we arrived at the front steps of our school. We were immediately carted inside, and given the introduction to at least 20 people. Then, we were whisked away again by two Koreans we didn't know, and who didn't really speak English, to our temporary apartment. (Which was just a small room with nothing inside except a bathroom.) We dropped off our bags and then were told that it was time to have dinner with the owner of our school.
Stomachs still sensitive from the Korean food we'd been eating all week, we made small talk and had what would have been a quite delicious meal of barbecued meat, if we only had the energy and stomachs to enjoy it. I just worked on keeping my composure, eating all the food on my plate, and trying not to look unappreciative or foolish in front of my new boss.
After dinner we were dropped off again at our room with no bed, no food, no toilet paper, no blankets, and no idea what was going to happen next. All we knew was that we started work in two days. Thank god our friend Dan was working at the school. He came over and gave us pads to sleep on and blankets, showed us where to get food and toilet paper, and took us out to breakfast the next day. If we didn't have him I don't know what would have happened!
And as they say, the rest is history. We have now been technically teaching for almost 4 months and we are about to start a new term. Starting in December we'll be teaching some of the highest levels Chungdahm has to offer, so we'll see how we like it. Those first few weeks in Korea were extremely tiring and difficult and something we never want to repeat again. But everything worked out well in the end. Still, every Monday Leslie and I pray for those poor souls who are about to embark on their training process and have no idea what lies ahead!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Hyehwa
We decided to put our training blog until next weekend. Sorry!
This past weekend Ian and I decided to adventure to another market. This time it was going to be the Filipino Market in an area of Seoul called Hyehwa. The past markets have been huge disappointments, so our expectations were rather low...
Before starting our adventure, Ian and I needed some breakfast. Having little food in the apartment, we ate at a local bakery called Paris Baguette. There are literally hundreds of these bakeries around Seoul. At first, Ian and I balked at the pastries they serve and the bread they offer, but having lived here for a little while, our tastes have changed substantially and now we actually really enjoy P.B. (as Ian calls it). So, we each had green tea and two croissants. Might I say a great way to start the day! We then took a bus ride and the subway to Hyehwa looking for some tasty Filipino food.
To our surprise the market was decent. It wasn't very big but it did have a fair selection of food. Since we were still full from our croissants we decided that food would have to wait. So, instead we explored Hyehway a little more. Thank goodness we did because it has become one of our favorite areas of Seoul.
The buildings are not extremely tall, there are a lot of independent shops and eateries, and you can even see the hillside! Sadly, it was amazing to actually be able to see the hillside with houses and trees. Being surrounded by huge buildings, roaring buses, and never seeing open space, is something neither Ian or I will ever get used to. Fortunately, this area also had avenue-like streets with trees lining the edges. With the yellow and orange leaves on the ground it was actually very pretty.
We walked around the area for about an hour planning where we would eat or drink when we would be back next. Lunch time came and we decided that Filipino food would have to wait for another day, because we stumbled upon a restaurant that only serves Japanese style noodle soups. The entire menu was in Korean, so we just pointed and crossed our fingers that we would not be getting something inedible. To our surprise the soup was delicious! It consisted of a very flavorful pork broth with egg noodles and some vegetables. The bowl of soup was only $5.00 and it gave you a considerable amount of food.
With full and happy bellies we decided to try out a tea house that we found. As some of you know, our previous tea house experiences have been rather retched, so we entered with caution. Ian got a Darjeeling tea and I got a black papaya tea. Both were absolutely delicious. The only down side was the price. The combined price of our teas was 14,500 Won (more than our food)! But they were worth every cent.
Completely exhausted we made our way back to the apartment and collapsed. After relaxing for a couple hours we decided to make dinner at home. With only a few possible options, we decided that breakfast for dinner sounded delicious. Fortunately, we were able to find regular American bacon at a specialty store. So, we had bacon, scrambled eggs, homemade hash browns, and even biscuits! Since we have a crock pot and bisquick we attempted to make a bisquick loaf and it worked out to be surprisingly very tasty. We ended the night with eating ourselves silly and watching a movie. It was definitely a perfect Korean weekend!
Pictures of Hyehwa coming soon!
This past weekend Ian and I decided to adventure to another market. This time it was going to be the Filipino Market in an area of Seoul called Hyehwa. The past markets have been huge disappointments, so our expectations were rather low...
Before starting our adventure, Ian and I needed some breakfast. Having little food in the apartment, we ate at a local bakery called Paris Baguette. There are literally hundreds of these bakeries around Seoul. At first, Ian and I balked at the pastries they serve and the bread they offer, but having lived here for a little while, our tastes have changed substantially and now we actually really enjoy P.B. (as Ian calls it). So, we each had green tea and two croissants. Might I say a great way to start the day! We then took a bus ride and the subway to Hyehwa looking for some tasty Filipino food.
To our surprise the market was decent. It wasn't very big but it did have a fair selection of food. Since we were still full from our croissants we decided that food would have to wait. So, instead we explored Hyehway a little more. Thank goodness we did because it has become one of our favorite areas of Seoul.
The buildings are not extremely tall, there are a lot of independent shops and eateries, and you can even see the hillside! Sadly, it was amazing to actually be able to see the hillside with houses and trees. Being surrounded by huge buildings, roaring buses, and never seeing open space, is something neither Ian or I will ever get used to. Fortunately, this area also had avenue-like streets with trees lining the edges. With the yellow and orange leaves on the ground it was actually very pretty.
We walked around the area for about an hour planning where we would eat or drink when we would be back next. Lunch time came and we decided that Filipino food would have to wait for another day, because we stumbled upon a restaurant that only serves Japanese style noodle soups. The entire menu was in Korean, so we just pointed and crossed our fingers that we would not be getting something inedible. To our surprise the soup was delicious! It consisted of a very flavorful pork broth with egg noodles and some vegetables. The bowl of soup was only $5.00 and it gave you a considerable amount of food.
With full and happy bellies we decided to try out a tea house that we found. As some of you know, our previous tea house experiences have been rather retched, so we entered with caution. Ian got a Darjeeling tea and I got a black papaya tea. Both were absolutely delicious. The only down side was the price. The combined price of our teas was 14,500 Won (more than our food)! But they were worth every cent.
Completely exhausted we made our way back to the apartment and collapsed. After relaxing for a couple hours we decided to make dinner at home. With only a few possible options, we decided that breakfast for dinner sounded delicious. Fortunately, we were able to find regular American bacon at a specialty store. So, we had bacon, scrambled eggs, homemade hash browns, and even biscuits! Since we have a crock pot and bisquick we attempted to make a bisquick loaf and it worked out to be surprisingly very tasty. We ended the night with eating ourselves silly and watching a movie. It was definitely a perfect Korean weekend!
Pictures of Hyehwa coming soon!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Halloween Weekend
Well, Halloween weekend was very different this year from last. As I can recall, last year I dressed up as an alcoholic drink with my three best friends from school and Ian dressed up as a Mormon missionary. We then followed the night dancing and drinking. This year was spent with no dressing up, no dancing, and very little drinking. I had a very low key night of dinner and a movie with a co-worker and Ian played screen golf with a few guys from work.
Even though the excitement level was considerably lower, we both enjoyed the weekend to its fullest and even learned more about the Korean War...
Since our weekends are ridiculously short (just 1 day) we decided to spend the rest of our Halloween celebrations relaxing, eating good food and seeing the Korean War Memorial. The Memorial is about a 30 minute bus ride from our apartment in an area called Itaewon. Itaewon is basically the "America Town" of Korea. It also has the US Army Base. While it definitely has its fill of sketchy Americans, it brings back a small feeling of home.
The War Memorial only costs 3,000 Won (about $2.80) to enter and is big enough that you could easily spend three hours walking around. The most interesting parts were learning about the Korean War and exactly why there are currently two Koreas. There were also several airplanes ( even a B52), tanks, missiles, and helicopters. We could even walk into some of them! Going through the Memorial and watching a few short video clips about the Korean War definitely made us appreciate Korea a little more and gave us a better understanding of Korea's past.
We ended the day with buying a rotisserie chicken and making chicken and cheese sandwiches for dinner. Definitely not the most exciting Halloween weekend we've ever had, but it was still thoroughly enjoyed!
We have finally decided that enough time has passed (roughly 4 months) since our training to properly describe it. The horrible memories of training have finally worn off and we are in the right mindset to actually tell you about our first week in Korea! So look forward to it coming soon...
Even though the excitement level was considerably lower, we both enjoyed the weekend to its fullest and even learned more about the Korean War...
Since our weekends are ridiculously short (just 1 day) we decided to spend the rest of our Halloween celebrations relaxing, eating good food and seeing the Korean War Memorial. The Memorial is about a 30 minute bus ride from our apartment in an area called Itaewon. Itaewon is basically the "America Town" of Korea. It also has the US Army Base. While it definitely has its fill of sketchy Americans, it brings back a small feeling of home.
The War Memorial only costs 3,000 Won (about $2.80) to enter and is big enough that you could easily spend three hours walking around. The most interesting parts were learning about the Korean War and exactly why there are currently two Koreas. There were also several airplanes ( even a B52), tanks, missiles, and helicopters. We could even walk into some of them! Going through the Memorial and watching a few short video clips about the Korean War definitely made us appreciate Korea a little more and gave us a better understanding of Korea's past.
We ended the day with buying a rotisserie chicken and making chicken and cheese sandwiches for dinner. Definitely not the most exciting Halloween weekend we've ever had, but it was still thoroughly enjoyed!
We have finally decided that enough time has passed (roughly 4 months) since our training to properly describe it. The horrible memories of training have finally worn off and we are in the right mindset to actually tell you about our first week in Korea! So look forward to it coming soon...
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Gyeongbokgung Palace
Seoul's biggest palace and its historic seat of government.
Gangchon
Korean Corn Dog
Notice how much batter there is around the hot dog
Tom's Tacos
Minus sour cream we can get everything to make tacos!
The Completed Apartment
