Wii Room and 110 Bus Ride

The past couple of weeks have been very busy with teaching intensive classes and regular classes. We are both very thankful to have intensives done with so we can enjoy a little more time relaxing and touring the city.

A few weekends ago, our friend Peter had a birthday. So in full Korean fashion we had a big, relaxing dinner and finished the night off with going to a Wii room. The Wii room fits about 7 people and is $30/hour. You can play any Wii game that interests you, including tennis and Mario Kart, which are my favorite! The only set back is the directions are in Korean. Thankfully the room Ian and I were in had two Korean speakers, so we had no problem.

Yesterday, with a lazy day in mind, we decided to take a bus ride around the city. It wasn't a bus tour, it was actually the regular city bus. This specific bus takes you to Itaewon ("America Town"), which we go to a couple times a month. However, we have recently been interested on what lays beyond our usual Itaewon stop. So, than other getting off the bus at the usual stop we kept on riding.

For the most part, the rest of the route consisted of the same gray and run down city that the rest of Seoul looks like. However, half way through we noticed a large food market. Since we were getting hungry for lunch, we jumped off at the next stop, in hopes of delicious food. Well, we didn't find any scrumptious food for lunch, but we did find, we believe, the largest produce, meat, and seafood market in Seoul. It was huge. At least a half a mile in every direction.

The market was very interesting. It was the first time we have seen turtles, frogs, and dog's legs sold to the public. The meat vendors were selling every part of the cow and pig, and the produce vendors were selling everything from giant asian pears to ginsing. While the smells were a little overwhelming, the markets was one of the most interesting sites I've seen in Seoul.

After walking through part of the market, and not finding any lunch foods, we decided to jump back on the bus and keep riding. Unknowingly, about half way through our trek, the bus turned off the usual route to head back to the bus depot. While it caused a little concern when the bus abruptly stopped and the bus driver kicked everyone off, we were able to find the next bus stop in no time! The rest of the ride took about 20 minutes. Even though the ride wasn't very eventfuly, we were led to a fascinating market and were able to see even more of Seoul!

For some exciting news, Ian and I were recently asked to be Head Instructors for the following term! This means that we, including two other instructors, will be in charge of the different Programs, including EC, Memory, and Interactive classes. We will be in charge of getting the new instructors situated and evaluating instructor's teaching skills. We don't know of all of the details just yet, but we will tell you as soon as we know!

Delay

Sorry for the delay in posts. We are in the last week of Intensive classes, so we are busier than ever! Plan on a new post and more pictures this weekend...

Birthday Bash

I recently celebrated my 23rd birthday and did it in full Korean fashion. A co-worker of mine was also celebrating her birthday, so most of our co-workers came out to celebrate with us. We first met at a local pub called Yale Town. It serves burgers, bottomless curly fries and beer. The curly fries were by far the best part. We even had chocolate cake for dessert. After a couple hours of mingling and eating, we made our way to a karaoke room. In Korea the karaoke rooms are called Noraebang and they are very different from your typical karaoke bar in the states. In Korea you get your own room with a huge projector, which plays a Korean music video while also playing your song of choice. So, than other singing to a group of strangers you sing to your friends. It was a little strange at first, but once you add a little alcohol to the mix everyone starts to sing! Fortunately, they had all of the typical American songs, so we were able to sing our hearts out to some Britney Spears and Beatles. We finally made our way home at five in the morning. While I was completely exhausted the following week, it was a great night.

Our intensive classes are going well. Ian is learning how to communicate with children who understand very little English. He is also starting to perfect his hand gesturing and drawing skills. My grammar class has been a little challenging, but has taught me a lot about different grammar rules! My students are remarkable, which helps me immensely. They understand the majority of the material. Unfortunately, there is more material than both they or I can handle, so we work/learn for three hours straight.

Today we decided to tour Seodaemun Prison. While it was lacking some historical background, it was fascinating to see where the Japanese held Korean freedom fighters. The conditions seemed pretty bad, especially for the Korean women, who were imprisoned underground. On the whole it was an interesting experience.

Tonight we are going to eat barbecue pork that has been cooking in the crock pot. Hopefully it works out!

Parental Visit #1

Last week my (Ian's) parents hopped the pond to get a taste of Korea and see firsthand what our new life in Seoul is like. Other than the sub-zero temperatures, the teaching of extra classes, my mom's and my lingering sickness, and the biggest snowstorm in Korea in 70 years, it was a great trip.

Seriously though, we had a good time. I think my parents enjoyed themselves and handled the hustle and bustle of Seoul surprisingly well. I also came to the conclusion that my dad must have been a Korean in a past life. He loved the food, especially kimchi, knew an almost unsettling amount of Korean history facts, and the fast-paced, no-nonsense attitude of Seoulites, along with their penchant for flashy ties fits him perfectly. Now if I could only get him interested in tight jeans and karaoke he would more or less fit the mold.

My mom handled the ice-covered, neon-lit mega city better than her rural Idaho sensibilities led me to anticipate, and she enjoyed most of the food, which was especially impressive considering her sickness.

Leslie and I showed them our favorite eating and drinking establishments and some of the items on the standard tourist itinerary. My dad also came in to see one of my classes, which was fun for me and the kids. I had told them to prep questions for him as homework, but a lot of them nervously clammed up, and about their best response was that our mouths looked alike. But still we had a good time and Dad got them laughing and relaxed by the end.

About midway through my parents' stay Seoul experienced a monster of a snow-storm, which even shut CDI down for a day and a half. (That shows you how big it was.) Actually, it wasn't really that big, pretty standard compared to whatwe got back in Utah, but Seoul usually does not get much snow and the city was unprepared to handle it. For example, people here don't even have shovels, they used brooms and plywood connected to a two-by-four to shovel the snow. The army had to bring in 5,000 troops to assist with snow removal.

Thus, this made showing my parents around a little more challenging, but we managed it in the end. Dad spent most mornings playing superman/good Samaritan, helping get Korean drivers out of the snowbanks they had inevitably driven themselves into. Koreans have absolutely no idea how to drive in the snow. They are even worse than Portlanders!

My parents also went up to the DMZ, while we were working. Something Leslie and I still have not done. They said it was quite interesting and actually got to go a little bit inside North Korea. I haven't been able to talk to them in detail about it yet, but it sounded like a memorable adventure. Leslie and I are definitely needing to go do that soon!