Suwon Medical Center

I left my apartment at the early hour of 9:45am to head to Suwon Medical Center for my E-2 Visa check-up. I walked 4 blocks in the pouring rain to Lotte Mart to find a taxi. It took me a few minutes, but I finally found the line of taxis waiting for customers. I walked up to the third taxi in line, only to be turned down. I went to the next one in line, same thing. I finally walked to the very front, and the man let me inside. (Come to find out, the taxi drivers are really respectful when it comes to waiting their turn. They send people to the very front car until it's their turn at the front.) Good to know. Darren (my boss) had given me a piece of paper with all the information I needed on it. I pointed to the address in Korean for the Medical Center, and the taxi driver knew exactly where to go.

I walked inside and went to "Window 5" with all my information, hoping to talk to someone who knew a little bit of English. The man sent me to a side counter to fill out some paperwork. I figured out a few Korean words like "Name," "Phone Number," "Address of Occupation," and "Date of Birth." The rest was all a blur. I stood at the counter for another few minutes, obviously looking very perplexed. The man at Window 5 came right over, took the paperwork, and filled out all the rest of the forms for me!

I was sent to the second floor for a chest x-ray. Apparently they want to make sure that I don't have tuberculosis. Then, I went to the third floor where I had my blood drawn, urine tested (gross, I know), eyes, blood pressure, height and weight checked. I know pee is gross, but I have to share something:

The doctor handed me the cup to go pee in. As I was leaving the bathroom, I noticed a rack of pee cups sitting on the counter by the sink. There was a big green arrow pointing down at the rack. So, I left my pee cup there along with maybe 8 others, and went back into the lab. The doctor didn't question me when I came back, so I realized I had done the right thing. So bizarre... :)

Everything went as smoothly as it could've gone, considering no one spoke English. There were a few mishaps here and there, but overall it went well. Finding a taxi on my way home was probably the most difficult part of the whole experience. I left the hospital and wandered up and down the block for a good ten minutes before I was finally able to get an available taxi. I definitely need to learn how to be more aggressive when it comes to getting taxis. It's a new experience for me, but hopefully I'll master it soon :)

I tried a new food today. Beth and I had the same dinner break at work, so she took me to a new restaurant. They sell riceballs. You pick what you want inside of it, like chicken, tuna, crab, kimchi, or pork. They take the meat, mix it with spices, roll it into a ball about the size of a baseball, and wrap it in seaweed. It's SO YUMMY!! I had a "chom-chee-salad riceball" which is "tuna salad riceball." It's definitely one of my new favorite places!! They brought us our food, along with a really yummy soup and some vegetables. It was quick, too, which is always a good thing. I only have 40 minutes for my dinner break, so I always have to go somewhere with really quick service.

Tomorrow, my kids have mid-terms. They have speaking and listening tests, and the students always get really stressed out about them. Say an extra prayer for my students tomorrow and for me. I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their pronunciations, but Darren told me to be pretty strict. He wants to see how well they can actually speak, which is understandable, but I know they are trying so hard.

Refillable Markers??

I FINALLY have my own Internet set up in my apartment!! I was stealing my neighbor's connection up until now, and it was a little rocky at times. I shouldn't complain too much though because it was enough of a connection to check email and keep up with Facebook...and write my blog, of course :) But now I have my own connection, and it's a great signal. This weekend I was finally able to Skype with my family and friends back in Florida!! And one friend in the Bahamas!!

This weekend was pretty uneventful for me. I did a lot of relaxing and laying around my apartment, which is probably just what I needed. On Sunday, I mustered up the energy for a quick trip to Lotte Mart to buy some much-needed groceries. As I previously mentioned, Lotte Mart is the Korean version of Sam's Club or Costco. What I DIDN'T mention, is that it stands four stories high. Well, I found all my groceries in pretty decent timing, seeing as I have to walk every aisle to find what I need. I went through the check-out line with no issues, paid with the right amount of money, and thought I would be on my way. Well, as luck would have it, I had forgotten where the exit was. (Now, before my mom sighs heavily and buries her face in her hands, allow me to explain.) I was born with something called: no sense of direction whatsoever. Just when I think I've successfully overcome it, it has a way of sneaking up out of nowhere, and knocking me off my feet. Well, the two exits at Lotte Mart are only on one level. (Come to find out, it's on level 2.) There are emergency stairs, but those are obviously only accessed when needed. So, I took the escalator up a floor, walked the whole floor, went back down, thinking I may have missed the exit somewhere. Meanwhile, the little Lotte Mart man is chasing me down with his stickers, wanting to tag everything I've already purchased so I won't be caught trying to shoplift. I continued walking around and moving from floor to floor. I was just about to declare an emergency and use the stairs, when I came up with a brilliant idea. I said to myself, "Self. Go to the top floor, look around, and work your way down. You'll eventually find the exit." So, I did that. Floor after floor, until...SUCCESS!! I found my way out! It took me exactly 14 minutes from the time I left the check-out line until I found the exit. It's not one of my brighter moments, but you know what? The exit is on the second floor. I won't be forgetting that :)

I've discovered a few new things in Korea that I haven't seen in the States:

~The escalators they have here are so AWESOME!! There are no steps on them, so it's just a long slope. It's convenient if you have a cart or stroller, or are in a wheelchair and need to get to another floor.

~At the school we have refillable whiteboard markers. Yep. It's true. When the ink runs low, you simply unscrew the cap on the back, pour the ink inside, and replace the cap. After a little bit of shaking, the whiteboard marker is good as new!! It's very practical and doesn't waste as many markers :)

~The chairs at the school are extremely comfortable. They are wooden, like normal desk chairs, but the backs are divided into two separate pieces that look like kidneys. They adjust left and right so your spine fits perfectly between them, helping with posture, and preventing your spine from rubbing against a chair back all day long.

~The trash/recycle system is really good here. It's mandatory to recycle. At the store, you have to buy separate bags for recycle, compost, and other trash. You divide all your garbage between the three and leave them on the curb at nighttime. Every day, a truck will drive by and collect all the trash and sort it into its various bins.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to Suwon Medical Center to get a mandatory check-up done for my E-2 Work Visa. After my check-up has been approved, I'll go to the Immigration Office and fill out a mountain of paperwork. After THAT, I'll be able to get my Alien Registration Card and open a bank account :) Beth told me about her experience at the Medical Center, so I know to anticipate playing a lot of charades while I'm there. From filling out the paperwork, to understanding their questions, I'm going to be doing a lot of smiling and saying, "huh?" :)

Korean Gum...

I have officially completed one full week of working at the school!! Woohoo!! I've been in Korea now for 10 days, even though it feels like a lot longer than that to me :)

Yesterday, I went to Lotte Mart (pronounced "low-tay-mart") which is basically like a Sam's Club or a Costco. They have everything you could possibly imagine, plus more! And they sell everything in bulk. For example, one can't just buy a toothbrush or two. One must buy 8 toothbrushes... :) Everything is super cheap though, and they have a lot of American brand things there, like foods, clothing, appliances. Well, I needed to go get a 2.5 in. X 3 in. photo taken for my upcoming hospital visit. (Unfortunately, I left my entire "Korea" folder at home in Tampa, and it had all the rest of the paperwork and photos I needed...) Anyway, I went to Lotte Mart and had to buy 8 photos, not just one. It was done in an hour, and they came out really good!! That was yet another successful adventure I've been on. I anticipated having to play charades with the guy to tell him exactly what I needed, but surprisingly, he spoke pretty good English! It ended up being a lot less difficult than I thought.

So, on Monday, I'm going to the Suwon Medical Center to get my check-up done. I have to get a check-up, go to the Immigration Office, and then I can receive my Alien Registration Card. With my ARC, I can get a bank account set-up. It's all pretty complicated, but it will be done soon :) Anyway, it's really interesting here because every appointment you go to, doctor, hospital, dentist, you have to have a small photo of yourself. Koreans carry copies of small photos of themselves in their wallets for when they are out places. I'm not sure what the purpose of that is. I guess it's just an easy way to identify you or something. It's probably a good thing that I have 8 copies in case something comes up :)

Before I left Tampa, my mom gave me 6 packs of Stride gum. I love gum. A lot. And it's a really good thing that she gave them to me because the Korean gum here is SO GROSS!! It's all fruit flavored, but it actually tastes like you're gnawing on a real fruit, and it's sticky, and the flavor only lasts for about two minutes. Your mouth doesn't feel clean and refreshed after that...So thanks, Mom, for the gum! :)

In the office at school, there are two American teachers: Beth and me, and four Korean teachers: Kate, Sue, Iris, and Melly. We all hang up our keys by the door when we first walk in. I was looking at the key rings the other day and just started wondering...It's funny to me what kind of keychains people choose to hang their keys on. You can learn things about people from what they have. On my key ring I have a Spiderman keychain (of course!) and the pink cowgirl boot keychain my mom gave me at the airport before I left. I love Spiderman, pink is my favorite color, country music is my favorite, and I love line-dancing :) All of our keys in the office are very easily identified based on our keychains. I don't know, maybe this is just random, but I thought it was interesting. :)

I love being in the office and talking with the Korean teachers. We are constantly exchanging questions with one another about how to pronounce something or spell a word. It's a really great way to learn the language!! We are all able to laugh at each other, but there's a sense of respect because everyone is trying to learn the other person's language. It's great.

Pasta Hair

Yesterday (Wednesday), I had another first experience!! I had a separate break at work than Beth, so I had to go get dinner alone. I found the restaurant (without getting lost!!), and ordered my own food all by myself. Beth has been teaching me a little bit of Korean every day, so I've been picking it up pretty quickly. I rarely practice though, because we're almost always together, and she just orders for me :) I felt very successful though! The lady understood me perfectly, and I got what I ordered :)

Learning how to read Korean has been a fairly easy process. There are only a few symbols to learn that represent sounds. It's very interesting though: the words written in Korean most of the time translate to English, with a little bit of a Korean accent :) Sometimes, though, they will sound out like a Korean word instead, and then you have to know what that Korean word means. It may sound confusing, but it's really not.

For example: if I look at an instant coffee mix packet here and sound out the Korean on it, it says: "ca-fe-mix-uh" which means "coffee mix." It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it. I'm still practicing a lot, but I can't imagine it will be much longer before I can start reading signs.

Coffee shops are really easy to order in because everything "sounds out" into English. So, I can walk into a coffee shop and say, "car-a-mel ma-key-ah-to," and they'll make me a caramel macchiato. See?

Yesterday, the younger kids learned about different foods at the grocery store, how to figure out what you have already, and what you need to buy at the store. (By the way, Koreans HATE cheese, so you'll never find it here unless it's fake or really processed or something...) Anyway, we were going through a bunch of different foods, some that they eat and some that they don't. We finished up early, so I was asking the students what their favorite foods were. One of the girls said, "pasta! you hair! pasta! haha!" She was telling me that my curly hair looked like pasta...wonderful... :) One of the other kids said, "pizza!" So I decided to have them make a list of what you would need to make a pizza. They said, tomato sauce, (no cheese, of course), mushrooms, bread (dough), pepperoni, and then I thought someone said spinach. So, I wrote "spinach" down on the board. All the kids started laughing. Apparently, the student had said, "finished!" instead of spinach. I started laughing, too, and apologized, but told them that spinach was still really good on pizza. They thought that sounded so gross! It was just one of many confusing moments we've had at the school. The kids are very forgiving though, and realize that you're learning just like they are :)

Something interesting that I learned here is that the students get to choose their own American name that is used at the school. I had two kids in different classes, one named Circle and one named Dragon. It took me a second to realize they weren't kidding. I thought they were trying to trick "Jamie Teacher," but they were completely serious! :) Interesting name choices...

Waffles and Cream :)

Today was a WONDERFUL day!! I'm feeling much better, too. I was more successful today, piecing together the curriculum for each class and figuring out exactly what I was teaching. I asked Beth a few times to make sure I was doing it right, and I was right on! I felt very accomplished.

Our younger students learned about "Pop Songs" today. Darren printed off lyrics for the students so they could follow along as we played the CD. These were some of the song choices:

-Party in the USA
-Livin' on a Prayer
-Hakuna Matata
-Umbrella

Talk about all over the map!! It was the most random assortment of songs I've ever seen!! It was so funny teaching the kids the songs though. They would follow along on their papers, but after awhile, they were jammin' out and hitting their desks to keep the beat. Once they caught on, they were belting out the songs. It would go something like this:

"mumble mumble mumble....OOOHHHHHHH, PARTY IN THE USA!!"

or...

"mumble mumble mumble.....OOHHH OHHH!! LIVIN' ON A PRAYER!!"

It pretty much made my whole day :) They were so into it! I was actually really surprised by how many of them had already heard the songs. And when I asked some of the girls, "who do you like most in music," they responded, "Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift!"

One of the kids asked me, "Jemmie Teachuh, (Jamie Teacher) what is music is you like?" And I said, "Country! It's my favorite!" They all stared at me with blank faces. So I said, "Cowboy music? Guitar?" They said, "hahahahaha!!! NOOOO!!!" I guess they aren't country music fans... :)

Beth has been introducing me to different restaurants in the area, telling me the best things on the menu. Today, she introduced me to what could possibly be my favorite thing yet: waffles and cream. It may sound gross, but it's amazing!! They cook a Belgium waffle, fold it in half, put icing on one side, syrup on the other. It's pretty much heavenly :) Beth and I split one on our break before our last class, and it just seemed to make the time go by so much quicker...

As of tomorrow (Wednesday), I will have been in Korea for a week. Can you believe it?!? I feel like I've been here forever! I've adapted pretty well and have learned my way around town. It's almost natural now.

Homesick...

Yesterday was the first time since I've been here that I've felt homesick. It was my second day of teaching; it's my first full week this week. It is so overwhelming trying to keep all the classes straight and prepare for each one with the right materials. Just on Monday I taught 10 classes!! Beth, my co-teacher, has been really helpful in preparing me before each class. I took really detailed notes about what I needed for each one, so I can refer to them later. The classes are back-to-back, and it was really stressful trying to keep up before the bell would ring.

The classes went well-it seemed that (for the most part!) the students liked "Jamie Teacher." About halfway through my classes, around 6pm, I got a really bad headache. No one had any headache medicine so I tried to tough it out. I made it to about 8pm, and had to ask Darren to cover my class while I stepped outside. I felt really nauseous and dizzy, and had a really bad headache still. Luckily, after the class Darren covered, I had a 40 minute break before my last class. I couldn't make it though. Darren sent me home at about 9pm. I walk to and from the school though-it wasn't too far of a walk, but I felt every step last night. I made it home okay and went right to bed.

I think it was the combination of my headache, not drinking enough water, and the stress of trying to keep up that did me in last night. I want to make sure that I'm doing the job right, and I want to do my best to catch on as quickly as possible. I think I wore myself out. I need to just go with the flow and take things one class at a time. It's going to be okay if I have to step out of class and go get a book I forgot or something. I just have to keep telling myself that.

When I got home last night, all I wanted was to be back in the States, in my own bed, and be taken care of. Being homesick definitely made me feel worse, but luckily, I was able to go right to sleep. This morning, I'm feeling much better. I'm going to make sure I drink water constantly today and bring headache medicine to the school in case I need it. Your prayers for a more successful teaching day would be much appreciated :)

Overall, yesterday was good, right up until the end obviously. Darren came to my house in the morning to set up my own Internet and cable connection, but couldn't get it to work. He was on the phone with the workers for awhile, but it didn't help. He told me I have to wait until Saturday for someone from the company to come set it up. It's kind of frustrating because I was looking forward to being able to Skype with people this week :( I'm bumming Internet off of my neighbor, so the signal strength is pretty low. It constantly goes in and out, so it's really difficult to get a good connection. I can't WAIT until I can start talking to people from home!! :)

Leg Cramps...

My first day teaching was on Friday, and it was WONDERFUL!! The girl I'm co-teaching with, Beth, was super helpful! She showed me the curriculum before each class, and gave me some pointers about what exactly to do to engage the students. It was really awesome :) The students seemed pleased to meet me, and I feel like I fit right in at the school.

On Friday night, my boss took us out to celebrate my arrival. It was my first "Korean night out on the town," and it was great!! I learned a little bit more about the culture here which is this: alcohol is a necessity with every course at every meal. If you're not drinking, the Koreans don't think you're having a good time. Fortunately, I was able to enjoy myself without holding an alcoholic beverage in each hand :) I got to know some of the Korean teachers I'll be working with, and they had a lot of questions for me. They are so interested in the American culture, and all of them talk about wanting to go to the States someday. It was great!

I'm learning how to speak a little bit more Korean every day, and I'm also learning how to read Korean. It's a lot simpler than I thought it would be. Once I learn how to read Korean, it will make my life a little bit easier for sure :)

Today, Saturday, I had my first adventure into the Big City, Seoul. All of us girls went for a shopping day. Seoul was exactly like it's portrayed on tv: massive crowds with people everywhere, venders on every corner, shop after shop, loud music. It was perfect :) I was able to do a lot of window shopping, but I caved in and bought a pink purse!! It's ginormous! I feel like I could almost fit inside that bag! But it was too cute to resist.

Everything here in Korea is extremely cheap, so I've been appreciating that a lot. A typical meal here costs $3-4 (American dollars), and you get so much food you can never finish it. You order a main dish, and they bring you like four sides to go with it. Also, you don't tip here. It's considered really offensive. (Basically, they don't need someone telling them they did a good job. They strive for perfection every time they serve.) One downside to eating here is having to sit on the floor for every meal. I thought at first that it was really fun, and just loved how different it was from the States. However, I've noticed that after about ten minutes of sitting cross-legged on the floor, I get really bad leg cramps!! I'm hoping I'll overcome that after I get used to living here for awhile, but we'll see...

After my shopping day, I went to Suwon Station to visit Tommy. Tommy is a friend from Wesley who's been over here for over a month now. We were just now able to connect and see each other since I've been here. It was really good to see a familiar face and catch up with him :) When I went to see Tommy, the girls took a different subway line than me, so I had to go to Suwon Station alone. But...I RODE THE SUBWAY ALL BY MYSELF!! I changed stations twice and didn't get lost once. What an empowering feeling! :) I felt so accomplished. Then, I rode the subway home, and walked home without getting lost. Beth told me to call her so I could get directions from her, but I wanted to see if I could make it home without help...and I did! SUCCESS!

Overall, today was very successful for me. I saw another city, bought my first Korean item, saw Tommy, and rode the subway all by myself!

My boss, Darren, is going to set up my Internet and Cable on Monday, which will be really good. I've been picking up my neighbor's Internet connection since I've been here. I've been lucky so far to get a good connection, but my own Internet will definitely be better. It will allow me to start Skyping with people :) And cable tv (with some American shows!!) will also be a good thing. It's nice to see familiar things once in awhile.