3/22/09
Finally some pictures from around the school...
I share an office room with Hyelim (left) and Candy (right). I teach English with Candy Monday through Wednesday for fifth and sixth grade, then Wednesday through Friday with Hyelim for third and fourth grade.
Our English classroom.
Designated sandals function as "inside shoes" to keep classroom floors from outside dirt.
break time.
Delicious food. (mo-si-so-yo) and very healthy.
Some students are a little shy.
Group excercise of assigning roles and performing "fashion show" with script.
I was working on classroom decor and dropped all these pastels. They just landed like this! So I took a pictures before I cleaned it up.
Me and Keith went to the musical instrument capital of Seoul (Nakwon) and I picked up this sweet acoustic electric guitar to endure all my fiery riffs. The salesman was really cool and gave me a great deal, then threw in a bunch of extra stuff.
haha
3/16/09
A couple people have asked about my address. I checked and double checked and this is my address. If it looks upside down, that's the way the mail system reads the addresses here, so it should work just fine.
3/15/09
This is kongnamul. I knew kong meant "bean" so all I can figure is that "namul" means "sprout". Keith found the recipe and brought over the fixins and we enjoyed. Thanks about.com for this recipe and more which we'll be trying in the future. And yes we did use ko-ju (red pepper paste) and yes we did like it because we are legit Korean.
I bought this cutting board today. There was a normal wooden one which was cheaper, but you can get those anywhere.
Last Sunday after church went to a street vendor for some food. The name of the place was "Toh-su-tu" (Or toast) and for around 1500 won you could get two slices of toast filled with a seasoned egg patty, some sweet relish, ham, and cheese. What a deal. They were so good I barely remembered to take a picture of it before it was gone.
pork-veggie stir fry thing I made the other night. Soon I'll post some pictures of the school I work at.
When studying languages, I find mnemonic devices very helpful in remembering vocabulary words, no matter how ridiculous they may seem. One such instance is the korean word for "move", "oom-ji-gi-dah", which I think anyone can agree is the kind of word that makes you want to move. Keith and I got together and laid down some tracks and behold, a new song. Click to listen, right click to download. Oomjigidah
3/08/09
I've been in Korea for a little over a week now, and I can truly say cho-hayo. I like it. I have long aspired to bi-lingualhood so I'm going to take this wonderful opportunity to take the best language class possible (sorry Rosetta Stone), that is, being completely surrounded by the language, written and spoken. Everyone I have met so far has been very happy to help me learn the language, and start improving my pronunciation, so I have taken advantage of this eagerness by asking many questions, to the point where at times I wonder if it is annoying to them. I am a teacher at Nogkyang Elementary School in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi province, and although the school is over 40 years old, I am the first foreign English teacher who has ever worked there. My Co-Teacher's name is Candy. She told me to call her that cause it would be easier for me. She is one of two already established English teachers at Nogkyang, both of whom I assist in teaching English classes. In addition to helping me get to know the school, Candy has taken the responsibility of helping me get all my paperwork together and has made sure I have everything I need for my apartment. She has driven me all over Uijeongbu to get the required checkup at the hospital, to the immigration office to get my Alien Registration Card, to Home Plus to get a desk, and to get internet for my apartment. Although I know she has a family at home and a lot of other things to do, she has helped me so much, and I am very thankful.
As you will notice in the pictures below, the plugs and sockets for electricity look different here. They're 220 volts instead of the usual 120 or 110 (I'm not sure) in the US which is a good thing unless you connect an appliance that cannot handle that much voltage. On Tuesday I bought some simple adapters (also pictured below, with plug and socket) which did not adjust voltage at all but simply adjust for the size difference so that you can plug a 110 size plug into a 220 size socket. I didn't know if this would do any harm or not so I tested it on my least expensive appliance - my old alarm clock. I plugged it in and left it for a while. All seemed to be going well, until I heard a pop and the lights flickered. My alarm clock was fried. I was glad that I tested it on this and not some of the music equipment that I brought. Yesterday I went to a electronics store and bought an adapter which adjusts voltage to 110. I was going to just throw out the alarm clock but I have had it for such a long time, I thought I should take a picture and remember it. From it's humble beginnings on the shelf of the "Wheeler Dealer" thrift store, this alarm clock went on to excel at jarring me into consciousness for every job I have ever had up to this point. Paper route, ERC Fleet Car Sales, Arthur's Garden Deli, Walman Optical, CustomEyes, Coffee Expressions, Starbucks, and most recently Weber Grill. Also classes at Moody.
Today Keith and I visited Yoido Full Gospel Church. I have no idea how many people were there but the singing was loud. Pastor Cho preached on Matthew 6:10 and we were able to listen to an English translation with headphones and receivers which are in certain pews.
I praise God for helping me get here, get established, find my way around, and I eagerly anticipate the things He will teach me in the coming year.
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." - 1 John 1:7
3/05/09
My humble abode. Although I've been out and about quite a bit, I haven't brought my camera yet. Hoping to this weekend. If you want to see some out and about pictures, check out Keith's blog, but for now, I'll show you around my room a bit.
My happy Moo-Shoo palace
Aunt Kris sent along some kool-aid. "OH YEAH!"
Explanation of shower process.
Keeping it at a balmy 24 degrees
it has been made clear to me that I should NOT WALK ON MY FLOOR WITH SHOES!
2/25/09
These are the things I'm bringing with me to South Korea
pants, shirts, socks, underwear, books, computer, field recorder, external hard drive, camera, boots, tennis shoes, dress shoes, drum machine, microkorg synthesizer, markers, sketch book, headphones, undershirts, deoderant, silverware, shaving kit (toothpaste, shaving cream, shampoo, recording
