So...I am wondering how the swine flu hype is affecting everyone in the States and elsewhere?
Last year in Korea it was protests against U.S. Beef because of non-existent Mad Cow Disease, or "Crazy cow" as they called it. Now, here in Korea, there are definitely some cases of swine flu, brought back by both Koreans and foreigners, and it seems to be spreading a little bit. Still I don't think it's a huge cause for concern at this point. Interestingly, a MAJOR English academy here in Seoul called C.D.I. (Megan used to work for a branch of this academy) is under quarantine because some of the teachers had H1N1 flu. They have branches all over Seoul, all of which are shut down, and the offices where the infected teachers trained and taught are under quarantine. Teachers are forced to stay in their apartment buildings, and there are checkpoints and everything in the lobbies to see if anyone else in the building has fever or symptoms as they come and go. Actually, this includes one of my friends who isn't able to go out for 10 days, though so far he has no symptoms. Apparently they have been treating them kind of rudely, and their internet connection was down for a long time, pretty much isolating them.
As of now...I am considering wearing a mask when I go to the airport in a couple of weeks to fly home. Although, it might almost be better to have the flu now when it seems pretty mild rather than later if it starts to become more virulent. These masks are pretty popular in Korea for average colds and yellow dust season anyway, so I will fit right it!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
A Day for Kids - Young and Old
This year I celebrated Children's Day, not with a trip to Japan like last year, but just hanging out in Seoul with my favorite Korean family. I am still close with my old coworker Hyo Sung and her family, who I also went to Lotte World with. Her 2 daughters are adorable and they were sweet to invite me to join them for Children's Day (a national holiday in Korea). First, we went to "The Drawing Show" which is an entertainment show based on drawing (I would compare it to Blue Man Group, but for art). It was really impressive! They recreated a lot of famous artwork as well as some original stuff using all kinds of crazy methods. They had a ton of tricks up their sleeves and were pretty humorous over all. Best of all, I didn't need to know any Korean to enjoy it! :)
The main characters of the show
Final drawing (made it in about 2-3 minutes)
After the show, we headed to Gangnam area where they took me to a vegan buffet for lunch (if you don't know, that is extremely rare in Korea). Usually vegetarian food is Buddhist temple food, but in this case it was based around something called "Supreme Master" which apparently is not a religion according to a man working there, but is based on environmentalism and followers agree that being vegan is necessary to stop global warming and save earth. They had supreme master TV playing on the wall...which was...interesting. Definitely seemed a bit religious, but people define religion in different ways I suppose. Nonetheless, the food was great and I could eat everything without worry! They were so sweet to go out of their way to take me there.
Finally, we finished the day by going to Achasan (mountain in Seoul) to relax and hike. Hyo Sung's sister and her family joined us there as well, so it was nice to get to know her sister a bit. It was a full day, and really did make me feel like part of a family on a pretty important family holiday.
With the kids on Children's Day
The main characters of the show
Final drawing (made it in about 2-3 minutes)
After the show, we headed to Gangnam area where they took me to a vegan buffet for lunch (if you don't know, that is extremely rare in Korea). Usually vegetarian food is Buddhist temple food, but in this case it was based around something called "Supreme Master" which apparently is not a religion according to a man working there, but is based on environmentalism and followers agree that being vegan is necessary to stop global warming and save earth. They had supreme master TV playing on the wall...which was...interesting. Definitely seemed a bit religious, but people define religion in different ways I suppose. Nonetheless, the food was great and I could eat everything without worry! They were so sweet to go out of their way to take me there.
Finally, we finished the day by going to Achasan (mountain in Seoul) to relax and hike. Hyo Sung's sister and her family joined us there as well, so it was nice to get to know her sister a bit. It was a full day, and really did make me feel like part of a family on a pretty important family holiday.
With the kids on Children's Day
Monday, April 13, 2009
Flat Stanley
Recently I had my very first visitor come see me in Seoul! She happened to come in an envelope in the mail, and her name is "Flat Stanley" :)
My cousin Elise sent me this doll for her 3rd grade school project based on the book "Flat Stanley" in which a boy is flattened by a bulletin board, and then gets sent in the mail all over the world. I had to take Stanley around with me and take photos and write about our adventures. I think Stanley may have been a bit bored because I pretty much just went about my daily life, but we did take some photos of the things I experience on a regular basis, so I'll share some of these photos with you guys too. I had so much fun showing Stanley around, so now that I have some tour guide experience, feel free to come visit anytime :) haha
My cousin Elise sent me this doll for her 3rd grade school project based on the book "Flat Stanley" in which a boy is flattened by a bulletin board, and then gets sent in the mail all over the world. I had to take Stanley around with me and take photos and write about our adventures. I think Stanley may have been a bit bored because I pretty much just went about my daily life, but we did take some photos of the things I experience on a regular basis, so I'll share some of these photos with you guys too. I had so much fun showing Stanley around, so now that I have some tour guide experience, feel free to come visit anytime :) haha
Four 3rd graders I am tutoring once a week privately. They are a lot of fun! From the left: Cindy, Stacy (with Stanley), Me, Edward, and Sunny (English names). I had them write a short letter to Elise in English too!
The view from my new (temporary) home...a definite contrast from the last place! The north part of Seoul is older and less developed, though it is changing too.
I posted the rest of the pics here.
Now Stanley has gone back to be with Elise, but it was a fun visit while it lasted!
The view from my new (temporary) home...a definite contrast from the last place! The north part of Seoul is older and less developed, though it is changing too.I posted the rest of the pics here.
Now Stanley has gone back to be with Elise, but it was a fun visit while it lasted!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Why I Like Korea
Jess, Ness, & I try out "street mail" in GangnamWell, this is just one, rather superficial reason why I like Korea. Recently in Gangnam, a busy area of Seoul where I spend a lot of time generally, they installed these really tall pillars with interactive screens that do all kind of things. They have maps and all sorts of other features. You can take a picture, add a border, write something, and email it to yourself too. Plus, these pillars also give off wireless internet to the entire area. Sweeeeet! When I thought about why Korea has things like these in public places and the U.S. doesn't, I realized it's because sadly in the States somebody would take a baseball bat and vandalize it nearly immediately, whereas Korea doesn't have this kind of problem at all. There's all kinds of technological gadgets in public places like malls or on the streets and nobody damages them.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
In a Nutshell :)
Hmmm, I pretty much exactly hit the one month since update mark, which means I have been thinking of updating for about 3 weeks ;) whoops!
So, here's the summary of a few weekends...
1) Moved my apartment around Feb 24th, so I packed for one whole weekend (how did I accumulate so much STUFF in 1.5 yrs??)- pictures of the new place to come if it's ever clean (fat chance!) haha. It's a little bigger than my last place, but really far north in the city, so I will move again in the summer.
Like I never lived there...
2) 3 weekends ago went to Lotte World, an indoor/outdoor amusement park in Seoul, with my ex-coworker and her family, including 2 young daughters. It's basically a very scaled down Disney World imitation, but it was so fun to spend "family time", and I am really enjoying continuing our relationship after changing jobs. I am also tutoring her older daughter and some friends still, so I see her weekly. I'm surprised she's still friends with me in spite of making her go on the "Gyro Spin" ;)
With Hyo Sung's younger daughter, Su Min
3) 2 weekends ago, I spent the whole time in the hospital. Actually Wednesday to Sunday I was pretty much there, because my friend Vanessa was sick. She's had an ongoing problem with terrible stomach/chest pain that was undiagnosed, and they finally discovered a large gall stone and gall bladder infection. Friday they removed the whole gall bladder, and she went home on Monday. I became her coordinator and mommy during that week, staying at the hospital as much as I could, and coordinating people to stay the rest of the time. It was hectic and hard to be in the hospital for so long, but it was so much harder for her, having surgery and all of this pain, far away from her family, and where the nurses pretty much only spoke Korean to her. Yikes! She pulled through wonderfully and is gonna be like new soon. So glad I could be there for her! Korean hospital was interesting as well. We were in a room of 7 people, so there was a lot going on, and it was surprising to me how all ages were put together. There was an infant in the same room, which was also very sad, though most people were older. Other children were mixed in with the adults, and the atmosphere was just not catering to them at all. I know childrens' hospitals do exist, but perhaps they are more expensive.
Pre-op...hehe this was a tight squeeze. The eye mask says "cute devil" on it.
Post-op visitors...in good spirits, all things considered!
4) Last weekend...I recovered! I was playing catch up all week after that week in the hospital, so I really needed the rest.
Hope you feel updated at least a bit! I'll post a few pictures from Lotte World and the hospital and a few others on my photo site soon. I don't have a lot from Lotte World because I am still waiting for my coworker to share them with me.
Love to all!
Alison
So, here's the summary of a few weekends...
1) Moved my apartment around Feb 24th, so I packed for one whole weekend (how did I accumulate so much STUFF in 1.5 yrs??)- pictures of the new place to come if it's ever clean (fat chance!) haha. It's a little bigger than my last place, but really far north in the city, so I will move again in the summer.
Like I never lived there...2) 3 weekends ago went to Lotte World, an indoor/outdoor amusement park in Seoul, with my ex-coworker and her family, including 2 young daughters. It's basically a very scaled down Disney World imitation, but it was so fun to spend "family time", and I am really enjoying continuing our relationship after changing jobs. I am also tutoring her older daughter and some friends still, so I see her weekly. I'm surprised she's still friends with me in spite of making her go on the "Gyro Spin" ;)
With Hyo Sung's younger daughter, Su Min3) 2 weekends ago, I spent the whole time in the hospital. Actually Wednesday to Sunday I was pretty much there, because my friend Vanessa was sick. She's had an ongoing problem with terrible stomach/chest pain that was undiagnosed, and they finally discovered a large gall stone and gall bladder infection. Friday they removed the whole gall bladder, and she went home on Monday. I became her coordinator and mommy during that week, staying at the hospital as much as I could, and coordinating people to stay the rest of the time. It was hectic and hard to be in the hospital for so long, but it was so much harder for her, having surgery and all of this pain, far away from her family, and where the nurses pretty much only spoke Korean to her. Yikes! She pulled through wonderfully and is gonna be like new soon. So glad I could be there for her! Korean hospital was interesting as well. We were in a room of 7 people, so there was a lot going on, and it was surprising to me how all ages were put together. There was an infant in the same room, which was also very sad, though most people were older. Other children were mixed in with the adults, and the atmosphere was just not catering to them at all. I know childrens' hospitals do exist, but perhaps they are more expensive.
Pre-op...hehe this was a tight squeeze. The eye mask says "cute devil" on it.
Post-op visitors...in good spirits, all things considered!4) Last weekend...I recovered! I was playing catch up all week after that week in the hospital, so I really needed the rest.
Hope you feel updated at least a bit! I'll post a few pictures from Lotte World and the hospital and a few others on my photo site soon. I don't have a lot from Lotte World because I am still waiting for my coworker to share them with me.
Love to all!
Alison
Sunday, February 15, 2009
English Zone
So my public school just created an English classroom to be opened for the next school year... just in time for me to leave! What a difference it would have made to have a classroom so that I didn't have to make everything portable, deal with 11 different classroom set-ups and computer systems, and set up everything time and again in each homeroom class. But, I am excited for whoever the new teacher is. He/she will have a great co-teacher (she was the 5th grade English teacher when I arrived, and a 5th grade homeroom teacher this year) and a nice new classroom. Here's a few pics I took of the new room. Pretty cool! They have a lot of English picture books, so I hope they actually make good use of them for the students. These days most school are creating an "English Zone" though I'm not sure it makes any difference in effectiveness since the curriculum is still lacking. Time will tell!
Window shades & little robot stations
English conversation robots...
These little rooms will be role-play stations (like pharmacy, grocery store, etc)
They aren't finished quite yet though.
Books! There's a whole wall of picture books.
This year they added English phrases to all the stairwells.
Friday, February 13, 2009
What's Up
So, I haven't actually said much lately about what I'm up to in Seoul, job-wise, and when I'm coming home! Things have been up in the air for so long, which is part of the reason. The other part is probably an avoidance issue, knowing how long it might take to explain!
As you may know, my public school job just came to an end today! I only went half-way through my second year because I need to be home in June for a family reunion (as promised in 2007! haha). I also felt ready to move on. But, I was offered another job teaching English at a Korean church, with a ministry focus. This would involve after school programs for younger kids, teaching all aspects of English (conversational, reading, writing, etc) most of the week, and then Fridays doing special programs in a Vacation Bible School style - songs, plays, games, stories, crafts, etc. I have complete freedom here. Also, in the mornings I would teach classes for adults, in reading the Bible in English and "Mommy and me" classes for moms and babies, mostly music-oriented.
After MUCH deliberation and prayer, and after saying "no" a couple of times, I finally decided to take the job and stay longer in Korea, really feeling that it is the best decision for me right now, in spite of a desire to be closer to family and friends too.
So how did I get this seemingly random job? It literally fell into my lap, when I was introduced by my friend Annie to the pastor's wife at this church (they are Korean American, and the husband was her pastor in CA, but they recently moved to Korea). She talked to me about the English ministry she was starting at their church. After getting to know me, she offered a teaching position, starting in March when my job finished. She knew upfront that I would need to go home for most of June, and was fine with that as well, so I will be home in June for quite awhile. I was not expecting to stay in Korea so long of course, and maybe you are surprised too. A few months ago, I said I would only stay in Korea if a really different job was available to me, assuming I could pretty much only teach in a public school or Hawgwon (academy). Instead, this job showed up. While it may not sounds different...(it's still teaching, right?), what I am excited about is the working environment and vision for teaching at the school...it's not about making a buck, and I won't have classes of 32 kids of different levels all in the same class with no Korean speaker! The pastor and his wife are both amazing, kind, smart, and accommodating. They aim to serve students who can't afford to study English at a regular Hawgwon (these places cost a fortune, and are often really ineffective!) I am also confident that my work relationships will be very positive, and there will be less communication issues since the pastor's wife is fluent in English!
For awhile it looked like the licensing for the school would be delayed so we would have started in summer rather than spring, but now they decided to go ahead for March again, so I am set to move & start the new job soon. It may be slow at first, so I am going to audit 2-3 classes in the mornings this semester at Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology, an international seminary in Seoul. I am excited for this opportunity to work and study at the same time. I am auditing because as of now I have no plans to pursue a degree at seminary, but I am just interested to take some practical ministry and Bible related classes.
So, whew!! It's been quite a process to make this decision, and a lot of back & forth on whether or not I was staying, and when the job would actually start. I hope you understand this doesn't reflect a desire to escape or avoid anything in the States, and I was actually looking forward to going home for many reasons. This just felt right personally and professionally as well. I have a strong community here, close friends, wonderful coworkers, and a great church, so for now I can enjoy a little more time in Korea, and we'll see what happens from there.
As you may know, my public school job just came to an end today! I only went half-way through my second year because I need to be home in June for a family reunion (as promised in 2007! haha). I also felt ready to move on. But, I was offered another job teaching English at a Korean church, with a ministry focus. This would involve after school programs for younger kids, teaching all aspects of English (conversational, reading, writing, etc) most of the week, and then Fridays doing special programs in a Vacation Bible School style - songs, plays, games, stories, crafts, etc. I have complete freedom here. Also, in the mornings I would teach classes for adults, in reading the Bible in English and "Mommy and me" classes for moms and babies, mostly music-oriented.
After MUCH deliberation and prayer, and after saying "no" a couple of times, I finally decided to take the job and stay longer in Korea, really feeling that it is the best decision for me right now, in spite of a desire to be closer to family and friends too.
So how did I get this seemingly random job? It literally fell into my lap, when I was introduced by my friend Annie to the pastor's wife at this church (they are Korean American, and the husband was her pastor in CA, but they recently moved to Korea). She talked to me about the English ministry she was starting at their church. After getting to know me, she offered a teaching position, starting in March when my job finished. She knew upfront that I would need to go home for most of June, and was fine with that as well, so I will be home in June for quite awhile. I was not expecting to stay in Korea so long of course, and maybe you are surprised too. A few months ago, I said I would only stay in Korea if a really different job was available to me, assuming I could pretty much only teach in a public school or Hawgwon (academy). Instead, this job showed up. While it may not sounds different...(it's still teaching, right?), what I am excited about is the working environment and vision for teaching at the school...it's not about making a buck, and I won't have classes of 32 kids of different levels all in the same class with no Korean speaker! The pastor and his wife are both amazing, kind, smart, and accommodating. They aim to serve students who can't afford to study English at a regular Hawgwon (these places cost a fortune, and are often really ineffective!) I am also confident that my work relationships will be very positive, and there will be less communication issues since the pastor's wife is fluent in English!
For awhile it looked like the licensing for the school would be delayed so we would have started in summer rather than spring, but now they decided to go ahead for March again, so I am set to move & start the new job soon. It may be slow at first, so I am going to audit 2-3 classes in the mornings this semester at Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology, an international seminary in Seoul. I am excited for this opportunity to work and study at the same time. I am auditing because as of now I have no plans to pursue a degree at seminary, but I am just interested to take some practical ministry and Bible related classes.
So, whew!! It's been quite a process to make this decision, and a lot of back & forth on whether or not I was staying, and when the job would actually start. I hope you understand this doesn't reflect a desire to escape or avoid anything in the States, and I was actually looking forward to going home for many reasons. This just felt right personally and professionally as well. I have a strong community here, close friends, wonderful coworkers, and a great church, so for now I can enjoy a little more time in Korea, and we'll see what happens from there.
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