1 Year

Yesterday was my one year anniversary in Korea! And to celebrate, I came home to find my bathroom door shredded by the dog I’m baby sitting! So yeah, happy anniversary to me.

BUT.

I came in to work today and explained to my co-teacher what happened and she said not to worry, it’s not a big deal. And then she was like, this is a good thing! Apparently, in Korea, if something bad happens at the beginning of something (like the beginning of my new contract), it just means that everything else will run smoothly. My first thought was, “Good deeds never go unpunished.” So I think I’m just going to hope this whole thing is more Korean than American in its meaning.

In other news, uh, there isn’t much other news? We’re in the middle of monsoon season so I haven’t been doing a damn thing lately but stay inside and hope to not be washed away when I go to catch my bus to work in the morning. I think I’ve mostly been spending time planning my trip home! Kitties and ice cream and cheesecake and friends and comic books and board games and OMG SO EXCITED.

We just have two more weeks of class, then I have two weeks of summer camp – which I’m trying to pack with as many games, activities and food stuffs as possible to keep it entertaining – and then a 33 hour flight home and then YAAAAAY!

Because nothing can ever be easy!

Did I ever tell you the story of my federal background check and apostillized diploma getting lost in the mail? Well they did. And these were things that everyone said that I needed in order to renew my visa to stay at my school. My co-teacher told me, worst case scenario, you can’t work until the new background check shows up (in 4-6 weeks). Leaving me unemployed for a month and a half but still living in Korea on an extended visa. And paying my rent. And student loans. And somehow affording food. Oh and by the way, I just spent all my savings on a plane ticket home in August. So that would mean living off of one paycheck for about 3 months.

Thus, shit was flipped.

I’ve been in panic mode for the last three weeks worrying about all of this. It had been a while since I had my last 3AM Hour of Terror, so you know, I was missing it.

Yesterday, my co-teacher and I finally decided that we’d waited long enough hoping for my background check to unlose itself and we’d exhausted all possible methods of tracking it down (hey guys, piece of advice, when you mail important stuff PUT A TRACKING NUMBER ON IT). We tried to come up with some consolation prizes for the Immigration Office though.

Can’t have my US Federal Background Check? How about my Korean background check! It’s not like I’ve been back in the US in the last year anyway! BONUS: Three sets of fresh fingerprints!

Can’t have a copy of my diploma with Apostille? How about my ACTUAL UNIVERSITY DEGREE! Complete with shiny red case and fancy gold embossed seal! Also included, two sets of never before opened transcripts! Shazam! I told you I graduated from college!

Can’t have a peaceful final hour at the office before going home? How about a panic stricken white girl giving you sad puppy eyes in hopes of getting her visa renewed and not being left unemployed! Ok, you don’t have to take that one.

My co-teacher had spent the last couple weeks chatting up one of the guys at the immigration office who had helped her out before when the last Native English teacher bailed. It turns out though that he has nothing to do with visa extensions and we were sent somewhere else. You’d think he’d have mentioned…

So we were sent back to the same part of the immigration office that I first went to last year, fresh off the plane and pouring buckets of sweat because I’d never experienced such humidity in my entire life. I had a little flashback remembering the huge Filippino family that was there last time. And my co-teacher talking about an obscure distant relative who couldn’t find a nice Korean wife so he ordered one from South East Asia. And that kid who was playing with a fake gun and who would have never gotten away with that in a federal building in the US. It made me remember the sign outside of the entrance to the Saint Louis Arch that said something along the lines of, “If you even think of joking about terrorism, we’ll arrest you.”

It turns out, after a few quick words with the Immigration guy, the government changed their mind about needing a federal background check and apostillized visa for 1st year renewals. Yeah, they sent out that whole super serious letter at the beginning of the year demanding everyone get their business in order before renewing, but expecting them to send out a notice ammending that requirement and explainging that they changed their mind BEFORE you spend weeks attempting to track down your lost mail, calling your postman personally, and pissing off the Police Fingerprint Guy for the third time because WHY THREE MORE SETS IT’S ALMOST CLOSING TIME – well that’s out of the question.

So yeah. My visa is renewed. Everything’s fine.

Gyeongju

Monday our 5th and 6th grade classes hopped on buses and headed down south to Gyeongju for a 3 day trip. Gyeongju is considered a “living museum” and was the capital of Korea during the Silla period 2000 years ago. It’s one of the best places for seeing royal tombs and Buddhism in Korea.

 

 

First we went to check out King Munmu’s tomb which is located just off shore in a rock outcropping in the East Sea. The king wanted to be buried at sea so he could always protect Korea from foreign invaders. Apparently there’s some question as to whether his body is actually located out there or if it was just his ashes that were spread but no one’s been out to check. When we went it was miserably cold and on the verge of raining and all our poor students were huddled up in little groups against the cold because, against their teacher’s advice, they wore teeny little shorts and t-shirts out on the trip. I think they learned their lesson, everyone was wearing hoodies and jeans for the rest of the trip.

I actually didn’t end up taking any pictures of the place that we stayed at. It was reasonably nice – we had two bedrooms for four teachers – traditional sleep on the floor style. We even had a little kitchen but heating up water for coffee was the extent of the cooking that happened. The cafeteria food was horrible and I spent most of the trip just eating rice or munching on snacks that the teacher’s brought. Thankfully, my Vice Principal insisted on tea time after each meal, so I just filled up on fruit and coffee. Also, Korean melons (or yellow melons or canary melons or whatever they’re called) are absolutely delicious. I probably at a couple dozen just by myself.

 

 

After popping into the pension for dinner, we went out to check out a park that had been popular with rich folk back in the day for strolling. They have a really nice set up at night were the buildings are brightly lit up and the pond is all sorts of different colors. There also happened to be like 700 other students there on class trips. Without fail, the whole 3 days, I had kids from other schools saying hi to me and asking where I’m from. I can only hope that when my students spotted a foreign teacher, they did the same thing!

The whole trip, we went through places so, so quickly. We never spent more than an hour anywhere. So for the night park, we strangling teachers didn’t even manage to make it around the whole pond. The students were all led bootcamp style by tour guides who demanded tourist efficiency which was kind of bizarre to watch but I guess if you’re going to try to bring 200 students out a 3 day trip, you need to have everything buckled down.

 

 

The next day we went out to Millennium Park – which is like an entertainment park dedicated to history. They had a performance when we first got there and a really impressive set up outside for it. The story was all in Korean, so I only got the bits and pieces that my co-teacher translated, but it had something to do with some hero guy who had to fight off the Chinese invaders using various magical tools that were given to him by the queen (?). It was a pretty fun show and the ship battle that they did at the end was really good and the students enjoyed it.

The location had also been used as the set for a popular period drama based on the rule of one of two Queens of the Silla dynasty and the set for that was super impressive. They also had a performance with horses, showing off some of the skills that were taught to the cavalry soldiers during the Silla period. I’m not sure how laying sideways on a horse is a useful combat maneuver, but sure, why not…

 

 

We visited more traditional tombs the second day and I finally got to find out what these things look like inside. There are a couple different styles but the one in particular we saw had the body placed in the center, and then a hill of stones built up around that, and then layer of wood over that, and then dirt over that.  Understandably, it’s a lot of work getting into one of them so from what my co-teacher told me, for many of the tombs, they don’t know who’s inside.

After stopping by the tombs and doing a bunch of class pictures, we went on to see Cheomseongdae – the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in East Asia. I remembered reading about this place forever ago online and really, really wanting to go (astronomy nerd) – when I checked our itinerary before we left, I didn’t see it listed and was kind of bummed but it was along the way to another place so we had to stop! Again, we had more class pictures taken and I kept getting shuffled into the them or into pictures with my vice principal or the other teachers. I swear, I have not had my picture taken so many times in my entire life…

 

 

The third day we visited the Seokguram grotto which, according to Wikipedia, “exemplifies some of the best Buddhist sculptures in the world.” Unfortunately, you can only see about a third of the sculptures because you’re not actually allowed inside, you can only look in from one direction. It was still quite pretty though – the sculptures and the grounds. We straggling teachers were far enough behind the group that we managed to get a look with just the 4 of us and not the usual 50 or 60 students + tour guides + photographers that occupy the space. Our photographer was actually so surprised by this, he made us all pose for a picture – he said it was the first time in 18 years of work that he’s ever gotten a shot there without a crowd!

Afterwards we went to the Bulguksa temple, did more class photos, wandered around for a bit and then my co-teacher and I were promptly cornered by the photographer and asked to look thoughtfully into the distance while he took a couple shots. I never ever want to see these pictures. Anyway, as you can see from the rest of the photos, the wood work was probably my favorite part and I repeatedly harassed it into looking deep and pensive so I could take as many photos of it as possible. I hope it didn’t mind.

 

 

You can find more photos here: Flickr or Facebook!

Going home!

Still no new contract but we’ve scheduled summer camp and my 3 week vacation, so I’m guessing that we are on for renewing!

I had really hoped to travel somewhere for my vacation but being super broke kind of put a stopper on that. Instead, I’ll be going home for 3 weeks to chill. Magically, almost all of my friends will be back in state at the same time, so it’ll be nice to see all the ladies again! I’m very excited about eating cheesecake, buying shoes, and getting a new tattoo!

I just bought my ticket this morning after much panicking and flailing about and bank account quadruple checking. I leave on the night of July 29th, have a 9 hour layover in Tokyo, have a 13 hour flight to New York, have a 9 hour layover there, and then on to Cincinnati (I think I could drive from New York to Cincinnati in less time…). I come back to Korea on August 19th – mini flight from Cinci to Dallas, hour layover, on to Tokyo, hour layover, then back to Seoul with a suitcase full of American junk food goodness and a new laptop!

I love my friends, they’re the best ladies on the planet, but GOOD GOD AM I EXCITED ABOUT A NEW LAPTOP. I realized this morning that we’re at the point where the shift keys have been non-functional longer than they’ve been functional. I’ve had that damn thing for 3 years and it’s only worked properly for about 6 months. I am also severing my relationship with Windows and buying a Macbook Pro. PLEASE LET IT NOT SUCK.

Buying tickets has made me way too excited about going home and I really, really just want it to be August already!

Wandering around Suwon

Renewing

Presumably.

Like I said before, I won’t believe it until I sign the contract, but from what it looks like, I’ll get to renew with my school at the end of June.

I went in for my health check the weekend before last and it came back fine, so I turned that in with my application to renew (“Do you wish to renew: Yes? No?” fer reals). So I guess the school is going over everything now and drafting a new contract. Once that’s finished, I’ll look it over and sign off on it and then head to the immigration office to get a new visa.

I’ll get two weeks off at the end of the semester to go home and chill for a bit. Which I’ll need because teaching right now is driving me crazy. Our normal classes aren’t so much a problem, it’s my afternoon 5th grade class. It’s supposed to be an advanced class but maybe two of the students are really any good at it. The rest don’t even try and just want to talk to their friends the whole time. I am so incredibly tired of dealing with them. Thankfully, right after that, I have a 6th grade class that’s really good.

In other news, I’ll have my first experience with a Korean dentist this weekend. Kind of terrified a little bit. Although mostly about the bill. Why can’t I ever have insurance that covers dental?

Korean War Memorial and Museum

Sunday I went up to Seoul to the War Memorial. I am always horribly ashamed of how little I know about the Korean War; my dad fought in the war and I live here now, you’d think I knew something about it. The War Memorial isn’t exclusively dedicated to the Korean War, although all the displays outside are. Inside they cover pretty much every war Korea has ever been involved in (primarily with China and Japan, but mostly Japan).

The Brothers statue. Depicts a South Korea soldier finding his little brother (who's in the North Korean army) in the middle of the battlefield.

Under the statue.

Front of the museum.

From the museum looking out.

My dad was a tank commander, so I had to get pictures of the tanks. Part of the exterior of the museum.

Inside they had a lot of really nice models of buildings, weapons, etc. This was part of their model of Hwaseong Fortress (in Suwon!).

Cannons. In the back are the 5 smokestacks that are part of Hwaseong Fortress. They were used to signal the advance of enemy troops during war. All 5 lit was really, really not good.

On the right is, I think, called a Turtle Ship. It was a really important weapon against the Japanese back in the day. My students also made a replica of it out of milk cartons. I think their version is slightly less seaworthy.

The museum had a lot of excellent miniature displays.

And some really big displays of life during the Korean war.

The flags of all the countries that participated in the Korean War.

Teardrop made out of dogtags of soldiers who died during the Korean War.

Sports Day!

This past Wednesday we had Sports Day at school. All the students, kindergarten through sixth grade, go out side for the entire day to run races, ride unicycles, run across each others’ backs and lob bean bags at cowering six grade boys. Good fun and no classes!

1st graders finishing their hula hooping competition. The only activity I wouldn't have sucked at.

One of my kindergarteners clutching the 1st place marathon flag. Some of my 5th grade students making sandcastles in the shade.

Some of my 5th grade boys post-race.

5th grade back running marathon?

Two of my 5th grade girls. My school has a unicycle program. There were about 30 students who showed off their skills! They even did a relay race!

Dad race! The moms kind of wussed out.

Two of my favorite 6th grade girls kicking ass at the big event - the all-grade marathon!

After the morning's games finished, they got to go around and try out various activities all afternoon.

And then do cool-down stretches and look absolutely exhausted. They all just wanted to go home by this point.

Gwanggyo Mountain

Last Sunday I went on a hike up Gwanggyo mountain in Suwon. I, in all honesty, don’t particularly like hiking and I really don’t understand people who apparently enjoy every last minute of it. The entire experience except for being at the top and getting to go, “Whoo! I made it!” kind of sucks. It’s hard. And occasionally treacherous. I mean, there’s a reason why there are elevators going to the tops of really tall buildings with really sweet views. So yeah, the entire way up was a lot of silently complaining to myself and our whole group feeling really inadequate as dozens of elderly people passed us by.

Along the way, the 3 other people I was with got lost and we inadvertently hiked up a second mountain. I kid you not, on the way down the first mountain, I pointed at another bigger mountain and went, “Well, at least we didn’t have to do that one!” – and then we did, because we couldn’t find the path leading off the first mountain. I kept my mouth shut once we got to the top of the second one.

Bukchon Walking Tour

Saturday, I went on a walking tour of Bukchon, just north of Insadong. It’s amazing how many times I’ve been to Insadong and not realized that if I just got out of the subway and crossed the street, there would be really awesome stuff there. Our walking tour was supposed to go and visit a bunch of museums and go into other little places of interest but our poor guide got stuck with the group with all the cameras, so we were behind schedule as soon as we started and didn’t get to go into anything but the first place. Oh well, we all still had a really good time – and ended up saving like $12 by not paying any admission fees!