Life in Korea

Well, life here has been interesting, and fun. There are certain things they do here that are really different than at home. We wear slippers all day at school- we're not allowed to wear our outside shoes inside, only in the entry way. We're supposed to do the same thing at home, although sometimes it's just too much to take off your shoes everytime you walk in, so I just clean the floors instead! The Koreans are very conscious of their health, you will see masks all over, as well as a lot of medicine if you go to the doctor. One friend here got sick, had a cold, went to the doctor, and they gave her 7 different prescriptions to take for 3 days. That just seems a bit extreme, but they all swear by it!

The food is still the same, they put in a "Dos Tacos" 3 subway stops away from us, I have been there 3 times in the past 2 weeks. It is delicious and dangerously close!! I still have been eating some Korean food, as well as making a lot of sandwiches- egg, pb&j, turkey and mayo, even BLTs, minus the T :)

I continue to meet very nice people. My friend Jackie and I met a couple military boys last weekend, they were very nice. We're talking about going to church with them on the base for Easter this Sunday, if that doesn't work, we found another church that is pretty close that we'll just go to. There is an English mass which will be nice!

I got homesick for the first time yesterday- It is about the 5.5 week mark, and I think a lot of things just came pouring down on me, but I'm feeling much better today. Tuesdays and Thursdays are really good days at school because we do not have afterschool classes. MWF, we have afterschool until 6, and the days drag on!

Of course I'm still missing everyone at home, and praying that everyone is doing well and remains in good health. Please keep in touch! Until next time...

Love,

Lindsey

3rd Week!

Hello!

I am going to write a brief update on the past week here. The workdays are becoming more regular and normal, and my students are doing well. They are learning somethings, so that is a positive!! Their behavior is still difficult, but they are 4 to 4.5 and I have to remember that!

I had a difficult week with electronics too- I spilled water on my camera and I fried my computer charger- so I had to splurge on a new camera, and then had to find an Apple MacBook charger- and I was successful on both counts! Hopefully I can keep these safe so I don't have to do it again!

Last weekend was really nice. I went and found Mexican food with a few friends. It wasn't superb, but it will suffice until I'm able to visit Mexico again! :) On Sunday, I went to the DMZ with my new co-worker/friend Jackie. It was really interesting! Kind of creepy, but I'm very glad I went. I don't fully understand the relationship between North and South Korea, aside from the fact that there is a lot of hatrid/hostility. I'm going to do more research though. North Korea built tunnels that went into Seoul, and the South discovered 4 of them, they believe there might be more, but they're unsure. We were able to go into one of the tunnels, tunnel 3 that would have been able to move 10,000 soldiers into Seoul in 1 hour. This tunnel was discovered in 1973, the newest one (I think #4) was found in 1990. It was cool to see.

I hope everything is well at home- I'm attempting to plan some trips, we're thinking of China in September because we found some great deals. And then Thailand in August for the beach, because it's rainy season in the mainland. But I'm very excited for the upcoming months!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

"Lindsey Teacher!"

Week recap:

My classes are so cute, they are Brighton class and New Castle class. Brighton is pretty well behaved, I have a few students who are a little naughty, and when I say naughty I mean they are fidgety and sometimes don't listen. New Castle on the other hand, are a bunch of wild children. I have 10 students in each class, and 6 of them in New Castle are wild... do not listen, will not sit in their seats, are hitting each other, etc. Basically being 4/4.5 year olds in a classroom together, and uninterested in learning English!!

On Wednesday, my second day of teaching, I had a crazy day- I felt like I wanted to quit. I think everything that could have gone wrong did- I had a little girl vomit twice, I had to wipe a butt, and then I'm pretty sure there was a poopy pants incident, that I casually ignored because there was only 20 minutes of school left. I was about to quit.. it was SO frustrating, but then I came home, thought about it, laughed a bit, and went back on Thursday.

Things were getting a little better through the rest of the week- I think it will be much easier once we're able to communicate a bit better. I have a couple of criers in Brighton class, Eddie and Daniel. I hope this week gets easier on them so they will enjoy being there a little more. They just really miss their moms!

We do a few different things with our classes- we have a few electronic story based things where they watch a book on the computer- and then we have other lessons that usually include a CD they have to listen to, and then we play games and use flash cards, and just talk!

The food at school is not getting any better- I still bring my own lunches, it's just safer that way!

This last weekend was nice, we hung out locally at a foreign place we found. I was able to Skype with Brian, Tammy and the boys, and I had a couple of friends go there so it was nice to see familiar faces! :)

On Sunday (today), we went to Costco- it was like Heaven!! It was so nice to get some decent food that we can prepare in our oven-less apartments! And we got some great deals on food. Cheese is really expensive here, as are a few other products like avocados, peanut butter, etc. I got a HUGE Skippy's peanut butter for about $12 USD. Hopefully it will last me a while! :)

I'm just getting mentally prepared for the week ahead of me. I have really met some great people that have made this transition a lot easier. It is really nice having other people to vent to about school and the difficulties that come with living in a country where you are actually illiterate.

Hope all is well!

Love,

Lindsey

Well I had my first day as "Lindsey Teacher" today. It was rough- they are a hand full (possibly an understatement)!! But it was really nice to see how much they already know- I have a few students who are way beyond the level, you can tell their parents really worked with them prior to coming here- but then there are some who are clueless! We have a lot of free play time this week, making the kids comfortable with the class and whatnot. I did do my first lesson- we went over Hello! Hi! How are you? I'm good, thank you! And they all repeat after me, it is really cute!

But I feel like I get such a work out running around with the kids- and then we have 2 buildings that we have to constantly go up and down the stairs in, but that is good I suppose :)

I got poked today in my chest area from a kid- I knew it was a thing to get poked in your butt, but this was a different first day- let me tell you, the kids name he likes to be called by is "Andy Firetruck"... if that gives you any inkling of how he might behave- I guess learning disabilities in this country are ignored because that means something is wrong with your child, so they go without being diagnosed/treated. It's actually quite sad- and such a disruption to the class!!

Above are a few pictures of my box sized apartment- I have gone to a store a few times to buy a few things to spruce it up- I'm going back this evening to look for a fan! (the girl in the picture is my new friend Jackie from Eden Prairie! Small world!)

Hope things on the other side of the world are going well!

With love from Korea!

Lindsey