Details of Arrival

Or last day in Yonsan was yesterday, thank the powers that be. We had a lunch where we met our Mentor Teacher. AND I was surprised to have a foreign scholar / co-teacher! Repeat, I have a co-teacher! He was there the whole time but the dis-organization of Chungnam didn't have us written on the same list. He is so cool and has helped me get free internet and sends me funny text messages!

I slept in the car. We arrived at Yeongi, my county, office of education. There I saw Will and Falon, fellow TaLKers who will be in Jochiwon. We were then driven to our apartments.. each of us is very close by! My apartment is cute, very clean and tidy with a large floor great for dancing! The bathroom is TINY though! Showers are taken in the general vicinity of the bathroom, no shower curtain or tub basin. I flipped my shower head and it sprayed all over my towel and toiletries! Do'h!


A 3rd generation TaLK scholar, Stephanie, showed us around Jochiwon upon our arrival. She took us out for food, to the Home Plus, helped me get more minutes on my cell phone, and took us to a local bar. It was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a more awesome person to hang out with!

Hilarious story-- my friend Will asked "What are these buttons on your toilet?!" and made a stream of water hit the wall from the basin. Apparently, I have a bidet. This incident threw me into a fit of laughter that made me fall over.

Apartment!

I have an apartment! Woo-hoo!



South Korea, Chung-nam, Yeongi-gun, Jochiwon-eup, Chimsan-lee 263-2, Jong Jung Bldg, Apt# 202

Funny, Haha

Our completion certificate had three hilarious typos on it, three "meek" orientation, "partiripants" in the "Tearh" and Learn in Korea Program.

Week 3: English Camp!

Okay, so... This post ought to be rather interesting. It has been a very intense week--- we spent Sunday-Thursday in Pyeong-chang in (Northern) South Korea. We shared large room and 1 bathroom with 8 people, all sleeping on the floor.

I was assigned to a very energetic Korean boy from Bupo. I tried talking to him extensively, played games, bought him lollipops and ice cream.. but he seemed thoroughly uninterested in me. On day 2, I bonded with a little girl named Jessica and she begged her (male) TaLK scholar "I want HER! Stinky boy!" Jessica is the sweetest little girl, an amazing artist as well who wants to be a fashion designer, and I hope she does well in life.

After four days at English camp, all TaLK scholars were beat to be sure. On the drive home, I primarily slept. Tonight we had a talent show, which I bellydanced in. I placed (er, didn't know there were going to be places or I might have practiced) third got tooons of commendations from friends and scholars.. and got a big hug from our group six coordinator, Marcelle, which meant a lot to me.

We went out and sang noraebang for a bit afterward. No pictures for that, thankfully. It would have been undoubtedly embarrassing..

But, hey, I made it "home" to the dorms by curfew!

Week 2: Koreatastic Times!

This week was another very full adventure in Korea. Monday was a full lecture day, but I was able to explore the traditional Korean market in Jochiwon that night. We were given $20, were put into groups and given tasks to complete-- like buying slippers or finding the smallest available shoe size, and asked to bargain on prices. Gak ga juseyo: "Can you give a discount please?" We're all showing off our uber-cool scavenger hunt items in the picture.

Tuesday and Wednesday were lecture days. Though, we got all dressed up to meet our provincial office of education representatives who told us about our schools. I've contacted both my Korean mentor teacher and the scholar who was previously in my position at my school (Sojoung Elementary) but haven't heard back from them yet.

Thursday was SEOUL. We saw a performance of "Nanta" a Korean musical of sorts, except with no songs. It was somewhat like the Blue Man group and cooking combined, very fun, high energy and entertaining. Then we had a Korean cooking lesson and learned to make bibimbap, blanching vegetables and what-not.

Then we were off. On our own. First order of biznezz: cell phones. So, I got some T-Money (sounds like a hilarious nickname, but is a card used for subway and taxis) and a few of us took the subway to Itaewon. I spent $50 for a pay-as-you-go phone. It took a bit for the phones to activate, so I killed some time in a PC cafe and got a Frappuchino. It was much more expensive and not quite as good as the ones at home. We ate dinner in Itaewon, next to a transvestite club. Then we spent the night in a spa. The bath house gender separated but nude and had giant phallus statues. Cameras weren't allowed. I'm sure you're all terribly disappointed.

On Friday, we left early. Really early and headed to the giant Coex mall underneath the World Trade Center. I finally got some pancakes, we went to a bookstore, shopped around the group split; half of us saw Inception and others went to an aquarium. Inception was awesome! We ate again, and then we all got our bank cards sorted out. Debit card, yaaay! We were on our way to the World Taekwondo Federation headquarters but had to leave early because a party member fell very sick. The train ticket home was only $8! We ordered Mr. Pizza back in Jochiwon and enjoyed it in the lobby.

That being said, I.. really don't want to go back to Seoul for a while. True, it was fun. True, we did get a great deal done. But it was also exhausting, confusing to navigate, expensive to eat and travel, difficult to effectively appease 8 people for activity choices and with the Korean summer heat to top it off, I was Bitchy McBitch before the end of it. My two days in Seoul totaled about $200, not much considering how much most people spend on vacations, but I just can't be spending that kind of money right now.

Today, I got to sleep in until 11, and soon thereafter talked to Mom and Sissy on Skype. Afterward, me and some friends ate lunch and walked to the Paris Baguette (a Korean bakery chain) in Jochiwon for coffee and pastries. Laundry, cleaning, stuff. I'm already ready for bed. We have to get up early to go north to English Camp, to practice with real live Korean students! We will each be assigned an kid to mentor, and practix our skillz. NO INTERNET UNTIL FRIDAY.

Here's a map to help you visual learners. I've been all over the place.
View Charlotte's Korea Adventures in a larger map

Buddhist Temple

We went to the Gapsa temple in Gongjuu yesterday. It was very beautiful, and the humidity was lower than that in Jochiwon. We also had a lovely breeze flow in with some regularity.


About 75 miles south of Seoul

You have to walk up a slight incline for about ten minutes just to get to the temple(s). Once our massive group of Westerners made the ascent, were greeted by 15th-century style brightly colored buildings amplified with beautiful grounds and lotus flowers, old stone statuary, and old style drinking fountains (with dipping cups!)


Probably my favorite "captured memory" of the trip was this, a video of the morning prayers at the temple. Very lovely.


From the monks at the temple, we learned prayers, temple etiquette, made prayer beads, created a stamped rice paper image, and enjoyed a bi-bim-bap lunch at the temple. Fun touristy stuff, this program really has opened up some amazing opportunities. =)

We also walked up a mountain to see the waterfall at the top. I slipped several times, and fell on my ass toward the end. I blamed the traction of my Chuck Taylors but many other TaLKers were wearing Chucks and had no problems..

The trail was breathtaking. Visitors could be seen enjoying picnics and lounging on mats on the rocks next to the stream created by the waterfall. I really would like to come back and enjoy lunch here, the fast pace of being on a toured trip tends to interfere.

I didn't get very good pictures, as seems to be my tendency. But it was a powerful trip.

Medical Exams, Peach Festival, and Noraebang

Today was probably our worst day thus far.. We had medical examinations, and the Chungnam group, being group 6 was scheduled to go last. We had been fasting since 9pm and didn't get to eat until about 2pm. This also caused us to spend a hefty portion of our day off waiting in a room. They said it was because people were talking to the hospital staff too much. Kinda crummy, but what can you do?

There was a peach festival today in Jochiwon, less than half a mile from campus. It was really lovely.. But they appeared to have run out of peaches by the time we were able to get there around 3pm. It was interesting, enjoying my Bing Soo underneath the eating tent, my party had headed back before the rain but I wanted to wander still. Anyway, I was definitely getting stared at. I suppose not being in a big group of Westerner's made me acutely aware.


I think a group of girls from Chungnam are going to go sing karaoke tonight. I am apprehensive to go anywhere alone without a cell phone and slinging my current (lack) of vernacular. My brain is having trouble retaining all the information, and I cannot remember phrases like I should. Maybe I should set a goal for two small phrases a day, because that's all I can appear to handle. (Today I nailed "eodi issaeo" and "kamsahamnida")

Noraebang Bunch:

Arrival!

So, after about 20 hours of bouncing from plane to plane (Atlanta to Phoenix to Los Angeles to Seoul) I have arrived in Korea and completed my first day of orientation. Currently I am in my room at Korea University Sejong Campus in the little city Jochiwon, Yeongi County, Chungnam Province.

It's quiet town, except for the lovely hum and chirps of the summer cicadas. The campus is small but dignified, and the resources are impressive. The food is really yummy! Kimchi is everywhere, quite literally for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Dinner was an udon noodle soup with wontons, rice and kimchi on the side and a serving of watermelon for dessert.

So far, everyone speaks English too. I didn't make it out to town today-- it's about a 20 minute walk, so with jet lag and the summer heat I opted for another day-- but I am hoping I'll have to do nonverbal communication soon. Maybe a bar? The stipulations of my contract with the TaLK program and the government prohibit excessive drinking for obvious reasons, but I would really like to soak up the local culture. =)

I found a neat old-style house, which made my head turn as the bus got into Jochiwon. It looks abandoned, and I want to live there instead!

The bad: I blew an electrical outlet today. I didn't check to see if my voltage converter was switched to the 200v->100v setting. I plugged everything in, hunky dory; my laptop has been fine after all! But after a few seconds of turning on my hair straightener, I heard a huge POP come from the socket and it started smoking! Gyahhh! Then my dumb ass had a bright idea to switch the setting and try it again. POP! Sizzle! Smoke! I broke my favorite straightner too! It looks like I'm going to have to get a Korean one after all, and be very careful to check my voltage converters!

Had a wonderful conversation with Cat and the girls today. Cat was signed in just as my internet was turned on!

Pictures of so far: http://picasaweb.google.com/nyxnightingale/Korea#