So we've reached the end of our travels here in South Korea. It really has been a great 5 weeks and we really can't thank you all enough for your supportive emails while we have been over here.
Alaina and I fly out tomorrow at 6 p.m. South Korean time, which is about 5 a.m. in Kentucky. Thanks again for following our adventure via the blog and we look forward to reuniting with you all!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
On the final leg of the race...
Hey Everyone!
A little less than 48 hours from now, we will be on the plane headed to the States! It's bittersweet, really. Korea has been amazing but we're dying to see the ones we love!
Since we're leaving on Thursday, we left Seoul today to come to Incheon - the city where the airport is located. It's on an island and we thought there'd be some interesting things to see. One attraction we both wanted to see was a memorial statue of General Douglas Macarthur at the place of the Incheon landing during the Korean War. He's a hero over here, let me tell you!
We weren't sure at all how to get there so I asked at the front desk and she didn't really help either. She gives me a bus number and a bus stop written in English and Korean. I'm thinking it's going to be so easy because we'll be able to see the English form on the bus stops as we come to them. We're thinking it will be about a ten minute bus ride. Well, the first two or three bus stops, we absolutely could not see the names of the stop. I'm like, oh crap, I have no idea what to do. Finally we come to a stop that has the bus route with the names but before we can get off, the driver pulls away. I think, no big deal, we'll just jump off at the next stop.
So we plug along and we are not coming to anymore bus stops. Then the driver looks to be merging onto the interstate. Oh wait, he is merging onto the interstate!!!! All we see are signs pointing to Seoul. The bus keeps going on and going on along the interstate and I can't even look at Tim. I can see him out of the corner of my eye, and he looked so annoyed! Even though we're not talking to each other, we both realize we might be on a bus all the way back to Seoul. The worse part is that we both always want to be right and I was going to be so upset if I had messed this one up because Tim's not allowed to be right!
Then comes a sign that shows Seoul is left and Incheon is right. I've never crossed my fingers so tight in my entire life! But the driver keeps flying through in the left lane! At the last possible moment he swerves into the right lane and takes the exit to Incheon. Turns out, we came to just the right stop!! Women are always right.
Tim:
This morning I took a scooter ride to the grocery store to pick up some eggs and bread to make some famous fried egg Gehring sandwhiches. I had just gotten to bottom of the hill and was stopped at a light and sort of in the middle of the crosswalk. I see this older woman to my right crossing the street, so naturally I back my scooter up to clear the crosswalk and allow her to pass. You know, trying to bring some Southern manners to South Korea. I thought she'd appreciate it, apparently she did not. She walked passed me with a radio up to her ear and then turns around and starts yelling at me in Korean. I've been yelled at by women before - even in different languages - but not for being polite. She even proceeds to slap my arm two or three times while continuing to expres her displeasure towards me. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to do, but I was pretty sure I was going to take more of that. There were other foreigners around, so I didn't want to yell back at her in English and lose all moral authority. She tried to hit me again, but I managed to push her arm away and say something to her Spanish that made me feel better, but didn't really offend anyone else. Now you can make the final judgement of that situation, but it would appear, at least to me, that women are not ALWAYS right.
A little less than 48 hours from now, we will be on the plane headed to the States! It's bittersweet, really. Korea has been amazing but we're dying to see the ones we love!
Since we're leaving on Thursday, we left Seoul today to come to Incheon - the city where the airport is located. It's on an island and we thought there'd be some interesting things to see. One attraction we both wanted to see was a memorial statue of General Douglas Macarthur at the place of the Incheon landing during the Korean War. He's a hero over here, let me tell you!
We weren't sure at all how to get there so I asked at the front desk and she didn't really help either. She gives me a bus number and a bus stop written in English and Korean. I'm thinking it's going to be so easy because we'll be able to see the English form on the bus stops as we come to them. We're thinking it will be about a ten minute bus ride. Well, the first two or three bus stops, we absolutely could not see the names of the stop. I'm like, oh crap, I have no idea what to do. Finally we come to a stop that has the bus route with the names but before we can get off, the driver pulls away. I think, no big deal, we'll just jump off at the next stop.
So we plug along and we are not coming to anymore bus stops. Then the driver looks to be merging onto the interstate. Oh wait, he is merging onto the interstate!!!! All we see are signs pointing to Seoul. The bus keeps going on and going on along the interstate and I can't even look at Tim. I can see him out of the corner of my eye, and he looked so annoyed! Even though we're not talking to each other, we both realize we might be on a bus all the way back to Seoul. The worse part is that we both always want to be right and I was going to be so upset if I had messed this one up because Tim's not allowed to be right!
Then comes a sign that shows Seoul is left and Incheon is right. I've never crossed my fingers so tight in my entire life! But the driver keeps flying through in the left lane! At the last possible moment he swerves into the right lane and takes the exit to Incheon. Turns out, we came to just the right stop!! Women are always right.
Tim:
This morning I took a scooter ride to the grocery store to pick up some eggs and bread to make some famous fried egg Gehring sandwhiches. I had just gotten to bottom of the hill and was stopped at a light and sort of in the middle of the crosswalk. I see this older woman to my right crossing the street, so naturally I back my scooter up to clear the crosswalk and allow her to pass. You know, trying to bring some Southern manners to South Korea. I thought she'd appreciate it, apparently she did not. She walked passed me with a radio up to her ear and then turns around and starts yelling at me in Korean. I've been yelled at by women before - even in different languages - but not for being polite. She even proceeds to slap my arm two or three times while continuing to expres her displeasure towards me. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to do, but I was pretty sure I was going to take more of that. There were other foreigners around, so I didn't want to yell back at her in English and lose all moral authority. She tried to hit me again, but I managed to push her arm away and say something to her Spanish that made me feel better, but didn't really offend anyone else. Now you can make the final judgement of that situation, but it would appear, at least to me, that women are not ALWAYS right.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Taechon Beach
I've gone a little bit out of chronological order but the DMZ was super exciting so I wanted to get a post up about that.
So before the DMZ, we spent three days at Taechon Beach on the west coast. Luckily, we were able to stay at a friend's cabin for free that was about 100 yards from the beach. I have to say that it was a bit primitive which I would have been ok with but after the second sighting of a centipede, I was ready to pay for a hotel! I stuck it out though and it turned out to be a pretty good time.
We had one full day at the beach and it was gorgeous! It's not the most beautiful beach but the weather was fantastic. We rented intertubes and played in the ocean most of the afternoon. It rained the day we left which was a little disappointing but made it a bit easier to leave!
There were two beautiful sunsets and we got some fantastic pictures. Here are a few shots from the beach :)
Tim in the intertube!
On a rock at sunset with Taechon in the background
We climbed a rock to watch the sunset! Great lighting!
So before the DMZ, we spent three days at Taechon Beach on the west coast. Luckily, we were able to stay at a friend's cabin for free that was about 100 yards from the beach. I have to say that it was a bit primitive which I would have been ok with but after the second sighting of a centipede, I was ready to pay for a hotel! I stuck it out though and it turned out to be a pretty good time.
We had one full day at the beach and it was gorgeous! It's not the most beautiful beach but the weather was fantastic. We rented intertubes and played in the ocean most of the afternoon. It rained the day we left which was a little disappointing but made it a bit easier to leave!
There were two beautiful sunsets and we got some fantastic pictures. Here are a few shots from the beach :)
Tim in the intertube!
On a rock at sunset with Taechon in the background
We climbed a rock to watch the sunset! Great lighting!
DMZ!
Hey everyone!
Tim and I just returned from the DMZ! We had an incredible time! We actually stepped about five feet into North Korea!!! We went on a tour with the United Service Organization sponsored by the US Army. First we went to the only city in the DMZ in South Korea which is a United Nations/US Army base. We had to sign a wavier saying the South Korean government and the United Nations would not be held responsible in the event of enemy fire. A bit scary but we were still very excited!
We went to a place called the Freedom House which leads to the military demarcation line. It's about 2 feet wide. We went into a room where negotiation talks are held - half is in south korea and the other half in north korea. We got to go to North Korea! Beyond the building, the North koreans have their headquarters so we saw two north korean soldiers watching us through binoculars. It was creepy and I was definitely nervous because you had no idea what could have happened. Thankfully we made it out safely with some great pictures!
Another highlight of the tour was a visit to the 3rd Tunnel. The North Koreans dug four known tunnels that very nearly reached Seoul! The 3rd tunnel is opened and we went down in it and got within 3 meters from North Korea underground! It was crazy!!!!! One of the tunnels could have passed 30,000 troops in one hour. The south koreans have found four, all coming from different offensive positions toward Seoul. It's speculated that there are more. You should search these if you get a chance!
All in all, it was a great day. The DMZ is what we've been looking forward to the most. It's hard to believe we stepped into North korea! I'm going to put up a few pictures but we'll show you the rest when we get home!
In the background, you can see a grey building. that's the North korean building headquarters at the demarcation line. You can see a few blue buildings in the background. The middle is the one where we were able to cross into North korea. You probably can't see it but there are two North Korean soldiers up by the grey building!
The quintessential DMZ picture :)
I'll put more up soon! We've only downloaded the ones from Tim's computer!
Tim and I just returned from the DMZ! We had an incredible time! We actually stepped about five feet into North Korea!!! We went on a tour with the United Service Organization sponsored by the US Army. First we went to the only city in the DMZ in South Korea which is a United Nations/US Army base. We had to sign a wavier saying the South Korean government and the United Nations would not be held responsible in the event of enemy fire. A bit scary but we were still very excited!
We went to a place called the Freedom House which leads to the military demarcation line. It's about 2 feet wide. We went into a room where negotiation talks are held - half is in south korea and the other half in north korea. We got to go to North Korea! Beyond the building, the North koreans have their headquarters so we saw two north korean soldiers watching us through binoculars. It was creepy and I was definitely nervous because you had no idea what could have happened. Thankfully we made it out safely with some great pictures!
Another highlight of the tour was a visit to the 3rd Tunnel. The North Koreans dug four known tunnels that very nearly reached Seoul! The 3rd tunnel is opened and we went down in it and got within 3 meters from North Korea underground! It was crazy!!!!! One of the tunnels could have passed 30,000 troops in one hour. The south koreans have found four, all coming from different offensive positions toward Seoul. It's speculated that there are more. You should search these if you get a chance!
All in all, it was a great day. The DMZ is what we've been looking forward to the most. It's hard to believe we stepped into North korea! I'm going to put up a few pictures but we'll show you the rest when we get home!
In the background, you can see a grey building. that's the North korean building headquarters at the demarcation line. You can see a few blue buildings in the background. The middle is the one where we were able to cross into North korea. You probably can't see it but there are two North Korean soldiers up by the grey building!
The quintessential DMZ picture :)
I'll put more up soon! We've only downloaded the ones from Tim's computer!
Monday, August 17, 2009
The importance of a single letter
We had an adventure last week in Seoul that we haven't had time to write about...so here goes.
Last weekend we came into Seoul with the other native teachers. We were trying to get to Seoul Foreign School to stay with our friend that night. We had been there by taxi before but not the subway. We knew we had to get to Sinchon and that we could walk from the metro station to the school. Unfortunately, we were exhausted and picked the ticket for Sincheon and took that metro to that station. We come up from the underground, walked around for a bit, then decided (still not knowing we were at the wrong stop) to take a taxi to the school thinking it would be around 3,000 won and less than 10 minutes(about $2.50). We jump in and show him where we need to go - we should have seen the money signs in his eyes.
As we're driving along, we're thinking 'oh crap, something's not right here.' We then see the Olympic Park which we know is not even close to the school. Also, we should have taken the subway over the river...so as we're approaching the river, I realize we have made a huge traveling mistake. Finally, I take the tour book from Tim and realize we went to Sincheon instead of Sinchon - they are on complete opposite sides of the city!!!!!!!! So, we learned that missing one letter can cost you 20,000 won and 45 minutes in a cab.
Not only am I upset by this traveling blunder - then something else happens that made me believe Tim was some kind of double agent. Let me say that neither of us spoke any Korean. So imagine my surprise when the taxi driver says something in Korea and Tim responds also in Korea. At that time, I just looked out the window and comtemplated the possibility that Tim had a second, secretive life I had never been aware of. I felt like I was in the car with Jason Bourne. Whenever I bring this up, Tim just smiles and shrugs. Hmmmm.....still contemplating the possibility - if it's true, at least I'm the "sexy sidekick" kind of girl that always travels with James Bond!!
Well, we're off to the beach tomorrow so we probably won't be in contact with anyone for a couple of days. We're so excited. Best of all, we're going to the DMZ on Friday! We've been looking forward to that the most. We promise more pictures!!
Sarang hae yo! (I love you!)
Alaina and Tim
Last weekend we came into Seoul with the other native teachers. We were trying to get to Seoul Foreign School to stay with our friend that night. We had been there by taxi before but not the subway. We knew we had to get to Sinchon and that we could walk from the metro station to the school. Unfortunately, we were exhausted and picked the ticket for Sincheon and took that metro to that station. We come up from the underground, walked around for a bit, then decided (still not knowing we were at the wrong stop) to take a taxi to the school thinking it would be around 3,000 won and less than 10 minutes(about $2.50). We jump in and show him where we need to go - we should have seen the money signs in his eyes.
As we're driving along, we're thinking 'oh crap, something's not right here.' We then see the Olympic Park which we know is not even close to the school. Also, we should have taken the subway over the river...so as we're approaching the river, I realize we have made a huge traveling mistake. Finally, I take the tour book from Tim and realize we went to Sincheon instead of Sinchon - they are on complete opposite sides of the city!!!!!!!! So, we learned that missing one letter can cost you 20,000 won and 45 minutes in a cab.
Not only am I upset by this traveling blunder - then something else happens that made me believe Tim was some kind of double agent. Let me say that neither of us spoke any Korean. So imagine my surprise when the taxi driver says something in Korea and Tim responds also in Korea. At that time, I just looked out the window and comtemplated the possibility that Tim had a second, secretive life I had never been aware of. I felt like I was in the car with Jason Bourne. Whenever I bring this up, Tim just smiles and shrugs. Hmmmm.....still contemplating the possibility - if it's true, at least I'm the "sexy sidekick" kind of girl that always travels with James Bond!!
Well, we're off to the beach tomorrow so we probably won't be in contact with anyone for a couple of days. We're so excited. Best of all, we're going to the DMZ on Friday! We've been looking forward to that the most. We promise more pictures!!
Sarang hae yo! (I love you!)
Alaina and Tim
Better late than never!
Stream in Seoul
Swimming on Saturday at the camp's pool
Our building
A nice stream that runs through Seoul - went there today!
Gardens at night in Seoul
Dinner
Palace in Seoul
My "country" week three - Portugal!
Tim doing the chant with his "country" (group), Canada.
English teachers and our coordinator! Great group of people :)
Pictures!
Every week we have a contest on Friday between all the groups. My group won with a fantastic dance the second week! Here's the group photo :)
Sorry it has taken so long to upload photos!!! Hope you enjoy!
Sorry it has taken so long to upload photos!!! Hope you enjoy!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
While you were sleeping...
First of all, I want you to know that Tim just pushed me in a water puddle and I'm soaking wet from my knees down. Now that I got that out, here's the newest blog!
It's been awhile since we posted so we have lots of great stories built up! Without further ado, some humorous stories from Korea!!
1. Most of the Korean kids have English names when they arrive at camp. (Jon and Kristina understand this!). However, you always have your few that have no english name. One of these happened to be in my class so I asked him what he wanted his name to be and he muttered something I could not understand. So I handed him the nametag to write it down. He writes the name......Dorp. Dorp. To make it better, Koreans have a hard time pronouncing their p's so my korean teacher always calls him Dorf.
I would love to brag that this is the best name at the camp - but it has to take second place to the boy named....Mosquito.
2. My favorite story so far is one of confused English prepositions. One of our Korean teachers was talking to me and a British teacher to ask about different sayings in our respective countries. He asked me,
Korean teacher: when you want to wake someone up in the morning do you say, 'want me to knock you up in the morning?'"
Me: "ummmmmm, pardon me?"
Knock up, right? I say
Me: No, you definitely don't want to go around asking people if they want you to knock them up in the morning.
3. Ok... Tim here. Most of you know when I travel I typically do not shave. Well, I've continued the tradition here in Korea and it has earned me some interesting nicknames from my students. Children have never been described as tactful and this young Korean girl certainly wasn't. Last week, I had a great group of kids and the sweetest, kindest Korean girl would come up to me....point to my beard and make the most violent vomitting sound I have ever heard.
I know that my beard is getting to a good length when I asked one of my new students to say my name and he replied with "Santa". A+, kid.
A hit game while teaching is pictionary, kids go crazy for it everytime without fail. It was the first day so I was trying to get an accurate measure of how much English my students knew, so I figured I would give this girl an easy word. So I told her to draw a monkey. She proceeds to draw a picture of me, complete with beard and all. Better yet, the kids are all guessing "Tim Teacher!" So now all my students, indeed most students in the school, now refer to me as "Monkey Teacher."
Anyways, I just want to say a quick thank you to all the Korean children who have encouraged me to not shave, thus giving me plenty to blog about.
We have alot more to write about but are about to be asked to leave the computer lab. We'll try to put up more stories tomorrow. Including the importance of one letter and Tim's double life.
Love you all very much.
Tim and Alaina
It's been awhile since we posted so we have lots of great stories built up! Without further ado, some humorous stories from Korea!!
1. Most of the Korean kids have English names when they arrive at camp. (Jon and Kristina understand this!). However, you always have your few that have no english name. One of these happened to be in my class so I asked him what he wanted his name to be and he muttered something I could not understand. So I handed him the nametag to write it down. He writes the name......Dorp. Dorp. To make it better, Koreans have a hard time pronouncing their p's so my korean teacher always calls him Dorf.
I would love to brag that this is the best name at the camp - but it has to take second place to the boy named....Mosquito.
2. My favorite story so far is one of confused English prepositions. One of our Korean teachers was talking to me and a British teacher to ask about different sayings in our respective countries. He asked me,
Korean teacher: when you want to wake someone up in the morning do you say, 'want me to knock you up in the morning?'"
Me: "ummmmmm, pardon me?"
Knock up, right? I say
Me: No, you definitely don't want to go around asking people if they want you to knock them up in the morning.
3. Ok... Tim here. Most of you know when I travel I typically do not shave. Well, I've continued the tradition here in Korea and it has earned me some interesting nicknames from my students. Children have never been described as tactful and this young Korean girl certainly wasn't. Last week, I had a great group of kids and the sweetest, kindest Korean girl would come up to me....point to my beard and make the most violent vomitting sound I have ever heard.
I know that my beard is getting to a good length when I asked one of my new students to say my name and he replied with "Santa". A+, kid.
A hit game while teaching is pictionary, kids go crazy for it everytime without fail. It was the first day so I was trying to get an accurate measure of how much English my students knew, so I figured I would give this girl an easy word. So I told her to draw a monkey. She proceeds to draw a picture of me, complete with beard and all. Better yet, the kids are all guessing "Tim Teacher!" So now all my students, indeed most students in the school, now refer to me as "Monkey Teacher."
Anyways, I just want to say a quick thank you to all the Korean children who have encouraged me to not shave, thus giving me plenty to blog about.
We have alot more to write about but are about to be asked to leave the computer lab. We'll try to put up more stories tomorrow. Including the importance of one letter and Tim's double life.
Love you all very much.
Tim and Alaina
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Seouled Out!
Alaina:
Tim left you hanging with his last post...so let me tell you about getting stuck behind the metro exit. The metro exits are turnstyles and you have to put a little card on top to get through. I was already super stressed because we had no idea where we were going and we pretty much threw a dart and decided to go where it landed (Better pack a sweater - that's for Suzanne and Stephanie). So we get off the metro and approach the turnstyles. Tim breezes right through and I put my card on top and then run right into the bar because it does not move forward. This red letters keep popping up with different numbers every time I tried again. Pretty much, Tim was useless. (He is now nodding his head yes). I was practically in tears and all he did was take my bag for me...and shrug. Finally a Korean lady came and she couldn't even get it to work!! After many tries she motioned for me to go under the bars. At that point, I didn't care what happened me. I crawled under and said "If I get arrested, I hope they deport me to America."
Tim:
Ok... As mentioned in the previous post, we stayed with our extremely generous friend, Helen Rader, while we were in Seoul. I called her on a pay phone, which I haven't used since 1995, to get directions. I figure she's going to tell me the subway stops and direct us from there. Instead, she proceeds to dictate Korean to me and what I should say to the cab driver. Even as I'm writing it down, I'm thinking about how disasterous this is going to be and I imagine myself telling the taxi driver to take us to Pyongyang (North Korea's capital for those of you who don't go to Patterson) instead of Seoul Foreign School. So I have literally written phonetic sounds - not words - on a sheet of paper. I get in the taxi and sheepishly say what I think is "Please take us to Seoul Foreign School" and the district it is located in. I'm sure it sounded more like a question than directions, but apparently it was close enough and the taxi driver smiled, repeated it once, and dropped us off right in front about ten minutes later.... no big deal.
Alaina:
We were so excited to be in Seoul especially because we got to talk to our parents for the first time! My parents were super excited and my mom screamed a bit - but she was just excited. After talking to my parents, Tim called his. His dad answered the phone and I said "hiiiii" in a very high voice. Tim's dad replies (totally serious) Oh! You have one of the kids with you!!! (Not only do I look young, apparently I sound like a young Korean child).
Love you all!!
Tim left you hanging with his last post...so let me tell you about getting stuck behind the metro exit. The metro exits are turnstyles and you have to put a little card on top to get through. I was already super stressed because we had no idea where we were going and we pretty much threw a dart and decided to go where it landed (Better pack a sweater - that's for Suzanne and Stephanie). So we get off the metro and approach the turnstyles. Tim breezes right through and I put my card on top and then run right into the bar because it does not move forward. This red letters keep popping up with different numbers every time I tried again. Pretty much, Tim was useless. (He is now nodding his head yes). I was practically in tears and all he did was take my bag for me...and shrug. Finally a Korean lady came and she couldn't even get it to work!! After many tries she motioned for me to go under the bars. At that point, I didn't care what happened me. I crawled under and said "If I get arrested, I hope they deport me to America."
Tim:
Ok... As mentioned in the previous post, we stayed with our extremely generous friend, Helen Rader, while we were in Seoul. I called her on a pay phone, which I haven't used since 1995, to get directions. I figure she's going to tell me the subway stops and direct us from there. Instead, she proceeds to dictate Korean to me and what I should say to the cab driver. Even as I'm writing it down, I'm thinking about how disasterous this is going to be and I imagine myself telling the taxi driver to take us to Pyongyang (North Korea's capital for those of you who don't go to Patterson) instead of Seoul Foreign School. So I have literally written phonetic sounds - not words - on a sheet of paper. I get in the taxi and sheepishly say what I think is "Please take us to Seoul Foreign School" and the district it is located in. I'm sure it sounded more like a question than directions, but apparently it was close enough and the taxi driver smiled, repeated it once, and dropped us off right in front about ten minutes later.... no big deal.
Alaina:
We were so excited to be in Seoul especially because we got to talk to our parents for the first time! My parents were super excited and my mom screamed a bit - but she was just excited. After talking to my parents, Tim called his. His dad answered the phone and I said "hiiiii" in a very high voice. Tim's dad replies (totally serious) Oh! You have one of the kids with you!!! (Not only do I look young, apparently I sound like a young Korean child).
Love you all!!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Good Morning Korea!
So we finally got to Seoul on Saturday morning after a much delayed departure from school and a long morning of crying Korean children saying "Goodbye Teacher". Needless to say, Alaina and I shed few tears. Most of our kids were great, but after teaching them for 80 hours this week, I was practically throwing these kids out of the school.
Also, thanks to Eduvisor, the program who runs this camp, 1,200 Korean kids are reading signs and curriculum that is such poor English it is embarrassing. Some of our favorite examples are:
- If you get "hurted", please tell one of your teachers. Wow.
- One of the signs in the school says, "This is "blah blah blah" Imagine my blank expression when one of my students came up to me and said "This is blah blah blah." My response? Go sit down, kid.
As mentioned before, the food is less than ideal. After working 15 hours, I mustered up some chivalry to go get some KFC ( Korean Fried Chicken ) and some potato wedges for Alaina and I to eat that night. Alaina was gracious enough to let me have one potato wedge. I've honestly never seen food disappear that fast.
Seoul has been great. Our friends here have been so incredibly gracious and hospitable. We've been able to eat well this weekend, relax, and prepare mentally for the upcoming week. We are so grateful for the people who have welcomed us here and we plan on coming back later on so they can show us around.
This morning we are going to the world's biggest church with our friends here in Seoul. Membership is around 800,000!
That's it for now. More stories about Seoul, including Alaina getting trapped behind the metro exit gate next time!
Thanks again guys!
Tim and Alaina
Also, thanks to Eduvisor, the program who runs this camp, 1,200 Korean kids are reading signs and curriculum that is such poor English it is embarrassing. Some of our favorite examples are:
- If you get "hurted", please tell one of your teachers. Wow.
- One of the signs in the school says, "This is "blah blah blah" Imagine my blank expression when one of my students came up to me and said "This is blah blah blah." My response? Go sit down, kid.
As mentioned before, the food is less than ideal. After working 15 hours, I mustered up some chivalry to go get some KFC ( Korean Fried Chicken ) and some potato wedges for Alaina and I to eat that night. Alaina was gracious enough to let me have one potato wedge. I've honestly never seen food disappear that fast.
Seoul has been great. Our friends here have been so incredibly gracious and hospitable. We've been able to eat well this weekend, relax, and prepare mentally for the upcoming week. We are so grateful for the people who have welcomed us here and we plan on coming back later on so they can show us around.
This morning we are going to the world's biggest church with our friends here in Seoul. Membership is around 800,000!
That's it for now. More stories about Seoul, including Alaina getting trapped behind the metro exit gate next time!
Thanks again guys!
Tim and Alaina
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Karaoke with Koreans!
Sorry we don't get to write more often! We don't have much free time and the only computers we have our the ones in the office that we take from the staff members!
We have now completed day four! We are so exhausted but really having a good time. The kids are adorable but have more energy than I have ever seen! We both have 11 year olds and it's like herding cats! They have to do a dance performance in front of everyone on Friday - teaching my 11 year old Koreans to dance is the hardest thing I have ever done - swear. Instead of making up my own dance, I'm teaching them well known dances that already have moves...like the macarena!! So classy!
A few funny stories:
1. My kids were asking me where I was from so I said America and the state of Kentucky. He says "tucky" and I say what? Tucky! Ummm...ok - sure, tucky. To get his point across he finally drew a flag. It was the Turkish flag! I laughed out loud!
2. We had to do a placement test on Monday and one of the questions was "what is a mouse" One of Tim's students wrote, "A small animal you can eat." hilarious!
3. My student pointed to me and said "teacher has small face."
4. Tim was attacked by the biggest spider I have ever seen!! I was too busy laughing to be scared. I've never seen a man dance around like I saw tim dance that night. Isn't he supposed to protect from spiders?!
5. I have a student that can't speak any english so I was surprised when he raised his hand to have a a turn. His English name is "Brown." Students are guessing letters and turns out his hangman word was "brown." Adorable.
We are headed to Seoul this weekend and are very excited! I want to actually see Korea! Hopefully there we will have better internet access and fill you all in on more details!
Love you all!
We have now completed day four! We are so exhausted but really having a good time. The kids are adorable but have more energy than I have ever seen! We both have 11 year olds and it's like herding cats! They have to do a dance performance in front of everyone on Friday - teaching my 11 year old Koreans to dance is the hardest thing I have ever done - swear. Instead of making up my own dance, I'm teaching them well known dances that already have moves...like the macarena!! So classy!
A few funny stories:
1. My kids were asking me where I was from so I said America and the state of Kentucky. He says "tucky" and I say what? Tucky! Ummm...ok - sure, tucky. To get his point across he finally drew a flag. It was the Turkish flag! I laughed out loud!
2. We had to do a placement test on Monday and one of the questions was "what is a mouse" One of Tim's students wrote, "A small animal you can eat." hilarious!
3. My student pointed to me and said "teacher has small face."
4. Tim was attacked by the biggest spider I have ever seen!! I was too busy laughing to be scared. I've never seen a man dance around like I saw tim dance that night. Isn't he supposed to protect from spiders?!
5. I have a student that can't speak any english so I was surprised when he raised his hand to have a a turn. His English name is "Brown." Students are guessing letters and turns out his hangman word was "brown." Adorable.
We are headed to Seoul this weekend and are very excited! I want to actually see Korea! Hopefully there we will have better internet access and fill you all in on more details!
Love you all!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tim's Response
Ok... First of all, let's clear one thing up - mainly my snoring. Sorry that I have the uncanny ability to be able to sleep anywhere, anytime. Some people (Alaina) just weren't cut out for life on the road.
The work so far has been prety crazy. The first two days were each about 16 hours, jetlagged, and poorly fed. Alaina is right.. the food is pretty poor. I've lived in Asia before and this food is bad. However, the work keeps us very busy and we are grateful to be in this together.
We really appreciate all your emails and apologize ahead of time for not responding as much as we would like. Our time is pretty limited, but we really love hearing from all you. Thanks so much and we'll see you guys soon.
Tim
The work so far has been prety crazy. The first two days were each about 16 hours, jetlagged, and poorly fed. Alaina is right.. the food is pretty poor. I've lived in Asia before and this food is bad. However, the work keeps us very busy and we are grateful to be in this together.
We really appreciate all your emails and apologize ahead of time for not responding as much as we would like. Our time is pretty limited, but we really love hearing from all you. Thanks so much and we'll see you guys soon.
Tim
Firsy Day!
We've been in Korea now for two and a half days but it feels like a lifetime! The 13 hour time difference has been difficult to get over but I think we're finally adjusting.
The flight was pretty rough for me - mostly because Tim was snoring in my ear the whole time! I always get the window seat so I can curl up against the window - unfortunately, there was about two feet between my seat and the window! The positive aspect of international flights is the free alcohol. We decided that there was no better way to get sleepy than to have a glass of wine - so that's what we did. However, that only gave me peace for about three hours so I had ten left to listen to Tim snoring.
We arrived to a sign saying "Welcome to Korea Tim and Alaina." That was so great to see after traveling for nearly 20 hours! Our coordinator was waiting for us and has truly been very helpful and supportive.
Today is when the kids arrived and it's nearly impossible to explain in words! Tim definitely had the tougher of days because he volunteered Sunday night to help the coordinator before knowing what he would be doing. Turns out he had to leave the camp at 5:30am to drive to Seoul to ride a bus back with kids coming to the camp! He's a trooper. Since 10am, I've been surrounded by screaming Korean children. The English levels are so different which makes it difficult to really teach anything. The schedule is insanely hectic so you're really not teaching anway. Today we made chants and posters about our "country." I'm Finland and Tim is Spain. Finland is totally better.
My biggest problem thus far is the food. I hate the food - there's no other way to put it. On Sunday morning, after traveling 20 hours, all I wanted was a delicious Western breakfast. What did we get? Fish. That's right - FISH. And rice and black beans. Yuck. I felt bad so I asked Tim nicely to eat my fish - then I wanted to cry. Today though we had toast and cereal. Even though the toast was stale and it was whole milk, I have still never been so happy to see corn flakes. Thank you Mom for packing me snacks!!
We're off to Seoul this weekend and we can't wait! We need some peace and quiet :) This is a vacation, right?! Thank you all for reading this and we will do our best to keep it up!
Love you all!
Alaina and Tim
The flight was pretty rough for me - mostly because Tim was snoring in my ear the whole time! I always get the window seat so I can curl up against the window - unfortunately, there was about two feet between my seat and the window! The positive aspect of international flights is the free alcohol. We decided that there was no better way to get sleepy than to have a glass of wine - so that's what we did. However, that only gave me peace for about three hours so I had ten left to listen to Tim snoring.
We arrived to a sign saying "Welcome to Korea Tim and Alaina." That was so great to see after traveling for nearly 20 hours! Our coordinator was waiting for us and has truly been very helpful and supportive.
Today is when the kids arrived and it's nearly impossible to explain in words! Tim definitely had the tougher of days because he volunteered Sunday night to help the coordinator before knowing what he would be doing. Turns out he had to leave the camp at 5:30am to drive to Seoul to ride a bus back with kids coming to the camp! He's a trooper. Since 10am, I've been surrounded by screaming Korean children. The English levels are so different which makes it difficult to really teach anything. The schedule is insanely hectic so you're really not teaching anway. Today we made chants and posters about our "country." I'm Finland and Tim is Spain. Finland is totally better.
My biggest problem thus far is the food. I hate the food - there's no other way to put it. On Sunday morning, after traveling 20 hours, all I wanted was a delicious Western breakfast. What did we get? Fish. That's right - FISH. And rice and black beans. Yuck. I felt bad so I asked Tim nicely to eat my fish - then I wanted to cry. Today though we had toast and cereal. Even though the toast was stale and it was whole milk, I have still never been so happy to see corn flakes. Thank you Mom for packing me snacks!!
We're off to Seoul this weekend and we can't wait! We need some peace and quiet :) This is a vacation, right?! Thank you all for reading this and we will do our best to keep it up!
Love you all!
Alaina and Tim
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