Student Distractions

I have found that during my teaching time I have found that students become distracted by the strangest things. One of the big things that has passed, but was a huge distraction was bebe guns. For some reason the toy market came out with bebe hand guns and therefore every child needed to have one. Then they would bring them to class and shoot them off. they cause a big mess and they can also be pretty dangerous as the little balls can hurt if hit by one and if someone where to get hit in the eye I'm sure it could cause some real damage.
Once this fad had passed there were the plastic bog like characters that had power values. The students would play with these and they would be a big distraction because they liked to trade them in class and they would get distracted playing with them before class started. After the plastic character pogs there were real pogs but again these had power points and the same problem emerged as before with the plastic power pogs.
Besides those 3 distractions that are brought into the classroom, there are things that students do in class to distract each other. For example, asking to get a drink of water constantly is a big one, then comes going to the bathroom. Another big distraction is making fun of each other over little mistakes or something that someone does. They will also make fun of others who are fat or are a little slower in their learning. They will also make fun of pictures in the text books if there is a picture of a not so pretty person or if the person is of a different race they will call them ugly. Along with making fun of each other and pictures in the text books, they also make fun of the disabled or the mentally challenged. I have tried numerous times to stop the children from doing the above things, but it's very difficult. It's also hard to explain to them why it's wrong when you don't speak the language.
Swearing and sticking up the middle finger at each other is also a big distraction and for this I get very angry. I don't like to hear them saying or doing such things to each other because it is rude and disrespectful. I have called in the head teacher to explain that doing such things is terribly wrong and bad. I don't stand for this sort of thing in my class, especially when they say such things to me (as it is a rare occasion, but has happened a couple of times).
The last distraction that I have found is for students to stand at the window and shot out at people walking in the parking lot or at their friends walking by. I sometimes have to pry the students away from the window so that they are not being distracted or being a distraction to others in the class.

Food in Korea

Okay, so you have probably been wondering when I was going to tell you about the food in Korea, well here it is. Let's start of with Korean food and then I will talk about Western food in Korea and how it has a twist to it.
Korea food for the most part is very spicey hot. There is chili pepper in almost every food. This makes eating for me very difficult because I can't eat spicey food, as I feel like my mouth is burning off. The other Korean food is seafood of sorts, which I can't eat also, as I feel really sick after eating it. What is left is a few foods that I find edible. One of my favourites is sum-gulp-sol. This is pork that is cut up and given to you raw so that you can cook it on the grill in front of you. You can also add garlic slices and vegetables to the grill to cook. Once cooked you take a piece of meat, dip it into a seasoning sauce, and add a leaf of lettuce, then add a cooked garlic piece that is dipped into a bean paste. Wrap it all up and shove it into your mouth. It's very tastey. Another food that is simular to this galbi. This is marinated and is either beef or pork. It is cooked the same way and is eaten the same way as sum-gulp-sol. Yet another good food is a type of soup that I call 'bone soup.' The reason for the name is because it is pieces of meat that still have the bone on them and they are boiled to make the broth for the soup. Then spring onions are added and some salt and pepper. Then some rice and noodles. It is very tastey. Other than that I don't really eat much Korean food.

The picture on the left is of sum-gulp-sol as it is cooking. As you can see there are a number of different side dishes. In the right corner there is a dish with red something, that is kim-chi.

The picture on the right is of sum-gulp-sol ready to be eaten.

Along with your meal you will get a number of side dishes. These can range from potato salad, different sorts of vegetables with hot chili sauce on them, peanuts, cooks chestnuts, kim-chi, shrimp, or squid rings. They also have been known to serve an acorn jelly thing. Of all these side dishes usually they are never eaten totally. It seems like such a waste to me, but they come with every Korean meal.

A note on kim-chi. Kim-chi is a fermented Korean radish. It is fermented in a number of unknown ingrediants accept for the chili peppers. I have found this to be very untasty. Kim-chi comes in all forms of vegetables and I'm sure that Koreans could kim-chi anything if they wanted to. There is one sort of kim-chi that I have actually found good in taste recently. I'm not sure of the vegetable, but it is very crunchy like a pickle and has a very good taste to it.

This is a picture of the pots that Koreans use to ferment the kim-chi.

Oh, let me not forget that rice is a big thing in Korea. It's not like rice that we have in Canada. The rice here sticks, hence the name sticky rice. I always wondered how people in the movies could eat rice with chopsticks and I have found the answer. The rice can be very bland I have found and when I'm at home I add salt and sometimes soy sauce.

Other foods that can be found in Korea are Chinese and Western food. Of the chinese food I like the black sauce for noodles. I havin't pin-pointed the taste, but it's not spicey and it is very tastey. Another one is sweet and sour pork.

The Western foods that can be found here are pizza and chicken. Pizza is funny because one of the things that is put on pizza under the cheese is corn. Can you believe it?! Anyways, it's not actually all that bad and you really don't notice the taste. Something very strange that I have found on pizza is marichino cherries on a Hawiian pizza. That was a surprise to me. Also you can order a potato pizza. That's right, potato pizza. They put wedges of potato and a little mayonaise and ketchup together under the cheese. It's actually quite tastey. Yet another creation is a sweet potato pizza. They have mashed sweet potato and it is places in a ring around the outside of the pizza in front of the crust. I thought it was very strange, but it's actually really good. Last is ordering cheese crust. You can get it for very cheap here and because it's so cheap I get it on every pizza that I order. Chicken is pretty basic. You can get original or you can get extremely spicey.

This is a picture of that hawaiian pizza with the cherries on top.

Last I would like to talk about McDonalds. I know, I know, it's McDonalds, but there are quite a few differences. The first one is that the fries are almost always under salted. The second is that you can order different set menus, such as the shrimp burger, or the extra spicey chicken set, or the set that is like the quarter pounder burger only it has different toppings. Even the children's menu is different. The children have a choice between a normal soft drink, juice, or a yogurt drink, they get to choose a desert of yogurt tube or ice cream, and on top of that they get a toy.

Soda pop flavours is where I would like to end this posting. When you go to a fast food place you can get usually one of three drinks: coke, cider (sort of like sprit and ginger ale mixed together), and orange fanta. If it's not coke it's pepsi and if it's not cider it's sprit and if it's not orange fanta it's pineapple fanta. You are lucky if they offer mountain dew because that has just started to be something you can get.

Clothing In Korea

One thing that I have noticed about Korea is the lack of up to date styles. I think that the Korea style is stuck in the '70s and '80s. There is a distinct style here for wearing clothing. First, let's start with the hair styles. Most Korean girls and women have bangs and sometimes they wear their heir in a sideways pony tail.

Next is the tops. Most tops that I find Koreans wearing are decorated with some sequins or are very frilly. They also have what I call a half shirt. It's a shirt that is cut so that you only have the top half of the shirt. They wear them as a kind of cover over their shirt that they are wearing. The other thing about aobut tops is that they sometimes are quite bright and florecent at times.

After tops comes bottoms. Pants, especially jeans, are always in style as there is such a variety of them here and in Canada. Skirts, tend to be jean and short. I don't think that I have found a jean skirt that is knee length.

Last is shoes. Now this is an interesting one because women will buy their heeled sandels and then they don't wear the heel strap on their heel. Instead of wearing it they just have it done up and they walk on it all day. How uncomforatble that is. Then there is the style of people wearing sports sandels and socks in summer. It's not as if it's cold out but people will still wear their sandels and socks. Last there is the style of wearing running shoes and no socks. How smelly, especially on days when it's really hot here! Another thing about shoes in Korea is the fact that they are made so narrow that you can't fit your foot into the shoe unless you buy it 2 sizes bigger and then your feet look so long. It is very strange that the shoe manufacturers would make the shoes so narrow that most Koreans can't wear them without buying bigger sizes.

Oh, let me not forget to mention that most Koreans won't just wear any clothing. Most Koreans you find are wearing designer clothing, pretty expensive stuff. I don't know how the teenagers do it when they don't have the money for this. I guess it helps that every Korean child has to wear a uniform to class. Right from the start, Korean children wear a uniform and it's not until university or college that they don't have to wear it any more.

One last comment before I end my talk on clothing is the fact that there are a lot of brave guys here in Korea. I mean this to say that I find a lot more men and boys wearing pink shirts. Not only do they get pink shirts I find that some of the style is to buy a plunging V neckline. I find this very strange.

Prayer Requests

If you are reading these entries and are looking for something to pray for me about, here is a list of things. The first thing I would have to say is for safty while I'm in Korea. There are many bad things that could happen to me if I were not protected by God's hand.
The second is to find a good Christian friend who wants to go to church with me, help with the English Bible study, and go traveling and hang out together on weekends. As of September 1st I'm losing Susan, as she is going back to Canada. This leaves me with Sonja, who is a great person, but she lives an hour away.
The third is for the English Bible study. The group is dwindling down to 3 and there are no foreigners accept for me. I would like to see the group grow again and that we would be able to continue learning the things that God would want to teach us.
The fourth is for me as I work in the acadamy. I would like for God to use me in that acadamy to witness to my co-workers and if possible to the children that I'm teaching. Also that God gives me the strenth to teach them in a way that they would understand English and be excited to learn more. Also to help me not to feel burnt out after teaching, as teaching can be mentally and physically exhausing at times. Also for my middle school students, that they would be willing to learn from me and actually participate in class (I have one class that sits literally in silence the whole class and I just don't know how to reach them and get through this layer of silence).
The last thing that you could pray for me for is that I don't feel lonely while in Korea. Sometimes it can be hard when you really don't know anyone deeply and you just want to confide in someone and talk things over, but there isn't any one to do this with. It can also get lonely when you don't have anyone to celebrate the good times with.If you could pray for these things that would be amazing for me. Thanks in advance.

Things Koreans Do in Public to Annoy Foreigners (Or So it Seems)

This post is not to be taken too seriously and for any Koreans reading this I hope you are not offended, these are just things that I notice and have thought annoying or just funny. To start off I would like to talk about children. It is kind of like I am a walking zoo exhibit at times because I draw so much attention being a foreigner. The children sometimes treat me as if I'm some scary person or monster or they think it's time to practice the few words of English that they know. I find that the children who have not seen many foreigners are the ones who are scared and they stare at me until I have passed. I think sometimes if I were to say 'boo' they would run off screaming bloody murder to find their parents.

The other children who have been to some sort of English acadamy or have had a little English tutoring are the ones who can be really annoying or really cute. The ones that I find annoying are the ones that like to do a walk by conversation, as I like to call it. They are the ones who will say 'hi, how are you, I am fine' all in one breath are they walk by and do not stop for an answer. It's as if they don't know how to carry on a conversation properly. The ones who are cute are the ones who actually wait for you to say something back. Then when you ask them another question they do one of two things. They will either answer or they will stare at you with this blank stare and not know what to say.

Then there are the children who go around and when they see a foreigner they will use a swear word such as the 'f' word and think that they are cool in doing it. For example, one day I was out shopping with Susan in E-Mart and this little boy, about the age of 9 or 10, walked by and said hello and then started repeating the 'f' word over and over again. I was appauled because of this. I also couldn't believe that a child that young was swearing at me. You know that they learn these words off of the English movies that are played on tv.

Let's not forget about the girls who are probably junior high or high school who will say hi as they are walking by and when you say hi back they laugh and giggle like you saying hi was really a big deal and you are the celeberty that they have been dying to meet.

Now onto Korean adults. The adults don't really try to talk to you, they will just stare at you or they might give you a smile, but they keep to themselves, unless they are the brave taxi driver who knows a little English and tries to ask questions. I find that adults tend to do the most stupid things. One thing that I have found terribly annoying is when you are going up the escalator and it is crowded behind you and the person in front of you with 3 children and a cart decides to stop at the very top of the escalator to arrange something and blocks the way so no one can go around. Meanwhile the escalator is still going and the people behind you are almost piling up on top of you and it's not as if you can tell the lady to move cause you can't speak the language. Then when you try and push through the lady looks at you as if you've done the worst thing in the world. It's so annoying.

Another one is when you are standing in line and have stood for about 10 minutes for one item and then this old lady with one item comes up from nowhere and wants to pay for her item and there is a line that she has totally ignored. Then the lady at the cash just rings her through and you see that all she was buying was beer. How annoying can that be!

Something that I find unusual, and that can be annoying if you are also trying to get to the same location, is pushing through a crowd of people. If someone wants to get through a crowd and there is the slightest opening for them to try and get through they will litterally push you out of the way so they can get through. Then you find that they get stuck again and you are the one passing them because you took a different route. I find that people are not courtious enough to stand at the sides of asile when looking at something, they like to stand in the middle and block the way so no one can get through.

Something that girls tend to do that can be a little annoying is whine about the smallest thing, if something doesn't suit them, or if you tell them something they don't want to hear. They can through a huge whining fit over the most stupid things. This can be found in teenagers along with some adult ladies.

Something else that can be annoying is Koreans allowing their children under the age of 5 to run wild and do almost anything they want. There are a lot of spoiled children in Korea. If a child wants to do something and you say no, he or she might break into a screaming spell or start crying, even though what they were going to do would have hurt them or would harm something that someone has made. I find that most Koreans will give the child what they want or they will allow them to do whatever they want just to avoid a scene.

One last thing that people in Korea do that can be annoying is treat you as if you are worthless. I have been told that Koreans are not a racist people, but I think that they have their own form of racism. I have not had it too bad, but I have spoken with someone who is teaching in Korea and has darker skin, and he has had a hard time. The person whom I spoke with said that Korean children were the worst because they were the ones who really show what they are feeling. The children will call this person dirty and treat them with no respect. Adults look down upon this person as if they don't belong in Korea. What I get is people thinking that I am less than them and that they can do anything they want, like push in line in front of me or give me dirty looks if I'm just minding my own business.

These are my observations.

The Treatment of Dogs in Korea

In Korea it is not uncommon to see a small dog being pampered beyond what you would normally find in other countries. In Korea people dress up their dogs, dye their tails and ears crazy colours, and put them up in hotels when they go away.
I thought it was crazy the things that people will do with their dogs, but there are a couple of decent reasons why they do what they do. I understand this now that I have a dog of my own. First of all dressing up your dog can be a necessity if your dog is small and the weather is very cold. I found this with Snowball in the winter time. She is such a small dog and doesn't have enough fat on her to keep her warm. This was especally true when I was in Canada. I for sure couldn't bring Snowball out in the cold in Canada without her winter jacket because she would start to shiver within a minute of being outside. The fall and spring are due for a lighter jacket or outfit of sorts because it can still get chilly outside. In the summer the clothing is not necessary, but it can look cute. I have found that the variety of clothing for dogs is incredible here. I can buy any sort of outfit for any occasion and they are relatively cheap. It is very fun at times to dress Snowball up, but I usually do it only for necessity.
The picture on the left is of Snowball in a spring outfit.
The picture on the right is of Snowball in a fall/winter outfit.
Second, pet hotels are very nececary if you don't have anyone to take care of your pet when you will be away for a time. So you bring your pet to a pet hotel and they take care of it until you come back. All you really need to bring for your dog is food and even that isn't necessary at some places.
Last, I cannot see any reason for dying your dog's ears and tail any colour. I have not found a reason to do this and I think it looks rediculous, but for some reason Koreans think that it looks cute or cool or something. Very strange I would say.
Before I end my talk on dogs in Korea I have to make mention to the fact that some Koreans do eat dog soup. The dogs that they use are k-9s. You will never ever catch me eating dog soup. Ever!

Cherry Blossom Festival in Jinhae

One thing that I have found while in Korea is the variety of reasons for festivals. There are so many festivals that I hardly know how to keep track of them. I talked a little about the Lantern Festival that is held in Jinju, but in the spring there is the Festival of the Cherry Blossom. It is held in the month of March. It's not held in Jinju, but in Jinhae about 1 1/2 hours away from my city.
I was able to go to this festival with a bunch of people and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The streets were filled with cherry blossom trees. It was so beautiful! We walked along the navey base and enjoyed the scenery and then we drove to a different part of the navey base where there was ah historical 'turtle ship' (one of the ships that were used a long time ago when all the wars took place). We were able to go into the ship and look around. To get into the ship you had to duck or else slam your face into the side of the ship. The inside of the ship was very neat. We saw cannons, the captain's room, and a few other things.

The picture on the left shows just how full the cherry blossom trees were and how many there actually were.

The picture on the right is of the 'turtle ship.'

After finishing with the ship we went to the festival area and walked around after getting some lunch. There were all sorts of things to buy at the festival area. I got a few different things because they were cheap and I needed them. After walking around for a while it was time to go home. It was a nice day accept for the weather and the blossoms were beautiful.

This is a picture of a mountian close to the second navey base where the 'turtle ship' was.

Second Trip Outside of Korea: China

So I never would have thought of going to China by myself, but it was something that Susan really wanted to do while on this side of the world, so I said why not. I had never been to China and I was sure that it would be a nice trip. So we started looking into when was a good time to make this trip. It turned out that August was a good time because Susan got a week of holidays and I could group 2 of my holiday days and take the weekend. So then we had to find a travel agent to book us in for a tour for a good price. We found that it was impossible to get an English tour for the dates that we wanted, so we ended up getting a Korean tour. We figured that we would just experience China and read what we could about the places that we were at.
The first travel agent that we tried had a good price for us, but then told us that they didn't want foreigners on the trip because they caused problems and were always late. So we found another travel agent who gave us a higher price, but allowed us to go on the Korean tour.
We left early in the morning to take a bus to the airport. We met our group at the Busan airport and left around lunch time. The flight was nice, we got a meal on the plane, and then we were in China. We met our tour guide and he didn't know that there were going to be 2 foreigners on the trip. He ended up speaking English and said he would tell us about things when he had the chance.
So we were in China. It was nice to see a variety of people, as Korea doesn't have that many different people from around the world. The first place that we went was the acrobat circus. What a show! I couldn't believe that these people could bend like they did. It was amazing!

This is a picture of the acrobat show.
After the show we went for supper. The restaurant that we went to was very nice. We all sat at a huge round table with a glass turn table in the middle. The food was brought and we all started in. The food was great! I was so happy to have food that wasn't bland or that you had to add salt to. The problem, however, was that the Koreans didn't like it because of the salt. They complained about it. I couldn't believe how much of a big deal that the Koreans made about the food. It was almost embarassing. I figured that when you are given something to try, you at least try it and if you don't like it, eat something else, but keep your mouth closed.
After the supper we went to a shopping area. I thought 'ok here we go, let's do some shopping,' but this was shotly lived because we only stayed for a total of 15 minutes and then we were told it was time to go. What a waste! I was to find that this was how things were going to be the whole trip because Koreans don't like to take the time to enjoy things. Everything for them is fast, fast, fast.
From the shopping area we went to the hotel. Susan and I were given our own room. It was quite a fancy hotel, but I believe that it was catered to Koreans as the beds were really hard and the food for breakfast consisted of some Korean food along with Chinese food. When we got to the room I crashed because I was totally tired and we were to get up really early so that we could have breakfast and leave the hotel at 7:30.
The next day consisted of going to the Ming Tomb, which we didn't even see a quarter of it before we were swept off to another place. The part of the tomb that we saw was very interesting. I found out that they still havin't found the last emperor as of yet. From the Ming Tomb we went to a jade factory. We saw how the jade was shapped and then had time to go shopping for a little while in the shopping area. I ended up buying a nice bracelet and a little folding picture frame that had pictures of pandas on one side and the Great Wall that was made of marble. From there we went for lunch. Again we were sat at large round tables and the food was brought. It was good food again. After that we were allowed to do a little shopping in the shopping area of the restaruant. Here I was able to buy a few things for friends.
After gathering together, we headed off to the Great Wall. When we arrived at the spot were we were to go up we found out that we had to go up a lift. It was pretty high going up. What a view from the top of the Wall. We were allowed to walk to the highest part of the Wall, approximately 10,000 feet at the top. The hike up was crazy! It was so hot out and the stairs were uneven and then there were streches of steep flat parts to walk up. I finally got to the top, very hot and very thirsty. I bought some water and also found a really nice wind chime and bought that also. I took some really cool pictures of the view. You can literally see for miles and you could see the Wall running along the mountains. It was really cool! Coming down the Wall was as hard as going up only if you were not careful you could go head over heels if you leaned forward. It was an experience for sure.
From the Great Wall we went to a valley and had a boat ride though this mountainous area. The water was an emerald green. It was nice to be able to relax and take in the view of everything.
This is me on the Great Wall.
From the boat ride we went for supper. It was shabu shabu (a boiling pot that you add meat and vegetables to and it cooks right in front of you) and it was delicious. After supper we had a foot massage. That was an interesting experience because the people doing the massage ended the massage with a group patting thing where everyone was in sinc. Then we went to the hotel.
The next day started early again and we headed off to an oriental healing place. Susan and I skpped out on that and went to look around. We were at the Tienimen Square, but we couldn't go into the building because the line up was enormous. When the Koreans came out of the healing place, we walked to the Forbidden City. What a place! It was gigantic. It took about an hour and a half to walk through the place. It was neat to see all the different parts of the City. From there we took a rickshaw ride. This was really neat because I had talked about a rickshaw to my native speaking students and now I was experiencing it.
This is a picture of me in the rickshaw.
After the rickshaw ride we went to have lunch. Lunch was peking duck. It was my first time trying duck. It was quite fatty, but it was tastey all the same. After lunch we went to a tea house. Susan and I were able to have an English session here. We tried 4 kinds of tea and learned a little about the different teas. For example, you atually slurp some of the teas because it brings out the taste in the tea. They also showed us ways of helping to keep the tea pot in good condition. I ended up buying 2 kinds of tea, a leechi tea and a beauty tea. I was also given a really cool teas set that had black dragons on it. When you put the tea in the cups the dragons turn red. This was my most expensve buy on the whole trip, but I think it's worth it.
From the tea house we went to the silk factory. Here we had an English tour and found out how silk was made. Very interesting. We also found out how they make the stuffing for blankets from the silk. From there we went to another healing place, this one a North Korean one. Susan and I skpped out on that also. From there we went to the aquarium. It was nothing compared to the one that I went to in Busan, but it had the biggest underwater tunnel tank. It was interesting.
After that we went for supper, which ended up being Korean food and was not very tasty at all. Susan and I didn't eat anything, but we asked if we could go somewhere after. We went back to the hotel and then asked the tour guilde if he could give the taxi driver directions to the shopping area that we were at the first day that we came. So we went off by ourselves and had dinner at McDonalds. It was an enjoyable time out and then we went back to the hotel.
This is a picture of the women at the silk factory making the stuffing for the blankets.
The last and final day in China was filled with going to the Summer Palace and the pearl factory. The Summer Palace was very nice, but we could have spent so much more time there. We were literally rushed through the place. There was a beautiful pond area. The pearl factory was very interesting. We were shown how the pearls were taked from a clam and we were given 2 of the pearls from the clam. There had to be about 20 taked from one clam. After we were allowed to do some shopping. I bought a few little things. From there we went for lunch at a North Korean restaurant. We were able to see a show and eat some pretty good food.
This is a picture from the pearl factory as they are taking the pearls out of the clam.
After lunch it was time to go to the airport. I ended up buying a DVD of our trip. All in all it was a very interesting and fun trip.

First Trip Outside of Korea: Japan

While I've not only been able to travel around Korea, I've been able to do a little traveling outside of Korea. One of the trips that I made was to go to Japan for a weekend for a very cheap price. There is a nice little deal that a travel agent offers to foreigners who have to make what people call a visa run. Most people who come to teach English don't have a teaching visa when they come, but they only have 90 days until they have to either leave or get a proper visa. So most schools will send you on a visa run to get the visa. Anyways, Susan and I took advantage of this deal and took the farry to Fukuoka, Japan.
The boat ride was quite nice as we were on the top level of the boat and at the very front. Once arriving, we headed off to our hotel and got things settled in. Then we went exploring trying to find the really cool shopping mall. On the way we found a cool park and some really neat architecture. When we found the mall, we just looked around as most things were really expensive to buy. The mall was very modern and futuristic looking. There was a pond around the mall, a stage area where there was a children's performance of Peakachu or something like that. The levels of the mall were set up so that people could stand and look down on the performance. It was pretty cool. Also in the mall were various types of fountains. The children were playing in some of them.

This is a picture of the cool looking mall.

After that we went to the underground shopping area on the way to the hotel. We didn't find anything to buy so we ended up just looking around.

After that we headed back to the hotel. The next day we headed off to find what was supposed to be a castle. We walked and found this 'castle' after about 45 minutes or so. We walked around this place for about 45 minutes looking for a castle. We ended up not finding anything. Finally someone stopped and asked us what we were looking for. We explained that we wanted to see the castle and he said that the castle was never built because of the castle that was built in Osaka. What a laugh we had. It didn't say anything about that in the book that I had.

So from there we went to a zoo and botanical garden. The zoo was interesting because the cages to some of the animals were very close that if you reached far enoungh you could touch the bars. I noticed that one person took a long piece of grass and was trying to get the attention of a leopard. I couldn't believe it. It made me so glad that the Toronto Zoo is set up much better and the animals aren't tourtured by visitors. Anyways, there were 2 things that were really funny to see at this zoo. The first one was of a bird that was trying to walk on a wire. It wobbled back and forth and almost fell off the wire, but decided to stop where it was before it fell off. The second was that in a cage was a seagul. The funny thing about it is that if I wanted to go and see a seagul I could go back to Canada and see one without paying for it because they are all over the place. The botanical garden was very nice. I was able to take pictures of all sorts of beautiful flowers.

This is an endangered red panda at the zoo. There were actually 2 of them in the caged area. Very cool.

After walking around in the hot sun, it was time to get our things from the hotel and get back to the farry port to go back to Korea. All in all the trip was very nice. On the way back we were able to meet a few people, one an English teacher, one a soldier from America posted in Korea, and the other the soldier's wife. We had an interesting talk with all of them and I learned some very interesting things about Koreans. I will share these things in a later entry.

The picture on the right is of Susan and I at the botanical gardens.

The picture on the left is of me in Japan.

Jinju: The City I Live In

I should have probably told you about the city I live in before I told you about the other cities in Korea. Anyways, Jinju is what the Koreans call a small city. I wouldn't call it small because it's much bigger than Oshawa, the city I live while in Canada. Jinju has a population of just over 300,000 people. Since Oshawa has only 150,000 people, I consider Jinju big.
Jinju is a quiet place, or so people would say. There is a nice river that snakes throughout the city. Along the river is a nice path that people can walk along. It's quite nice. There is a castle in Jinju also. It is on the other side of the river from the walking path. It is located close to downtown Jinju. It is very nice because you can walk around it and look at all the different places inside. There is also a museum. It looks great at night when it's all lit up and reflects off the river.
This is a picture of the Jinju Castle at night.
Also, in the month of November there is a Lantern Festival. The river is decorated with giant floating lanterns, a floating bridge is constructed acorss the river, and along the river booths are set up to sell all sorts of things and foods. There are also different concerts that happen, music from all over the world. It's quite the attraction and people come from all over Korea to walk along the river. The festival lasts for about a week and a half.
This is a picture of the river during the Lantern Festival.
Other than the river and the castle, there isn't much to talk about in Jinju. A popular place that I find myself at a lot of the time is the Lotte Cinema. I am able to go and see a movie for about $6, much cheaper than in Canada. I also find myself at E-Mart to do my shopping. E-Mart is simular to Wal-Mart, kind of your find it all store.
Before I end my talk about Jinju I have to say that Jinju is most famous for it's silk. There is actually a huge sign as you come into the city saying that it is the most famous for it's silk. I have yet to go to the silk factory, but I hope to go before I leave Korea.

Traveling Within Korea

While in Korea I've been able to do more than just teach English. I have been able to also go to a few places. For example, I've been to Seoul, Busan, Asan, and Masan.
Seoul is huge! There is like 4 x the amount of people in Seoul than there are in Toronto. It's so big and I haven't even seen a corner of it. In Seoul there is an actual English district. In this district you can find so many foreigners. The frist time that I went I was in shock and didn't know what to do with myself. It was shocking to hear so much English being spoken when I had not heard English spoken that much for 4 months. Some of the restaurants that you can find that you can't find in Jinju are Subway, Burger King, and Outback. To get to Seoul it takes 4 hours by bus, but it is a good trip and worth it.
This is Susan and I shopping for sunglasses in Seoul.
Busan is a nice place to do shopping. There are a lot more stores that have bigger sizes than in Jinju. It also has some great beaches, being on the coast. I've been able to find some very nice clothing there. The beaches are very nice. About a week ago I went and enjoyed a little time in the water. The water was a little to rough to stay in for too long as the lifeguards wouldn't allow people in the water at times. I was also able to find some nice Western resturants. There is Starbucks, TGIFs, Outback, and Bennigans. These are not found in Jinju. It takes 1 1/2 hours to get to Busan by bus.
The picture on the right is of all those nice Western restaurants in Busan.










The picture above is of the beach area in Busan.
This is a picture from the Busan Aquarium. Some very cool things can be found there.
Masan is quite small and there isn't much that can be done there accept for a little shopping and visiting. There are some good bookstores in Masan. The shopping is good because I can buy some Western foods to cook with. I can find Campbell's soup, mild salsa, and Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. I can also find Wal-Mart here. Not that I can buy all the same things I can at the Wal-Marts in Canada, but it's a taste from home. I also have one good Christian friend there that I met through my friend Susan. Her name is Sonja and she's from America. It takes 1 hour to get to Masan by bus.
This is a picture of Susan, myself, and Sonja (right to left) in Masan at Pizza Hut.
Last is Asan. I went with Susan for a nice spa trip weekend. We went away for 2 days. The spa was so relaxing. It took 6 hours to get there by train.
The picture on the left is of part of the spa. It's like a hot tub, but there are no jets and the water is scented like green tea. Very relaxing!

My Pet

Being In Korea can be very lonely when you don't speak the language and don't know many people or the people that you know are busy with their jobs. The cause of being lonely for me was all the above and one more reason, living on a dorm of 30 girls for 4 years and not having lived on my own before.
To solve this problem I looked into getting a dog to keep me company. The problem with this was that I needed a dog that would be good for a small apartment, be able to be left alone for the day, and would be good with children. I did my research and found that there were 4 dogs that would be good: Yorkshire Terrier, Maltese, Pekingese, and Shih Tzu.
I heard that Shih Tzus were very stupid and they didn't look cute because of their big eyes, so a Shih Tzu was out of the question. A Pekingese also had huge eyes, but also had a pushed up nose, so it was out of the question. A Yorkshire Terrier was very yappy and I couldn't have a loud dog in my house. This left me with a Maltese. I didn't want to have a white dog because it would be very hard to keep clean, but this is what I settled on getting.
Next I had to find a good pet store that would give me a fair price for a girl dog, as I didn't want a boy dog that would pee all over everything. I found a good pet store and purchased my dog. I even got a good deal and some things for free, what they call 'service' here in Korea.
I named my dog Snowball. The reason was because she was white and curled up in a ball. The only problem with Snowball was that she didn't want to be caged up. I had to make stairs for her to get up onto the bed or else she would bark until she got lifted up and then she couldn't get down. She learned very quickly to use the stairs. As she got bigger she didn't need the stairs any more and as of today, she just jumps up and down off the bed.
This is Snowball soon after I bought her. She is 3 months old here.
Snowball is a great companion and I'm glad that I got her. She is well traveled as she's been to Canada and back to Korea. She is very smart and can do a couple of tricks. She knows how to sit, sit pretty (stand on her hind legs with her front paws up), jump, little jumps, stay, shake a paw, and do circles. I'm still working on roll over, but I don't think that it will come any time soon.
This is Snowball 1 year 3 months old, cute as ever.

My English Bible Study

At the end of my last entry I talked about an English Bible study that I have been leading. I would like to elaborate a little more on that. The Bible study was the idea of one of the Koreans that I met at church, Young Ho. He had a vision to help foreigners in Korea get fed spiritually.
The group started with 3 people: myself, Young Ho, and another Korean woman. The goal of the Bible study was to have a time where foreigners could come and study the Bible along with Koreans who could speak English well.
The group started by studying the book of Daniel. I would not have chosen this book to start a Bible study with because it is very packed with prophecy near the end. I was lucky to have brought my study Bible with me and we were able to understand the jist of the book.
By the time we finished Daniel our group had grown to 5 members. We added 2 more foreigners. The next book we decided to study was Esther. This was a good book to study because it showed how God was faithful. The next book we studied was 1 Timothy. This was a good book for us because we were all teachers. By this point our group had grown to 8 members, 2 Koreans and 1 more foreigner. The last book that we started to study, before I left for Canada, was James.
This is a picture of our group while it still had a significant amount of members.
Our group did more than just study the Bible. We also helped out at the local Christian orphanage for a short time. I actually only went 2 times because of it being so early in the morning and being before church on Sunday. The group was able to play games with the children, sing some songs, and teach them Bible lessons. For the orphanage the Bible study group also raised money by caroling in downtown Jinju for donations. We were able to give them a significant amount of money for them for Christmas.
The picture on the right is of Susan playing a game with the children at the orphanage.
The picture below is of us caroling for donations downtown Jinju.
The last thing that the group did together was to have Christmas dinner together. It was nice to go and have a feast of food and spend the day talking, playing games, and having fun with each other. If we didn't have dinner together on Christmas, I think that it would have been a very lonely day for all us foreigners.
This picture is of all of us having Christmas dinner together. What a feast of food!
To this day there are only 4 members attending the Bible study. Most people got very busy with life or they went back to their countries. I am the only original member and soon I will only be the only foreigner as Susan, the other foreigner has only one week left and she goes back to Canada. The other 3 members are all new to the group since I came back to Korea. They are all Koreans, 2 of them missionaries and the other an university student.
Before I finish talking about the Bible study group let me just tell you about all the places that we have held the Bible study. We were first in an English school, then at a book store, then at my church, and right now we are at a Christian hospital. It's interesting how we have moved to so many locations, but each place has served it's purpose.

Church

Well I have told you about my school experience, but I havin't really elaborated on my life in general here in Korea.
I will start by telling you about church. When I was at my first teaching position I was able to find one teacher who asked me if I was a Christian and invited me to come to church with her the first Sunday that I was in Korea. Talk about an answer to prayer.
So I went to the church on that first Sunday, but found out quickly that I was the only foreigner to attend. I didn't have any translation at the time because the teacher who invited me didn't speak English too well. So I sat through a Korean service at this huge church. Later I was intorduced to a Korean, who taught English and spoke very well. She would translate the services for me. This was such a blessing. This Kroean friend, Ok hee, was soon to become a great friend and someone who I would turn to for a lot of help.
About the church, it is huge. I believe that there are over 2000 members who come to the church. They even added on a second edition to the church for the small groups and smaller meetings to take place in. This is one huge church. The church also offers services to the people. For example, they serve lunch every Sunday to the congregation. They also give free hair cuts, acupuncture, and a place of rest for those who need it. The church also has a huge missions section. They are always training and sending out people all over the world.
So I began to come to the church each week and soon became a fan of some of the children at the church. Some of them would just stare at me and others would try to talk with me. Some of them would even follow me around. It was quite amusing.
I also attended what they call the second service, which starts at 2:00 PM. This was a smaller group of people around my age. It was a little more enjoyable because of the way that the service was set up. I was welcomed into the group like one of their own.
Since coming back to Korea, I have stopped going to the second service because Ok hee has moved to the next group up. I also have started to feel like I need more and I'm just not getting it at the church when I can't actually enjoy the service without someone translating. I don't want to leave the church but I need to have an English service. In Jinju there is no such church that I have found. It's a little disappointing.
I do have an English Bible study that I am leading, but it's still not the same as being able to enjoy a service and worship.

These pictures show just how big the church is. It took me 2 pictures to get the whole thing in.

My Second/Current Teaching Position

Okay, so I've now told you about my really horrible teaching position that I had to end short because of the way I was treated. Now I can tell you about my new teaching position that is so much better than the other one.
Let me start by listing the things that make this placement much better. First, the teachers at the school speak English and I can carry on a converstation with them and ask questions. Second, the classes are smaller. The classes have under 10 students in the classes and if a class reaches 11 students, the class is split into 2 separate classes. Third, the students respect me and if I have a problem with one of them I can speak with the director and he will speak with that trouble student. Fourth, there are English text books for all the students and each of the classes and I am not the only one teaching from the text books. They are shared with the Korean teachers also. Fifth, my director is great. If I have any problem I can tell him and he will help to solve the problem. He has been able to help me with my computer, get internet in my house, get a cell phone, get a new stove, get a new tv, and help me to get information about various items. Sixth, the hours are very nice and my house is a whole 2 minute walk from the school. Seventh and last, there is a freedom to do fun things in the class. We can do worksheets, activities, and have fun while learning English.
This picture is just an example of some of the fun that we have. The three girls are testing to see whose plane will fall the slowest and the fastest.
So as you can see, this teaching position is much different and much better than my previous one. It is so good here that I have decided to extend my contract for an extra 6 months. I have been here for 7 months already, so I have another 11 months until I will be heading back to Canada.
This picture is of my 2 native speaking students. The picture is of a trip to Seoul that we made to do a project on experiencing a new food. They were to try foods that they had never tried before and write about it along with trying to speak as much English as possible on the trip. It was a success.

My First Teaching Position

Hey everyone, who is reading this, I hope you enjoy hearing about my time teaching here in South Korea. Before I start to talk about the present I need to back and talk about the past so you can understand a little more about where I am now.
So it all began when I finished college and I decided that I wanted to get rid of my student loans very quickly. I decided to check out the best way of working off this money and since I had a BA in TESOL (teaching English to students of other languages) I figured that I should start using it. I checked out the internet and on Dave's ESL Cafe found many job postings for teaching English in South Korea for a fair amount of money. So I hooked up with a recruiter, that I thought was good, and they found me a job in Jinju.
Off I went to Jinju, having no contacts other than the recruiters. The flight was long and I didn't know what to expect. I arrived in Seoul and met the recruiter, who took me to the bus station to put me on a bus to Jinju. 4 hours later I arrived in Jinju, around 4:00 AM. The director and his wife met me and took me to my house. I was told that I would be picked up at 12:00 PM to go to the school the next day. Talk about a quick start to things.
Anyways, after finding some clothes to change into and finding the roll of toilet paper, that I was luck to have packed as there was no toilet paper in the house, I tried to go to bed. I woke up very early and started to unpack. There was absolutely no food in the house and I was not told were there was a store, I was really hungry. I waited until 12:00 when I was to be picked up and the director's wife, English name Julie, asked if I had eaten anything. I explained that I didn't know where any stores were and so she took me to Mc Donald's on the way to the school.
So my first day consisted of meeting all the classes. I was given 10 minutes in each class to introduce myself, find out a little about the students, and them ask me any questions. It was an exhausting day. After that I went to the grocery store with Julie and got food and things that I would need.
So this was life in Korea. I found out very fast that there were only 2 teachers at my school who spoke English well enough to understand me and carry on a conversation. They became very helpful to me. They helped me to find various items and different kinds of stores to shop at.
Teaching at this school was a big challenge because I had no text book, I had all ages and all levels, and very large classes of 16-20 students. I finally convinced Julie that I needed to have a text book and she allowed me to buy Side by Side to use. I would photocopy this and try and teach it to the students. Boy, was that a challenge. The students have a very hard time thinking outside of the box. They learn that what the teacher tells you is the way it is and they don't think for themselves. Very difficult.
It was not a very enjoyable time for me because I wouldn't be told about changes or meetings until the last minute and I felt very left out of a lot of things, being the only foreign teacher at the school. I was also to go to another school one day a week and be passed around to the classes every 20 minutes. This was also bad because you can't teach students anything much in 20 minutes and have them remember it one week later. This was also the problem with the school that I mainly worked at also. I only saw the students one time a week and they would forget what they had learned.
Anyways, time went on and I got very worn out, so much that I ended up getting really sick. I was so sick that I could hardly speak because my throat was sore. I went to the doctors and was told that I needed to rest. I went to the school and stayed 20 minutes and found that I was getting worse. I talked to Julie and told her that I was unable to stay because of how I was feeling. She seemed very disappointed and then discussed in Korean, with her husband, what should be done for 5 monutes. They finally decided that I could go home and come back the next day. This was the point where I decided I needed to get out because no one at the school really cared about my well being.
I found in my contract that after 6 months I could leave without having to pay back my whole airflight. So I told Juile that I wanted out and she was far from happy about this. Meanwhile, I had found a better position and was accepted for the job come the start of Febuary. So I left Korea the beginning of January.
This is one of the largest classes, nicknamed the Cute Class (to help me keep track of all the different classes). Not all the students were there that day, maybe about 4 are missing. Note that I didn't choose the name of the class.