Alright people. I know it's been 10 days since my last update, I apologize. It's been a whirlwind to get everything settled and set up, and finally... FINALLY... I have reliable internet on my computer.
A lot has gone on, so prepare for a pretty sizeable post. I was considering posting 'parts', but I don't want to have to be bothered with writing parts of what's happened over the past week and a half when there are other things happening waiting to be blogged about!
Anyway, are you ready? Oh good! Then let's continue.
Getting Settled
Hello Busan. It's nice to meet you. I'm Auggie. I hope you don't mind me saying this, it's a little forward... but I think I'm falling for you.
The first couple of days were a shock. That's to be expected. I was unfamiliar with the area, everything was new and busy and complicated. I was living out of a suitcase, and had no real comforts to go back to after work. Hotel living isn't necessarily pleasant when the hotel is as dark as a closet and suspiciously decorated to look like a love hotel.
Oh wait.
It WAS a love hotel.
That's right, I stayed in a love hotel for the first week. Interesting experience number 1 of too many to name.
After a few days of being shy about going out and exploring, I finally got up enough courage to go out and walk around to see what Hwamyeong was all about. Now after having been here and there I've got my bearings a little better. I'm starting to feel a little more like I know the city. As time goes on, it'll get easier to feel right here. It's just going to take a bit to find my place. It's like meeting new people. You've got to wait a while, get to know them, and then things start to get comfortable.
As far as how things look, I'm pleased. I was expecting a glass and concrete jungle like the one I barely survived in back in Osaka. While there's plenty of glass and concrete here there are also clear views of the gorgeous, huge, mountains from almost every point. Hwamyeong is also right on a river, which lends the city a more natural feel.
I caught a cold the first couple of days I was there. It hit pretty hard, gave me a lovely cough and a stuffy nose. The rest of my co-workers were also battling illness. At a school with gads of children, sickness spreads like wildfire. One after another the teachers began losing their voices. Then finally, it got to me. The end of work Wednesday I had a feeling my voice was going to take a holiday... and sure enough... the next day I could barely speak. I strained my distressed vocal chords even more by having to practically scream everything I wanted to say to get any sound out. Friday was hardly better. But, I'm recovering well, and my voice is now what I'd like to consider a pleasant, sensual, rasp. You know, like I've been smoking and drinking heavily since I was 8.
I finally moved into my apartment on Thursday morning last week. Upon first impression I thought "*Insert curse of your choice*".
It was pretty icky. Of course I noticed all of the bad things first, like the fact that the refrigerator was leaning slightly to the left, that the bed was hard and the frame was slightly off, that there were holes and tears in the wall and wall-paper, dust and grime everywhere, no curtains, and there was a bunch of useless junk that a previous male tenant had left behind (like a basketball and some cologne). Oh yay.
But, I don't mind that kind of challenge. Actually, I like it. I knew that with a little work I could turn this space into a place I could relax. Yes, I began to see the potential. I could Auggify this dorm room sized hole in the wall.
And I did.
All it took was a lot of cleaning, new sheet/pillowcase/comforter for the bed, and a couple of other homey accents here and there, and voila!... basically an entirely new apartment. The giant window offers a lovely view and plenty of sunshine, I get a corner apartment which means no neighbors on either side of me, and the building is basically a 2 minute walk from work.
I still need to address the curtain problem... the curtain rod is bent and broken (behind the desk and the bed) so I can't just go buy new ones. I wouldn't bother... but there's another apartment building right across the way, and at night those people can see right into my apartment. How do I know this? Well because, when their curtains are open at night, I can see right into theirs. This makes things like changing and dancing around the room a little awkward.
I'm also going to budget for a clothes drying rack. This clothes line strung across my apartment thing is going to get pretty old, I can already tell.
Alright, I'll continue more about all of the personal stuff in another blog.
On to Business
GOING OUT
There's plenty of night life to enjoy here in Busan. If you're the type that really likes to party it up on weekends, you won't be lacking in places to go. If you're the type that prefers the more mild side of things, there are places for you too.
U2 Club Lounge & Bar
Last night Busan Haps hosted an event called "World Famous? In Busan" at U2. Three bands were featured (though I can't remember names, unfortunately EDIT:The bands were Pinnacle & The Antidote, One Drop East, and Klickitat ) and they were all fantastic. World famous? It's possible. The club, apparently, has been newly renovated and has improved in appearance and atmosphere by an unspeakable margin. Jazz inspired murals, risque tile collages, dark, rich colors, sharp lines and smooth curves in the design all lend to the artistic atmosphere of U2 making it a place that will appeal to a variety of personalities.
The drinks were a little on the expensive side in my opinion, but I can't really offer any comparative information on that seeing as how that's the only bar I've actually purchased my own drinks at here in Korea.
U2 Club Lounge & Bar is located in Haeundae. Walking towards the beach, it's on your left before you reach the Casino.
Check it out. I enjoyed it, and I'm hard to impress when it comes to bars.
WOMB
The name was the first thing that caught my attention. Mostly because the entire wall outside of the door is bedazzled with varying sizes of green neon signs proclaiming "Womb". After seeing that, I had a pretty good feeling about it. Climb into the elevator, one floor down, B1, and suddenly I was greeted with heavy house beats and a smokey, hazy, minimalist club design definitely conducive to dancing and letting go. Techno/House music, flashing lights, smoke, a dance floor framed by raised seating, a huge screen flashing designs, colors, and the name of that nights DJ were all part of the package. The biggest plus was the space. I prefer spacious dance clubs to small, dark, dank ones.
Womb's atmosphere is vibrant, young, and it's all about dancing which definitely makes this club a favorite.
WOMB is located on the Gwangan beach strip, near "Thursday Party".
SHOPPING
I'm a shopper. It's true. So far I haven't had too many opportunities to check out all the local stores and what not but I've been to two in particular that everyone living in Busan should check out.
The first one is one that you won't be able to get along well without visiting, and it'll probably be your first stop. Welcome to LOTTE Mart.
LOTTE Mart is perhaps best described as Walmart on speed. The Hwamyeong LOTTE is 3 floors of practically everything you can think of. Bottom floor is the grocery section. If you get anxious easily it's best to take a friend with you the first couple of times you visit. The grocery section of LOTTE is constantly busy, there will be employees yelling at you to try or buy a new item or an item that's on a special sale. The fact that you don't speak Korean will probably mean nothing to some of them, and they'll just resort to sign language to push their wares.
You may even get a couple of 'helpful' employees who speak a little bit of English following you around the store so that they can answer any questions you may have, right on the spot. This can be unnerving. Not everyone wants a personal shopping assistant. But, it's also very useful. Employees are often willing to help you find something, even if they can't understand a word you're saying. This equals good news for you. Just don't be afraid to ask.
Along with groceries on the bottom floor you'll find a number of house hold items like pots, pans, dishes, soap, detergent, cleaning supplies, cooking utensils, storage options, bathroom items, hangers, ironing boards (though the irons are not on that floor), face soap, shampoo, and a 1,000 won section (it's the equivalent of a Dollar Store back in the states). I had a field day in the 1,000 won section. I love a good bargain.
The second floor is all about clothes. Men's clothes, women's clothes, children's clothes, work clothes, sports clothes, cleaning clothes, and so on. You'll also find your make-up and accessories here, ladies.
The third floor houses appliances, electronics, house decoration items, books, stationary, and some random items like golf clubs, an assortment of clocks, mirrors, and large storage options.
SHINSEGAE CENTUM CITY
Shinsegae Centum City is located in Busan and currently holds the record for the largest department store in the world. Now, when they say "large" they mean LARGE. Centum City is 5,487,594.84 sq. ft.
Not to mention that Centum City is only part of a an even bigger shopping complex. A 12.6 million square-foot shopping complex. Here you can find departments stores, restaurants, a gym, golf driving range, spa, ice rink, cinema and art gallery. That's pretty amazing.
It's completely worth a visit. Actually, more than one. It's going to take you a couple of trips to experience everything Centum City has to offer.
Life at a Hagwon
Are you trying to make a decision on wether to teach at a public or private school? There are SO many options available to you, from where in Korea you would like to teach, to what age of student, to what kind of school. Sometimes all of the information can be a little overwhelming. Well, here's my advice to you:
Do your research.
There are a lot of 'expats to be' that depend solely on the reviews of other expats. While it isn't bad to listen to the complaints and praises of others, you should really take all of it with a grain of salt. Why? Well, because there are good and bad aspects to both public and private school working, and your experience is going to depend mostly on your attitude. . Already I've spoken to people who hate and love their job, and they work at the same school!
I've heard good and bad reviews of both public and private school teaching. Private schools can be scary because there are SO many, and they're privately funded, which means that they could go under if they lose their student base. This is when you put your big boy/girl pants on and do research about institutions on your own. There are numerous private schools that are supported by universities and have a good, ever sturdy, student population.
If you're being assigned a position through some kind of agency, make sure the agency is a good one and has years of experience working with getting teachers jobs in Korea. Usually they're going to be good at weeding out the really questionable schools so you don't end up standing outside your hagwon one day, out of a job, because the school went bankrupt (a popular horror story).
I recommend Gone2Korea.
Working at a Private school. It's not a Holiday.
Sure, you get paid more at a private school. Yeah, the benefits are generally better AND classes are smaller. These seem pretty tempting to everyone, right? And they should! Those are great perks to working at a private school in Korea. However, Private schools are not for the weak at heart.
Private schools are more structured than public schools and can require more hours of preparation for the teacher. I'm scheduled for 40.5 hours a week, but if you exclude lunch breaks and prep time (which is pretty laid back) I actually only teach 27.5 hours a week.
Some of you reading this are going to think "WOW, That's a lot!". I'm sure you were expecting to arrive here, teach a couple of hours a day, and have free time all the rest. Yeah?
Here comes a bit of the bubble bursting...A private school position is usually a full-time job. That's what you can expect to be signing up for. You're going to be a teacher. It's a job, and it has its responsibilities. Those two things sound like no fun to lots of people, I know. But if you're expecting to come over to Korea for a long vacation with a little teaching work on the side, you're already setting yourself up for a negative experience.
That being said, just because you work full-time doesn't mean you can't have fun. There's PLENTY to do at night, after work (even on weekdays) and once your work hours are over, it's your time. Your weekends are also free, which gives you enough time to do the stuff that you want to do, including travel.
I heard a lot of complaints about vacation time for private schools as well. Private schools don't have as much vacation as a public school. It's true. But that doesn't mean that they don't have vacation at all. Private schools recognize all of the national holidays (so you get those days off just like the public schools), and generally you'll be offered 10 days of paid vacation (2 weeks). I was offered the same, and then come to find out that not only do I get a 2 week paid vacation (Christmas break), there's also a 1 week vacation in July for summer. Its not the public school holiday length or frequency but you DO get vacation. 2 weeks paid vacation a year plus a week is a lot more than you can expect from a job back in the states.
Private school teaching could be VERY rewarding for you. I can't speak for public schools because I haven't yet worked in one, but I can tell you that there are plenty of praise speakers and naysayers on BOTH sides. So, self evaluate. Write a pros and cons list. Research different schools. Honestly, no matter where you end up (public or private school) there's the potential to have really amazing and wonderful experiences.
As a P.S. THANK YOU to BUSAN HAPS, U2 CLUB LOUNGE & BAR, and ALL OF THE WONDERFUL BANDS who put together the "World Famous" event last night. It was fantastic. I'm definitely looking forward to more from all of you.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Hello Busan! Part 2
Why so slow on updates?
I've usually got tons of stuff to say, and if you know me then you know it's unlikely that I've just ran verbally dry all of the sudden. In all honesty I haven't been exactly enthusaistic about updating the blog these past few days. Why? Because I can't use my computer! Oh, you just don't know how annoying it is until you've experienced computer separation for yourself.
Because Radioshak didn't know what they were talking about, I am now without converters or adapters. Wonderful. I went by Lotte Mart (Think, Korean Wal-mart only less annoying) but I couldn't find any Korea to US adapters. I'm still searching, so if ANYONE knows where I could find an adapter I would appreciate your input.
Anyway, I've got pictures to upload, but I can't do that until I can use my own computer, whose battery is unfortunately drained. The computer I use at the motel is slow on the type so there are times when I type faster than the computer can keep up with. The backspace button is the size of a pea and there's no spell check! Oh, don't you judge. I know you use it too!
Anyway, for now you'll just have to suffer through my pictureless, useful informationless, typo filled blogs. I'll do my best to get my computer back up soon.
Really, I have tons of great things to blog about, but using this computer to blog is like sharing intimate secrets with a stranger. No fun.
So, for the time being I'll just leave you with this:
MEMORABLE QUOTES
Warm Welcome
Nick: "Audra, this is Lindsay." *Motions to one of the Korean teachers who just entered the room.*
Me: "Hello."
Linsay: "Hello. Welcome to your miserable life."
Evil Squash
There are about 6 kids in one of the older kids morning classes. Yesterday they were talking about what they "can" and "can't" do. Steven is one of the boys in the class, and he says some of the most intersting things...
Nick: "Can you drive a bumper car?"
Steven: "I like sports cars!"
Nick: "Sports cars? Wow!
Steven: "There's an evil pumpkin in my sports car!"
Gender Identity Disorder
An older class in the afternoon was going over classroom objects and people. Dan is one of the more rambunctious boys in the room. This is what he had to say...
Nick: (Pointing to a picture of a female teacher)"Who is this?"
Dan: "Nick Teacher!"
Nick: "Nick Teacher? But that's a girl! Do you mean Audra Teacher?"
Dan: "No! Nick Teacher is a girl, and Audra Teacher is a boy!"
Today
Well, I'm hyped up on an "Americano Espresso Coffee" from Dunkin' Donuts (which is right across the street from work, AND I ordered in Korean! Which isn't saying much because Americano, espresso, and coffee are all borrowed English words...), so I'm ready to tackle this long busy day ahead! It's training day #2 with 9 classes ranging from Kindergarten to Middle school. I'm ready!
Are you?
I've usually got tons of stuff to say, and if you know me then you know it's unlikely that I've just ran verbally dry all of the sudden. In all honesty I haven't been exactly enthusaistic about updating the blog these past few days. Why? Because I can't use my computer! Oh, you just don't know how annoying it is until you've experienced computer separation for yourself.
Because Radioshak didn't know what they were talking about, I am now without converters or adapters. Wonderful. I went by Lotte Mart (Think, Korean Wal-mart only less annoying) but I couldn't find any Korea to US adapters. I'm still searching, so if ANYONE knows where I could find an adapter I would appreciate your input.
Anyway, I've got pictures to upload, but I can't do that until I can use my own computer, whose battery is unfortunately drained. The computer I use at the motel is slow on the type so there are times when I type faster than the computer can keep up with. The backspace button is the size of a pea and there's no spell check! Oh, don't you judge. I know you use it too!
Anyway, for now you'll just have to suffer through my pictureless, useful informationless, typo filled blogs. I'll do my best to get my computer back up soon.
Really, I have tons of great things to blog about, but using this computer to blog is like sharing intimate secrets with a stranger. No fun.
So, for the time being I'll just leave you with this:
MEMORABLE QUOTES
Warm Welcome
Nick: "Audra, this is Lindsay." *Motions to one of the Korean teachers who just entered the room.*
Me: "Hello."
Linsay: "Hello. Welcome to your miserable life."
Evil Squash
There are about 6 kids in one of the older kids morning classes. Yesterday they were talking about what they "can" and "can't" do. Steven is one of the boys in the class, and he says some of the most intersting things...
Nick: "Can you drive a bumper car?"
Steven: "I like sports cars!"
Nick: "Sports cars? Wow!
Steven: "There's an evil pumpkin in my sports car!"
Gender Identity Disorder
An older class in the afternoon was going over classroom objects and people. Dan is one of the more rambunctious boys in the room. This is what he had to say...
Nick: (Pointing to a picture of a female teacher)"Who is this?"
Dan: "Nick Teacher!"
Nick: "Nick Teacher? But that's a girl! Do you mean Audra Teacher?"
Dan: "No! Nick Teacher is a girl, and Audra Teacher is a boy!"
Today
Well, I'm hyped up on an "Americano Espresso Coffee" from Dunkin' Donuts (which is right across the street from work, AND I ordered in Korean! Which isn't saying much because Americano, espresso, and coffee are all borrowed English words...), so I'm ready to tackle this long busy day ahead! It's training day #2 with 9 classes ranging from Kindergarten to Middle school. I'm ready!
Are you?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Hello Busan!
Almost 24 hours ago, while sitting at the Incheon International airport, I wrote a quick facebook note to let friends and family know how all my traveling had gone.
Now that it's 1:00 in the morning here in Busan, and I'm wide awake, I'd like to repost that note on blogger and expand a little.
Traveling was hectic, frantic, exciting, stressful, awful, and wonderful all at the same time.
There were several instances when I thought I missed my flight, or lost my tickets, or something horribly stressful like that. Luckily none of that happened and everything went off with out a hitch, mostly.
Some Travel Highlights:
1.) Running back and forth between terminal 3 and TBT (3 buildings apart, outside access only) at LAX because Asiana airlines wanted a receipt from Delta that Delta didn't seem to want to give me. After being sent practically all over LAX (which is like a small city, by the way) I finally retrieve the tickets just in time!
2.) I get lost at Incheon Int'l airport. When I finally figure out where I am I realize I'm in the wrong place. Yes! Customs was intimidating, the customs officer told me that I have to learn Korean. Shock... I stood there staring at him thinking that he was going to send me back through the gate and deny me entry into the country. I told him meekly that I was learning. Then he smiled and I realized he was semi-joking... I think.
3.) I get lost again. When I figure out where I am my bags decide to fall off the cart in the middle of a crowd...twice No one helps. I didn't expect anyone to, it's a big city international airport after all. It seems like people in huge cities are always too busy to help someone. That's okay, I looked like an clumsy idiot foreign girl... I'll get over it. Besides, I think I really amused some guys watching from a ways away because they were laughing pretty hard around the time I was dragging my heavy suitcases back onto the cart. Maybe I made their day. Superwoman, yeah!
4.) When I get to the counter for the airline flying to Busan I'm informed that I have to pay an extra baggage fee, again. Er. Why? There wasn't really any explanation other than "It's a different flight" which didn't make any sense to me because it was the same airline. Oh well.
5.) I got stopped for bag check... twice. The first time a really nice security officer and I stared at two cans of my hairspray for a minute or so. I'm not entirely sure what we were trying to figure out about them, but he was satisfied with my explanation that they were the same brand different hairsprays. I think he was wondering why in the world I would need 2 huge cans of hairspray. I don't blame him. I wonder the same thing myself sometimes.
The second bag check was at a security check point. A security officer looked through my carry on. Nothing interesting happened, though he did find my pencil case, a case I'm quite proud of, so hey, I got to show it off.
Oh and I just remembered, I got the pat down at LAX because of my sweater. Apparently hooded sweaters are suspicious. But hey, that's okay with me. They're obviously doing their best to insure my safety and the safety of others.It's their job to be suspicious. They were really nice about it and surprisingly the whole situation was not as awkward as I thought it was going to be.
6.) The seat I was assigned for the 12 hour flight to Seoul from LAX was last row aisle. It was AMAZING! I got to lean back as far as I wanted to without worrying about bothering the person behind me. I was right near the bathroom at the back which wasn't used too often and was convenient, especially with me not having to climb over anyone.
7.) Food on the plane was great.
8.) I actually got to sleep for about 7 or so hours.
And, like I said when I originally wrote this note... there have been ups and downs, negatives and positives, but it's been some kind of experience and honestly, I wouldn't change a thing.
In Busan
Stepping off the plane in Busan was a wonderful experience. First of all I was thinking "No more planes for a long time! Yah!" Flying and traveling is fun until you've been doing it for 27 some odd hours.
The Irate Gentleman and the Baggage Clerk
After getting to bag check I stand and wait for a while for the bags to come through. An older gentleman standing next to me pulls his golf clubs off of the baggage belt, puts them on the cart, then promptly yells angrily to a young man monitoring the baggage claim. Now, I have no idea what they were saying but I'm not stupid, I figured it out. The older gentleman was quite irritated that there was dirt on his golf bag. He was so loud that he attracted the attention from everyone else waiting for their baggage. Almost everyone was staring at these two. I scooted away a little. When the yelling got louder, I scooted away a little more.
The baggage clerk could only bow his head and say meekly "I'm sorry". What else could he do? It wasn't his fault the bags were dirty, and he probably had no idea WHY the bags were dirty. But he was polite and he took being yelled at with some glint of dignity. There was no fist fight, no bruising or spilling of blood. Thank goodness.
I have to say, in my very honest opinion, the older gentleman went a little overboard. But hey, I wasn't about to say anything. Not even close.
The bags were dirty, though. Even mine. But all you had to do was pat and brush at it and the dirt went away. Not exactly the end of the world.
Meeting the Director and going to School
The director from the SLP school met me outside of the baggage claim doors. I was shocked. I had been expecting to see this short, gray haired, balding, aging, gentleman with glasses. The only part I got right in my mental image were the glasses. Not only was the director young with a full head of black hair, he was...gigantic. He towered above me and when we finally got into the car he had to scrunch forward to see out the windshield. Needless to say, I was intimidated.
But, he turned out quickly to be really nice. We attempted conversation in the car, and that went pretty well, but his English is limited and my Korean is downright dismal. There were plenty of long silences. He showed me around the little area where the school was (I'll put up some pictures later, don't you worry), then we went up to the 6th floor of a building near the bank, my new work place.
We're greated by the sound of screaming laughing children, and the director puts his fingers in his ears to singnal 'so noisy' and says "The children." I just grin and nod. The elevator doors open and I'm greeted with bright colors, happy pictures, and a line of rowdy kindergarden children getting ready to go to class. I am instantly in love with this place.
I meet some of the other foreign teachers, including the one I'm replacing. My fist impressions of them are... they're extremely approachable and friendly faced. You know what else? They look happy. YEAH! That's what I want to see, happy faces.
The head teacher, the one who interviewed me for the job, arrives and goes over everything with me. I get a schedule and plenty of other reading material to look over (which I haven't yet, because I've been sleeping since I got to the motel). Then it's 'see you tomorrow' and off we go again.
The Motel
I'm staying in a motel during my training period. The teacher I'm replacing is remaining here to help train me and get me prepared to do my best, and I'm moving into his apartment so I've got to have a place to stay until he leaves.
The motel is... interesting. Though I've never seen a Korean love hotel before, I couldn't blame anyone who mistook Propose as one of them. Yes, that's the name of the motel. "Propose". The walls are pink with sparkles, the giant bathtub is laden with sparkles... the room is small but they managed to fit in a huge plasma TV, very nice computer with a large screen and a bed that could fit at least four (though the matress is roughly a concrete slab with 1/2 inch padding.) Am I complaining? No, not really... well, maybe about the bed, but other than that I'm grateful to have a place to stay, free of cost.
Positives? Internet is free, there's plenty of hot water and tissues (in adorable decrative boxes), the comforter is pretty, and everything seems extremely clean.
Anything else?
Oh yes. The people at Radio Shak apparently have NO idea what they're talking about. After about 45 minutes in their store gauranteeing me they'd found what I needed, they finally convinced me to buy two electrical adapters and watage/voltage converters. Guess what ladies and gentleman, they don't work. Not even close. Not only can I not plug them into the wall, I can't plug any of MY stuff into them because one of the holes is too small. Brilliant.
I have internet in the motel, so it's not such a huge problem that I can't use my computer yet. But my hair straightener... oh goodness. Not being able to use my hair iron means poofy, curly/frizzy hair that's practically out of control. Oh well, I figure if everyone at work gets used to me looking like I don't know how to use a hairbrush they'll just be all that more surprised when I stared coming to work groomed. There's always a plus side, right?
That's all for tonight.
Look forward to more, I'm positive that tomorrow will offer plenty of interesting things to blog about.
Now that it's 1:00 in the morning here in Busan, and I'm wide awake, I'd like to repost that note on blogger and expand a little.
Traveling was hectic, frantic, exciting, stressful, awful, and wonderful all at the same time.
There were several instances when I thought I missed my flight, or lost my tickets, or something horribly stressful like that. Luckily none of that happened and everything went off with out a hitch, mostly.
Some Travel Highlights:
1.) Running back and forth between terminal 3 and TBT (3 buildings apart, outside access only) at LAX because Asiana airlines wanted a receipt from Delta that Delta didn't seem to want to give me. After being sent practically all over LAX (which is like a small city, by the way) I finally retrieve the tickets just in time!
2.) I get lost at Incheon Int'l airport. When I finally figure out where I am I realize I'm in the wrong place. Yes! Customs was intimidating, the customs officer told me that I have to learn Korean. Shock... I stood there staring at him thinking that he was going to send me back through the gate and deny me entry into the country. I told him meekly that I was learning. Then he smiled and I realized he was semi-joking... I think.
3.) I get lost again. When I figure out where I am my bags decide to fall off the cart in the middle of a crowd...twice No one helps. I didn't expect anyone to, it's a big city international airport after all. It seems like people in huge cities are always too busy to help someone. That's okay, I looked like an clumsy idiot foreign girl... I'll get over it. Besides, I think I really amused some guys watching from a ways away because they were laughing pretty hard around the time I was dragging my heavy suitcases back onto the cart. Maybe I made their day. Superwoman, yeah!
4.) When I get to the counter for the airline flying to Busan I'm informed that I have to pay an extra baggage fee, again. Er. Why? There wasn't really any explanation other than "It's a different flight" which didn't make any sense to me because it was the same airline. Oh well.
5.) I got stopped for bag check... twice. The first time a really nice security officer and I stared at two cans of my hairspray for a minute or so. I'm not entirely sure what we were trying to figure out about them, but he was satisfied with my explanation that they were the same brand different hairsprays. I think he was wondering why in the world I would need 2 huge cans of hairspray. I don't blame him. I wonder the same thing myself sometimes.
The second bag check was at a security check point. A security officer looked through my carry on. Nothing interesting happened, though he did find my pencil case, a case I'm quite proud of, so hey, I got to show it off.
Oh and I just remembered, I got the pat down at LAX because of my sweater. Apparently hooded sweaters are suspicious. But hey, that's okay with me. They're obviously doing their best to insure my safety and the safety of others.It's their job to be suspicious. They were really nice about it and surprisingly the whole situation was not as awkward as I thought it was going to be.
6.) The seat I was assigned for the 12 hour flight to Seoul from LAX was last row aisle. It was AMAZING! I got to lean back as far as I wanted to without worrying about bothering the person behind me. I was right near the bathroom at the back which wasn't used too often and was convenient, especially with me not having to climb over anyone.
7.) Food on the plane was great.
8.) I actually got to sleep for about 7 or so hours.
And, like I said when I originally wrote this note... there have been ups and downs, negatives and positives, but it's been some kind of experience and honestly, I wouldn't change a thing.
In Busan
Stepping off the plane in Busan was a wonderful experience. First of all I was thinking "No more planes for a long time! Yah!" Flying and traveling is fun until you've been doing it for 27 some odd hours.
The Irate Gentleman and the Baggage Clerk
After getting to bag check I stand and wait for a while for the bags to come through. An older gentleman standing next to me pulls his golf clubs off of the baggage belt, puts them on the cart, then promptly yells angrily to a young man monitoring the baggage claim. Now, I have no idea what they were saying but I'm not stupid, I figured it out. The older gentleman was quite irritated that there was dirt on his golf bag. He was so loud that he attracted the attention from everyone else waiting for their baggage. Almost everyone was staring at these two. I scooted away a little. When the yelling got louder, I scooted away a little more.
The baggage clerk could only bow his head and say meekly "I'm sorry". What else could he do? It wasn't his fault the bags were dirty, and he probably had no idea WHY the bags were dirty. But he was polite and he took being yelled at with some glint of dignity. There was no fist fight, no bruising or spilling of blood. Thank goodness.
I have to say, in my very honest opinion, the older gentleman went a little overboard. But hey, I wasn't about to say anything. Not even close.
The bags were dirty, though. Even mine. But all you had to do was pat and brush at it and the dirt went away. Not exactly the end of the world.
Meeting the Director and going to School
The director from the SLP school met me outside of the baggage claim doors. I was shocked. I had been expecting to see this short, gray haired, balding, aging, gentleman with glasses. The only part I got right in my mental image were the glasses. Not only was the director young with a full head of black hair, he was...gigantic. He towered above me and when we finally got into the car he had to scrunch forward to see out the windshield. Needless to say, I was intimidated.
But, he turned out quickly to be really nice. We attempted conversation in the car, and that went pretty well, but his English is limited and my Korean is downright dismal. There were plenty of long silences. He showed me around the little area where the school was (I'll put up some pictures later, don't you worry), then we went up to the 6th floor of a building near the bank, my new work place.
We're greated by the sound of screaming laughing children, and the director puts his fingers in his ears to singnal 'so noisy' and says "The children." I just grin and nod. The elevator doors open and I'm greeted with bright colors, happy pictures, and a line of rowdy kindergarden children getting ready to go to class. I am instantly in love with this place.
I meet some of the other foreign teachers, including the one I'm replacing. My fist impressions of them are... they're extremely approachable and friendly faced. You know what else? They look happy. YEAH! That's what I want to see, happy faces.
The head teacher, the one who interviewed me for the job, arrives and goes over everything with me. I get a schedule and plenty of other reading material to look over (which I haven't yet, because I've been sleeping since I got to the motel). Then it's 'see you tomorrow' and off we go again.
The Motel
I'm staying in a motel during my training period. The teacher I'm replacing is remaining here to help train me and get me prepared to do my best, and I'm moving into his apartment so I've got to have a place to stay until he leaves.
The motel is... interesting. Though I've never seen a Korean love hotel before, I couldn't blame anyone who mistook Propose as one of them. Yes, that's the name of the motel. "Propose". The walls are pink with sparkles, the giant bathtub is laden with sparkles... the room is small but they managed to fit in a huge plasma TV, very nice computer with a large screen and a bed that could fit at least four (though the matress is roughly a concrete slab with 1/2 inch padding.) Am I complaining? No, not really... well, maybe about the bed, but other than that I'm grateful to have a place to stay, free of cost.
Positives? Internet is free, there's plenty of hot water and tissues (in adorable decrative boxes), the comforter is pretty, and everything seems extremely clean.
Anything else?
Oh yes. The people at Radio Shak apparently have NO idea what they're talking about. After about 45 minutes in their store gauranteeing me they'd found what I needed, they finally convinced me to buy two electrical adapters and watage/voltage converters. Guess what ladies and gentleman, they don't work. Not even close. Not only can I not plug them into the wall, I can't plug any of MY stuff into them because one of the holes is too small. Brilliant.
I have internet in the motel, so it's not such a huge problem that I can't use my computer yet. But my hair straightener... oh goodness. Not being able to use my hair iron means poofy, curly/frizzy hair that's practically out of control. Oh well, I figure if everyone at work gets used to me looking like I don't know how to use a hairbrush they'll just be all that more surprised when I stared coming to work groomed. There's always a plus side, right?
That's all for tonight.
Look forward to more, I'm positive that tomorrow will offer plenty of interesting things to blog about.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Preparing For the Move Part III: Final Prep
Time until I make the Big Move: A little less than 2 days.
I'll tell you something, this whole getting ready to move to another country thing is EXHAUSTING.
Not only have I been running around trying to get all the last minute things that seem at least minutely necessary, I'm up and about making lists for packing, trying to arrange necessary numbers and accounts for keeping in touch with friends and family, and trying to pack while holding down the urge to unpack, recheck, and pack everything again.
When it comes down to the wire I start getting slightly neurotic. I already have a difficult time making a decision between things without the proper time to compare, but it gets downright ridiculous when I'm stressed. A trip to the face-care product section of Walgreens yesterday with my Mom proved that. What should have been a quick 'grab and go' turned into a 30 minute ordeal of comparing products, reading ingredients, and sniffing each face-care option before making a decision, changing my mind, and then making another decision.
I ended up changing almost every brand of face-care product I use out of stress, and towards the end of that excursion I had a sneaking suspicion that my Mom was ready to force feed me a valiume.
What's New?
If you're an expat in Korea and you're interested in learning more about what there is to do in your area, especially if you're new to an area (like me), you'd benefit from visiting Life in Korea. The link will take you directly to the Busan Activities and Events page, but you can select your area by Cities or Provinces, or you can choose specialized areas such as Buddhist Temples, National parks, and Night life.
Not only does each link give you a description and rating of the location, it also lists simple directions to help you get there, this is especially useful if you're sometimes directionally challenged (also like me).
I'll tell you something, this whole getting ready to move to another country thing is EXHAUSTING.
Not only have I been running around trying to get all the last minute things that seem at least minutely necessary, I'm up and about making lists for packing, trying to arrange necessary numbers and accounts for keeping in touch with friends and family, and trying to pack while holding down the urge to unpack, recheck, and pack everything again.
When it comes down to the wire I start getting slightly neurotic. I already have a difficult time making a decision between things without the proper time to compare, but it gets downright ridiculous when I'm stressed. A trip to the face-care product section of Walgreens yesterday with my Mom proved that. What should have been a quick 'grab and go' turned into a 30 minute ordeal of comparing products, reading ingredients, and sniffing each face-care option before making a decision, changing my mind, and then making another decision.
I ended up changing almost every brand of face-care product I use out of stress, and towards the end of that excursion I had a sneaking suspicion that my Mom was ready to force feed me a valiume.
What's New?
If you're an expat in Korea and you're interested in learning more about what there is to do in your area, especially if you're new to an area (like me), you'd benefit from visiting Life in Korea. The link will take you directly to the Busan Activities and Events page, but you can select your area by Cities or Provinces, or you can choose specialized areas such as Buddhist Temples, National parks, and Night life.
Not only does each link give you a description and rating of the location, it also lists simple directions to help you get there, this is especially useful if you're sometimes directionally challenged (also like me).
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Preparing For the Move Part II: Crazy Week
Time until I make the Big Move: A little less than 4 days.
It's Thursday of one of the most eventful weeks I've experienced in a long time. I've wanted to write a blog up to kind of document the craziness but I haven't had the time. Now that I do, I'd like to play some catch up.
It all started last week when I got a phone call from the Korean consulate in Houston Texas. It's interview time! They want to schedule an interview with me for 2:30 Tuesday afternoon. That's great! Catch: The interview is face to face, no exceptions.
Ooookay!
Problem: Finding the time and means to get to Houston for the interview on Tuesday and get back A.S.A.P to do everything else.
Solution: Drive to the airport at 6am, take a plane to DFW, take another plane to Houston, Interview, take plane from Houston to DFW, take another plane back to airport in AR, drive home. Total travel time: a little more than 10 hours. Length of Interview: 10 minutes. Am I complaining? Not at all. It was actually a lot of fun.
After finally climbing into bed around 12:30ish I get enough sleep to get me up and out of the house with little problem the next morning by 8 to make the 3 hour drive to Fayetteville. I spent some time with a couple of friends I haven't seen in a looong time, including a Japanese girl I worked with last year at the Language Center. I didn't get to spend time with everyone I wanted to, unfortunately, because the weather got bad (tornado warnings, rain, thick fog and what not) and I had to drive back home.
3 hours and a lot of gripping the steering wheel with all my might while driving through fog as thick as cotton candy later I was home and climbing into bed yet again.
A dentist appointment at 8:15 this morning proved to be mostly uneventful, but a crack in a seal that could cause a cavity later needs to be addressed so I get to go back again this afternoon. Wonderful. I get to visit my friend Novocain before leaving the country. Brilliant.
There's plenty more preparing to be done before I'm ready to leave the country but it's all minor stuff, like packing. No stress there.
To close the personal part of my post I'd like to provide readers with a couple of simple lessons I've learned over the past few days. I hope you'll take them to heart.
Auggie's Lessons Learned:
1.) Unless you absolutely must, do not exchange money, USD to whatever, via US banks. The exchange rates are 'meh', and you lose money. Of course, I technically only lost 69 cents, but still...
2.) When a government official of any kind tells you to be somewhere at a certain time, get there early. Arriving on time means that they've been waiting for you for at least 30 minutes.
3.) Never get out of your car to adjust your windshield wipers on a windy highway while forgetting that you still have earphones in. Not only will your earphones get caught on something and yank you back into the car, causing you to bump various body parts on hard surfaces like the steering wheel and seat buckle, the wind will persuade your car door to swing into you and knock you sideways again causing you to either trip, fall, or yell profanities. Either way you look stupid, and people driving by are probably laughing at you.
4.) Wearing high heels with no socks or hose will cost you around $1.50 in bandaids.
In The News
A very sad and shocking news story reported here. I don't know if any of my readers are religious/spiritual or not, but it's no secret that the family of this young girl needs prayer. So no matter what deity you believe in, send one up guys.
Language Learning
Visit KimchiCrew for lessons on "Drinking" in Korean and other interesting and useful language information.
ATTENTION PROFESSIONAL AND SELF PROCLAIMED PHOTOGRAPHERS AND FASHION GURUS LIVING IN KOREA
A new website has been launched called Tagazine. Tagazine is a website created to connect people from all over the world via fashion and photography. Open an account and posts pictures of yourself or others wearing your favorite brands or any clothing/accessories that you like. Tag the clothes: Brand, price, and color.
You can search the website for other people wearing your favorites!
New to the fashion industry? Trying to promote your stuff? Post photos of your clothing to get your name out there.
The site is currently looking for people in all parts of the world to participate in expanding the photo archives.
Tagazine is looking for photographers and fashion forward people in Korea who are willing to help promote the site. If you're interested please contact me and I'll get you the proper information you need. Keep in mind that it's all about fun and enjoying fashion and photography!
Anyone can open an account! Click here to get started.
It's Thursday of one of the most eventful weeks I've experienced in a long time. I've wanted to write a blog up to kind of document the craziness but I haven't had the time. Now that I do, I'd like to play some catch up.
It all started last week when I got a phone call from the Korean consulate in Houston Texas. It's interview time! They want to schedule an interview with me for 2:30 Tuesday afternoon. That's great! Catch: The interview is face to face, no exceptions.
Ooookay!
Problem: Finding the time and means to get to Houston for the interview on Tuesday and get back A.S.A.P to do everything else.
Solution: Drive to the airport at 6am, take a plane to DFW, take another plane to Houston, Interview, take plane from Houston to DFW, take another plane back to airport in AR, drive home. Total travel time: a little more than 10 hours. Length of Interview: 10 minutes. Am I complaining? Not at all. It was actually a lot of fun.
After finally climbing into bed around 12:30ish I get enough sleep to get me up and out of the house with little problem the next morning by 8 to make the 3 hour drive to Fayetteville. I spent some time with a couple of friends I haven't seen in a looong time, including a Japanese girl I worked with last year at the Language Center. I didn't get to spend time with everyone I wanted to, unfortunately, because the weather got bad (tornado warnings, rain, thick fog and what not) and I had to drive back home.
3 hours and a lot of gripping the steering wheel with all my might while driving through fog as thick as cotton candy later I was home and climbing into bed yet again.
A dentist appointment at 8:15 this morning proved to be mostly uneventful, but a crack in a seal that could cause a cavity later needs to be addressed so I get to go back again this afternoon. Wonderful. I get to visit my friend Novocain before leaving the country. Brilliant.
There's plenty more preparing to be done before I'm ready to leave the country but it's all minor stuff, like packing. No stress there.
To close the personal part of my post I'd like to provide readers with a couple of simple lessons I've learned over the past few days. I hope you'll take them to heart.
Auggie's Lessons Learned:
1.) Unless you absolutely must, do not exchange money, USD to whatever, via US banks. The exchange rates are 'meh', and you lose money. Of course, I technically only lost 69 cents, but still...
2.) When a government official of any kind tells you to be somewhere at a certain time, get there early. Arriving on time means that they've been waiting for you for at least 30 minutes.
3.) Never get out of your car to adjust your windshield wipers on a windy highway while forgetting that you still have earphones in. Not only will your earphones get caught on something and yank you back into the car, causing you to bump various body parts on hard surfaces like the steering wheel and seat buckle, the wind will persuade your car door to swing into you and knock you sideways again causing you to either trip, fall, or yell profanities. Either way you look stupid, and people driving by are probably laughing at you.
4.) Wearing high heels with no socks or hose will cost you around $1.50 in bandaids.
In The News
A very sad and shocking news story reported here. I don't know if any of my readers are religious/spiritual or not, but it's no secret that the family of this young girl needs prayer. So no matter what deity you believe in, send one up guys.
Language Learning
Visit KimchiCrew for lessons on "Drinking" in Korean and other interesting and useful language information.
ATTENTION PROFESSIONAL AND SELF PROCLAIMED PHOTOGRAPHERS AND FASHION GURUS LIVING IN KOREA
A new website has been launched called Tagazine. Tagazine is a website created to connect people from all over the world via fashion and photography. Open an account and posts pictures of yourself or others wearing your favorite brands or any clothing/accessories that you like. Tag the clothes: Brand, price, and color.
You can search the website for other people wearing your favorites!
New to the fashion industry? Trying to promote your stuff? Post photos of your clothing to get your name out there.
The site is currently looking for people in all parts of the world to participate in expanding the photo archives.
Tagazine is looking for photographers and fashion forward people in Korea who are willing to help promote the site. If you're interested please contact me and I'll get you the proper information you need. Keep in mind that it's all about fun and enjoying fashion and photography!
Anyone can open an account! Click here to get started.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Preparing For the Move: Part 1 of (probably a lot).
안녕하세요!
Less than two weeks to go now. The waiting period has been somewhat of an up and down experience. Up until now it's been random, sporadic, and temporary bouts of momentary glee, excitement, anxiousness, and determination all at once. Now that I've reached the 2 week mark it's constant emotion. You know what? I'm actually really enjoying it.
I've discovered over the years that I ride the wave of panic pretty well. So I'm functioning in this situation with surprising efficiency. When there are hundreds of things to get done and not a lot of time to do them in, when different people want different things all at once, when I'm facing a herd of emotions I'm not entirely used to experiencing... yeah, that's my adrenaline rush. For someone like me who's a little on the reserved side (believe it or not) new places and new people are my equivalent of bungee jumping, throw in a new language and it's sky diving, people!
Anyway
I've found some great resources for life in Busan (look to your right). There's no surprise that the majority of information on expat living in Korea, especially from expat blogs, is centered around Seoul. Seoul is the largest metropolitan city in the country. Busan is the second largest but between the two we're talking a population difference of millions. Seoul has more than 3x the population of Busan. Yikes!
I did manage to find a great website called Global Busan. The site was developed in an attempt to make settling in Busan easier for foreigners. City tours, mentor programs, and language tutoring are all part of the cities move for assisting foreigners in their adjusting to life in Korea.
As the time to make the big move approaches, I find that I'm really looking forward to getting to know Busan.
Less than two weeks to go.
Is it still too early to start packing?
Less than two weeks to go now. The waiting period has been somewhat of an up and down experience. Up until now it's been random, sporadic, and temporary bouts of momentary glee, excitement, anxiousness, and determination all at once. Now that I've reached the 2 week mark it's constant emotion. You know what? I'm actually really enjoying it.
I've discovered over the years that I ride the wave of panic pretty well. So I'm functioning in this situation with surprising efficiency. When there are hundreds of things to get done and not a lot of time to do them in, when different people want different things all at once, when I'm facing a herd of emotions I'm not entirely used to experiencing... yeah, that's my adrenaline rush. For someone like me who's a little on the reserved side (believe it or not) new places and new people are my equivalent of bungee jumping, throw in a new language and it's sky diving, people!
Anyway
I've found some great resources for life in Busan (look to your right). There's no surprise that the majority of information on expat living in Korea, especially from expat blogs, is centered around Seoul. Seoul is the largest metropolitan city in the country. Busan is the second largest but between the two we're talking a population difference of millions. Seoul has more than 3x the population of Busan. Yikes!
I did manage to find a great website called Global Busan. The site was developed in an attempt to make settling in Busan easier for foreigners. City tours, mentor programs, and language tutoring are all part of the cities move for assisting foreigners in their adjusting to life in Korea.
As the time to make the big move approaches, I find that I'm really looking forward to getting to know Busan.
Less than two weeks to go.
Is it still too early to start packing?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Still Gettin' Ready: Language study and Internet Research
안녕하세요!
Sorry for the delay in updates, but there hasn't really been that much to update on. I've been doing a whole lot of absolutely nothing. It's a thrill, I'll tell you what. The "Don't you have a life?" questions has been asked far too many times for my taste recently. Of COURSE I have a life! How absurd for you to even ask that question. Just because I go to bed at 8:30pm and hardly ever leave my house these days doesn't mean I don't have a life!
Living in the Spa City again has been great, especially since I've had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my family, but, when the time comes for me to relocated to The Land of the Morning Calm (that's South Korea, people) my family and friends are going to be the only things I'll say a tearful "See ya later" to.
However, thanks to programs like SKYPE and the beautiful invention of what we call the "Web cam" my distant family and friends won't seem so...er...distant.
I still haven't heard anything back about my visa insurance number. G2K was hoping to know the beginning of this week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for either today or tomorrow. Apparently there's a huge influx of private school teachers applying for visas this time of year.
EDIT
I got an e-mail from G2K with all of the necessary information just a little while ago. YES! Now all I have to do is fill out a ton of extra forms, make copies, and call the Korean consulate in my area (in my area as in 10 hour drive into Texas) to set up an interview.
I attempted to make the call to set up an interview as soon as I got the e-mail, because that's what the e-mail told me to do and I like being ontop of things like that. Anyway, I get the language option menu which takes me to the "other options" menu. After going through a couple of those I finally opt to speak to an operator.
Operator: (String of Korean speech that I can't understand).
Me: *Blush* Uh... excuse me?
Operator: *Pause, nervous laugh* (Quick English muttering)
Me: Um I...
Operator: *Hangs up phone*
Shocked and confused I stay on the line in hopes that he transfered me somewhere and didn't just hang up like I thought. After a few seconds the truth is revealed, he hung up. Okay! So now what? Well, I do the obvious thing... I call back.
Operator: (Same string of Korean speech that I can't understand).
Me: May I speak to someone in English?
Operator: Oh, could you please call back at 1?
Me: Oh! Okay. Yes, thank you.
Now for some reason I feel really dumb. And seeing how it's almost 2:00 I should probably give them a call back here in a minute...
END EDIT
In my search for legit study material for getting started on learning the Korean language (That is going FABULOUS by the way. I can now say things like 뫄하세요 Mwo Haseyo"What are you doing?", 어디가세요 Eodi gaseyo? "Where are you going?", 바빠요. Bappayo "I'm busy", and 물좋아요. Mul choayo. "Water is good". ) I've come across a really great site called "Korean Self Study Isn't Lame!". A fantastic name I think.
"Korean Self Study Isn't Lame!" offers things like linguistic history, grammar tips, usage information, and wonderful links to free study material, including two text books offered for download by Monash University in Korea.
Interested in Learning Korean?
Visit "Korean Self Study Isn't Lame!" now! Or visit one of the numerous other language links I have for you to the right of the blog.
WHAT ABOUT MOVING MY BLOG?
Uh. Well, I've decided to keep this blog going on blogger. I like the layout for a personal blog. I've changed the name of my blog from Once Upon a Time in Korea to "Hello Auggie Teacher!" as the latter actually matches the web address. Also, I'm using Once Upon a Time in Korea to possibly start another blog project. We'll see.
Sorry for the delay in updates, but there hasn't really been that much to update on. I've been doing a whole lot of absolutely nothing. It's a thrill, I'll tell you what. The "Don't you have a life?" questions has been asked far too many times for my taste recently. Of COURSE I have a life! How absurd for you to even ask that question. Just because I go to bed at 8:30pm and hardly ever leave my house these days doesn't mean I don't have a life!
Living in the Spa City again has been great, especially since I've had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my family, but, when the time comes for me to relocated to The Land of the Morning Calm (that's South Korea, people) my family and friends are going to be the only things I'll say a tearful "See ya later" to.
However, thanks to programs like SKYPE and the beautiful invention of what we call the "Web cam" my distant family and friends won't seem so...er...distant.
I still haven't heard anything back about my visa insurance number. G2K was hoping to know the beginning of this week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for either today or tomorrow. Apparently there's a huge influx of private school teachers applying for visas this time of year.
EDIT
I got an e-mail from G2K with all of the necessary information just a little while ago. YES! Now all I have to do is fill out a ton of extra forms, make copies, and call the Korean consulate in my area (in my area as in 10 hour drive into Texas) to set up an interview.
I attempted to make the call to set up an interview as soon as I got the e-mail, because that's what the e-mail told me to do and I like being ontop of things like that. Anyway, I get the language option menu which takes me to the "other options" menu. After going through a couple of those I finally opt to speak to an operator.
Operator: (String of Korean speech that I can't understand).
Me: *Blush* Uh... excuse me?
Operator: *Pause, nervous laugh* (Quick English muttering)
Me: Um I...
Operator: *Hangs up phone*
Shocked and confused I stay on the line in hopes that he transfered me somewhere and didn't just hang up like I thought. After a few seconds the truth is revealed, he hung up. Okay! So now what? Well, I do the obvious thing... I call back.
Operator: (Same string of Korean speech that I can't understand).
Me: May I speak to someone in English?
Operator: Oh, could you please call back at 1?
Me: Oh! Okay. Yes, thank you.
Now for some reason I feel really dumb. And seeing how it's almost 2:00 I should probably give them a call back here in a minute...
END EDIT
In my search for legit study material for getting started on learning the Korean language (That is going FABULOUS by the way. I can now say things like 뫄하세요 Mwo Haseyo"What are you doing?", 어디가세요 Eodi gaseyo? "Where are you going?", 바빠요. Bappayo "I'm busy", and 물좋아요. Mul choayo. "Water is good". ) I've come across a really great site called "Korean Self Study Isn't Lame!". A fantastic name I think.
"Korean Self Study Isn't Lame!" offers things like linguistic history, grammar tips, usage information, and wonderful links to free study material, including two text books offered for download by Monash University in Korea.
Interested in Learning Korean?
Visit "Korean Self Study Isn't Lame!" now! Or visit one of the numerous other language links I have for you to the right of the blog.
WHAT ABOUT MOVING MY BLOG?
Uh. Well, I've decided to keep this blog going on blogger. I like the layout for a personal blog. I've changed the name of my blog from Once Upon a Time in Korea to "Hello Auggie Teacher!" as the latter actually matches the web address. Also, I'm using Once Upon a Time in Korea to possibly start another blog project. We'll see.
