Caffe Bene.

Caffe Bene has become a home-away-from-home lately.  It's a very cozy place for blogging, reading, and general veggin' with some companions.  Coffee in Korea can be an expensive habit, but sometimes it takes leaving the house to get anything accomplished.  Plus, they have gelato.

Koreans spend a lot of time in coffee shops.  It's a great place for teenagers to meet up, families to enjoy time together after a movie, or couples to have a first date.  There are different chains and smaller local places to sip americanos and lattes on every corner.

Caffe Bene in Suji.  Extra love.

...I'm just happy we've moved on from the Dunkin' Donuts phase.

Suitcase Rewind

We got a new foreign teacher at SLP last week.  His name is Chad.  Chad told me that he tracked down my blog before coming here.  This made me realize that I really have no helpful information for people who might be thinking about making this journey.  This is my first attempt at sharing some knowledge.

Knowing what I do now, I would have packed completely differently.  Here's a list of the things that I think are quite beneficial to bring with you on a year-long trip to Korea:

1. A computer.

• I was told that my iPad would be sufficient in Korea, but that's not completely true.  Although there is wireless connection at many of the coffee shops around here, as well as a city-wide connection (which requires monthly payments), I only have access to an Ethernet chord in my apartment.  My advice for anyone who wants to Skype of FaceTime loved ones from the comfort of their own apartment is to bring a computer.  I'm also addicted to faaaar too many television shows, so having a computer allows me to keep up with them while I'm over here.

2. My thickest winter jacket.

•  This place gets cold - and that's coming from someone who tries to endure Minnesota winters in a fleece jacket.  I'm not sure if it's because I walk everywhere here (instead of driving), or if it's actually that much colder in this corner of the world.  I think some of it might have to do with being closer to the ocean, but it can be painful sometimes.  I must admit that I almost left my warmest winter jacket behind when I was packing because it took up too much room.  It ended up being one of my most treasured possessions.

3. Deodorant.

• Apparently Koreans don't sweat the way I do.  Make sure to bring a few of your favorites from home.

4.  A pillow/blanket from home.

• This is by no means a necessity, but it's a great little touch of home.  I was fortune to be provided with a nice comforter and fitted sheet from SLP, but the pillow isn't great.  I might actually go as far as comparing it to a piece of cardboard.  Not every foreign teacher is so lucky with the bedding, so my advice is to bring an extra pillow and blanket (if you can shove it into that overstuffed suitcase).  Just in case.

 5.  Clothing.

• I read many blogs and websites before heading over here and I continued to find two opposing tidbits of information.  First of all, I was told that Koreans are very fashionable.  I've found this to be completely true.  Both men and women in Korea look very put-together at all times.  Secondly, I was told that Korean style is very modest.  This has also proven to be true.  At the time I took modest to mean somewhat boring, but that's not the case at all.  If I could re-pack my suitcase, I would include many of the favorite things I left behind, thinking they were "too showy".  We've got a new saying around here lately, and it goes something like this: "Korea style: Anything goes."

In terms of apartment necessities, most teachers are lucky enough to inherit things such as silverware, plates, cups, rice cookers, coffee makers, televisions, etc. from the teachers they replace.  If not, places like LotteMart and EMart will end up being your favorite weekend destinations.

The Korean dollar store, Daiso, is the perfect place to find other essentials and household items.  It's also great for teaching supplies!

I apologize for the lengthy nature of this post (and I'm secretly hoping that most of you chose to skip it altogether), but hopefully it'll help somebody out... some day.

Wine Wednesday

Wine Wednesday has become quite the event here in Suji.  Red wine, pizza, bleu cheese, and sweat pants make for an easygoing, chatter-filled evening.

...often concluding with some kid of song and dance.

KPOP TIME!

WARNING:  This WILL be stuck in your head for the rest of your life.  Continue at your own risk...

Time to switch up the KPOP segment.  Moving on to the girls - Girls' Generation that is.

Another giant operation, this group is 9 chicks strong -  and the little girls at SLP love them.

Enjoy!

...Girls' Generation make them feel the heat.

SLP Birthday Party

Every month, SLP throws a birthday bash for all the kids who had a birthday in that month.  Jay's birthday was in January, so he got to have an extra-special celebration with only one other student, Andy.

Birthday party day is great, the kids get gifts from their classmates, we get out of class for a while, and - best of all - the school buys us Chinese food for lunch.

Win.

Club Phantom - I Should've Learned Korean

The last weekend in January turned out to be quite the adventure.  A group of us traveled into Seoul to celebrate a birthday and spend some quality time at one of Korea's infamous dance clubs, Club Phantom.  It's your typical night club, but they play mostly old hip-hop tunes.  And if you know me at all, you know that this is just, like, my favorite genre...

Bottle service at Club Phantom

...after jammin' to some old-school R.Kelly (Remix to Ignition, anyone?)  We decided to head back to our homeland.

The only problem?  No one knows where in the world Suji is located.

After piling four girls into the fourth cab we asked to take us to "Suji/Jukejeon", we were on our way.  I repeated where we needed to go about a million times, and the driver typed some things into his navigation station.  We figure everything was hunky-dory when the driver stopped asking questions.  Wrong.  By the time we were in the car for about half an hour (the amount of time it usually takes us to get home via taxi), we knew something was wrong.  No one recognized one single thing.

My arms flew up in exaggerated motions, and I somehow got our driver to pull to the side of the road.  One more time I told him where we needed to go, in the same exact way that I had so many times before.  I'm not sure if it was my exasperation, or if I somehow magically dropped my foreign accent in that single moment, but suddenly the dude knew what exactly what I was saying.

Needless to say, when we found something that looked even vaguely familiar a few minutes later, we had him pull over and immediately hopped out.

40 minutes and 50,000won later, we made it home.

....I should've learned Korean.


UPDATE:  May 2012
I asked a Korean coworker for some help, and have since learned the polite ways to say "left", "right", "straight", and "stop here, please" in Korean.  This has made my life SO much easier.  Taking time to learn the language has turned out to be one of the most beneficial things I've done in the past few months.

Lunar New Year Masks.

Play Time

Please, please, please check out this adorbs video that my co-worker, Jacki, took while the SLP kids were on a field-trip to a gym.  Cuteness overload.

"Got to U.S.A."

 One of my favorite little munchkins, Jamie, showed up to school with this gem of a sweatshirt last week.  I got overly excited (natrually) thinking he might have actually traveled to Minnesota at some point.  When I asked him where he got the shirt, he gave me annoyed look and said, "Teacher, my mother gave a lady money and she gave my mother this shirt."  Duh, silly me.

I don't really care where he got it, I still love it.

Happy Birthday, Meagan!

 Three words:  Best. Cake. Ever.  This masterpiece came from Baskin Robbins and had not only chocolate ice cream and cookie lion-pirates, but banana ice cream and cherry poprocks in the middle.  Heaven.

Everland - Where Dreams Come True

Lunar New Year was simply full of goodness.  Every day was packed with adventure, and Monday might have been the most exciting.  We ventured to the Korean Disney World - EVERLAND.

This, is what we like to call the "Everland Face": 

Everland Face.

 

Upon arrival, we were like kids in a candy shop.  Or kids at Disney World, I guess you could say.  Ashley's first comment, "I feel like I'm Aladdin."  Would that have made any sense normally?  No.  Did Meagan and I understand exactly what she was saying at the time?  Totally.

After scoping out the zoo exhibit for a while, we moved on to the more exciting features - rides and rollercoasters.  Have you ever been on a rollercoaster in the middle of winter?  It's not exactly a desirable experience, but completely worth it in the end.

Lovin' Everland life...

 

Next up?  Checking out the Caribbean Bay section of the theme part once summer arrives.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

 After a fun night out in Hongdae, Matt, Meagan, and I filled up on coffee and headed into Seoul to check out Gyeongbokgung Palace (have fun sounding that one out in your head). 

We lucked out because the weather was beautiful that day, offering prime photo-snapping opportunities.  Although it was still bone-chillingly cold, we fought through it and had a great time.  The palace is beautiful.  I can't image how long it took people to paint the intricate designs that cover each building.  As you can see from the map, the place is huge, so we weren't able to cover everything in one day, but this is definitely a must-see for anyone traveling to Seoul.

The King's throne at Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The entrance to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The banquet area of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Hongdae or Bust

 The first night of our four-day weekend during Lunar New Year was spent trollin' around club-ridden Hongdae.  Both Rebecca and Meagan had friends visiting from other parts of Korea, so we spent the night indulging in samgyeopsal (big, fatty, bacon-like pork BBQ), and participating in some general merriment.

Happy Lunar New Year!

"The Suje"

This is the view I have on my walk to SLP every morning.  Good ol' Suji morning life is pretty low-key.

Morning walk in Suji.  SLP is ahead on the left.

Galbi Time

Almost every time we go out for dinner, we go to a pretty spectacular place we've deemed "Good Kimchi Place."  And by good kimchi, I mean this stuff is heaven-sent.  We now hate kimchi everywhere else, it's pure discrimination.

Anyway, "Good Kimchi Place" has typical Korean food - Korean BBQ ("galbi").  It's a little strange at first, cooking your own food on a small grlll in the middle of the table, but after some practice we've gotten pretty good at it.  Our staple is spicy chicken, but you can also get duck, beef, or pork.