...It's a terrible title, I know. (At least I didn't make the Godzilla comment again.) But it encompasses the theme of this particular blog update. Namely, the earthquakes in Japan, and the more metaphorical way my life's been shaken up lately.
First of all, don't worry, I didn't even feel a tremor over here in Korea. All the earthquakes seem to be moving eastward, and since I'm west of Japan, no problems here so far. I'm donating some money to the relief fund like I did for Haiti, but I couldn't send one of those fancy texts. So, there's a Paypal option at www.globalgiving.org, and I've donated $10 there.
As for the metaphorical shaking, it's not a super big deal, but it's adding a bit of stress to my life right now. A couple weeks ago, my co-teacher Nana and I were told we'd be teaching morning Kindergarten classes. Brand new curriculum and materials, completely separate of the things we're teaching in Library Program or even the regular Global Star curriculum the other teachers are doing. We only just received those materials a few days ago, and due to being busy with my other classes, I hadn't had much time to look them over (and I forgot to take them home this weekend).
On top of that, this morning I got a text message saying that the classes would start an hour earlier than we were previously told, which means I'll have an hour less prep time than I thought on Monday morning. This means I'll have about thirty minutes to plan a brand new lesson for twelve kindergarten kids using materials I've never used before.
Not only that, but Monday is my busiest class prep day, making sure I have all of my materials ready for the week's classes, and this new class is going to cut into at least an hour of that prep time (the half hour of prep and the 30 minutes of class itself). So, needless to say, Monday is going to be an incredibly busy and stressful day for me. If we manage to get everything ready on time and the class goes off without a hitch, it should be fine, but that's going to take some serious ass-busting on our parts and a heaping helping of luck.
In other news...
It appears that people DO read this blog after all. Thanks to everyone who commented! It's nice to see some of the lurkers come out of the woodwork. ;)
Gus is doing well. I just got paid, so that meant Gus got fresh food, litter, and hay this weekend, which made him a very happy bunny. He's currently napping in his cage.
Here's a video:
Showing posts with label Gus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gus. Show all posts
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
New Friends
Instead of writing a general catch up post (though I'll give you a quick recap), I thought I'd start writing according to theme. This post will be about friends.
Now, I like the people that I work with. Korean, Canadian, Welsh, they're all decent folk and I get along with them for the most part. But outside of work, I don't spend a lot of time with any of them, even the Canadians who live in the same little apartment building. So I've been trying to branch out, make friends in other places. I've succeeded in three different social arenas.
I went to a clothing swap in Seoul a couple of weeks ago. No pics, but I got a lot of neat stuff that was new to me in exchange for getting rid of some clothes that didn't fit me anymore (due to losing all this weight). I met a cool chick named Jonna (pronounced yawn-ah) and some other really awesome ladies, and we had a fun time chatting, trying on each others' old clothes, giving our unbiased opinions on who looked good in what, and munching on snacks.
I frequent a forum at Dave's ESL Cafe where lots of Korea and ESL teaching-related discussions happen, as well as the more random forum fare, and threads for folks who want to buy/sell/trade things. I've met a few folks by buying things from them on the forum and meeting up in various parts of Seoul to swap cash and goods. It was a random thread on weight loss, however, that led me to meet my friend Michele. She offered to help me with a diet plan and acted as a cheerleader to keep me on it. I lost a good 6 or 7 pounds with her help! We've hung out a couple of times now, once in Itaewon and once at her place up in Incheon, and I'll be visiting her again this weekend for homemade pizzas and jimjilbang (Korean sauna/bath house). More on that next weekend.
Anyway, here's Michele and her wonderful boyfriend British!Sam (not to be confused with Canadian!Sam):
My school is set up a bit differently than most Korean private academies (known as "hagwon"). It's a government-funded English center, with a full library on the third floor, our school on the second floor, and a daycare center on the first. Though I technically work for the school, I teach my Library Program classes on the third floor in one of the two library classrooms. As such, I've had more interaction with the library staff than some of the other teachers.
Hae Young and I met when I was volunteering at the library Christmas program one weekend. She said she would show me around Seoul sometime, and we've been trying to get together for a day to hang out ever since! Our first several weekend plans fell through completely. Then, for my birthday, she got as far as meeting me for a nice ride on the subways before getting called into work. It turned out okay, but we both felt we should try for another time.
FINALLY, last weekend, we met up for a Sunday movie. I'd suggested Tangled, but it was sold out, so we wound up seeing Sanctum instead. We were joined by another library staffer, whose name I mangled so badly he said I could just call him "Dog." Or maybe it was "Doug." I'm not sure.
Hae Young bought me an adorable head band (which I should really take pictures of sometime) with a little bunny on it, and after the movie we went out for melt-your-freakin'-face-off spicy chicken. It was delicious, but so hot I couldn't eat very much.
Here's me with my new Korean friends:
SPICY!
HOLD THE KIMCHI, PLEASE!
NO DON'T EAT IT!
So, there you have it. New friends.
IN OTHER NEWS...
Itaewon is my new favorite place on the weekends since Michele showed me where the foreign food markets are. I can now buy Cheetohs, ginger ale, Pop Tarts, oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, and any number of other dubiously healthy Western foods. She also introduced me to Tartine bakery, which does this amazing Romanian peasant bread and their own (expensive!) butter.
Itaewon also had this red panda hat, which I HAD to buy, because... come on. Red panda.
It has little feets!
AND A TAIL!
That little street-crossing tunnel near my apartment had more art in it last time I went through. A whole design school's art show, actually. I walked through about a block's worth of amazing paper sculpture and other works. I also took a bajillion photos with my iPod, which I'm not going to post here because it would make this post a mile long. Instead, have some links.
1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
Argh, that's taking forever, too. I'll figure out a better way to post these. Maybe I'll just stick them on Facebook. :P
Magpies are really common here, like crows are in Minnesota, but magpies are prettier. Now, I love me some spooky black birds, but magpies have a certain dignity with their long tails, crisp black and white markings, and that glossy iridescent sheen of blue-green-purple to their dark feathers. Canadian!Sam calls them "majestic" and I can't really argue the term. They are. They're majestic. I finally got a (not very good) shot of one. They're pretty bold birds, but oddly camera shy. I'll see if I can't get a better shot with the good camera, now that the weather is warming up.
I took a picture of this random sign in the subway station because I thought the little dude looked like a chibi Castiel from Supernatural, and that amused me.
I also took a picture of this sign in the bathroom where I work.
As you may have noticed from previous posts, I've lost a lot of weight since I got here. Still flabby in the middle, but that could be cured with a bit more exercise to tone up the muscles. I appear to be losing weight at an average of a pound a week, which is nice and healthy. I could probably be losing more if I laid off the sweets entirely, but hey, don't expect miracles from me. The rate I'm going at is just fine.
Here's a recent pic. I'm barely sucking it in! Ignore my double chin there. XD
This was a reference shot for my Valentine's gift to Chris:
Gus is doing much better lately as well. He had some kind of scab on his nose, but I think that's because he scratched himself. I really need to take him to a vet and learn how to trim his nails. He has a swanky new cage and gets lots of fresh veggies in addition to his hay and pellets, and as much free time to run around the apartment as I can possibly allow him. Essentially, if I am awake, at home, and not cleaning, he has the run of the place.
Edit: I had some Gus videos up, but they weren't working properly, so I took them down. Will try to fix the problem and re-post later. :(
And that's it for now. Next weekend I should have plenty of great stuff to share about bath houses, Incheon, and making pizzas.
Love,
-Maria
Now, I like the people that I work with. Korean, Canadian, Welsh, they're all decent folk and I get along with them for the most part. But outside of work, I don't spend a lot of time with any of them, even the Canadians who live in the same little apartment building. So I've been trying to branch out, make friends in other places. I've succeeded in three different social arenas.
I went to a clothing swap in Seoul a couple of weeks ago. No pics, but I got a lot of neat stuff that was new to me in exchange for getting rid of some clothes that didn't fit me anymore (due to losing all this weight). I met a cool chick named Jonna (pronounced yawn-ah) and some other really awesome ladies, and we had a fun time chatting, trying on each others' old clothes, giving our unbiased opinions on who looked good in what, and munching on snacks.
I frequent a forum at Dave's ESL Cafe where lots of Korea and ESL teaching-related discussions happen, as well as the more random forum fare, and threads for folks who want to buy/sell/trade things. I've met a few folks by buying things from them on the forum and meeting up in various parts of Seoul to swap cash and goods. It was a random thread on weight loss, however, that led me to meet my friend Michele. She offered to help me with a diet plan and acted as a cheerleader to keep me on it. I lost a good 6 or 7 pounds with her help! We've hung out a couple of times now, once in Itaewon and once at her place up in Incheon, and I'll be visiting her again this weekend for homemade pizzas and jimjilbang (Korean sauna/bath house). More on that next weekend.
Anyway, here's Michele and her wonderful boyfriend British!Sam (not to be confused with Canadian!Sam):
My school is set up a bit differently than most Korean private academies (known as "hagwon"). It's a government-funded English center, with a full library on the third floor, our school on the second floor, and a daycare center on the first. Though I technically work for the school, I teach my Library Program classes on the third floor in one of the two library classrooms. As such, I've had more interaction with the library staff than some of the other teachers.
Hae Young and I met when I was volunteering at the library Christmas program one weekend. She said she would show me around Seoul sometime, and we've been trying to get together for a day to hang out ever since! Our first several weekend plans fell through completely. Then, for my birthday, she got as far as meeting me for a nice ride on the subways before getting called into work. It turned out okay, but we both felt we should try for another time.
FINALLY, last weekend, we met up for a Sunday movie. I'd suggested Tangled, but it was sold out, so we wound up seeing Sanctum instead. We were joined by another library staffer, whose name I mangled so badly he said I could just call him "Dog." Or maybe it was "Doug." I'm not sure.
Hae Young bought me an adorable head band (which I should really take pictures of sometime) with a little bunny on it, and after the movie we went out for melt-your-freakin'-face-off spicy chicken. It was delicious, but so hot I couldn't eat very much.
Here's me with my new Korean friends:
SPICY!
HOLD THE KIMCHI, PLEASE!
NO DON'T EAT IT!
So, there you have it. New friends.
IN OTHER NEWS...
Itaewon is my new favorite place on the weekends since Michele showed me where the foreign food markets are. I can now buy Cheetohs, ginger ale, Pop Tarts, oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, and any number of other dubiously healthy Western foods. She also introduced me to Tartine bakery, which does this amazing Romanian peasant bread and their own (expensive!) butter.
Itaewon also had this red panda hat, which I HAD to buy, because... come on. Red panda.
It has little feets!
AND A TAIL!
That little street-crossing tunnel near my apartment had more art in it last time I went through. A whole design school's art show, actually. I walked through about a block's worth of amazing paper sculpture and other works. I also took a bajillion photos with my iPod, which I'm not going to post here because it would make this post a mile long. Instead, have some links.
1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
Argh, that's taking forever, too. I'll figure out a better way to post these. Maybe I'll just stick them on Facebook. :P
Magpies are really common here, like crows are in Minnesota, but magpies are prettier. Now, I love me some spooky black birds, but magpies have a certain dignity with their long tails, crisp black and white markings, and that glossy iridescent sheen of blue-green-purple to their dark feathers. Canadian!Sam calls them "majestic" and I can't really argue the term. They are. They're majestic. I finally got a (not very good) shot of one. They're pretty bold birds, but oddly camera shy. I'll see if I can't get a better shot with the good camera, now that the weather is warming up.
I took a picture of this random sign in the subway station because I thought the little dude looked like a chibi Castiel from Supernatural, and that amused me.
I also took a picture of this sign in the bathroom where I work.
As you may have noticed from previous posts, I've lost a lot of weight since I got here. Still flabby in the middle, but that could be cured with a bit more exercise to tone up the muscles. I appear to be losing weight at an average of a pound a week, which is nice and healthy. I could probably be losing more if I laid off the sweets entirely, but hey, don't expect miracles from me. The rate I'm going at is just fine.
Here's a recent pic. I'm barely sucking it in! Ignore my double chin there. XD
This was a reference shot for my Valentine's gift to Chris:
Gus is doing much better lately as well. He had some kind of scab on his nose, but I think that's because he scratched himself. I really need to take him to a vet and learn how to trim his nails. He has a swanky new cage and gets lots of fresh veggies in addition to his hay and pellets, and as much free time to run around the apartment as I can possibly allow him. Essentially, if I am awake, at home, and not cleaning, he has the run of the place.
Edit: I had some Gus videos up, but they weren't working properly, so I took them down. Will try to fix the problem and re-post later. :(
And that's it for now. Next weekend I should have plenty of great stuff to share about bath houses, Incheon, and making pizzas.
Love,
-Maria
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Lunar New Year Break Massive Update
I've got a great big whopping bunch of stuff that's happened since the last blog post, so I'm going to break it down into chunks here. And yes, I've FINALLY gotten off my lazy bum to write all of it!
I made it through my first semester (which is about 3 months here) as a teacher. During the last week of classes, I brought in treats for the kids and had them all making class posters to hold up for class photos. It was a lot of fun, and the kids seemed to enjoy it, even the older ones. So, here are my students!
Ready? PICSPAM AHOY!
Poor Joseph. My class of one! He made me a pretty origami rose. <3
My co-teacher Nana and one of our favorite girls, Ella.
Hard at work on those posters!
My Book Nanny kids are so charming.
One of my favorite Book Club 2 classes, Sunny and Lisa!
They are also very charming. XD
All of my Monday through Thursday posters!
Friday's classes!
My hilarious Book Club 3 kids!
Last class of the day!
And that was the end of classes! I'm currently on the tail end of our 2 week break, which was actually more of a week and a half break since we had to come in on Monday and Tuesday, but those were pretty easy-going days. Some lesson planning, a visit to headquarters (more on that in the next post!) and classroom clean-up.
Next topic!
I turned 27 on January 22nd. I am a perfect cube! (3x3x3=27) I guess that's better than being a square. ;P
For my birthday, I got... no cake. Apparently the folks at work finally decided to take my diet seriously and didn't get me one. Which was fine. We went out for lunch as an end-of-the-semester treat, and they gave everyone two bottles of nice red wine as a Lunar New Year gift, so I wasn't actually bothered. Even though I'd told myself I would allow myself to eat cake for my birthday. I got a Toblerone bar instead. Yum!
The following Sunday, I met up with my friend Hae Young from the library. We met in Anyang station, then headed up to Insadong via the subways. After a nice chat on the train, she asked if we could meet up with a friend. I was fine with that. We got to the station, met up with her friend Jun, and then... she had to leave! Since she is a government worker, she got texted and called in for a snow emergency! After a quick introduction and apologies, she left me in Jun's capable (if confused) hands.
We both felt a bit awkward about the situation but decided to make the best of it. He showed me around Insadong for a bit, which has a lot of traditional tea and ceramics shops. It was pretty neat, though everything in the shops was SUPER expensive. Then he showed me one of the royal palaces. I, of course, took a bunch of pictures.
Ready?
Picspam time.
After checking out the castle, we headed through some underground subway-connected tunnels to get out of the snow for a bit, then caught a cab to a movie theater to meet up with some of Jun's friends.
Jun introduced me to I Kyun (also known as "Ikuro") and a few other friends (that I have, I am ashamed to admit, forgotten their names). We watched "The Last Godfather", which was a really goofy comedy spoofing on the Mafia, starring a famous Korean comedian. I thought it was fun, even if it wasn't the most amazing film ever, but most of all it just felt good to get out of my apartment and go see a movie with some nice people. We had pretty much the whole theater to ourselves, and Ikuro joked that he'd rented it out just for my birthday. How sweet!
After the movie, I figured I should get back to my rabbit, Gus, and make sure he was fed. His water bottle is so tiny that I worry about him during the day. Ikuro and Jun walked me back to the subway station, being the kind gentlemen they were. I took a few more pictures along the way.
Me and Ikuro:
Jun and Ikuro:
Insadong (I think?) at night:
Satellite dish or sideways Ferris wheel?
Ikuro and I taking pictures of each other:
Me being my cool self:
They made sure I got on the right train, and wished me a good night. Despite plans not working out as expected, having cold wet boots, and not getting to spend time with Hae Young, I'd had a pretty awesome time in Insadong. What a great birthday! I have my new Korean friends to thank for that.
Well, now that I've picspammed the heck out of this post, I'd better continue the rest of my update in the next one!
-Maria
I made it through my first semester (which is about 3 months here) as a teacher. During the last week of classes, I brought in treats for the kids and had them all making class posters to hold up for class photos. It was a lot of fun, and the kids seemed to enjoy it, even the older ones. So, here are my students!
Ready? PICSPAM AHOY!
Poor Joseph. My class of one! He made me a pretty origami rose. <3
My co-teacher Nana and one of our favorite girls, Ella.
Hard at work on those posters!
My Book Nanny kids are so charming.
One of my favorite Book Club 2 classes, Sunny and Lisa!
They are also very charming. XD
All of my Monday through Thursday posters!
Friday's classes!
My hilarious Book Club 3 kids!
Last class of the day!
And that was the end of classes! I'm currently on the tail end of our 2 week break, which was actually more of a week and a half break since we had to come in on Monday and Tuesday, but those were pretty easy-going days. Some lesson planning, a visit to headquarters (more on that in the next post!) and classroom clean-up.
Next topic!
I turned 27 on January 22nd. I am a perfect cube! (3x3x3=27) I guess that's better than being a square. ;P
For my birthday, I got... no cake. Apparently the folks at work finally decided to take my diet seriously and didn't get me one. Which was fine. We went out for lunch as an end-of-the-semester treat, and they gave everyone two bottles of nice red wine as a Lunar New Year gift, so I wasn't actually bothered. Even though I'd told myself I would allow myself to eat cake for my birthday. I got a Toblerone bar instead. Yum!
The following Sunday, I met up with my friend Hae Young from the library. We met in Anyang station, then headed up to Insadong via the subways. After a nice chat on the train, she asked if we could meet up with a friend. I was fine with that. We got to the station, met up with her friend Jun, and then... she had to leave! Since she is a government worker, she got texted and called in for a snow emergency! After a quick introduction and apologies, she left me in Jun's capable (if confused) hands.
We both felt a bit awkward about the situation but decided to make the best of it. He showed me around Insadong for a bit, which has a lot of traditional tea and ceramics shops. It was pretty neat, though everything in the shops was SUPER expensive. Then he showed me one of the royal palaces. I, of course, took a bunch of pictures.
Ready?
Picspam time.
After checking out the castle, we headed through some underground subway-connected tunnels to get out of the snow for a bit, then caught a cab to a movie theater to meet up with some of Jun's friends.
Jun introduced me to I Kyun (also known as "Ikuro") and a few other friends (that I have, I am ashamed to admit, forgotten their names). We watched "The Last Godfather", which was a really goofy comedy spoofing on the Mafia, starring a famous Korean comedian. I thought it was fun, even if it wasn't the most amazing film ever, but most of all it just felt good to get out of my apartment and go see a movie with some nice people. We had pretty much the whole theater to ourselves, and Ikuro joked that he'd rented it out just for my birthday. How sweet!
After the movie, I figured I should get back to my rabbit, Gus, and make sure he was fed. His water bottle is so tiny that I worry about him during the day. Ikuro and Jun walked me back to the subway station, being the kind gentlemen they were. I took a few more pictures along the way.
Me and Ikuro:
Jun and Ikuro:
Insadong (I think?) at night:
Satellite dish or sideways Ferris wheel?
Ikuro and I taking pictures of each other:
Me being my cool self:
They made sure I got on the right train, and wished me a good night. Despite plans not working out as expected, having cold wet boots, and not getting to spend time with Hae Young, I'd had a pretty awesome time in Insadong. What a great birthday! I have my new Korean friends to thank for that.
Well, now that I've picspammed the heck out of this post, I'd better continue the rest of my update in the next one!
-Maria
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