Yearning for learning...and sunshine...and shopping!

Today I awoke to a gray sky and I figured it was just a matter of time before the rain started falling. Thankfully, God granted a miracle and we ended up with a sunny day in Seoul!

No rain, no rain, lalalalalala!

I couldn't miss out on a chance to get outside into the sunshine so I decided to take a trip down the back side of the hill into Sinchon after school to do a bit of exploring and make a fun splurge (more on that in a minute). Passing through the back gate of SFS and onto the campus of Yonsei University gives you the impression of leaving a secret garden.

The mysterious back gate:)

I absolutely love being on a university campus and as I walked through Yonsei I passed students conversing, professors moving hastily, and heard singing and cheering echoing from some unknown area. Mmmmmm, to be a college student again! Yonsei is one of the most prestigious universities in Korea and was started with the support of the head of Seoul Foreign School many years ago. In our general vicinity you can also find Hongik University and Ewha Women's University. Basically I am living in a mecca of teaching and learning--how perfect. To give you a sense of what I saw, here are a few photos of the Yonsei campus...

Billingsley Hall is the landmark that tells us we're almost back to the SFS campus!

Just outside of the campus gates you pass under a railway bridge and enter Sinchon, a vibrant and fun part of town. My mission took me a few blocks down the main street to my new favorite store Barunson. Essentially this is an absolutely adorable stationary store and I LOVE it! The store is filled with fun stationary (of course), cute photo albums, cards, and other miscellaneous items. Today I went to purchase a polaroid camera that spits out credit card sized prints that I'll use to commemorate my travels in Korea and beyond. Some of the students have these handy little cameras and they are fun!! The camera and film were a bit spendy, but I figured I could afford the splurge since I'm getting paid a double salary this month:). I can't wait to take this little baby out and see what she can do--I plan to add snapshots of where I've been to the map of Korea and world map (also from the fun stationary store) that will soon be hanging in my study.

I am well supplied with a camera, two boxes of film, and a handy album for my snapshots!

While in Sinchon I also came across an Italian restaurant that I'm hoping to try soon and I finally found nail polish remover (this is much more difficult that I expected because I had to buy a bottle of polish in order to get the remover for free--go figure).

Yum-o!

It's taken nearly a month, but I found it! Notice the bottle says "Nail Remover"...I hope not!

On my way back toward school I passed the hospital and thought I would detour to the Starbucks we had gone to on our first full day in Korea after our medical checkups. Come to find out, the hospital grounds are HUGE and I never found the elusive coffee shop. I did have the opportunity to help a sweet little Korean nurse wheel a patient down a very steep hill. When I came upon her she was walking backward down the hill and pushing on the front of the wheel chair, which looked like it was about to plow her over thus sending the patient on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Thankfully we made it safely to the bottom without causing any further injury to the frightened patient. Overall, I got a great two hour workout and had the chance to go exploring on my own. Now off to eat dinner and finish up my plans for tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this weather holds out and I'll be able to get out to one of the palaces on Saturday--stay tuned!

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

Yesterday I posted lovely, happy photos from the overnight retreat with the junior class. Today, I am not feeling so lovely and happy. My friends who have lived overseas told me to expect waves of emotion during the first weeks, months, and even the first year. Today is a wave trough--any of my former students could tell you that the trough is the low part of the wave. It has been raining nearly nonstop for the last week. All of you from the great Northwest would probably agree that rain is par for the course for us, however, this is not just a steady stream of Oregon-esque rain. This is a consistent downpour--the kind that soaks through your shoes, socks, pants, and anything else exposed. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love a good storm. I also love having the opportunity to walk outside without getting wet.

Today Kristen and I decided we would make an early morning trip to Costco to stock up on food items with our recently delivered paycheck. When we headed down the hill at 8:15am, it was raining. The walk to the bus stop is approximately 4 blocks and by the time we caught the bus I was still moderately dry. I was a bit nervous to take the bus without a veteran foreigner with me, but we hopped aboard the number 7612 (or something like that) and about twenty minutes later we were less than 100 yards from Costco. Hallelujah! I grabbed a cart and got down to the business of filling my cart. Less than an hour later we had checked out and were ready to tackle the second leg of our journey which involved taking a taxi back to SFS. Since we've now done this many times, we thought "No problem." This is the part where God has started to teach me one of many lessons to come I'm sure. Just when I start to feel comfortable and confident, I learn that I really don't know what the heck I'm doing and it forces me to rely on Him more.

It took a near miracle to find a taxi driver willing to transport us and our purchases back to Yonhi Dong. In the interim, I found myself getting quite wet again. Blasted! Despite all of my prayers for the rain to break, my will did not prevail. God must have decided I needed yet another reality check. I can no longer hop in my car, drive to Fred Meyer, stock up on anything my heart desires, and drive home in less than an hour. Even the simplest tasks like grocery shopping take much longer than you anticipate and involve a great deal of planning and effort. As easy as it is to ignore up here on the hill, I am a foreigner in a foreign land.

After dragging my bags into the apartment I had to remove nearly every piece of exposed clothing before I could start the task of putting anything away. At this point I am tired, frustrated, and cranky. I am also stressed when I begin considering all of the things on my calendar this week. Something needed to be done or I was going to revert to crawling back in bed and pulling the blanket over my head. So, I decided to skip tonight's new teacher/penpal dinner in favor of some alone time to tidy up, work on my plans for this week, and start preparing for back to school night. I've discovered I can't eat much Korean food, so aside from the fellowship with the new people, I'm not missing much. See folks--moving to a foreign country is not fabulous all of the time. Sometimes it's just plain difficult! Okay, I'm done complaining:). Who knows what tomorrow has in store for me--perhaps God is just waiting for the perfect time to show us a beautiful sunny day! Here's hoping!

"Retreat"ing to the Beach

As the second week of school wrapped up, I packed my bags for an overnight retreat with the Junior class (all 120 of them) to Taechon Beach. Knowing that the buses were leaving at 4:30, I dashed out of my classroom just after 3:30 to throw in a few last minute items, change clothes, and grab a snack for the road. I knew I would be walking into a newly cleaned apartment as Thursday happens to be the day my adjuma works, however I was not planning on encountering two not so fun surprises. When I walked into my bedroom I saw that the bed was changed and neatly made-yay! I also noticed that there were clothes hanging to dry on the rack including items from my "Dry Clean" (yes, the basket came labeled that way) basket and a few needing to be hand washed. At that moment my reaction was, "Oh my God, she did not." Yup, she did. I thought I had made it clear to my adjuma that I DID NOT want her to wash ANY clothes EVER. Apparently not, so today I am saying good-bye to a 100% silk blouse that went through the wash and hoping that the two pairs of pants in the pile didn't shrink beyond the point of being wearable. Stress.... Surprise two hit when I went to the fridge to grab some bread and jelly to make a sandwich only to realize that the fridge door had been left open for the last several hours (long enough that the butter in the door had turned to liquid). I guess that means I'll be cleaning out the fridge today. Nice.

Trying my best not to let these two "surprises" bother me, I grabbed my bags and headed for the bus. Trips like this, especially ones where a long bus ride is involved, usually cause me a bit of anxiety because of my sensitive digestive system. Thankfully, I was able to survive more than three hours on the bus without a major incident. Halfway through we stopped at a rest-stop and I couldn't help taking a few photos of what I saw in the bathroom and vicinity.

Inside the ladies room.

Science is everywhere...even at a rest stop.

Snacks, Yes!!

We arrived at Taechon Beach around 7:30 and the students spilled off the bus, grabbed their luggage, and raced to the cabins. Pizza came after we had spent some time getting to know each other through ice-breaker games (yay for me, I was the only staff member who played)--it is amazing how quickly a group of high school kids can plow through pizza and soda! The rest of the night was reserved for a bonfire (with s'more fixings but no sticks to roast the marshmallows) and time to play on the beach. Since it was a very warm and sticky night, I dropped by the fire pit to grab a treat, then walked down to the beach to explore in the dark.

Toasty warm here.

Playtime at the beach.

The next morning the students were up bright and early...before most of the teachers! We chowed down on a breakfast of cereal, fruit, and waffles, then gathered as a group to watch The Blind Side. After the movie, the next two hours were free time to play on the beach! I decided to go walking and exploring with my new friend Erin who teaches high school math (and reminds me a lot of my friend Erin back home). Here's what we saw...

The cutest Korean girl who followed us on our walk!

Looks a lot like the Oregon coast, doesn't it?

The outside of this shell was cooler than the one I picked up earlier...but unfortunately it was inhabited by this little guy!

New friends!

You couldn't stand in one place very long or this started to happen!

Well, that looks a bit uncomfortable!

Playing around on the beach!

Woohoo!

The ride home was uneventful, but rather loud in the bus. Before we left Taechon it poured down rain, stopping just before we were ready to trek back to the buses, and upon our arrival in Seoul the rain began again. Torrential downpour is the only way I can describe the amount of precipitation that fell in such a short time. As the bus entered an onramp, we created a cascade of water over the edge of the ramp onto the unsuspecting drivers below and we could see the streets beginning to flood. Thankfully, the rain took a short break just in time for us to unload the students and luggage back at the school. As soon as I arrived back at my apartment I fixed a quick dinner and then crashed until this morning--what a trip!

Out and About in Seoul

After a busy and exhausting first week of school, and a long shopping trip at E-mart last night, I was about ready to throw in the towel and spend my Saturday sleeping in and lounging around. In Spokane, this choice would have been a no-brainer. Thankfully, I am not in Spokane and so I set the alarm for 7 am and was ready to board the bus by 8 for a tour of Seoul. Our tour guides for today were Jack and Edie Moon, both of whom have grown up overseas and lived in Seoul for longer than I have been alive. Edie looks like a typical American drama teacher, but one quickly discovers that she is probably more Korean than many of my Korean-American students, much to our benefit. Edie and Jack are both filled with information, stories, history, and a love for Korea...it doesn't hurt that Edie also speaks Korean fluently.

After a short stop at a Starbucks, the group was ready to roll! Jack and Edie pointed out palaces, city gates, markets, and other landmarks. As I listened intently to their wealth of knowledge, my list of places to visit and things to do grew exponentially. This took us to our major stop of the morning. I have visited the Space Needle in Seattle, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris...I can now add Seoul Tower to my list.

Namsan Tower (A.K.A. Seoul Tower)

When you approach the tower the first thing you notice, other than the tower itself, are the mesh sculptures of suspended people. The sculptures were just cool!

You also cannot miss the fences and metal trees covered in "love locks"Apparently, this is what people do to profess their love for one another--I can imagine it now, "Oh honey, I love you. Let's put a lock on this fence."?! Check it out...

Love Locks

Close up of the locks and tags

The view from the top of Seoul tower is pretty amazing and we were lucky to go up on a fairly clear day. Each window pane lists cities of the world located in that direction and tells you how far away they are. As I looked at each one I realized exactly how far away from home I am!

One of the many views

It's a long way down!

Paris, London? I'll take either!

More of Seoul

Okay, so this sign refers to Washington D.C., but I'm cool with that!

Before we went up the tower we were told specifically where to look for the best view. Here it is folks...

Yes, that's the ladies room entrance

Not a bad view, right? Apparently the men's room has the primo view, but I wasn't about to barge in and find out!

From Seoul Tower, the bus took us to Itaewon. In the last week I learned that many of my students live in this area and it's very close to the military base. This is where the foreigners go to hang out and shop--and there are plenty of opportunities for both. We visited a Korean furniture shop, frame shop, and ate at a fun little restaurant called the Flying Pan Blue. The menu is filled with delicious pancakes, sandwiches, and other desserts. Never being one to pass up an opportunity for ice cream (plus it was a VERY warm day), I happily ordered the house special. Yum! I will definitely be visiting Itaewon many times in the future and I'll be sure to stop into the Flying Pan for a tasty treat!

Definitely not traditional Korean food.

D-Dong

I have been living in Seoul for nearly two weeks and I feel like I'm finally starting to settle in...for the most part. My brain is on overload from all of the new information the school has been throwing at us--my principal used the analogy of using a fire hose to fill a bucket, and that is exactly how I feel--but I'm trying not to take on undue stress as my already frazzled body tries to adapt. Yesterday evening, when I was at the point of needing to separate myself from school, a dinner invitation came down from the three ladies who have inhabited D-Dong (that's D building) for the last year.

At 6:30pm all nine of us gathered outside of our beloved apartments and headed down the hill to an adorable BBQ restaurant with a delightful adjuma who made sure none of us went hungry. A Korean BBQ is a bit different that what we're used to in the States. When I heard the term, I figured you would go in and order a variety of barbecued meats, veggies, and such. Not exactly! Instead, the group sat around two tables with a grill in the center and actually cooked our own raw meat and veggies (check out the picture).

Grilling Korean style.

It was toasty warm sitting around a grill pit, but well worth the extra sweating. We were able to enjoy a couple of hours getting to know each other and just taking a break from all of the hustle and bustle that comes with the start of a school year. I even ran into my SFS pen pal at the restaurant.

Hi Tish!

The D-Dong Ladies: Alex, Rebecca, Janis, Misty, Grace, Me, Buffie, Nicole, and Myleah!

In the spirit of building friendships and taking time to enjoy the company of others, we've already scheduled our next D-Dong get together. This time we'll be dining al fresco on the rooftop of our lovely apartment building!

Housewares and Language Woes

This week has truly flown by and in just a few days I'll being introduced to my first group of students at SFS. While the thought of starting school is terrifying, it is also exhilarating to be back in the habit of doing what I love. Aside from that, I have been working hard to get settled into my new apartment while adjusting to life in a new surrounding.

Yesterday, I hit the jackpot! Since I was hired at SFS, I have been corresponding with a pen pal who has answered questions, offered advice, and helped support me during this time of transition. It just so happens that Tish is brave enough to drive in Korea and offered to take Kristen and me to E-mart so we could finish stocking up on apartment necessities. We had an absolute ball! Our trip started off at the McDonald's on the top floor and as we ate we exchanged stories about our lives, how we got to SFS, and how God is working on us now. An hour later, the shopping began! E-mart consists of 9 floors of house hold goodness--bedding, electronics, food, kitchen ware, clothes. E-mart has it all and we made our way from floor to floor filling our carts with many necessities and a few fun finds. It seems that I have met my shopping equals in Kristen and Tish and I foresee many shopping excursions to come with these two. We packed the car with our purchases and managed to make it home without getting lost.

I might have mentioned already that I purchased a television at the electronics store down the street (got a sweet deal too!). Sadly, my beautiful new 32" television has a defective pixel so I see a nice black speck in the picture. Tonight the t.v. repairman payed me a visit to determine what to do about this problem and we quickly learned that my lack of Korean and his lack of English equaled zero understanding. This is the first time since my move that I have faced a language barrier of this sort and it helped awaken me to how ignorant and unloving I have been when I encounter a foreigner in the States that didn't speak English. I don't mean to single people out, but in the last few days I've seen several of my Facebook friends "liking" a page called "I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PRESS 1 TO HEAR A MESSAGE IN ENGLISH... WE ARE IN AMERICA, LEARN THE LANGUAGE" and, much to my surprise, have started to feel agitated every time I see it. I cannot even begin to tell you how accommodating the Korean people have been and I can only imagine how frustrated they must be when they encounter a huge number of foreigners who figure they can get by without trying to learn Korean. I should also note that on several occasions since I moved, I have had to push the button to hear a message in English and am thankful to be offered that option (we can even call a translation service free of charge to get help from a native Korean speaker if we are in a bind).

It has shocked me how rapidly my perceptions and paradigms are shifting as I begin to understand what it is like to have the shoe on the other foot and after tonight I feel like it has been placed on my heart to start learning some Korean soon. I think I have had the desire to study another language for some time, but the urge has turned into a longing as I encounter teachers here who can speak two or more languages. I keep thinking that Americans are really the ones with the disadvantage because many of us can only speak English, and what a shame it is that we can live our lives without the benefit of being able to communicate with so many others who share this planet with us. I find myself wishing that I had been given the opportunity to learn at an international school like SFS where students begin learning French and Korean as elementary students and are surrounded by children from all over the world whose families celebrate a variety of cultures. Perhaps when I have children I will decide to raise them in an environment similar to this where they can grow into culturally sensitive adults who appreciate diversity and celebrate differences. Until then I will just encourage others to act with grace when encountering someone in the States who doesn't speak English well. Chances are they are trying to learn the language (English is much more difficult to master than many of us realize) and if someone needs a message in Spanish to understand the full meaning of what is being said, so be it. On that note, I'll say good night (that's annyeonghi jumuseyo or 잘 자 in Korean).

New Sneakers and Other Things

Today was the first day that all of the new teachers got to meet the folks returning for another year at SFS. We all congregated for breakfast and the name game began again (just when I was starting to nail down the names of all the newbies). Following breakfast, we all congregated in Robb Hall and began our time together with some awesome worship. It reminded me how important faith is in this journey and that all of this is possible because this is where God wanted me to be. Worship was followed by a formal introduction of all the new staff where everyone joined in delivering a blessing upon us--what an unreal experience that you certainly would not see in a public school. You can tell that people here care about each other and they want to see everyone succeed. In the afternoon, the entire high school staff got together for a get to know you/good to see you again game and announcements.

Although I was pretty exhausted when the meetings ended, I still decided to join the group going to Hongje to explore the open market. We took the bus (my first time) to a neighborhood not far from Yonhi Dong. I've been to a street market in Paris, but this was a bit different. Take a look at what you can get at a market in Seoul...

Something smells fishy here...

Need an onion??

Lovely produce

Escargot? No thank you!

How about a squirmy eel or a live turtle that makes kissing faces?

In case you're wondering, I only purchased a bit of fruit on this trip. Until my shipment arrives there isn't much use trying to cook.

As we left the market I caught sight of an Asics shoe store--God answered my prayers! From day one my sneakers have been uncomfortable and seem to have shrunk in size (or perhaps my feet have swelled and grown). Either way, I needed a new pair desperately. Jo was nice enough to accompany me and I got my first lesson about American feet in Korean sizes. The largest size they sell for women is 8.5. Bummer. Solution!! Men's shoes come in the equivalent of a women's 9. Hallelujah! A hundred or so dollars later, I have a new pair of Asics and my feet can once again breathe.

I decided not to let the opportunity to break in my new shoes go to waste, so after returning from the market I struck out on my own in Yonhi Dong. My mission...stationary store (back in the states that translates to "office supply store"). Instead, I detoured to the Paris Baguette cafe for some bread and pastries, then made my way back to shop for a few school supplies. It was a long hot walk and I'm certain I sweated off at least a pound or two, but well worth the effort. I feel as though I am starting to assimilate into my new home already. On our cab ride back to campus from the market, Jo and I were talking about people's perceptions about living overseas. She commented that many of their friends and relatives would say, "I don't know how you do it (living in foreign countries)". Although the transition certainly isn't simple, there is an easy answer...you just do! You get out there and learn from the people--if you try hard enough and are patient, you can find kind, helpful folks almost anywhere. Right now I can truly say I'm glad I am doing this because without trying new things it is impossible to grow. I may regret saying this, but bring on the growth opportunities!

Cultural Experiences

Okay, this is a long post, so if you're just interested in seeing pictures of what I've been up to scroll down....

Since I last posted, I've encountered a number of cultural experiences that have helped me start to grasp the customs and understand the people here a bit more. The first took place on Friday after orientation. The group took a trip to Costco (yep, they have them here!) to stock up on household goods. I wasn't able to photograph the excursion but I'll liken the scene to one you may have experienced before. Many years ago I was dumb enough to agree to go shopping on black Friday with my mom. Our first stop was Fred Meyer at 6am for their 50% off sock sale. The store was packed and somehow I got stuck pushing the shopping cart through all of the pandemonium. No matter which way I tried to go I ran into something or someone. My experience at Costo was EXACTLY like this. Thankfully, the trip to HomePlus the day before had been a sort of preparation for this. What can I say, the Koreans LOVE Costco! Among my cartful of items, I was able to score stringcheese, a block of Tillamook colby jack, frozen veggies, and many other goodies. We packed a school van full of purchases and squeezed three of us in the front for the trip back to the school. After unloading, our gracious driver (another staff member) asked Kristen and I to park the van back in the bus garage. No problem, right? Yeah, right. Technically we aren't allowed to drive in Korea yet but not wanting to ask for more of his time we agreed. I wish I had a video of our attempt at parking (Kristen driving and me standing outside trying to make sure she didn't hit the post on one side and the van on the other). A few tense minutes later, the van was in the spot...just barely.

Later that evening, a group of us decided to walk through Yonhi Dong to look for dishes and grab dinner. We ended up filling three tables at a little Korean restaurant and everyone ordered a variety of dishes like gimbop,bibimbap, and others that I couldn't tell you the name of. After our meal we stopped at a 7-11 type store for ice creams and wandered back to the school. It was fun getting out to explore the neighborhood at night!

When Saturday came, Kristen and I decided we would try to trek back to HomePlus for round two. As soon as we got down the hill to catch a cab, the sky opened up and dumped rain on us for what seemed like a very long time. Change of plans! Instead we went to the china shop and had a blast stocking up on dishes, cookware, and a few decorative items. This shopping excursion taught us a lot about how Koreans view customer service. For a majority of our time, we browsed on our own but as we went downstairs two employees rushed us and grabbed our baskets. They were very upset that we had not been helped up to this point. They then proceeded to clean, package, bag, and ring up our purchases. As we were ready to leave they took our bags outside, hailed a cab for us, and saw us off back to the school! It was incredible! Our friendly cabbie got us safely back to the school and then took us back down the hill to the grocery store. I picked up a bunch of ingredients to make some tasty dumplings this week!

Last night we went out on a school sponsored cultural experience. After a long walk through Shinchon, and severely blistered feet, we arrived at On The Border to have Mexican food before heading off to the theater. Here we are, playing around with our cameras as we waited for our food...

Jo, Vincent, Claire, Maddie, and Brad

Joy, Marlene, Allison, and Me

Misty, Kristen, and Nicole

After dinner we took the subway to the theater. The underground was super clean, cheap, efficient, and air conditioned (yay!). We arrived at the theater about an hour for the show and found a number of ways to amuse ourselves.

That's "V" for Victory!! Just like the Japanese tourists we saw!

This is what happens when you give a camera to three girls!

A much needed stop for band-aids and water!

I love art:)

For just $5 at the theater you can dress up in traditional Korean clothes and make a fool out of yourself too!

It's more fun when friends join you!

Even Barry B. (our awesome HR guy) decided to get a piece of the action!

Allison saw how cool we were and dressed up too!

In case you're wondering, they put the costume on over your street clothes. Seeing that it was already 85 degrees or so, it was pretty toasty inside those dresses (thank you Hye-Sin for reminding us how many people have sweated in these before us). Only four of us ladies were brave enough to dress up, but a few of the kids saw us and decided they wanted to dress up too! Before I leave, I hope to buy a traditional dress to bring home--they are so beautiful! As we were snapping photos, we noticed a couple of Japanese tourists taking pictures of us as well. It was hilarious! The theater was absolutely INCREDIBLE. The show was filled with traditional dancing, drumming, and other artistry! If you come visit, rest assured that I'll take you! Some time in the middle of the performance, two audience members were chosen to go up on stage. Tim, a new SFS teacher, was selected and we had a great time cheering him on as the performers taught him tricks with a spinning plate. He's pictured below with some of the performers.

Overall, it was a great night out in the city and it ended with a successful cab ride back to the school. There is so much to learn, see, and do here--the culture surrounding me is amazing. With school starting soon I hope I have time to take it all in!