Today the weather was amazing. After work my co-worker was kind enough to invite me out to dinner and then treat me at a porridge shop, and after that I took advantage of the warmer weather to go bike riding. I hadn't been downtown yet since my return, so I rode downtown and then kept going. It was just so beautiful outside and riding my bike was so enjoyable I didn't want to come back yet. I rode and rode and then the air began to feel moist and I could smell water. It actually smelled sweet and reminded me of Saint-Louis in Senegal. I rode across the train tracks (where do they come from? Where do they go? Still a mystery to me...one of these days I'll have to follow them) and a bridge.
I was thoroughly enjoying not knowing where I was, riding through the sweet scent of water, basking in the warm spring breeze, when suddenly I came upon an intersection that I recognized, one I ride through on my way to the church where I can dance. (The church is about forty minutes from my place by bike, so I knew I was far, but not as far as I'd imagined.) I'll admit I was quite disappointed when I suddenly knew exactly how I could get back. So I didn't come back right away, but rode around some more, then finally came back.
All in all it was a pleasant trip and really satisfied my craving for adventure on my bike. I rode for about an hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minutes and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Ah, how I missed my trusty bicycle...
One of the nice things about Gunsan is that I really don't have many qualms about going out exploring. I've ridden around so much by now that I never really get too lost. I may be unable to find a particular place, or I may not know where I am for a while, but ultimately all roads take me somewhere that I'll recognize eventually. So I cycle with abandon, all day and all night, because I know I'll always end up right where I belong: here, at home, in Gunsan, South Korea.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
On Biting Off More Than One Can Chew
Today we had galbi for lunch at work. The kindergarteners graduated on Monday, so this week has been free of wee'uns in the mornings. We've been stripping and redecorating all the classrooms and have enjoyed delicious homemade lunches together (we usually eat with our kindergarteners).
The galbi was delicious. Unfortunately, it was still attached to the bone in many pieces. I tried to chew carefully until I could determine the presence of a bone in my meat or not, but in one bite I had a very small piece of bone, so I thought there were no bones but found out the hard way (oh, was that a pun?) I was wrong.
Then, while trying to find it to remove it, I accidentally bit down on it again. I think I did some damage to my tooth, because all afternoon and evening it's been hurting when I drink water or chew on that side.
I should have my health insurance soon enough. I don't think it really covers dental, but around the same time I get health insurance I should also get paid. So I'm thinking a trip to the dentist is in order...
The galbi was delicious. Unfortunately, it was still attached to the bone in many pieces. I tried to chew carefully until I could determine the presence of a bone in my meat or not, but in one bite I had a very small piece of bone, so I thought there were no bones but found out the hard way (oh, was that a pun?) I was wrong.
Then, while trying to find it to remove it, I accidentally bit down on it again. I think I did some damage to my tooth, because all afternoon and evening it's been hurting when I drink water or chew on that side.
I should have my health insurance soon enough. I don't think it really covers dental, but around the same time I get health insurance I should also get paid. So I'm thinking a trip to the dentist is in order...
The Boiler and Bananas
In all of the apartments where I live, there's a little white phone on the wall. It doesn't have any buttons. When you pick it up, there's a faint music playing via beeps. After a few seconds it gets louder. Then one of the maintenance guys picks up.
Last time I had issues with my boiler, I traipsed down to the little building where the maintenance guys hang out, and they explained that next time I should just pick up the phone and they'll send someone up for me.
The phone is a direct line to their switchboard, and it tells them exactly which apartment needs assistance. You explain your problem and they send someone accordingly.
Tonight having the maintenance man stop by solved more than just my boiler problem: last weekend I'd bought way too many bananas (what can I say? They were cheap and didn't really come in a lesser quantity), but they were quickly going bad because one person can only consume so many bananas at once, and I tend not to be in my apartment very much.
So after he'd gotten my boiler up to speed again, I asked the maintenance man if he liked bananas. He said he did, so I gave him all of them. They weren't bad yet, but they were very, very ripe. He seemed pretty pleased, and I'll sleep better knowing they didn't go to waste in my apartment.
Tomorrow is Independence Movement Day, so I wished him a good holiday.
Last time I had issues with my boiler, I traipsed down to the little building where the maintenance guys hang out, and they explained that next time I should just pick up the phone and they'll send someone up for me.
The phone is a direct line to their switchboard, and it tells them exactly which apartment needs assistance. You explain your problem and they send someone accordingly.
Tonight having the maintenance man stop by solved more than just my boiler problem: last weekend I'd bought way too many bananas (what can I say? They were cheap and didn't really come in a lesser quantity), but they were quickly going bad because one person can only consume so many bananas at once, and I tend not to be in my apartment very much.
So after he'd gotten my boiler up to speed again, I asked the maintenance man if he liked bananas. He said he did, so I gave him all of them. They weren't bad yet, but they were very, very ripe. He seemed pretty pleased, and I'll sleep better knowing they didn't go to waste in my apartment.
Tomorrow is Independence Movement Day, so I wished him a good holiday.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Doppelt Kinder
We got our schedules for the new kindergarten school year this week, and I'll be teaching two kindergarten classes starting Monday. They're both baby classes - five years old by Korean counting, but more like three in Western age - which means they'll be a lot of extra work at first. The last time I was here I had the baby class and it's tough at the beginning because most of the kids have never really been in a structured environment like this before, some of them have never seen a non-Korean, and in general they can't understand any of the instructions that I'm giving them since they have no experience with English yet. Plus they always need help getting their coats and shoes on and off, etc. So it will be intense for a while.
Having two kindergarten classes makes for an insane schedule anyway, because it takes away your biggest planning period. But it's the only way to make overtime pay here, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be crazy busy, but it'll be nice to be able to knock some major dents in all my student loans.
One of my co-workers just recently paid off his student loans after working here for two years straight and having double kindergartens (and thus overtime) for much of the last year or maybe longer. So maybe someday soon that will be me!
Having two kindergarten classes makes for an insane schedule anyway, because it takes away your biggest planning period. But it's the only way to make overtime pay here, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be crazy busy, but it'll be nice to be able to knock some major dents in all my student loans.
One of my co-workers just recently paid off his student loans after working here for two years straight and having double kindergartens (and thus overtime) for much of the last year or maybe longer. So maybe someday soon that will be me!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Posts & Pics
I still don't have service for my phone, and I still can't get an awesomely fast Internet connection of my own, because I'm waiting on my ARC, or Alien Registration Card, to come in, which I'm told should be around March 13th. In the meantime, it's been tough for me to get good posts of my adventures up, since my laptop's not so bad at picking up weak wifi, but all my worthy pictures are on my phone. So I apologize for the lack of total awesomeness. But, lest you think I've been doing nothing this whole time, here's what I've been up to:
This week was our last week of kindergarten. I also got pretty sick early in the week and asked the staff at the school to order pizza for me, since (like I said) I don't have any phone service right now. Then I just went home and vegged out. I pretty much just watched movies on Korean TV and ate pizza on Monday and Tuesday nights, but I felt much better after that.
On Wednesday I moved from my temporary apartment to my old/new apartment - in other words, the one I lived in when I worked here before. The folks who lived here before and after me really made it nice. They got a huge bed and rearranged the furniture and acquired more furniture and decorated it and pretty much made it way better than it would have been if I'd just lived here three straight years. It's really good to feel at home again.
On Thursday I went to the doctor and the whole visit cost me less than $20. The medication that he put me on cost less than ten. And that's without insurance, since I don't have my ARC yet. Once I get my ARC and have insurance, I'll be refunded for the amount I overpaid. I love Korean healthcare.
On Friday my co-workers and I ate at the restaurant in the bottom corner of our school. I had bibimbap, which wasn't bad, but it's never been my favorite, and since I was sick it was getting hard for me to finish eating when I couldn't really breathe much through my nose.
Saturday was my "rest if I need to or have adventures if I feel better" day, and it involved the rest of sleeping in and the adventures of revisiting the famous Eunpa Park and being totally ripped off by street-vending ahjummas. I won't hold it against them, though. The rice I bought from them actually tasted pretty good. Oh, so yes, I also attempted an amazing feat of cooking, which, like all my "from scratch" meals, tasted better than it looked. Inspired by yesterday's stark lack of cuisinal failure, I made french toast today and decided to spread strawberry yogurt on it, thinking maybe I'd be recognized as a previously unknown culinary genius. Unfortunately, it didn't taste so great, so I ate the french toast and the yogurt separately.
There are pictures associated with almost all of these exciting events, and I hope in the near future to post some of them for you.
In other major news, I went back to the church I used to dance at on Tuesday nights and danced until I was thoroughly dehydrated. God is good to me.
This week was our last week of kindergarten. I also got pretty sick early in the week and asked the staff at the school to order pizza for me, since (like I said) I don't have any phone service right now. Then I just went home and vegged out. I pretty much just watched movies on Korean TV and ate pizza on Monday and Tuesday nights, but I felt much better after that.
On Wednesday I moved from my temporary apartment to my old/new apartment - in other words, the one I lived in when I worked here before. The folks who lived here before and after me really made it nice. They got a huge bed and rearranged the furniture and acquired more furniture and decorated it and pretty much made it way better than it would have been if I'd just lived here three straight years. It's really good to feel at home again.
On Thursday I went to the doctor and the whole visit cost me less than $20. The medication that he put me on cost less than ten. And that's without insurance, since I don't have my ARC yet. Once I get my ARC and have insurance, I'll be refunded for the amount I overpaid. I love Korean healthcare.
On Friday my co-workers and I ate at the restaurant in the bottom corner of our school. I had bibimbap, which wasn't bad, but it's never been my favorite, and since I was sick it was getting hard for me to finish eating when I couldn't really breathe much through my nose.
Saturday was my "rest if I need to or have adventures if I feel better" day, and it involved the rest of sleeping in and the adventures of revisiting the famous Eunpa Park and being totally ripped off by street-vending ahjummas. I won't hold it against them, though. The rice I bought from them actually tasted pretty good. Oh, so yes, I also attempted an amazing feat of cooking, which, like all my "from scratch" meals, tasted better than it looked. Inspired by yesterday's stark lack of cuisinal failure, I made french toast today and decided to spread strawberry yogurt on it, thinking maybe I'd be recognized as a previously unknown culinary genius. Unfortunately, it didn't taste so great, so I ate the french toast and the yogurt separately.
There are pictures associated with almost all of these exciting events, and I hope in the near future to post some of them for you.
In other major news, I went back to the church I used to dance at on Tuesday nights and danced until I was thoroughly dehydrated. God is good to me.
Clogged
So last night I tried to flush my toilet but the water just swelled back up into the bowl. This only happened to me once before when I lived here in 2011, but I remember well enough that you can go down to the little maintenance guys' shack and request a plunger, so when pouring copious amounts of drain unblocker down the john didn't solve the problem, that's exactly what I did. For some reason all the maintenance guys that hang down there are pretty old. For the most part they're nice, but, as I guess is often the case with old men, they have no qualms whatsoever about teasing you when you show up.
So I reach the maintenance shack and use the key words that I know to express that there's a problem in my bathroom (said key words really being "bathroom" and "water") and do the best I can to mime using a plunger with accompanying sounds.
Naturally they all laughed at me, but one of them got up and fetched the plunger from the shed for me. As I thanked him and started off with it, he said something to me in Korean. At first I thought he was telling me to eat well, like the plunger was delicious, so I looked incredulously at him and politely declined. I was halfway back to my apartment when I realized he'd really said I must have eaten well, to have need of a plunger for my toilet.
Silly old men...I gotta say, though, for all their teasing, they're really very prompt when my boiler light goes out. I have no complaints.
So I reach the maintenance shack and use the key words that I know to express that there's a problem in my bathroom (said key words really being "bathroom" and "water") and do the best I can to mime using a plunger with accompanying sounds.
Naturally they all laughed at me, but one of them got up and fetched the plunger from the shed for me. As I thanked him and started off with it, he said something to me in Korean. At first I thought he was telling me to eat well, like the plunger was delicious, so I looked incredulously at him and politely declined. I was halfway back to my apartment when I realized he'd really said I must have eaten well, to have need of a plunger for my toilet.
Silly old men...I gotta say, though, for all their teasing, they're really very prompt when my boiler light goes out. I have no complaints.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Catholic Karaoke
So the teacher I'm replacing (who actually replaced me last year) is Australian, but he's married to a woman from the Philippines. There's a Filipino Catholic church on the other side of town here that they're involved in, and on Sunday night the Filipino community hosted a going away party for them. They were kind enough to invite the other foreign teachers at our school - even me! - and we had a great time. The food was amazing and we spent much of the evening listening to or participating in karaoke songs, which included Korean, Filipino, and western songs.
It was a lot of fun, and I have to say it was also kind of interesting to have people singing Britney Spears' “Toxic” mere feet from a wood carving of Jesus. Can't say I've had the opportunity to encounter such an overt juxtaposition before now.
It was a lot of fun, and I have to say it was also kind of interesting to have people singing Britney Spears' “Toxic” mere feet from a wood carving of Jesus. Can't say I've had the opportunity to encounter such an overt juxtaposition before now.
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