First Snowboarding trip...

So the group that I went to the island with put on a snowboarding trip last weekend and we had a great time. The mountain isn't huge but I am not that good so it works out pretty well. There was a good group of people that went so we had a good time on the mountain and off. It is amazing how crowded it was for this early in season, can't imagine how it will be in January when it is in full swing. I am hoping to go again in a couple of weeks to another resort that I bought a pass to for the season. Hopefully by the end of the year I will be able to make it down all the runs without falling. All in all everything is still going good here. No new news on the old North/South bit but I try and read the news to make sure I am not missing anything. It is starting to get cold here and coming to the realization that my room does not stay that warm, might have to bring a space heater to school with me. I can't believe that Christmas is almost two weeks away, where did the year go?!?! I did receive my stocking today early from Santa so I am pretty excited about that. All in all just winding down the school year and getting ready for my trips in January. I am going to Melbourne for the first week in January and then Thailand the last week in January. If anyone has any suggestions on things that I should see or visit please let me know as I haven't done much research as of yet. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and getting all the Christmas shopping done.

November...

Well I just realized that I have not put a post up here in over a month so I figured that I should do something about that. There hasn't been a whole lot to talk about lately so I guess that is the main reason that I haven't written anything. My life has gotten into a pretty steady routine with working during the week and going out on the weekends. During the week I have a couple of Korean classes and language exchanges as well as go to the gym and golfing so I keep pretty busy.

Since my last post I had a birthday party at a really small Mexican restaurant in Incheon. The food was pretty good and there was a good sized group of people to help me celebrate so that was a good time. I am going to have to go to the restaurant again to get a better taste of the food. We literally had the entire place packed and they were stopping people from ordering because they were that far behind. At one point the lady had to go to the store and get more supplies as we had eaten everything already. All in all though it was fun and I am glad that I have met a lot of people here in order to celebrate.

We also just had Thanksgiving here. A group of us got together at a friends apartment and tried to make the most of the holiday away. There are a few places in Seoul that do "to go" turkey meals so we got one of those. The food was good but the sides portions were a little small which was a little disappointing. Nevertheless it was still good to celebrate with people and get a little bit of that taste from back home.

Other than those two things everything is pretty much going as routine. As I am sure everyone is aware of last Tuesday there was an attack on an island off the coast of Incheon and people were talking about that for a little bit but it appears as things have calmed down. This weekend I am going to be going snowboarding with a group here which should be fun. I am interested to see how the mountains in Korea compare to Colorado. It actually snowed last night here and I was with a couple of Californians that had never seen it snow before so it was cool for them. I am not looking forward to the long, cold winter though. There are only about 2 weeks of school until finals and then it is Christmas, New Years and my trip to Melbourne. I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks as it should be a good time.

Hong Kong...

So last weekend I made my first trip outside of Korea and it was a great time. Went to Hong Kong and met up with a friend from college that I haven't seen in 4 or 5 years (Barry Timmons). He has been in Hong Kong for almost 4 years so new the lay of the land which was great. I didn't get into Hong Kong until around 11:30PM so we hung out for a bit on the roof of his building, which provided a great view of the city at night) and then decided to go out. We went to a bar that had a membership fee to get in (something like $5000 a year) but met up with one of his friends who knew the bouncers so we were able to get in. We ended up staying there until about 5AM and then went to some noodle house with some people we had met. This place was really crowded at 5AM, there are so many people in Hong Kong from all over the world it is amazing. So we got home around 6 and went straight to bed. I actually woke up at 9:30 and took a shower and wandered around the city for a couple of hours and headed back to Barry's apartment and we then went and grabbed some Chinese for lunch. We went all around the city, most notably Stanley, and checked out a lot of shopping areas and saw a lot of other things in the city. The next time that I am there I would like to go to The Peak and also Macau if possible. I wasn't able to get any pictures on Saturday as I broke my camera the night before which kind of sucked but I was able to take it to a Nikon store in Incheon and they should be able to fix it. Saturday night we met up with some more of their friends and went to a tapas style restaurant. It was nice to get a chance to get another cuisines as Incheon is very limited on the selection and I don't make into to Seoul to often to eat. After dinner we went by Soho and it was packed and kind of looked like this picture
We only stayed there for a little bit and then went to another bar that we could actually sit down at. We were only out until 1 or 2 and called it a night. The next day we had brunch and then I went to the airport for my flight. All in all it was a lot of fun and the weather was great. There was supposed to be a typhoon coming through pretty much exactly when I was there and they were saying it was going to be the worst one in 50 years, but between Wed-Fri it slowed down and it was sunny and 80 degrees the whole time I was there. I am sure that I will go back there sometime again during the winter to escape the cold here in Korea.

Field Trip to Wolmido...

Well last Friday I went on a field trip with the 2nd grade middle school kids to a place on the edge of Incheon called Wolmido. I feel like it is close to a Coney Island type feel even though I haven't been there as there are some rides, a lot of little shops and restaurants and it is on the water. The field trip was way different than anything that we I have ever been to in the US. We all met at the location opposed to taking a bus there and all the students checked in and were pretty much free to do what they want the rest of the day. The teachers just went to a restaurant and hung out and ate food which was prepared by the parents and sent with the students. We were there for about 3 hours and then we walked a little bit around the area and then back to the main entrance where they took roll again. After that everyone was sent home. I have a few pictures on my camera but broke it while in Hong Kong and will hopefully be able to get it fixed this week. I will put up another post on Hong Kong later this week.

Jinju...

So I meant to put up this post earlier but kind of forgot about it. Last weekend a group of us went to the southern part of Korea to Jinju for the Lantern Festival mentioned in my last post. It was a really good time and here are some details. We left Seoul Express Bus Terminal around 9:15 and arrived in Jinju around 1:30 in the morning. Not the most fun sitting on a bus for 4 hours but the seats were actually pretty big and I was able to get a couple hours of sleep on the trip.

We then walked from the out of town bus terminal to the main area where the Lanterns were on the river. We got there about 10 minutes before they shut off at 2AM so we were able to get some pictures taken before it went dark (all the pictures are on facebook). We then proceeded to try and find a place for our group to sleep, only one of the hotels/motels that we went to had anyone awake at the front desk and Leona was able to decipher the notes on most of their doors saying that there were no rooms. We did find a place called Dong Bang that was a bit nicer and actually had a lobby closer to what we are used to in the US with someone at the desk all day. He was able to send us to a Jimjilbang that was fairly close (however went through the Jinju version of the red light district) and we were able to rest for a few hours.

If you don't know what they are go to the link attached to the word, but basically it is a bath house where you get orange outfits and there are separate floors for men and women and one mixed floor that is a sauna. You sleep on a blanket for the most part and people are scattered all over the place. I was smart enough to bring some ear plugs and was tired enough to sleep for 4 or 5 hours. Once we got Jinjuseong Fortress and walked around there for a bit.

A side note from the jimjilbang experience, there were some girls staring at the people that I was with as they probably don't see many foreigners and were giggling as we were waking people up. I thought that one of them was cute and figured, hey why not give them our number and see if they want to hang out later and maybe they can help us figure stuff out. So I leave my number for them on their blanket and they call but do not know much English, we text back in forth for a bit and yep they were down there for an interview for dental schools because they were seniors in high school. Yeah you gotta watch out for the ages here they could be 16 or 30.

Anyways back to the tourist stuff, so we walked around the Fortress and were stopped by a lady from the tourism department and they were asking people to take surveys on foreigners impressions of the city. She spoke English so we were talking to her as we filled out the survey and then she offered to help us find a place to stay. She said that she would call us back before noon and sure enough at 11:30 she called and had 2 rooms for us to stay in at the Lotte Motel right on the river. It was nice to have a place that we could put our bags, shower and know that we could go back and sleep.

Before going to the motel we stopped for lunch and got some traditional Jinju Bibimbap which they are known for in the area. It tasted like the regular bibimbap that I have had before but I guess there was something different. After eating we dropped off our stuff showered and rested a bit and then went and checked out a tent area with carnival type games and a few flea market type shops and finally grabbed dinner, which was some great samgyeopsal or Korean BBQ. Unfortunately it rained while we were at dinner and made things very muddy for the remainder of the evening. On the plus side it only rained for a little bit so we were able to walk around at night just had to watch our step.

For the night we wondered around the river and checked out all the festivities in the area and took lots of pictures and shot off a number of roman candles. There was an area where you could add to lanterns that they would be putting out on the river as well as an area that you could create your own lanterns. We went ahead and added to the existing lanterns to get our "culture" fix. After going up and down the river we decided to figure out if there was somewhere to go so we checked out a place by us and they sent us on the other side of the castle where there was more stuff to do. We went into a number of places looking for darts but apparently there were no bars/restaurants that had them in all of Jinju. We went to a few bars and then headed home as we were going to get the 11AM bus back into Incheon.

First mini trip...

So not a whole lot to report from the last week or so but I am going to southern Korea this weekend for the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival I don't really know what to expect but I am sure it will be a good time and it will be nice to get out of the city for a while and see some of the other areas of Korea. I am also hoping to get to Hong Kong in the coming weeks but need to straighten something out with American Express as the fraud protection won't let me buy my plane tickets. This week has been really boring as my school had midterms on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That means no classes and me sitting at my desk for 8 hours trying to figure out what to do. Also two of my classes were canceled yesterday as well as one today. So for the week I had a total of 6 classes. Needless to say it makes the time go by much much much slower. We tried to play some screen golf on Wednesday but the place that we went to was full, I am looking forward to swinging some sticks even though it won't be the same. I will also be getting a language exchange partner at this place called CulCom (Culture Complex). Basically it is a place that Koreans join to talk to native speakers. It cost money for them but it is free for us which is nice and you get to learn a little Korean in the process, hopefully I can pick some up as it has been slow going for the 7 weeks I have been here. I will have more to report after my trip. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

If I had a million Won...

I'd buy me a gym membership!!!! What is that you say?!?!? Yes I just bought my first gym membership ever and have gone two days in a row now. I think that is a new personal best for me. Oh and I am sure that everyone read the title as won but it is the currency here in Korean pronounced Wan and I am now a millionaire in two different accounts. We had to set one up during orientation for them to put our airline reimbursement on and then we had to setup another one when we got to Incheon because the first bank apparently is not "English friendly" so says the person in charge. A little bit inconvenient but they both have check cards so I am just going to carry the one that I will not be getting any more deposits in and run it until it is empty. Everything continues to be great here, got home and had 3 letters in my mailbox that weren't bills or junk mail. I don't think that I have ever had that back at home. The weather has turned to fall it is really nice out now but some of the California people think that it is too cold. I really wish they played football here as it is perfect weather for it. The only problem is that finding a large piece of grass is a little tough to come by and the dirt fields that they have might hurt a little bit. I hope that everyone at home is enjoying themselves and having fun getting ready for Halloween. I think that I will be close to the end of the book by then and will have the liberty to do what I want, which means a week long lesson on Halloween and all of its festivities. If anyone has any fun Halloween pictures please send them to me (alex.lintzenich@gmail.com) so I can use them in a powerpoint. Miss you all!!

Second Half of Chuseok...

Well there were still a few days left after I got back from the island and they were fun filled. Everyone from our orientation group got paid last week so there was a group of us that went up to Seoul for a night of mayhem. It reminded me of being back in Spain as the metro closes here from 12:30-5:30 which means you have to stay out until like 6 to catch the metro. The nice thing about Seoul is that they make it easy for people to stay out late as there are a ton of people out and there are a ton of places that are open until like 8AM or don't close at all. It was my first night out in the Hong Dae area and it was a good time. We didn't go into any of the clubs but I am sure that I will be back in the area soon. That was my Friday night and Saturday night went to dinner with my co-teacher as well as some of their friends that are in English club. It was fun going out with some native Koreans but still being able to speak English. Sunday I got a little physical activity in and played basketball for a couple of hours and wrapped up the long week with a much needed Skype conversation with my parents. It was a fun week but not really excited about having classes this week. Working on another trip as I can't believe that we have been here for over a month already and I have only been out of the two main cities once. I will update once I have an idea of where I am going to.

Chuseok holiday...

Well I got back from Deok Jeok Do yesterday and had a great time. Unfortunately I forgot that I took my memory card out of my camera before I left to use it for something else and the hard drive on the camera only was big enough for like 12 pictures. I will try and snag a few pictures from other people and put them up on my page. Almost didn't feel like I was in Korea since there were so many ex-pats on the island and most Korean people stay away from beaches after August. We had a nice group go with us (I thinkaround50-60), we ended up renting out the entire hotel that we stayed at which was nice not having to worry about annoying people not with the group. We got to play some sand soccer, volleyball (I was dominate) and even hit a few golf balls on the beach. The weather the first couple of days could have been better but the last night and day we were there it was nice. Had a bonfire the last night and it really reminded me of a good old field party in WashMO. It was clear out and there was a full moon and the temperature was a little colder so the fire really helped out. I met some great new people there. Tonight payday reunion in Seoul, which should be a good time.

One month down...

So I have been in Korea for exactly a month now and the time has definitely flown by but also seems like it has been longer if that makes any sense. Everything is going well and I continue to meet new people everyday. This coming week should be a lot of fun as it is the Chuseok holiday here which is kind of a mix between Thanksgiving and the Day of the Dead in Hispanic countries. It is a 3 day event where you give thanks and also pay respect to your ancestors. However, since most of the Westerners do not have tombs to go to our family gatherings we are enjoying our time off. Some people get the entire week off but I have to go to school on Monday and teach but get the rest of the week off so I can't complain too much. I will be going to Deok Jeok island with a large group of English teachers, most of which I have not met. I will probably be going on a hike that is supposed to be pretty sweet and then there will be a lot of lounging on the beach, maybe some sand volleyball and a bonfire. I am looking forward as this will be my first real trip anywhere besides Seoul and Incheon.

I continue to get a hang of teaching the middle school boys and am trying to figure out the best way to get through to them. Hopefully as time goes on they will get more comfortable with me and participate more in class. There are more students that come into my classroom in between classes so I guess some of them are warming up to me. After the holidays we have a week of classes and then they have their midterm exam which I get to contribute 5 questions to so I guess it is good that my class does have some relevance as I don't give them an actual grade.

This past weekend was pretty fun, Friday we had a dinner for my school and it was nice to try and meet some of my co workers outside of school. I still cannot communicate with the majority of them but hopefully I will be able to pick up some conversational Korean soon and be able to talk with them a little bit. After the dinner went out with a few friends and also talked to some Korean people and there is a chance a couple of them might help me learn some Korean so that is a bonus. Saturday night we went up to Seoul and saw one of my old customers band play and even though I am not a big metal/hard rock fan they were pretty good. We grabbed dinner and drinks with them after the show which was fun. We also stopped in Itaewon for a little bit which is the big "English" area in Seoul. Basically a lot of military and foreigners gather here and go out. It was the first Quiznos and Taco Bell that I have seen here and maybe the only ones in the country. We weren't there very long but definitely was interesting.

Alright that is it for now, but I should have more to say after I get back from the Island on Thursday!

First week of classes under the belt...

It has been a while since I have posted anything but things are going well. I have a full week of teaching under my belt and I can definitely say that the English levels are a little bit lower than I thought at my middle school but that is alright. Also there are definitely some students that don't really feel like being there but I am pretty sure that is the way it is with any school on any subject. I have 18 different classes with about 40 students in each class. I teach 9 1st Grade (7th grade to us) and 9 2nd Grade (8th grade) which are mixed up throughout my week, so I don't have to do the same lesson 4 or 5 times in a day it is only like 2 or 3 which is nice. I also have 4 conversation classes that will be starting up. I had my first one today after school and there was one kid in the class...one kid...it is kind of difficult to do a class with one kid. Luckily I didn't really prepare anything and we just did basic introductions. He was definitely interested in learning which was nice. In regards to my 1st Grade students they are still young enough that they are not afraid to yell in class and maybe be wrong so they seem to be a little bit more fun (see video of one class I posted on FB) but the 2nd Grade classes seem a little bored and do not engage in class as much. I am sure as time progresses they will relax and get used to the class but right now it is definitely a drain when you ask a question 10 times and everyone is either looking away or staring at you with their head cocked to the side like Rosco. However, with that all said I think that all the students are warming up to me as they all say hello in the hallway and run in and out of my classroom in between class times.

What else???? I am completely settled into my place, I have rearranged my apt (pictures on FB), cleaned, got internet, figured out how to use the hot hoter, got a cell phone, got health insurance, setup a bank account, registered with the US Embassy, registered as an alien in Korea, and found some good bars to go to. The group that we had orientation were great and the Incheon crew has been hanging out here and there the past few weeks. It definitely feels like we all have known each other longer than a few short weeks, but I know that is how it was during work camps, student council camps, etc... I think when like minded people come together and are thrown into a new environment they gel very quickly.

Alright I don't want to write too much on here as I know that people are busy and that frequency is better than really long posts a couple of weeks apart, so I will try and post a little bit more frequently especially these first few months as new things are happening daily.

Annyeong-hi Gaseyo

Getting situated

Well I have been in my apartment for a few days now and all seems to be good there. I couldn't figure out how to turn on the hot water but that problem has been resolved. Of course the room is pretty small but I don't need a whole lot of space so it works. I will put up pictures when I get internet at home as uploading pictures all day at school probably isn't the best idea. At least when I am blogging and facebooking it looks like possible research for some lesson plans or something. I haven't started to teach yet, won't be doing that until next week. Right now I am just watching a few classes and introducing myself. I am teaching 7th and 8th grade boys so they are pretty rowdy and I think activities will be the best way to keep them in check. I have met all 5 of my co-teachers (Korean teachers assisting in class) and they all seem to be really nice and I am looking forward to working with them. I have read that some people are having a tough time with their placement or school and I am glad to say that thus far I seem to be pretty lucky. My apartment is about a 10 minute walk from school and a 10-15 minute walk from the two main subway lines in Incheon. I am testing out the mail thing so once I have that I will send it out to anyone that wants it. Let's see what else... I have explored the area and there is not a whole lot in my immediate area but plenty to do with a 10-15 minute walk which is good. I haven't really gone out yet in Incheon but I am sure that we will be doing that this weekend. All in all it is just like any other big city, just a change in the language and the look of people make me think that I could be in Madrid or Chicago. I still have not been able to really pick up the language, I can read it pretty well now but the pronunciation and meaning are still lacking. I am getting adjusted to the Korean food (Kimchi is starting to taste better everyday) and get to eat at school everyday which will help. On my first day I made Rice Krispie treats and everyone was very impressed and enjoyed them. I don't think that they get that here too often as there were like 5 total bags of marshmallows in the grocery store the size of a super center Wal-Mart. Does anyone else have any other desserts that you can make sans oven? I will probably start looking online and see if I can find anything. I am thinking maybe first of each month bringing in some goodies for the teachers, they say it will help make your life easier. Everyone loves a little bribery!! I am really glad that I went through the EPIK program as I have a group of 20 or so people that I met there that are in Incheon and it is definitely nice to know a few people in a foreign city. Even though we don't have cell phones yet we are able to communicate a little bit on Facebook and have met up a few times already in the 6 days that we have been here. I get a 4 days off the third week of September for the Chusok (like the Korean Thanksgiving) does anyone have any suggestions on a place I should go? I might just head up to Seoul for a few days or relax in Incheon. They say that it is pretty busy during that time as most Koreans are doing some sort of traveling. I think that pretty sums up the last week or so but once I get internet at home I have a lot more pictures to show everyone.

Moving to my apartment...

I got my assignment today and getting ready to move from the orientation to my apartment. I will be teaching middle school in central Incheon. I don't know my exact address yet, but my school is right by the subway stop and close to a popular bar area. I should have some more info to put up later but might be out of touch for a bit as I won't have internet for a couple of weeks at my house.

Pictures uploaded..

I put up my pictures on my facebook page, if you aren't friends with me send me a request so you can get them. It takes longer to upload them here so I will probably just keep them on facebook. I am pretty excited for Thursday as I will find out where I am going to go and what grade I will be teaching. More to come once I get into my place and get internet at my apartment.

The eagle has landed...

Well after a three day jaunt across the globe I have made it back to the homeland. I was pretty impressed with myself as I didn't sleep at all on the 12 hour flight and am pretty much feeling like it is 11PM instead of 9AM. I did get to see a lot of movies while on the plane so the time actually went by pretty quickly. I had to stay at the airport a bit longer than needed as I forgot one of my bags that I had to check (carry on was too heavy, who weighs a carry on) and had to go back for it. That minor lapse in memory cost me a couple of hours. Well it is pretty late here but I am sure I will find some time to upload a few pictures that I took while on the plane.

The final US post for a year

Well I have had a great week. Meeting with my friends and family on Saturday at The Post was a great time. Thanks for everyone that made it out it was great to see everyone. Monday I flew to Denver and met up with my Aunt and Uncle and had dinner at my cousins great new house. Tuesday flew to San Francisco and saw the sites for a few hours and then had a great steak with Adam. It was a great last meal in the US for a year. Now I am getting all packed up and ready for my trip to the airport and my 13 hour flight to Korea. Hopefully it isn't too bad. I will try and put something up about my trip in the next couple of days. Until then...

1 week and counting.....

I have gotten pretty much all of my paperwork done putting the final things together. I don't think that it has hit me yet that I will be leaving for a year in another country but it is definitely getting exciting. A couple relaxing days out in Washington and then my party at The Post and off I go to Denver, San Fran and then Korea.

Getting Ready to go!!

Less than two weeks until I leave St. Louis and start my journey to Korea. I am still in the process of getting everything ready and saying my goodbye's to friends and family.