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