So I am, in fact, alive! I haven't had internet in my apartment so the only place I can get online is at work, and the computers are in all Korean. So, from past experiences, I decided to leave the blog alone until I could sufficiently stalk my friends' wireless and use it at their house.
I'm in Wonju, South Korea now! Its the largest city in Gangwon-do and its pretty sweet. The location is pretty good -- we're only 1.5 hours from Seoul (about 7,000 won) and about 3.5 hours from Busan (about 15,000 won).
Sam and I started with about 6-7 other EPIKers who were, incidentally, our friends pre-placement! The city is really good-- not too big and not too small. The people are super nice! For the first four days, I had random people bring me free food everyday. This would probably never happen at home. I have a great apartment, and am moving up on Sept 18 to a big two-bedroom. (Pretty good birthday present, I must say). I'll put up fabulous pictures of my mansion when I move in.
Nevertheless, I'll give you a run-down of my last week:
I did the whole "you only have to observe" thing last week. EPIK-ers know it well. This sounds all well and good, but in actuality it means reassuring me until the last second that I won't have to teach and then getting to class and instructing me to teach the entire class. Sans materials. Sans preparation. It was borderline hell. Good thing I can go on and on about cute American boys and random k-pop bands - and thank God I teach at an all girls school. Korea is so goddamn dynamic.
I helped my co-teacher teach the city's gifted class on Tuesday and ended up teaching TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF US HISTORY. Let me repeat: TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF US HISTORY. (clear?) It was torture. They didn't care. I didn't care. And having prepared only a 15 minute presentation, the appeal of candy slowly dissipated. That was my first day. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln would be ashamed.
I'm pretty much a Beatle here. Can't say that's really much of a complaint. People stop me on the streets, in school, wherever just to yell "HELLO! NICE TO MEET YOU. I LOVE YOU!" and I've gotten so many "you're so pretty"s that its starting to go my head. I can think of worst things.
I've gotten some interesting questions in class. The first one is always "do you have a boyfriend?" The answer is depressing for all parties involved. Though, I've started saying that Bi (arguably Korea's sexiest export) is my boyfriend - that usually started a ruckus.
Other questions have been:
- Do you shave your armpits? Does it hurt? How often do you do it?
- Who was your first love?
- How was your first kiss?
- What does a kiss feel like?
- Did you take a gun to school?
- Are there gays in America? Have I met them? What were they like?
- How often do I hang out with celebrities? What is Lady Gaga/Rihanna/Ne-Yo/Beyonce like?
- Do I believe in God? Why not?
- Why are your boobs so big?
Two classes at Sangji Girls Middle School have been lucky enough to hear me sing Celine Dion's "My Hear Will Go On" and another class got to see my attempt at Beyonce's "Single Ladies" dance. Lucky kids!
Dressing here has been interesting. You can roll into work in jeans, leggings, sheer dresses, and I even saw a teacher last week come in wearing sweatpants. This is totally okay. But, God forbid you should show any shoulder or toes. I wore a knee-length skirt and a blouse that showed my shoulders and I got a "ohh you look so sexy today" (aka: "you are a slut and need to dress more appropriately for work"). I dipped out between classes and changed. Awkward. Week One: Kenisha The Floozy.
Lunch hour has become the bane of my existence. In Korea everything is done together in groups. So when it comes to lunchtime the teachers go to lunch together (in fact, its rude to reject an invitation). This doesn't sound too bad in theory but then I continually find myself at a table of 5-6 male teachers jabbering away in Korean certainly talking about me. All this in combination with eating food that is far too spicy and attempting not to cry at the table. Hopefully this will get better though.
Sam and I went to Gangneung yesterday with my co-teacher. (semi not by choice, but again ... the invitation thing). It was actually a really pretty city, and right on the water. We played around on the beach, and ate a gigantic king crab that took a whole 10 minutes to order. We also ate these weird things that were definitely alive and moving on the table. They tasted like boogers. Don't ask how I know that.
Anyway, I'll leave you with this delicious video so I can go plan a lesson ... or, watch the Sex and the City movie for the 35th (literally.) time this week.
Ahnyounghi kyesayo!! xx
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