My First Adventures in Spain: Madrid and Basque Country

After a stressful first semester at work, I decided to embark on my first journey to Europe. I spent a few weeks in Spain. While there, I wrote a bit about my experiences. As anyone would imagine, it was like a big side step from the daily life I am used to.

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I spent a lot of time sipping wine and munching on tasty olives when I was in Spain.

My trip took a long time, obviously. I flew from Seoul, to Beijing, to Amsterdam, then finally to Madrid. The middle, long flight was unfortunately terrible! My seat was in the middle of a two-story plane, looking at a blue wall, and next to a toddler. It was a bad ten hours, but it ended eventually. Beijing's airport was messy and disorganized, I and had to constantly ask around to find out what to do and where to go for my connecting flight. It was full of conflicting information from different people. Amsterdam's airport was fantastic, though. Completely the opposite, and I was impressed with everything being automated. I saw a huge tribute to the victims of Malaysia airlines flight 17 outside of the airport. The lawn was covered with flowers and stuffed animals, which I thought was sweet. I wasn't able to get a picture, though.

About 22 hours later, I finally arrived to Madrid feeling like a zombie.

Single Black Female: My Own Experiences Dating in South Korea

My favorite dates always include a good meal!

I didn't specifically come to Korea to date, but to teach. However, I do make dating a mild priority while I'm here.

One of the first lessons I learned was:

Some are More Successful than Others

Dating is mindblowingly easy in Korea if you are of a certain demographic. I think we can all guess what that demographic would be. Here's an example:

I first came to Korea in 2010. I was working at a small kindergarten with two other foreign coworkers, both of whom were male. One was American.

One Sunday morning, I headed to the American's apartment looking for help. He told me that he could assist me. He offered me some water, and vented some of his frustration to me.

He ranted about a Korean woman who simply wouldn't leave him alone.

You see, they had met on a night out, where he made the mistake of giving away his phone number to this particular gal. She kept calling and texting him. He showed me the texts where the Korean woman kept asking to meet up with him at night, presumably for sex.

While this guy didn't like that girl, I noticed the thing that stood out: A Korean woman was begging this guy for sex?

I was in a relationship at the time, but the idea of it stuck with me.

From Spring to Summer with So Much to Do!

I decided to have some photos taken! © j i m i z e l l : p h o t o g r a p h y

It's Spring now, and the weather has really improved drastically! My life is just moving along, as usual.

I have been transitioning to my new job pretty well, and it has definitely been a big change. There is also a lot more work, but I really love it! Most of my kids are well-behaved and eager to learn. Having my own kids and classroom really makes a difference, because I can develop a real relationship with every student and watch them all progress. This works wonders with classroom management as well, because I can put real procedures in place that the kids and I follow every single day. I love all of my second-graders, no matter how bad ::wink::

Gifts from the students on Teachers' Day!

My first round of parent-teacher conferences are over, and it was really nice meeting all of the parents. Well, mostly moms came, but some dads did as well. I was surprised at the excellent English skills of so many of the parents. The school provided translators, but only a few actually needed them. There's also a culture of parents always hovering around the school, usually toward the afternoons. This hasn't really been a problem, but it's certainly a change from hagwon life where I never met any of the parents! When meeting them for the first time, a surprising number of them were very reasonable and even chill. I really liked that.

 I'm almost finished with the TeacherReady program too. It has not been without its hiccups, however. Somewhere along the line last winter, around the intensive season at my last hagwon job, I fell behind on the assignments.

Sometimes, a Good Korean Friend Can Truly Be Hard to Find

Wow! I'm in shock right now.

But let me begin with a story from awhile ago.

When I first arrived to Korea, I was starry-eyed and open to all of the new possibilities that the country could offer. I knew I would be exposed to a new culture, new food and new people. I knew I didn't speak Korean, but I was hopeful that I would be able to make good friends here easily. After all, I am a friendly person who likes meeting new people.

On that hiking trip some years ago. The woman referenced in the post is not in this picture

One day, I went on a hiking tour with a group of strangers. About half of them were Korean, and the other half were foreign students, military and teachers like me. I figured it would be a good way to meet new people.

While riding on a bus toward the mountain, a slightly older Korean woman approached me. Her English was good, I thought. She made up some small talk, asking me all sorts of questions about where I was from, and what I was doing in Korea.

When we talked about our hobbies, it appeared that we didn't have much in common. We weren't into the same leisure activities, didn't listen to the same types of music, nor did we have anywhere near the same sense of humor. We were different people, and that was okay. However, I did notice something. She stuck by me.

Throughout the bus ride and the long hiking trail, she made sure she stayed with me. The lady kept chatting and chatting with me. Even when I wanted to just walk, she seemed to always have something else to say. At the end of the day, she made sure she got my phone number.

Once she had that, she kept texting via SMS and calling, asking about when we were going to meet up again. She really wanted to hang out with me. Was she my new Korean friend?

Sense anything wrong yet?

Touring Bogotá, Colombia's Capital for a Day

Bogotá, as seen from the top of Monserrate Mountain

 
While teaching a group of Korean ten year-olds recently, I noticed a misspelling of Colombia in the textbook. When I pointed out the mistake, the kids insisted that it was spelled correctly, showing me a  Korean-English dictionary entry on a smartphone for places like British Columbia and the District of Columbia. I asked the students to spell Colombia again, with the second "o". They finally saw Colombia, the country.

"Oh teacher! You are a genius!!" Well, I try.

I taught English in Bogotá, Colombia for about seven months. It was my passport to the beautiful country. If you're interested in teaching in Colombia, you can learn more here. But this entry isn't about teaching there.

From Bogotá Resident to Tourist

My mom made plans to visit me in July, 2012. As a result, I purposefully avoided the majority of Bogota's tourist attractions until she came. I wanted to see them for the first time with my mom to keep it interesting.

Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia. Left is El Norte and Right is Bolívar Plaza

For her visit, I allocated only one day for Bogotá. Why? Because even though Bogotá is an enormous city, there really aren't that many interesting touristy things to see. For the average tourist, I think one to two days in the capital are enough.  In the end, we did about a day and a half in Bogotá, with the half day being the same day she flew out.

From a Hagwon to a Private School ... A New School Year with a New Job!

Recently, I finished my contract with a language academy in Gyeonggi-do. My next stop is to make my move to Seoul for a new position in a private elementary school! I only applied to three positions, without needing to use any recruiter. I'm pretty excited about it. 

A new school year came in March!

So what is this new job about? It's definitely different from what I'm used to. First, it's a private school, and not a public school or a hagwon (academy/cram-school). I'll be a 2nd grade homeroom teacher. Instead of strictly teaching the English language, I'll be responsible for teaching the school subjects too, aside from Korean and specials (such as art, music or gym).

This school is a bilingual, and my 2nd grade class will have about 30 students in it. At almost any given time, half the students will be with me and the other half will be with the Korean homeroom teacher.

I have my own classroom

I'm psyched for a few reasons. This seems like a great school, and I got really good vibes from all of the teachers and supervisors I met there while interviewing. I haven't met everyone though, since the school has quite a few native teachers working there. I also like the idea of finally getting my own class of students. That way, I can concentrate on the same group of kids. At a hagwon, for example, it's difficult to address learning or behavioral issues with individual students because I'm teaching so many different ones who are coming and going. Finally, this is what I've been studying and it's great to be at a school where I can utilize my new skills.

Adding to that, it'll be nice to be living in Seoul for the first time. While most of my social life takes place in Seoul, I've spent an unreal amount of time and energy traveling back and forth. It sucks having to decline invitations when places are too far, or traveling for about 2+ hours in general to meet up with buddies. It looks like those days will be coming to an end!

Winter Wonderland: The Garden of Morning Calm and Chungnyeongsan Recreational Forest

The Garden of Morning Calm's winter lighting festival

For Valentine's Day weekend, I decided to head north of Seoul with a travel group to check out the Lighting Festival at The Garden of Morning Calm.

I had taken that week off from work, and didn't do many exciting things (unless you think going to immigration is entertaining). This little day trip was a good way to end my week.

Valentine's Dinner at On The Border in Pyeongchon

But first, there was Valentine's Day! In Korea, it is tradition for the woman to give the man a gift for the holiday. Likewise, there is another holiday, called "White Day," which falls a month later on March 14. Then, the man is expected to give the woman a gift. However, for the single folks, their day is on April 14, where you all gather together to eat black bean noodles, called Jajangmyeon, and wallow in your sorrows!

Who can say no?

In my case, I decided to take my date to a restaurant. The week before, I showed him some tacos I made, and subsequently found out that he hadn't tried Mexican food before! He's Chinese, and doesn't typically eat the expensive foreign food in China. Recalling my good experience last time, I took him to another On The Border location, this time in Pyeongchon. It has the same yummy, mid-priced food. This one can be reached by heading out Beomgye Station exit 4, which is on Seoul Subway line #4. This location is right inside the Lotte Department Store on the 8th floor, next to TGI Friday. This On The Border's phone number is 031-8086-9805.

Is There a Racial Bias in Recruiting in Korea?

A sample of a job advertisement I found back in 2012. I guess I don't qualify.

There are tons of positions to be had throughout Korea, the majority of which are either in public schools or in private academies, known as "hagwons". Most of these jobs are obtained through recruiters. These are the middle men whose job is to find qualified candidates for open positions in Korea.

Why do we have recruiters? Well, since the majority of job candidates speak little Korean, and the majority of school officials speak little English, recruiters are a necessary evil. From the job candidate's point of view, recruiters introduce them to job opportunities they wouldn't have found otherwise.

One day, I began the job hunt for my next position. At this point in the game, I much preferred dealing with schools directly, although I was still open to recruiters if they happened to have the type of position I was looking for. While looking at a desirable position, I thought about the particular recruiter that was offering it. I was pretty sure I had sent my resume to that recruiter before, but I never remembered them ever replying back. I took to my magical e-mail search function.

I was half right. Since 2010, I had sent them my resume 3 times. I had only heard back from them once. In that case, they wanted an interview, but requested a picture beforehand, not realizing I had already sent them one -- it was in the top-right corner of my resume. Nonetheless, I complied by sending an additional photo. I never heard from them again. This, in turn, caused me to think of all of the other resume black hole experiences I've had. I was wondering how I'd have fared in the job search if my skin were a different color. Would I have been treated differently?

A Change in Diet -- My New Challenge

These lamb chops from a restaurant were amazing! But I'm trying to eat less red meat.

 On the way to improving my health, I have been thinking a ton more about the types of food that I'm eating. Often times I'm in a rush, and I just feel too lazy to shop and cook! But I want to make a change to that.

What am I doing now?

I'm skipping breakfast. I feel like I'm always out of ingredients, and I just don't feel like picking up more. I also don't feel like getting up to cook every day.

I'm eating out a lot. As a young professional, I find myself eating out at restaurants. I'm ordering take out instead of cooking my own meals. This isn't so bad, but the best Korean foods, such as soups, are either impossible to take out or are too expensive. So I find myself gravitating toward stuff I shouldn't be eating so often.

I know it could be worse -- I could be eating at places like McDonald's, Pizza Hut or KFC! They're tempting, but I try to avoid them like the plague! The thing is, I know I could be doing better.

And Another Holiday Season Spent in Korea!

Celebrating Christmas!

While some of my friends have been lucky enough to go to their home countries for the holidays, I'll be spending mine here for the third time in a row! I may not have any family here, but I do have a good group of amigos I can count on to make things happen!

Thanksgiving Dinner on Yongsan's US Army Base

The first was my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Well ahead of time, I think in late September, a Thanksgiving dinner event was posted on Facebook. It was a bit early, but when I saw the good food options and the price, I had to sign up for it!

The dinner was held on the Yongsan Army Base, in a dinner hall. It was advertised by a couple of ladies as a genuine authentic Thanksgiving dinner. They were at least American, so I was expecting good food to be cooked in a way familiar to me! The best detail of all was the price: It was only 20,000 won. I just had to wire money into the organizer's account.

This was the first time they had the event, so there were some hiccups with the organization. We had to sign up and give up some personal information. However, when we got there, they just let us all in, probably because there were so many of us. Also, there was supposed to be a shuttle bus, but we ended up being forced to walk to the hall where the event was taking place. After arriving, we had to wait quite awhile for the food to be ready, so people got a little bit antsy.

Language Exchanges? Why I Switched to Private Tutoring to Learn Korean

At Yeouido Park with a (good) language exchange partner and some of his friends

 This is my third year in Korea, and I've previously written about the steps I have taken to improve my Korean.

Well, the neighborhood class I was taking ended in June, and after that I needed to figure out another way.

Language Exchanges

First, I decided to find a language exchange partner. That would be a situation where I would help a Korean with their English, and in exchange, they would help me with my Korean. That sounds like a good idea, right?

I tried this site, called Conversation Exchange, because there were lots of Koreans on it. When I filled it out, I began to receive messages from Koreans, usually men, who wanted to improve their English. They either needed it for a job, or their university course, they would say. That sounded promising.

Our Trip to Yeongju City: Buseoksa Temple (부석사), Museom Village (영주 무섬마을), Sweet Potatoes and Tofu!

After, a cold spell, the weather had been great lately. Perfect for taking a fall trip to see the gorgeous colors of the leaves and experience some nature! I took a trip to Yeongju City (영주시), and my, the scenes were breathtaking!

Scenes from Buseoksa Temple

I was looking for things to do on a weekend, and I found this trip to Yeongju City on The Seoul Expat Global group. The group is headed by Harry Yoon, and it acts as a travel agency of sorts.

This trip in particular was a Sunday day trip to Yeongju to see the Buseoksa Temple, the Museom Village, and a local ginseng market. In addition, we saw the process of making tofu and harvested some sweet potatoes. Lunch and transportation was included. All of this was for only 20,000 won! That's because the trip is partly sponsored by the city itself to attract travelers.

Buseoksa Temple

After taking a bus from Seoul, we arrived at the temple after the three hour ride. Anyone can get there from the Yeongju intercity bus terminal by taking either the #55 or #27 bus.

Buseoksa Temple (부석사) is an old temple that was built back in the year 676. It's large and has a fantastic scenery. You can read more about its history here.

My Happy Halloween in 2013!

Me in my witch costume! I left my giant hat in the states!

Happy Halloween!! 

 It being my third Halloween in Korea, I already had a routine, more or less. I always found a way to celebrate the holiday on a night out with my friends, and I always celebrated it with my school.

Not everything went according to plan! I'm still satisfied with the way things turned out though.

Halloween fell on a Thursday this year. The Saturday before, I had a rather complicated situation. I wanted to meet two sets of friends, and also meet up with a date. I was supposed to have dinner first with the date, meet some friends in Hongdae, then meet some friends in Itaewon.

What it ended up being was: I dressed up as a pirate in the grungy women's bathroom in the subway station. Next, I met the friends in Hongdae for about 30 minutes, then had dinner with the date in Itaewon, then went to a bar with the guy, while waiting for the other set of friends to explain to me where the bar was (they had gone to a place I'd never heard of). I ended up getting tired and going home early!

No matter, the Aussie bar we went to had a couple there with an intense makeup job:

Yikes! I was told that she did the makeup.

After that, I genuinely scared for the night. ^^

My Next Step: Getting My Teaching Certification from Abroad

Back to school again?

Why I'm getting certified

While I started things by tutoring children during undergrad, I began teaching full-time in 2010. In the beginning, it was just something I was experimenting with. At the time, I had recently left my retail management job and was living with my father. I thought the appeal of earning money while living in a new region was great.

Teaching was something that I began to enjoy, and I continuously looked for ways to improve myself as an educator. At the same time, I am working at a 학원 (private after-school academy) in Korea. It's a good entry-level job, but it's not something that's meant for you to do forever. There's a glass ceiling in place. If you're foreign, don't speak Korean and you're not married to a Korean, then the chances of advancing within any Korean language academy are slim to none.

I figured that since I enjoy teaching, then why not make a career out of it? However, I'm not that interested in teaching stateside. I did some research, and learned about teaching at international schools. It seemed like a good career path with chances of upward advancement, along with appealing pay and benefits offered to teachers worldwide.

One of the basic requirements to work in these schools is for me to be certified in my home country, the United States, and for me to have at least two years of experience.

Getting certified is my step #1!

For My Birthday: What Advice Would I Have Given Myself 10 Years Ago?

I came across a question on the internet recently:

Knowing what I know now, what advice would I have given myself ten years ago?

It's an interesting question to answer for my birthday.

Aside from realizing that I'm getting older and there's nothing I can do about it, I thought it was interesting to think about since my life was so different ten years ago. I stopped to think about where I was and what I was doing. It was a turning point in my life.

Posing with family members about 10 years ago

Where was I ten years ago?

Let me see. I was just starting out my senior year in high school. I went to a medium-sized public school in the home state, where I spent my time with a close-knit group of friends and otherwise kept to myself in most aspects. At the same time, I was gaining a new confidence in myself I hadn't had before. I tried my best to stay away from the drama in my high school and was more focused on my future.

My God They're Bold: Frustrations with Korean Boys and Their Solicitations for Sex

25th birthday. A day or night out with "friends" can easily lead to disaster.

 
One Sunday evening a couple of months ago, I met with a potential language exchange partner. I wanted to practice using Korean, but the course I was taking ended, and wasn't going to start up again for several months at least.

We met at an ice cream parlor. He told me that he had lived in America for awhile, and we were interested in the same TV shows. I thought we had hit it off. He could help me.

Not too long later, he started making comments, suggesting that I "must be popular" and he asked me whether I had a boyfriend. He began pestering me about coming over his place to cook dinner sometime. When I told him that I didn't know him well enough, he became pushy about it. "Then, I'll come over to your place." 

I let him know that also wasn't acceptable. I wanted to only meet him in public places. He quickly became frustrated. He told me that it was okay, nothing would happen. I didn't have a boyfriend, so why did it matter?

By then, what he was looking for was clear. I bluntly told him that I wasn't looking for sex. I wanted a language exchange partner.

"What?? No, that wasn't what I wanted!! You're crazy!"

The Time a Korean Man Followed Me Home

At the King Sejeong Museum by Seoul City Hall. Usually these things happen to me when I'm away from home.

That night, about three weeks ago, I was walking to my apartment with two coworkers, both of whom had decided to do some evening shopping at the local food mart. I was only a block away and didn't need anything, so I continued on to our street.

As I turned the corner, I walked by several drunk men in their late twenties or early thirties.  One of them called out "Helllo! Helllo!" I ignored him and kept walking.

When I was just a few steps from my apartment building, I realize that one of these men is following me. I had already felt exhausted from a long day's work, so I became frustrated. Thinking that he would probably go away, I walked by my building and into a convenience store. I come out and he's magically reemerges. I walk to the food mart. He ducks around the corner and waits for me to come out.

I didn't want this man to see where I lived, nor did I want him to catch me in a secluded area. Very bad things have happened to women in these situations, so I try to be careful and do my best to keep aware of what's going on around me.

That man followed me as I kept walking around the block and eventually he got tired, instead asking me for my phone number. I shook my head and circled the block again. I had finally made it to my apartment safely. I have been followed, groped, violated and flashed before in Korea, but this was different. None of these things had happened so close to home. And that was the scary part.

So Many Activities In So Little Time!

I am still alive! I have been very busy these past few weeks. In Korea, it's currently monsoon season. It has been raining every day, and it's likely to continue to do so until around late August.

That hasn't kept me from being active, though. I've still been able to get out and do things, such as:

Playing Kickball

Picture of us after the game!

A few folks from the BSSK group decided to meet up for a kickball game! It was a gloomy Saturday, almost rainy, so not many people showed up, but it was still fun nonetheless.

We met up at a field near Janghanpyeong Station, line 5 and by exit 6. The neighborhood is full of middle aged Korean men lounging and hanging out. Why the strange location? Well, that field was free to rent. I could see why because it smelled of manure at times.

We played our game with a certified kickball ball, then ate lunch together. 



Volunteering

Making play-doh art with Mapo Gaon

Last weekend, one of my friends invited me to join him at the place where he volunteers. The organization is called Mapo Gaon. He helps disabled children in a particular area in Seoul once a month. I agreed to join him.

Their job was to pick up local disabled children from their home and bring them to a space, where the children and their helpers do activities together for a few hours. I thought it was very interesting and it was nice to meet the children. I also got a chance to practice my (limited) Korean.

At Yeouido Park

Afterward, we had some drinks at an Outback Steakhouse and had some drinks at Yeouido Park. It's a nice setting at night time. Many folks sit on mats and have a night picnic.

Salsa Dancing

Life in Korea Requires a Thick Skin ... Really!

Living in Korea isn't always easy

After having a rather intense conversation with another westerner last week, I began to think about how we even survive here.

Well, overall life is pretty comfortable in the land of the morning calm. From my blog entries and Facebook posts, Korea may look like it's all fun and games. However, some actions or episodes can really make me hate certain aspects sometimes.

You may be saying, "Well, that's just culture shock." But it's beyond that. Foreigners have been saying the same thing to each other ever since I first came here. You need to have a thick skin to survive in Korea.

It's the reason why many people don't see themselves staying longer after a year or two. And it can be even worse for those of us who aren't white westerners. Seemingly tough and secure people can break -- emotionally -- after just a couple of years on the peninsula. Some folks break quickly and pull a midnight run. I've seen friends suffer and leave with no intentions of returning.

Why is that so? Certain experiences can be really grating, even if they're from students.

For example, during a recent discussion on basic hygiene vocabulary, a student declared that I must be dirty because my skin was brown. She said that over and over again, and the class thought that was hilarious.

I've also been called a monkey, and have gone through classes with disruptive students making gorilla noises.

Letting the hate get to you will make you lose your mind

 

 

I've had children and adults say awful things about my natural hair. According to some people, it's bad, ugly and dirty.

On top of that, imagine watching television. Every commercial break shows advertisements featuring skin whitening creams. In its seasonal peak, summertime, every commercial break promotes three or four ads telling me that I'd be more beautiful if I bleached my skin.

As soon as the summer sun comes out, so do the parasols ... the pretty umbrellas designed to block sunlight. That's to keep them from getting darker. There's even a joke claiming that the quickest way to make a Korean woman insecure is to compliment her tan.

Now, after experiencing these sorts of events, imagine not having anyone to talk to about them. For example, my English-speaking coworkers are white and seemingly would never understand. In my time here, I've seen the locals give favorable treatment to my whiter counterparts. It's difficult to talk to a very average looking man who's constantly being told he's handsome by the locals.

As a result, it can be very easy to feel alone and helpless.

Temple Stay at Magoksa Temple (마곡사) and a Trip to Independence Hall (독립기념관)

When I first came to Korea, I learned about doing a temple stay. Temple stays, as I was told, offered a more unique and intimate experience with the history of Korea and Buddhism. 

Some buildings at Magoksa Temple

How to Sign Up

Basically, there are some temples in Korea where you can do a temple stay. There are options of staying for just a day, or staying for a night or two. In theory, you can sign up and go on your own, but that might be tricky if you're not fluent in Korean.



We all had a chance to bang this drum

A common option is to do what I did, which was sign up for a temple stay with other foreign tourists and residents through a travel group or agency. These sorts of agencies make everything simple. I was able to sign up and send them money to confirm my spot. After that, all I had to do was show up at a location in Seoul at a certain time, and board a rented bus going straight to our destination. It's much easier because you don't have to deal with figuring out how to get there or even simply communicating with temple representatives due to the language barrier. A popular agency is Adventure Korea. There are also groups available on Meetup that do similar trips and organize temple stays.



One of the Shrines

I did my own Temple Stay at Magoksa Temple (Korean: 마곡사). It's located in Gonju city in the Chungcheongnam province. I went with an agency now called Wink Travel and Culture Group with William Cho as the organizer. I actually wouldn't recommend them, as I've had a couple of negative experiences with the group related to two different trips. I'll explain that later. The Magoksa Temple, however, was wonderful... I would certainly recommend doing your stay here. To clarify, I went when I first arrived to Korea back in 2010. 

To learn more or organize your own trip yourself, go here for contact information and instructions on how to get there. It's a bit of a trek from Seoul, but it's not too bad or complicated.

The Program