Hello from South Korea! It has taken us a while to get this blog up and moving because our jobs have kept us pretty busy. Thanks for staying tuned...we promise to update this thing regularly. After three weeks in Korea, here are some of the highlights:1. Chris and I bought bikes which, although the frames are Korean size, the bikes let us explore a little more of our town. The bikes, like everything else you buy in Korea, came with a ton of freebie extras...like reflector lights, a lock and an extremely important bell (we can't say "excuse me" in Korean yet).
2. I have had the best food I've ever tasted. Yesterday, in particular, I found steamed dumplings the size of my face.
3. The kids we teach are horribly behaved but occasionally cute. One of my classes in particular is really out of control and by Friday of every week, I have lost my voice from yelling things like "No Korean!" There are some moments that make it all worthwhile, like when we were asking the kids to name adjectives to describe a fluffy stuffed dog, and the kids said "cute" "fluffy" and "delicious". For the record we haven't eaten dog. Yet.
4. Some of the kids names are really funny because they get them from movies or make them up. I have a Superman, and there's a Harry Potter in another class. One teacher has, by pure accident, a class full of hicks--Bobby Lee, Joe Bob, etc.
5. We have learned that every time you go into a norebang (private rooms with karaoke) you wont leave before the sun comes up.
6. Any afternoon, you can find business men in designer suits sleeping off their Soju (Korean liquor) on benches all over town.
7. Check out some pictures of the outdoor markets:
8.Chris has learned the Korean alphabet, and so far we both know a few phrases that help us get around. We don't know our own address, and teachers who have been here for almost a year still don't know their address. Some stores' names are in English, but if you tell a taxi you want to get there, you have to say the store's name in a Korean accent so they understand it. So, if we want to go to E-mart we have to say E-marteuhh. Mcdonald's would be "Mickiedeezuhh".
I think that's about it for now...check out the pic to see a shirt that doesn't make sense:
We miss you!
Laura and Chris
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BRING ME THAT SHIRT HOME. I just laughed out loud for a good minute while trying to translate that in my brain. So funny. Sounds like you guys are having so much fun! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you're both enjoying yourselves. Don't eat doggies.
ReplyDeleteMiss you!
Great blog! Buy me some stuff. And I second that about don't eat doggies haha. love you
ReplyDeleteI, too, laughed for a solid two minutes at the shirt, and I don't think it was because I'm drunk. Good to hear from you guys. DO IT NOW. NO.
ReplyDeleteOkay, even though I know that Koreans eat dog...I am completely horrified by the thought of the kids even thinking that a dog was delicious!! Here I was thinking (before reading the delicious part)...wouldn't it be great if Laura had a therapy dog to bring to class to try to elicit some English. Ummmm -- scratch that!! YIKES!! I'll be having nightmares now of Lumpi or Buzz becoming someone's actual hotdog!!!
ReplyDeleteHang in there!! :-) And, if you even think about eating any doggies, I'll never speak to you again!!! ;-)
Carolyn
this is all so informative. glad to hear you guys are enjoying yourselves! keep on keepin' on.
ReplyDeleteI found your bloggage! hugely entertaining so far. do the parents call their kids by their made up names, too?
ReplyDelete