So, I guess it's finally to the point where I can say things are the "same ol' same ol'"...or can I?
Friday night I went out with a couple friends to Bar Boom, a hip hop club in Ilsan. There were mainly foreigners there but I think it was because it was a guy, Justin's, birthday. Funny thing...I saw this foreigner guy on the subway and for some reason, I had knew I was gonna see him out in Ilsan. And I was right...he was at Bar Boom. Man, can I call 'em or what?! This is the first bar I've been to that serves vodka tonics...only with lemons! It's just not the same without limes...
The bar was dimly lit with neon blue lighting and the music was pretty good. However, they weren't playing anything new (aka from the past two months). It was a fairly small bar with only 7-8 tables and it was the first bar that I've seen that had a dartboard.
On Sunday, I finally did my first "touristy" thing and went to Insadong to buy a few souvenirs and postcards since I couldn't find any in Hwajeong and Ilsan. Insadong is full of street shops and antiques. It's where you can find a lot of "classic" old-school Korean stuff. In Insadong, there is a random shopping center full of small clothing, shoe, and jewelry boutiques. I know, weird that there's a shopping center withiin a shopping center?
There was one small jewelry boutique that apparently a lot of Korean soap stars and pop singers have bought jewelry. It was tempting to buy jewelry but then I snapped out of it, realizing that, to me, it was all pretty tacky. For example, earrings with ginormo multi-colored giraffes hanging off them? Not for me. But hey, whatever floats your boat...
While in this shopping center, I ran into Moss, one of the guys I had my YBM training with. We swapped a few stories about our schools. Apparently at his school, there are security cameras in every room. This way, parents can come in to school and watch their children and teachers without him knowing. His bosses also record his classes sometimes. I find that kind of creepy! I double checked in my classrooms and as far as I can tell, there aren't any cameras. I really hope there aren't any...
My boss informed me yesterday afternoon that I was to join the kindergarten classes on a field trip this morning. So, instead of beginning work at 12:50pm, I had to be at my school at 9:30am. I know, it's a rough life, but it was real hard for me to wake up that early. I'm used to waking up at 10am!! The field trip was to the Traffic Control Center to learn about crosswalk safety. Fun fun! I'm still not sure why I had to go since there were about 6 teachers for only 30 kids...
Anyways, we get to the Traffic Control Center and the Traffic Lady did a 15 minute presentation and then we watched a 30 minute cartoon/anime about crosswalk safety. Obviously, it was all in Korean so I didn't understand most of it. This cartoon was the craziest educational cartoon I've ever seen. It included a flying boy and bird-like animal with magical powers...that kind of died at the end by saving the boy from being run over by a truck b/c he didn't look both ways...??? My favorite part of the Traffic Lady's presentation was her powerpoint. In one part, there's an animated boy kicking a soccer ball down a narrow road. He reaches an intersection and gets run over by a boy riding his bike. What's the lesson? The boy should be riding his bike in a park. WHAT?! It's not that the soccer boy or the bike boy should look where they're going?? Ummm...okay...
After the presentation, the kids are taken onto a closed street setup to learn more about crosswalk safety. Apparently, kids are taught to raise their left hand and make eye-contact with the driver while crossing the street. In the end, I learned that Korea has some pretty freakin' huge ants...(yeah, my attention span was as good as the kindergarteners...)
At the end of the tour, a patrolman zoomed in on his motorbike (which was a Harley, FYI). He was going about 20 mph on this little set-up with kids within feet of him. Way to teach safety chief...
After the field trip, we went back to school for lunch. Since it was 12:15pm and my first class started at 12:50, there really wasn't any time to go back to my apt for lunch. Luckily, there was an extra "teachers" lunch and I was invited to eat with my students. What was on the menu today for the teachers? Good ol' squid. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind squid. It's usually pretty tasty. However, this was cafeteria squid. It was extra chewy and extra tough and extra not tasty. If you thought Class F meat was bad...try Class F squid.
After my class, my boss took me to the bank to set up my account. Hooray! Now I just need some money to put into that account... Too bad we get monthly paychecks and my first paycheck isn't til July 7th. After the bank, my boss took me to Krispy Kreme. Yep, that's right...I have a Krispy Kreme right in my 'hood. Over some mochas and a donut, we discussed classroom management and parent expectations. Basically, she was telling me how to do my job. But in a good way. Everything is sweeter when eating donuts, haha!
And speaking of American joints in Korea, I found out today on the way to Krispy Kreme that a new building is going up right around the corner and will have a Pizza Hut and a FRIENDLY'S?!?! I had never heard of Friendly's before I moved out to New York. How crazy is that?! (For those who don't know, Friendly's is like a Perkins, Denny's, IHOP, etc)
And on that note, I will leave you with my Random Fact of the Day:
Apparently, Koreans believe in "Fan Death". Fan Death is caused by turning on a regular fan but leaving all windows and doors shut. They say the fans use up all the oxygen and a person can suffocate and die. A few deaths a year are caused by Fan Death. Hmmmm...
