Title Explanation :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!!!

Here is a little video from the tv show "Reno 911" to explain our title.  The show is about a fake police team who fight crime in Reno, Nevada.  Their fearless leader, Lt. Jim Dangle, has a love of short shorts, bike locks, Halloween, and boots (as you will see)!

SNOW DAY!

So it takes a lot for Koreans to call off school, but today it happened! Busan has experienced its worse snow storm for 5 years! I walked out of my apartment this morning blown away (literally and figuratively) by the weather conditions awaiting me. I had heard when I got here that Busan snowed occasionally, but it never stuck. Well, let me tell you, these were big flakes and they were sticking. They got at least several inches today.

I managed to schlep myself to school without falling, yet I still stood out. People here carry umbrellas for everything, sun, rain, and snow! I never carry one around, I felt quite naked without one as everyone else shielded themselves from the onslaught of flakes and wind.

Anyway, after I had made about 800 copies for test review today, I was informed school was cancelled because the shuttles that bus all these Korean little ones around from school to school all day, everyday would not be able to drive in the snow. Nobody has snow tires here.

Also, since we would be losing a day, review day was no longer needed...into the recycling box went my copies. Oy.

The foreign teachers had to stay 2 hours, until 3:00pm, to prepare for tomorrow. When the clock stroke 3 we ran out of there like giddy school children, along with the actual school children who had the day off thanks to the snow. Now, the walk home was tricky because many sidewalks and entrances, including my apartment building, are made of a faux marble type material, which I learned today is dangerously slippery when slushy. However, I avoided the embarrassment of wiping out and eating it in front of my door man and even managed to snap some shots of the historical (and beautiful if you ask me) snow fall...

The women were still wearing heels in this! Nothing will stop them from achieving fashion. I love it. Hope everyone had (or is having) a lovely Valentine's Day! Wish I could spend the day with my Valentine, you know who you are, So Ju is awaiting us when we are reunited!

~Sarah

Matching Underwear?

Ok, so this post isn't really about matching underwear, per se, I just needed a catchy title. This weekend I went out and about for the first time and explored Seomyeon, where there are lots of markets and shops. I also rode the subway for the first time. Instead of rechargeable cards (boring) like they have in London and such, they have phone charms. Ya? Adorable and clever. I am holding off on buying mine until I found the most sparkly and tacky one possible.

Anyway, in this shopping haven of Seomyeon, there are quite a few underwear shops, more than I have ever seen per capita in any other place. A common theme to these shops is matching underwear sets for couples. I know. But it is actually quite adorable. They had all of the red ones out for Valentines Day. Now, I have lived in romantic European cities, Paris of course being the epitome of love and romance, but Busan, surprisingly, rivals it. Not in the way that people are snogging at every bridge and park bench, but Korea is very couple oriented, and since couples are incredibly busy working and studying (and living with their parents) the time they have in public is quite treasured. I am constantly bombarded with couples holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes... And the men holding the woman's purse and shopping bags. We could do with a bit of that understated romance in the west I think. I hate carrying my shopping bags.

Enough about couples and underwear now. My parents are reading this.

Here are some photos of Seomyeon, a lot of the shops are also underground...

Street Food

For M-Larrrrr.....get here soon and we shall indulge.

After Seomyeon we took a cab to Busan Station, one of the bigger subway hubs here because you can transfer to another line and also catch the KTX train to Seoul. It is also home to China Town and Texas Street, funny enough, Texas Street and China Town is the night home of the Russian sailor population. This is evident by the sketchy vibe and signs in Russian.

Bottom two words say "vodka" and "sodzhyu" or so ju. I love both those things thank you very much.

We then made our way to a very popular tourist attraction, and hot spot for foreign night life, Gwangali Beach. We got there just in time to see all of the flashing neon lights on the hotels, clubs, restaurants, and even a mini carnival. Oh ya, and the gorgeous, epic bridge that makes Gwangali quite the landmark of Busan. I only had my point and shoot, so these pictures aren't great, but you can see what I mean...

That's about it for the weekend here. Can't wait to see more of this city.

~Sarah

Home Plus : Korea's Fred Meyer

Ok, so I have had no time to go shopping for anything since I have been here. Saturday is a welcome break and opportunity to get some things for my apartment, oh ya and some food, so I don't have to live off ramen from 7/11 anymore. Velinda, a teacher at my school from New York, met up with me and generously helped me go shopping at "Home Plus" which is a huge store with everything in it. It is about a 15 minute walk from my house, a walk that goes by quite fast. On the way there I saw 2 boys holding hands. Koreans are quite strange abut showing affection to the opposite sex, but it is very common to have boys holding their friend's hand and girls the same. I actually find this to be quite sweet and wish the west could be more open to this, as I know two teenage boys in Illinois would never hold hands. Anyway, I digress, we made our way into the huge building that is Home Plus. It also has restaurants on the outside and little jewelry/accessory vendors in the middle, kind of similar to a mall.

We got a cart, which moves not only forward and background, but also side to side. So that is fun to control in the mad house of Home Plus on a Saturday. Anyway, my first mission was to find sheets to cover my mattress, not seen as a necessity here. They had literally one package of sheets. Literally ONE. I will be sending away for sheets. I also bought another pillow because I enjoy multiple pillows. Everything was in Korean so I had no idea what the difference between all of them were but I picked this one because of the English description, which made no sense, but I am sure you'll find the humor:

Before you ask, I don't know what cervical vertebrae means. Or what Buckwheat has to do with it.

Anyway, I finished up the shopping, and by finished up I mean I was in there for probably around 2 hours. Along with some normal groceries, I decided to try out the ever so famous Korean seafood pancakes, I'm assuming they are like latkes, but with seafood.

After I checked out, which was a little frightening cause you bag your own groceries, (I always feel like I am holding up some old Korean lady in a rush) we were on our way. I couldn't resist the temptation of looking at all of the sparkly, bling bling, glittery accessories from the vendors. They were calling my name, or at least I think they were, I don't know, maybe they were just yelling "hello" in Korean. I don't speak Korean. I ended up buying some amazing headbands and a hair clip:

Successful Saturday here in Busan. I conquered the mountain of Home Plus on a Saturday and came out alive at the other end with some good buys. My mission for tomorrow is to learn how to recycle in Korea, they're a bit "specific." And also to take some pictures of my neighborhood. Miss everyone still...especially M-lar. Come quickly. So much to show you.

~Sarah

First Day of Teaching. And Drinking.

Well today was the day. The day I officially become an active, employed, certified teacher. I have 7 classes today, from 2:10-8:10 with a one hour break. It's not as bad as it sounds, it actually goes by super fast, classes are only 40 minutes. It started off well with me being told I was teaching the wrong class, in the wrong room. Because of this, I had no idea what I was going to be teaching (even though everything at my school is laid out and planned from a very structured book I had no idea what was going on). As goes the first day really. C'est pas grave. I finally got into the groove of things and landed with my feet on the ground. My day started off with the little ones, (as the day goes on my students get older I go from 5/6 in the morning and gradually work up to 12/13, but we'll come back to those students later, unfortunately) but anyway, the little ones have so much enthusiasm and energy. I love when they finish a worksheet and scream "teacher....finishie!!!!" (they can't say finished). Don't have the heart to try and correct them either. That is one phonetic mistake I will let slide, it's too damn cute.

My next few classes were young ones too, an 8 year old try to lock me out of the classroom and I couldn't push the door in because he was pushing against it, but a little girl came to my rescue and pulled him off. 8 year old Korean boys are strong, but apparently not as strong as 8 year old Korean girls. For the most part my early afternoon classes were lovely. The kids did what I asked and weren't too loud. But then came the middle school classes, and with them, the teenagers. I have always laughed off teachers who complain about middle school aged kids, I mean how different could they be right? Ok well, I am eating my words. The first class of surly teens I was blessed with had a wonderfully sweet front row, with a back row full of challenges. Overall, they were actually much better than I anticipated. Texting and cell phones are going to be my new enemy though, we'll see how that battle goes. The only challenging thing about my next middle school class was that no one remembered there books. Thanks guys. Cause I don't have a book either. That was a fun class.

Like I said before, overall a really positive day. I met a lot of very sweet kids, and even the ones who weren't I am hoping will warm up to me soon and vise versa. Or at least bring their books.

After work I was invited out by my Korean coworkers and one of the other foreign teachers. We went to a BBQ chicken restaurant of all places. I stuck to the service food and a side dish of mushrooms my coworkers had ordered for me because they felt so uncomfortable with the fact that the 2 Americans weren't eating. Love Korean hospitality. I really do love my new co workers though. They were all so awesome and it was a blast wasting away the Friday night over massive pitchers of beer and shots of So Ju. Kombae!!! This was not only my first night out with the office, it was also my first experience in a Korean restaurant bathroom, which is slightly more glamorous than a hole in the ground, in the fact that it flushes. I would like to announce to all of my close friends reading this, that to your surprise, I was actually very good at this and had no problems throughout the evening. Who knew? I guess So Ju makes the impossible possible.

Another successful day in my new home where I can check off even more firsts. Keep them coming Korea!

~Sarah

First Days in Busan...Awaiting My Second Half

So these first few days have been amazing, chaotic, confusing, overwhelming, and hilarious. I love everything here, even the things that I find strange I still love. However, I find myself wishing all of my friends were here with me all the time, not because I am lonely, (because this is actually the first night I have spent on my own in my apartment) but because every time I see something funny, I want to make a sarcastic comment but there is no captive audience to use my wit on (for Hanne).

I guess the best way to update everyone on what has happened so far is start from the beginning. The journey here was probably the hardest part of the move for me. I hate flying. I hate airports. I hate being near large amounts of people. I hate loud noises. And I hate babies. So air travel is my own personal hell. I am always shvitzing that my bags will be lost or stolen and the plane will go down in flames. None of this happened of course. The worst obstacle I endured was on my second flight (of three) which was 12.5 hours from Minneapolis to Tokyo. I actually had an empty seat next to me, quite lovely, but on the other side of me was a Vietnamese family with 2 children under the age of 4. Ya. The children didn't want to sleep when everyone else was (though they were more than happy to sleep through the meal times so their mother would have disrupt everyone during sleep time to get the flight attendants to bring them food). They also disrupted sleep time by allowing their children to watch DVDs on a DVD player without headphones. So I got to listen to Ratatouille the entire way to Tokyo. There are lots of scenes with crashing dishes in that movie.

Anyway, besides that, and my bags being outrageously overweight, (which I paid for financially and physically) it was a pretty uneventful trip to my new home 8,000 miles away. I was picked up by my boss, Daniel, who had a sign for me. He drove me to my new apartment in his car, which had tweety bird seat covers, again, an example of a time I would have loved to have some of my mates with me to enjoy that.

My new apartment is awesome in substance, size, and location. I live in Dognae....and I think there are a couple of other more specific location names, but Dognae is the most important for this purpose. It has a plethora of old bath houses and spas, facials here I come, apparently you don't have to get naked for those like you do for everything else in the bath houses. It also used to be the old center of Busan and is only a 10 minute walk for the main center of the city with loads of shopping and nightlife and it is only a 5 minute walk from school, very convenient.

Here are some photos of my new place on the 6th floor of the building:

The next day, the other foreign teacher, who lives below me, came to pick me up for my first day of work. I was observing her teach because I was going to be taking over her classes soon. The first class was adorable, they were at a beginner level, so about 5/6 years old. However, one of the girls had a cell phone that went off and it was then explained to me the Korean children get phones as young as 3….oy. I really enjoyed watching the classes and it will be helpful to be familiar with the kids before I start. Later that night the other 2 foreign teachers took me out to dinner at a restaurant called T3. We ordered broths, 1 seafood and 1 beef, and cooked vegetables and seafood/beef in them. It was really good and I tried octopus for the first time. When I say octopus, I mean we plopped a proper full on octopus in the water. It didn't have much taste and was kind of chewy.

The next day I got up early for my health check at the hospital which is a requirement to get an alien card here. We took a cab to the hospital and it was only like $2.00. Definitely going to be using cabs a lot here. I was really impressed with the Korean hospital. It was huge, no wait time, and cheap. The health check was simple and painless, except for the needle they stuck in my arm. But we go on. My supervisor, Jenny, took me around a bit afterward and we eventually schlepped ourselves back to school just in time for the first class. This is also when I was informed I would be taking over teaching on my own the next day. So that was a fun addition to the needle in the arm. The first class I observed this day was the cutest ever! They were the very first level and around 4/5 years old. One girl told me I had big eyes and then proceeded to draw a picture of me with big curly hair. She drew me quite thin as well....thanks for that.

~Sarah

update...

So, my best friend, Sarah has left and gone.  She is teaching today for the first time by herself!  Now that she is in Busan, waiting to leave is becoming harder and harder.  I have 18 more days!!  I leave March 1!

Although it has been challenging to wait, I am really happy for the extra time I have had in America.  I came back up to Seattle for a couple of weeks and it has been so good seeing friends that I haven't seen in a while.  As much as I hate to admit it, I will miss Seattle a lot.  It is so beautiful here with all the mountains and the water everywhere!  My true home will always be here... I just need sometime to find myself in the great unknown.

But for now, here are some little pictures of the magic I see almost daily being in Seattle, Washington.

Orcas Island, Washington

Percival Landing in Olympia, Washington

Seagulls around the ferry boat, Puget Sound

Ferry Boat in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

-Melissa