Seoul Food
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2007
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Seoul,
Korea Rep.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Well, I returned to Tennessee after Brazil in July and did another semester of economics at MTSU. I had really enjoyed the economics classes that I took before and decided to take some more and add another minor on to my degree. After this last semester, my desire to start grad school was reignited. I really enjoy being in the academic environment and it was nice to get back in the mix of things. I also tried my hand at a little theatre and was involved in "Romeo and Juliet." I got a minor role but had a good time doing it. The semester ended and found me itching to see some place new. By the time that I get to grad school, I don't want to be locked in to a certain region of the globe so I thought this time I would venture farther east. As a new year has begun, I now find myself in the "Land of the Morning Calm", South Korea.
I found a job teaching English over here for a winter camp. During the kids' winter break, instead of going on vacation, their parents have decided that they should study some more English. The school that has hired me is called the Transnational Law and Business University (TLBU) in Naeyu-dong about 30 minutes outside of Seoul. It's a law school for students from all over Asia so I've already had the chance to meet some really cool people from Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, China, New Zealand, Australia, England, and Vietnam.
me at Bukhansan
I flew here the day after Christmas and have a contract until March 1st. On New Year's I tagged along with a couple of the other instructors from here at the school. Since I'm the new kid on the block here in Korea I figured it would be best to stick with some people who already know the ropes around here. Our school is on the side of a mountain so it's a good 15 minute walk down the hill to the main road where you can catch a bus to Seoul. We found a bar in the central part of Seoul and hung out for a little while before getting out among the crowd on the streets. There were vendors everywhere selling roman candles that people were lighting and shooting straight up into the air. We tried forcing out way out onto the main street to do the countdown but for some reason the five of us were having a bit of a problem budging the thousands of them. It worked out for us though because we ended up getting a great view after we climbed up on top of a subway entrance. We were up there just in time to see everything. It was crazy! People everywhere shooting up fireworks and yelling. Definitely going down as one of my most memorable New Year's experiences.
The kids come for two weeks of camp and when they finish we get a new batch of young uns to start all over with. It's been great so far. I've only had a couple of knuckle heads but a thousand laughs. Because I have the long hair and earrings now, all of the kids keep asking me, "Teacher, teacher, you boy or you girl." That's the point where I tell them to write down their mom's number and ask her about it later.
Sarah, girl, Supermom, and me
; )A fellow coworker, Sarah from Alaska, and I did a little hike yesterday up to the top of Bukhansan Mountain yesterday. It's a national park just outside of Seoul that offers a great view of the city and all around. It snowed a couple of days ago so the trail was still covered with ice and snow. We finally made it to the top after a little help from a Korean guy who was more than obliged to offer Sarah a push up one of the rocks. At the summit we met a girl who is in high school and her mother. They told us that Bukhansan means success so they went there today to hope for success on her entrance into a good university. The mother was a professional climber who had all the newest climbing gear and super mom. On the way back down she insisted that we used her hiking poles and even tried to get me to wear an extra pair of gloves that she had brought. At the bottom of the mountain they even treated us to a nice hot meal and then gave us a ride back to the bus stop. I felt bad about how nice they were being but they were so insistent that they refused to let us say no.
So this is where I am right now: teaching English, climbing mountains and subway stations, and trying to explain to Korean kids that the letters "l" and "r" do not make the same sound. Things are good. I'm still not exactly sure in which direction I will be heading after this but rest assured, I will be traveling somewhere over here in Asia
