Happy Chuseok!

Happy Chuseok everyone! Chuseok is like the Korean version of Thanksgiving (sort of). Everyone leaves the city and goes to their hometowns to spend time with family. They make traditional food and honor dead ancestors. It's one of the bigger holidays here, so we get Monday and Tuesday off of work! Also, because of Chuseok, entrance to the Gyeongbokgung Palace was free, so me and Emily went there! On Saturday night, Emily and I went to Itaewon (the foreigner district) to meet her friend that just came, Rachel. We went to a bar on the roof of a building and just had a few drinks with Rachel, Rachel's boyfriend, and his friends. The next day we went back to Itaewon for a real breakfast! It was great. It was called the Foxhound Pub or something like that. I had eggs, toast, and hash browns, I couldn't believe it. After Itaewon we went to the palace. The whole point of me wanting to go to the palace was to see the gardens there, but I couldn't find them! I was so mad. Its huge inside and very spread out, and there were thousands of Koreans checking out the palace. The kids were wearing traditional Korean clothes and looked so funny! I was going to get a picture, but I didn't want to be intrusive. 

It wasn't my favorite place. I heard the Japanese burned it down when they occupied Korea, so the whole palace was rebuilt (which is sad of those darn Japanese to do that, but it still takes away from the historical aspect for me). Koreans are always concerned about things being too old. Apartment buildings last for about 10-15 years before they are "too old" and get knocked down and replaced. My building is from the early 90's and considered "pretty old". Strange..

Anyway, so I went back to work Wednesday. The students are getting ready for their midterm exams in their high schools, so for the next 3 weeks they will be studying for that at DYB academy. They memorize all these sentences and we give them oral tests on them. But let me take this time to describe my class from Hell.. It is a classroom filled with 15 14 year old boys and no girls. All they do is fight! They completely ignore everything I say to them, and since I have no power in the classroom, I can't punish them. But two of my favorite kids I teach are in the classroom, so its like a double edge sword. These two kids really want to learn and talk to me all class and do my work. But the other kids just play on their cell phones, fight each other, and flick each other off! I was freakin out on them for the whole 50 minutes of class. Gina was teaching in the class right next to mine, and she said her and her students were just laughing the whole time cause the only thing they could here was me yelling! But they won't do anything! I stood overtop of them and was like "I am not leaving until you do this problem", and they would just look at me and then start talking again to the person next to them! Its the longest 50 minutes of my life, besides the class where I have only 1 student and he is mentally retarded. I don't understand why his parents spend so much money on him to learn English when its such a struggle for him, but then again I'm not his parents. I always try to think of the simplest things to do with him, but he never understands me cause his English is very limited. I tried playing this one game called "stop the bus" with him, where you have 5 categories like food, brand, something  you find in the bathroom, etc. Then you give them a letter and they have to think of something in each category that starts with that letter. So I was like "okay food! name a food that starts with a 'p'" and he was like "Spaghetti!" I was like good! write it down! okay whats another one? and hes like uhh apple! I was like perfect! hahaha he's really cool, but its just hard to talk to him cause he doesn't understand me. 

On Thursday there was power outages all over Korea! Our buildings power went out and the whole place was pitch black. My first thought was we were under attack from Kim Jong-Il! But I was wrong.. The teachers kept on teaching! It was incredible. The hallway lights eventually came back on, but it took a while for the classroom lights to come on, so students were sitting in dark rooms and still doing their work. They are ruthless here. 

I got my first package from home! It had a Kindle, some Snyder's salt & vinegar chips, Twinkies (for the Brittish folk), Haribos and some of Beanies home made caramel corn! Delicious!

On my day off I went to the music instrument district. There is a building that has 2 floors of music stores. It is gigantic! I walked in and almost had a panic attack, I had no idea where to look. I'm just looking for a nice used guitar rather than a cheap bad quality one, but I don't know how to find that or ask for it. I went into a few stores just to see what it was like. They asked me what I was looking for and I said just something not too expensive, I don't know how long I'll be here. They seemed to understand, so the guy got a guitar and gave it to me. I started playing it and really liked it. I asked him how much it was, and he said 900,000 won! ($810) I was like uhhh no I think you got the wrong idea! But it was so stressful. As soon as you walk into a store they are all over you! grabbing guitars and giving them to you! I just wanted to be like chill out guys I'm just browsing, but they aren't like that here. Whenever you go to stores people are all over you trying to "help you". I stepped outside for a breather and met a Korean kid about my age named Bok Chul Koo (English name Jay). He was really cool, spoke great English (even though he denies it). He goes to school in Switzerland because he likes to learn different languages. But he's back in Seoul now for his mandatory military service. We exchanged numbers and have been texting a little, but hes back at camp now. Maybe we'll go out one of these nights. 

Friday after work we all went for a bite to eat and some drinks. We went to a lamb place about a ten minute cab ride from school. 

On the left is Ben, the guy from Bristol. On the right is Joon from Kansas.

From left to right: Joon again, Peter from somewhere in England, Nancy from California? I think? and Alan from New Orleans. He's a new teacher too. People go out so late in Korea! Time flies. Before I knew it, it was 5 in the morning. 

I found out that my floor in my building has a little patio. Its so great! the only thing it is missing is a table and some chairs. The view is amazing! I wish I could sip on some cervezas out there all night.

On Sunday Emily and Alan wanted to go to a jazz club, so we went to "Once in a Blue Moon". It was a really cool little club. They had live music, the lights were low, and the drinks were really expensive! We all felt underdressed. Next time we go, we'll look more proper. Naturally, we were the only white people in the building. Even though the singer was singing in English (I don't think Koreans sing jazz). But it was a nice evening, very refreshing. Our tab was 132,000 won! ($120) 

Here are some photos of the bachelor pad:

notice the shower/sink combo!

I got the futon and the coffee table for free from Gina when she left! they made a huge difference, I could finally sit somewhere other than my desk chair and my bed. 

She also gave me a framed puzzle of van Gogh's "Starry Night", but its not as great as the family photo on the beach!