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Published: October 29th 2006
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Hello everyone...
Greetings from S. Korea! Sorry you all haven't heard from us in awhile, but as you can probably imagine, we've been pretty busy over the past few weeks getting settled in here and getting used of our new jobs. So far, everything is GREAT and we're writing to tell you all about it!!
When we first arrived in S. Korea on October 3rd, not only was it really late at night, but it was also in the middle of a big national holiday here called Chuseok. Chuseok is the Korean Thanksgiving and it falls on different days each year. This year it fell within the first week of October. We were picked up at the airport that night and taken to English Village, but needless to say, not many other people were around. So, we were dropped off at our new residence apartment called EARTH, and left to fend for ourselves until the holiday came an end and all the other employees returned home. Luckily over these next couple of days though, we met a lot of very nice people who helped show us around and teach us the ropes of living here. One of these people,
Marie, was particularly sweet and helpful. On our first night she introduced us to "La Festa"...a really cool area in the city of Ilsan with shops, restaurants, bars and outdoor street vendors that stretch for quite a few blocks. She also took us to Seoul (the capital city of S. Korea) for our very first time, which is about an hour and a half south from where we live. Here we did some shopping, sightseeing, and then met up with some fellow English Village coworkers that had stuck around for the holiday vacation. We all met for dinner at a really cool Korean BBQ restaurant called Carne Station, where it was all-u-can-eat-AND-drink for 22,000 Won/person (only about $23 US Dollars)! Everything here is VERY CHEAP...Especially when compared to Tokyo or New York City!!
The following week we began our jobs. As most of you already know, we are working for a company called English Village. English Village is a government-sponsored program which was built to provide a fun, theme park-like atmosphere for Korean families and students to learn English in a fun environment. From outside of the park English Village looks like a castle, and from the inside, it
looks like a little, old-fashioned village. We can see North Korea in the horizon from right outside the Village, which is a little nerve-racking at times, but I guess also keeps things exciting. There are ALWAYS production crews and photographers here shooting commercials, models, and ads for just about any Korean product you can think of, mainly because we were told that this kind of architecture and atmosphere does not exist anywhere else in this country. This week alone a commercial for Hite Beer was shot, as well as one for a popular, Korean bakery called Paris Baquette. On Main Street there are many shops and restaurants from all over the world - including a Chinese food restaurant, a pizzeria, a Subway, a Dairy Queen, a fast-food burger joint called Meister, a coffee shop comparable to Starbucks, and many more. There is also a trolley, a clinic, and a bank (the same one where our paychecks are deposited each month) within the village as well. The best part of English Village though is, not only do we work here, but we live here too...which makes things VERY convenient!
Our apartment here is up on a hill towards the back
of English Village, away from the hustle and bustle. It's only a one-bedroom, however it's MUCH bigger than any other apartment we've ever had together. It also came completely furnished! We have a fairly big living room which includes a kitchen and dining area. Near the kitchen we have our very own washing machine, which is EXTREMELY convenient. Our bedroom is also a nice size and we each have our own huge, floor-to-ceiling closet for all of our clothes. There are many other closets and storage areas throughout the apartment as well. It's definitely much more space than we know what to do with right now! With that said, if anyone wants to come out for a visit, we have plenty of room!!
Now back to work....
We both had 2 days of orientation, and then a week and a half to observe classes and learn the lesson plans. Larry and I are both in different programs (he is in the 'One-Week Program' and I am in the 'One-Day Program' (where the entertainers are placed), but we agree that both of our jobs are really fun and easy. We also both have the same days off, and so hopefully
we will be able to travel a lot while we are here. My job requires a lot more teaching than performing right now, but I actually love it. The kids we teach are so CUTE and I feel so rewarded by the time the class is over, mostly because the kids are so excited just to have us as their teachers. Teaching the teens and adults is just as rewarding as the kids though. Larry teaches 'Robotics' to either students in the 5th or 8th grades each week, although his first week he was teaching men from the military and this week he is teaching Korean teachers. In 'Robotics,' Larry teaches his students to build and program their very own Lego robots! I teach a wide variety of classes including 'Kidz Music Video,' 'Multicultural Cooking,' 'Toy Workshop,' and classes in the 'Young Learners' program (classes geared towards preschoolers).
Weekends here are especially fun!! There are street performances throughout the day that my program participates in....everything you can imagine including singers, dancers, puppeteers, Chad - "Ms. Mary" the fortune teller lady, storytellers, cookie-making street, and much much more! This weekend I will be performing in "Hip Hop Phonics" with 3
other dancers, which is a whole lot of fun!! It's educational, but also fun...as we make raps and perform dances to teach children about the continents, the months of the year, etc, etc. The big finale is a hip hop performance to "Car Wash" 😊
On our next set of days off (Monday & Tuesday), we decided to spend a day in Seoul with our friends Adam and Jessica. Once there, they showed us Insadong (a very artsy part of Seoul), where we had lunch at a cute Korean restaurant. Next we showed them Dongdaemun, where we went to a flea market, did some shoe shopping, and enjoyed the newly uncovered Cheonggye River. We also enjoyed some Baskin Robbins ice cream and a walk through Tapgol Park.
Just last weekend we went into Seoul again, this time to see the Korean Ballet Theater perform "Carmen". We also had Adam and Jessica over for dinner at our apartment one night. We made our infamous chili, and even though we got a little carried away on the chili powder, it was a delicious meal shared with good friends.
This weekend we are heading into Seoul again....this time to look
at a car that we might purchase. Although public transportation here is EXTREMELY cheap, it still takes awhile to get places, and so we think this might be a good option for us. Most of our fellow teachers have motorcycles, but we're too old for one of those!! Haha!! We'll keep you all updated...
Well, that's all for now folks. If you're still reading at this point, thank you for being so interested and involved in our lives right now! We really appreciate it!! Our future blogs will obviously be a lot shorter....the first ones are always the longest!
We both hope that this blog finds you well and to hear from each of you soon!
Love,
Larry & Melanie
Korean for the Day: Annyeong haseyo - "Hello!" (Informal)
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Dude, Glad to see things are working out well for the two of you, how is melanie enjoying working wiht the kids? Pictures look great, very jealous! Wish I were out touring the world living on EARTH! It is a special time of your life how the both of you enjoy so that you can come home and make babies!