So much to say...

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I've done a lot since I last posted. I may have mentioned before, but I am basically on my own now until the other foreign teachers arrive, and I haven't started teaching yet, so I have had a lot of free time. One of the things I've started doing is intensely learning Korean. I'm working on learning the alphabet and have started reading a bit. Koreans recommend learning to read before anything else. So many Korean words are just English words with Korean inflections. Coffee is kuh-pee, ice cream is iceh-cream-ah, and the list goes on. Plus, once I learn how to read I may actually be able to order at a restaurant. As of now I've been going to places that have pictures or an English menu, or ordering things I know the names of.

I have learned the Chinese numbers, which are used here for everything BUT counting. I'm learning Korean numbers, which are only used for counting. With all this free time I've really learned a lot of Korean, but understanding it is still very difficult.

A few days ago I took the bus into downtown Seoul. From Bundang I only needed to take one bus to where I needed to be (it took about 1.5 hours). The announcements on the bus were in Korean, and despite my best efforts to listen out for the stop I needed, I missed it. I ended up getting off 2 stops later and having to take a taxi back. But, I found where I needed to be.

Being on my own and wanting to see so many things in downtown, I decided to do one of those "hop on/hop off bus tours" which actually turned out to be great. The tour made stops at all the places I wanted to see in downtown, so I didn't have to deal with the hassle of figuring out which bus to take to which destination. I managed to see 3 palaces which are situated in among skyscrapers in the center of downtown Seoul. The palaces are vast, colorful, and tranquil. All of them had special quarters for the king to relax and spend time with his concubine. There are statues and shrines built to honor the concubines; they were valued quite highly. In fact, one of the palaces (the 2nd in the set of pictures) was inhabited by the king and queen until 1989! The palaces have beautiful gardens, ponds, pagodas, and walking paths. It was exceptionally peaceful.

I also visited a “traditional Korean village” which wasn’t terribly exciting. I was told there is a better one much closer to where I live. The best part of the village was seeing traditional Korean houses (contrasted with the massive palaces of the kings and queens). The Korean village was overrun by cicadas, which are present everywhere in Korea. For those of you that don’t know, cicadas are grasshopper-looking bugs that make terrible buzzing noises, and when an area is inhabited by a lot of them, you can’t hear your own thoughts.

After the Korean village I went to the N. Seoul tower, an observation tower at the top of a mountain in Seoul. The tower is visible from everywhere in Seoul. I went to the top observation area, from which you can see as far as North Korea. At night, the tower lights up, and the lights change throughout the evening, so every time you look at it, the pattern of lights is different. There’s also a laser show that happens every evening in the plaza of the tower, which I definitely want to check out, it looks amazing.
I also stopped for a quick view of the palace of the Korean president. The roof has blue tiles, each of which was hand molded. The guards of the palace stood in little toy-box looking things which I found quite comical. It turns out, they’re human traffic lights; they control the red and green lights as well as turning arrows. Interesting.

After the bus tour I stuck around in downtown Seoul, walked around a lot. It’s exciting and overwhelming to be in the presence of such colossal buildings. They’re everywhere! Oh and shopping is everywhere! I’m not a huge fan of shopping but it seems like every district of Seoul is a shopping district! Fashion here is interesting, most women wear tremendously high heels, all day, every day, regardless of the terrain.

I also walked around a bit in Bundang (my area). My boss, and her daughter have been showing me around a lot, which has been great. They took me for a walk along a river in Bundang (although I think here they refer to is as a stream) to the mall. That was my first visit to a Korean mall and it was huge. Apparently it’s tiny compared to others but wow!

Yesterday my boss brought me along to her Korean class. I sat in on the beginners class and was able to follow along so I was pretty proud of myself. After we went to Yongsan park, which is right next to the National Museum of Korea. It was beautiful! Koreans really went all out when designing the parks. The few parks I’ve been to are extremely large, have ponds, nice play area for kids, benches, hiking paths, and all kinds of fun stuff. Oh, all Korean parks have exercise equipment that anyone could use. How nice! On our walk through the park we found a gorgeous waterfall (see pictures). It was small, but the mist coming off from the rocks in the water made it so calming.

What else….? Hmm. A Canadian foreign teacher arrives today, and 2 Americans arrive tomorrow, so that’ll be better. I start work on Tuesday, although most of next week will be training and professional development. The 3 teachers arriving Sunday and Monday will miss most of the training because they can’t visit the school until 1 week has passed. I have no idea what to expect from teaching. All I know is that I will have 25 3-6 year olds, and a Korean co-teacher that speaks some English. I’ll be teaching English, science, and art.

I also just learned that I apparently got the wrong visa (I didn’t know there was another kind). By this I mean I could have requested a multiple entry visa at the time that I applied for my visa. Apparently for a little extra money I could have applied for a re-entry visa, which allows me to leave the country and come back. Mine, however, is not a re-entry visa. I’ll have to look into changing the visa type, Korea is great but I’d like to see other places on my vacations. When I get the multiple entry visa or re-entry permit, i will be able to leave the country and return without any issues. Visa is legit, I just could have upgraded to a better one.

I have a 3- day weekend coming up in the first week of October so I think I may take the bullet train down to Busan and check it out there. I also hear Jeju island is great (kind of like Hawaii, and I LOVE Hawaii!).

Trying to get used to the customs. There are different levels of bowing depending on who you’re bowing to. The most respectful being a 90 degree bow. Also, you always have to hand things to people with 2 hands, so if you’re handing money, you put the money in one hand, but put your other hand on the arm with the money it.

It’s been a bit lonely but I think it’ll get better once the foreign teachers arrive and I start teaching. The plus side of all this free time is the progress I’ve made in learning Korean. The weather takes some getting used to. It’s hot, humid, and rains sporadically throughout the day. Quite a change from L.A. weather!

I guess that’s all for now. Because I have soooo many pictures, I am just going to post a link so you can see the pictures on picassa. I’ve never done this before, so let me know if it works, hopefully it does, it’ll make my life so much easier.

Yongsan park and random fashion show at the museum: http://picasaweb.google.com/vyakovenko3/20090830YongsanParkKoreaMuseum?authkey=Gv1sRgCIeBgce3qLrWHg&feat=email#

Downtown Seoul, palaces, tower, etc: http://picasaweb.google.com/vyakovenko3/DowntownSeoul?authkey=Gv1sRgCKnjmfqDxtuXiQE&feat=email#

I took pictures of the names of the palaces, so you will know when I’ve moved on from one to the next. The first pictures, before the 1st palace, are of the Korean village, followed by N. Seoul Tower, then Changyeonggong Palace, then Changdeok Palace (my favorite of the 3), then Deoksugung Palace, then random pictures of downtown Seoul.

Bundang:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vyakovenko3/Bundang?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTwhIWzp6ifCw&feat=email#

Enjoy!!

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Photos

Yongsan Park
waterfall. beautiful.

Comments

[Dave]

Great blog and Photos!
Looks like you're having a great time. I can't wait to get there.

[VJ]

Fun in Seoul
Excellent blog. I'll be visiting Seoul with my Korean-American buddy this next weekend. I know you're still getting adjusted, but do you have any suggestions for the best places to go for a fun and wild night?

[Nika3]

I don't but I can ask around. I am in Bundang, which is a suburb of Seoul. I know Itaewon has stuff going on late. As well as anything off the Gwanghamun station exit (that is center Seoul). As for specific places, I don't know. Sorry, I can ask!

[Christy Semsen]

Yay
Fabulous- thanks for all the details.... So facsinating!

[Natacha]

how was your first day of work?
Hey babe, Love your blog!!! very descriptive! anyhow, how was your first day, how are the kiddies... Let me know. Miss you!