Fulfilling Questions
Cousin Lisa had a grand idea and sent me a list of questions, that will answer most pertinent facts about what I'm doing here and just some fun ones too. So here we go:
1. What co. are you there through - I am teaching at a Hagwon (private after school-school) that is called Reading Town. I used a recruiter in Busan called RBI to find schools that were looking for teachers according to my specifications and then I picked Reading Town.
2. Are you teaching - I don't start teaching until next week. Orientation on Mon. and Tues and then I start on Wednesday.
3. What are you teaching- I will be teaching conversational English to elementary school kids.
4. How many kids in your class - it ranges but they are all suppoed to be small. ABout 10 or so. I will know more about this next week.
5. What's their native language- Korean! There aren't any dialects to my knowldege.
6. What are the hours you're teaching- I will be working 2-9 M-F. Pretty sweet!
7. What food have you eaten that was good- The sushi here is to die for. So big and filled with goodies. And a whole roll for about $5! Can't beat it. Also love these little windows on the streets where you can stand at the counter and have a snack. They serve Kimbop, which is like cheap sushi but great! and mandu (spelling?) which is a dumpling. You can drink all the broth you want from the vats in front of you, which is also very tasty and filling. I've had a quick lunch there several times, for $3! Why buy groceries?? AND of coures- Galbi, which is Korean BBQ. Here's a video of me learning how to eat it. 2 parts!
8. What food have you eaten that was not - I am not really a fan of Kimchi, the national dish, which is pickled cabbage. It tastes very vinegar-y to me. Also, they like to make everything spicy, so I have had to adjust to that.
9. What's the strangest thing you have seen thus far - There are tons of Atlanta Braves hats and shirts here! I thought that was crazy, but willing to believe it since they love baseball. However I learned last night that there is a local tv personality who always says "A" and puts his hand in an upside down peace sign, much like Atlantans do for "A Town." And then the Koreans discovered Braves Hats and went crazy! Still throws me every time. And in the subway underground station, there is a tacky replica of Italy's Trevi fountain. Why? No idea.
10.What's the most normal thing you've seen that reminds you of U.S? - They have Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, a TGIFriday, an Outback Steakhouse, a Smoothie King, and McDonalds and Burger King. I'm trying to avoid them if possible. Terribly overpriced and I've heard not so good food.
11. How long are you staying there? My contract is for a year, so I won't be done until next October. Then we shall see. I've met several people who are on there 2nd, 3rd or 4th year! Also many newbs like me.
12. Where are you staying? I live in the Kyungsung University area, which is on the southeast side of Busan. I like it a lot because it is younger and more hip. I feel at home here after leaving a college town in the states. The beach is a $4 taxi ride away! Or a $1, 15 minute subway ride.
13. What 's the time difference - 13 hours ahead!
14. How long were your flights- From Atl to Minneapolis - 2 hrs, 45 min. Minn-Tokyo - almost 13 hours (ouch!) and Tokyo to Busan about 2 hours. Layovers were less than an hour so I really just hopped from plane to plane.
15. What the funniest thing you've seen - The T-shirts are hilarious, with English sayings that don't quite make sense. I keep seeing "Forever love you" and my favorite, seen here, with Diane modeling: I also was walking and looked up to the second story of a building where there were 4 Korean teen girls doing kareoke in a glass room. They were seriously rocking out to some pop song and then they noticed that my friend was filming them and they all screamed and hid in the corner except for one lil badass. It was hilarious.
16. What's the funniest thing you've done since arriving - hmmm. I hven't done anything especially funny as of yet (to my knowledge) but I have been laughed at several times for my general sense of bewilderment or wonder. I'm okay with that. :-) Oh wait. I did a face plant in the sand this weekend playing dodgeball, and I'm not talking about a little trip. I think I flew 2 feet. Not so hot.
17. What did you eat today? - I had frosted flakes. Ha, I bought them at this little grocery store right by my house. Probably sushi for dinner - I can't resist!
1. What co. are you there through - I am teaching at a Hagwon (private after school-school) that is called Reading Town. I used a recruiter in Busan called RBI to find schools that were looking for teachers according to my specifications and then I picked Reading Town.
2. Are you teaching - I don't start teaching until next week. Orientation on Mon. and Tues and then I start on Wednesday.
3. What are you teaching- I will be teaching conversational English to elementary school kids.
4. How many kids in your class - it ranges but they are all suppoed to be small. ABout 10 or so. I will know more about this next week.
5. What's their native language- Korean! There aren't any dialects to my knowldege.
6. What are the hours you're teaching- I will be working 2-9 M-F. Pretty sweet!
7. What food have you eaten that was good- The sushi here is to die for. So big and filled with goodies. And a whole roll for about $5! Can't beat it. Also love these little windows on the streets where you can stand at the counter and have a snack. They serve Kimbop, which is like cheap sushi but great! and mandu (spelling?) which is a dumpling. You can drink all the broth you want from the vats in front of you, which is also very tasty and filling. I've had a quick lunch there several times, for $3! Why buy groceries?? AND of coures- Galbi, which is Korean BBQ. Here's a video of me learning how to eat it. 2 parts!
8. What food have you eaten that was not - I am not really a fan of Kimchi, the national dish, which is pickled cabbage. It tastes very vinegar-y to me. Also, they like to make everything spicy, so I have had to adjust to that.
9. What's the strangest thing you have seen thus far - There are tons of Atlanta Braves hats and shirts here! I thought that was crazy, but willing to believe it since they love baseball. However I learned last night that there is a local tv personality who always says "A" and puts his hand in an upside down peace sign, much like Atlantans do for "A Town." And then the Koreans discovered Braves Hats and went crazy! Still throws me every time. And in the subway underground station, there is a tacky replica of Italy's Trevi fountain. Why? No idea.
10.What's the most normal thing you've seen that reminds you of U.S? - They have Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, a TGIFriday, an Outback Steakhouse, a Smoothie King, and McDonalds and Burger King. I'm trying to avoid them if possible. Terribly overpriced and I've heard not so good food.
11. How long are you staying there? My contract is for a year, so I won't be done until next October. Then we shall see. I've met several people who are on there 2nd, 3rd or 4th year! Also many newbs like me.
12. Where are you staying? I live in the Kyungsung University area, which is on the southeast side of Busan. I like it a lot because it is younger and more hip. I feel at home here after leaving a college town in the states. The beach is a $4 taxi ride away! Or a $1, 15 minute subway ride.
13. What 's the time difference - 13 hours ahead!
14. How long were your flights- From Atl to Minneapolis - 2 hrs, 45 min. Minn-Tokyo - almost 13 hours (ouch!) and Tokyo to Busan about 2 hours. Layovers were less than an hour so I really just hopped from plane to plane.
15. What the funniest thing you've seen - The T-shirts are hilarious, with English sayings that don't quite make sense. I keep seeing "Forever love you" and my favorite, seen here, with Diane modeling: I also was walking and looked up to the second story of a building where there were 4 Korean teen girls doing kareoke in a glass room. They were seriously rocking out to some pop song and then they noticed that my friend was filming them and they all screamed and hid in the corner except for one lil badass. It was hilarious.
16. What's the funniest thing you've done since arriving - hmmm. I hven't done anything especially funny as of yet (to my knowledge) but I have been laughed at several times for my general sense of bewilderment or wonder. I'm okay with that. :-) Oh wait. I did a face plant in the sand this weekend playing dodgeball, and I'm not talking about a little trip. I think I flew 2 feet. Not so hot.
17. What did you eat today? - I had frosted flakes. Ha, I bought them at this little grocery store right by my house. Probably sushi for dinner - I can't resist!
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