Smells

This post is going to a little different.  Last week I was teaching the five senses to some of my students.  For those who do forget they are: sight, hear, taste, touch, and smell.  During those lessons I started thinking that whoever does read this gets to experience some sights that I do see, but what about the other senses.  So this post I will walk you through the smells that I experience on a typical day.

Waking up the other day I did smell rain.  A side note on the smell of rain.  The smell of rain here isn’t as strong as back in Arizona.  I think this is because the fact that it is always humid here and not dry, and so the smell of moisture isn’t that strange.  Just an educated guess, but of course I do smell it more when I start walking to the bus stop.  When it isn’t raining and I walk outside to go to the bus stop I smell the trees and wild flora.  Right around my apartment it almost is like a pine smell, but not exactly the same.  Since it is Spring I also smell the flowers and other shrubbery as I am heading to the bus stop.  Of course each different type has a different smell.  At the bus stop if you stand behind the bus it will smell like exhaust.  Once getting on the bus you can smell the leather and it typically has a wet smell.  This is true even when it isn’t raining because I think they wash the busses in the morning.  Heading to school there is a very strong smell of fish.  This is in town and not even by the beach yet.  This smell originates from the three streets (all parallel with each other) where the fish market is located.  One day I will have to take pictures and then post them for your sense of sight (I will have to put a disclaimer because some look nasty).  For now though the thought of a fish market and that smell just multiplied is what I smell while riding in the bus.  Once we get out on the main road the smell changes to the trees and wild flora.  Of course on the bus it does fill up and so if somebody didn’t take a shower then you could potentially smell them.  Another smell I experience on the ride to school is the smell of fields.  Now keep in mind these fields are different then back in Arizona.  These fields have rice, bean sprouts, and different things that require the fields to be flooded.  With the fields being flooded it does produce a rich not always pleasant smell.  You do get used to the smell because on the way to school it is all fields along the way.

Walking up to school there are some more flowers and different trees that do produce some distinct smells.  Inside the office area (all the teachers, including me, are here) it smells like coffee and tea.  This is because there is some tea and coffee everyone is making in the morning.  The tea is stronger and it is a wheat tea, so it has a wheat kind of smell.  Besides the drinks it is a typical office smell with all the computers and people busy working.  In the classroom there is the smell of chalk and chalkboard in the classrooms that have them.  If not chalkboards then it is a whiteboard with the marker smell.  Now onto the special smells found at my marine science school.  In a building behind the office there is an aquarium.  It does have real life fish with tanks and everything.  So walking in there, especially where they hold the bigger fish, it smells a little like fish but these ones are at least alive.  It does smell more like the sea water because they are always cleaning the tanks, rocks, and anything else that needs to be cleaned.  Then over in one corner of the main school building walking in that direction a distinct smell makes it way to my nose.  The smell of metal being grinded, cut, welded, and machine worked.  Each of these there is a slightly different smell, but it seems like one day they will do something and then the next it will be something else.  It does remind me of working on the cars back home in the garage.  Down another area of school is a strong smell of oil and of engine smells.  They do have a couple different engines here that the third year students seem to always be working on.  So some days that doesn’t smell good because I don’t think burnt oil is the best smell.

For lunch the cafeteria does have the smell of the food wafting through to everyone’s nose.  In general Korean food doesn’t have a strong smell and of course each day it does smell a little bit different depending on the food.  For the most part the “spicier” (Korean spice is different than say Mexican food spice) food does have a stronger smell.  Sometimes on my lunch break a co-worker and I go on a walk towards the beach.  The beach does of course have the sea smell.  On the way down there it is a smell of more construction.  They are constructing some more hotels and so it is a lot of metal smell and not a lot of wood smell.  It is very humid and “wet” here so building with wood isn’t the smartest so of course they have adapted.

After school I head towards the bus stop.  At my bus stop I could throw a rock into the sea, so that area smells like the sea.  Once on the bus I head back through all the fields again.  Maybe when they start picking or at least however they get the product there might be a different smell.  For now though it still smells the same as described earlier.  I get off at my stop and since it is later in the afternoon some people have already put out some trash along the road.  For trash pick-up it just goes on a corner and by morning it is gone, but on the way home there is a smell of trash from these various piles.  Once home I walk into my apartment and it smells like wet clothes.  My clothes are drying.  I do this by hanging them up since I don’t have a dryer. 

Those are pretty much the smells that I experience on any given day.  I hope this post was somewhat interesting and a little bit unique.  I will write later when I am not busy out relaxing on the beach or enjoying the nice spring weather.    

Big City of Seoul

Two weekends ago I made a trip up to the big city of Seoul.  When I mean big city that is probably not saying enough because it was a giant city.  I have been to big cities (New York, Chicago, Amman, Cairo, London, Madrid) but for some reason it seemed like Seoul was bigger than all of those cities.  That probably is not true and there has been no fact checking at all, but for me coming from the small city that I live in, Seoul just seemed huge.  I went to Seoul that weekend because I did have Monday off of work so it was a three day weekend.  Right now I will describe my weekend in Seoul.  

On that Friday I left school about ten minutes early and I don't think anyone really noticed.  I wanted to get to the bus station as soon as possible because I wasn't sure when the bus left for Seoul.  In order to get to Seoul I can take the train or bus, and I obviously decided on the bus.  This is because it goes directly to Seoul unlike the train that stops at various towns along the way.  It turned out those ten minutes didn't help much and I ended up having to wait about fourty minutes for the bus.  After about two hours and fifteen minutes I made it Seoul at the "Express Bus Terminal."  From there I did head towards the subway in order to go find my hotel.  Lucky for me there were two students on my bus and also taking the subway too.  They live at school (there is a dormitory) during the week and go home during the weekends.  So they were able to direct me the best way to go and so I didn't get lost that night.  This would be pretty easy to do because the subway in Seoul is the biggest that I have seen with about nine different tracks and probably close to a hundred different stops.  I was able to find the hotel and after checking in I changed and went out. 

That first night I ended up at a neighbourhood known as Itaewon.  It was pretty close to my hotel so that is where I went for that night.  Now this neighbourhood is known as the International part of Seoul.  I both agree and disagree.  That night there were a lot of people walking through the main part whose main language is English.  There were some other nationalities represented such as: French, Lebanese, Nigerian, Spanish, and a few others.  So, yes the crowd is International, but besides that there wasn't much more.  I thought there would be more restaurants that offered a bigger variety but not that I saw.  I did find a "Mexican" place.  They do have a taco bell (I didn't eat there) but for them they think that is some good Mexican food.  I think having grown up so close to good Mexican food there won't be anything like that, but I did eat a burrito.  Not horrible but I wouldn't keep going back.  I did end up back in Itaewon during the day and also found a Jordanian food place along with an Egyptian restaurant.  The Egyptian place was no  good but the Jordanian place wasn't bad at all.  

Itaweon was all right both at night and during the day.  There is a better place that I will describe in a little bit.  First I want to talk about getting lost.  I didn't have much of a plan and was happy with walking around.  I did want to find somethings though such as the War Memorial of Korea (its more of a museum.)  I did find it but decided to not go in because the weather was so nice to keep walking and not be inside.  There were a couple different occasions where I did get on a bus and get lost or at least not want to go in the direction or area I was headed.  I did end up seeing the World Cup stadium and a few other things that were neat when I wasn't trying to figure out where I was located.  

The last area I want to talk about is known as Hongdae.  This area is close to a couple of the local universities in Seoul and so it has a younger type feeling.  Plus it is where the art scene is located.  There are a lot of murals, artistic graffiti, music performances, and other street kind of shows.  I ended up there both at night and in the day.  At night I did find this public park where there were a few bands playing.  It was pretty neat and busy at the same time.  After the bands were finished nobody seemed to leave and that place stayed busy the whole night.  I think the nice weather had a lot to do with why it was so busy.  Basically how it worked was the local convenience store such as a 7/11 and a few others is where you would buy the drinks and then just come back to the park to visit.  I ended up meeting a group of people and staying at that park until the early morning (around four).  It was a pretty neat thing that would have never happened in the U.S. because the police would have stopped it.  Plus places such as bars, clubs, restaurants or anything like that don't have a set time when they close.  If there is people still around spending money they will stay open, unlike the U.S. where 2 in the morning is pretty standard.  I definitely like the Hongdae area better because of the overall atmosphere and it seemed like the people were more open to interact.  

Next time I head up to Seoul I will have to check out some new areas, do some of the tourist things, and take more pictures.  My camera ran out of battery and I didn't bring my charger so I only took a few pictures.  It was a great weekend but I was pretty happy to be back in the small town of Boryeong.  This past weekend I spent relaxing and stayed in town, and so no trip to Japan.  Which isn't that bad since I spent it at the beach.  In fact I ran into a couple different people who were visiting from Seoul because they wanted a weekend out of the big city.  Even though I live in a small town it still does attract other people here because of the sea and beach.  

I know it is a long post but it was a long weekend.  This week will be a normal Monday-Friday week with no days off like the last couple of weeks.  I am done with Monday and at a cafe having some tea.  Enjoying the Spring weather, but it is supposed to be raining later on for most of the week.  I think this post is long enough and I will write later.   

Seoul in the distance looking over the Hangang river 

School

 The school I teach at is named “Chungnam Marine Science High School.”  It is a high school where the courses are geared towards the sciences.  For high school in Korea students go for three years.  I only teach to the first and second year students and this is because the way the school is a special school.  For the third year students they are in vocational type classes and are working hands on with different things such as: welding, engine work, machinery, scuba diving, aquarium science, etc.  I am pretty sure the third year students here don’t do much paper type of work, but a lot more job training work.  Since this is considered a special high school it does have a reputation to have the kids who have behaviour problems and not disciplined.  I can definitely see this as being the case.  Actually when the vice principal found out that my major in college was criminology they were pretty happy because he said that some students can be hard to handle.  I haven’t had too much trouble, but I do see the other teachers carrying sticks (drum sticks, bamboo stick, etc.) to class in case there is somebody that needs to be disciplined. 

I obviously am one of the English teachers at the school.  There are two more but one of them does seem to only know the English from the book and not much else.  The other English teacher is actually my age and she is considered my co-teacher.  This basically means if I need help with anything, especially with Korean, I can ask her.  She has helped with finding bus schedules, telling me when to not come to work because of no school, and other minor things that some people might take for granted but can be difficult because of the language barrier.  Her English is pretty good and I haven’t found anything she doesn’t know when I am talking to her.  Of course we don’t talk about topics that require a bigger more extensive vocabulary.

At the school there are eight periods of classes and also a lunch in the middle of the day.  Each period is fifty minutes long with a ten minute passing period.  There really isn’t a need for ten minutes because the school is small, but that is the time that is given.  I teach twelve different classes with each one at a different level.  Again it is only the first and second year students.  Plus there is an after school conversation class that I teach Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  The class sizes range from around twelve students to the biggest being about twenty-eight students.  The after school class has only eight students on the roster, but the most that has ever been to class is five.  Since those students I meet three times a week they are the ones most experienced with English.  The skill level of all the students is not that high.  Yes, they are in high school but I would consider their English level at around an upper elementary school student (4^th-6^th grade in the states).  So this does mean there is no reading of novels.  The other English teachers follow a couple different books that are the “English curriculum” but I am encouraged to not use these books.  This is because the students see me once a week and then one of the other English teachers another time where they learn what is in the book.  That is fine with me because I think the books are disorganised and bounce around to random things.  So instead I am making my lessons up as I go along.  For example last week lessons were on meals along with the different food and then this week is on different environments along with the animals that live in the environments.

Next week lessons I am still currently planning and I just found out next week is a short week.  In fact we will only be at school on Tuesday and Wednesday.  This coming Monday is the school's anniversary and for some reason that means no school.  So with the three day weekend I will be going up to Seoul to see the big city.  Then next Thursday is Memorial Day and so no school Thursday or Friday.  With that four day weekend I might try to head to Japan since it is only a simple ferry ride over to that island nation.  I just thought of that today and I need to start planning if that is the case.  This post has been a little bit about my school.  I couldn't get pictures of the school this week because it has been raining all the time and I don't want to ruin my camera.  With being out of town next week I might not post for a couple of weeks.  

Fire Drills

I have been in Korea a little over a month and I have witnessed two fire drills.  One of those drills was at school this past Monday and the other one was at the immigration office in a city called Daejeon.  I went to Daejeon in order to extend my visa past ninety days.  While there I had filled out paper work and was waiting with number in hand.  One of the two English speakers in the building tells me we need to evacuate because a fire drill is about to happen.  So we proceed to leave the building and sitting out front was a fire truck and an ambulance.  They play with the real equipment during a drill.  The alarm went off and one of workers from the building ran out with a hose and started spraying the building.  A little bit later the fire truck started spraying its water onto the building too.  Meanwhile the workers from the ambulance go inside and “rescue” someone who was left in the building.  They ran the water for a little bit and then we were allowed back inside and the truck and ambulance was picking up to leave.  I think because it is a government building they need to practise the drill often. 

The school fire drill was a little different because the students obviously had to be evacuated.  So my school consists of a high school and then right in front of the high school is the middle school.  After lunch on Monday all the students were called to the soccer field out front of the middle school.  I say students because all the teachers weren’t out there and I guess they don’t care about the drill.  Right across the street is a fire house and so the fire engine, water tanker (they are separate here), and ambulance drive to the middle school and proceed to get the building wet.  Along with one of the administration person using a hose from the building too.  They also added a fire extinguisher and did light some wood on fire to put it out with the extinguisher.  Next all the students were told to go back to their classrooms and wait for the alarm.  The fire equipment went down the drive and waited for the alarm to drive up and do the same thing.  The alarm goes off and all the students come out of the buildings towards the field.  Bad planning was the students were in the way of the fire equipment to get to the front of the school so somebody had to stop them from walking.  On the field the students did have the attendance books for each class, but none of them were opened.  I guess since it was a drill they didn’t care much and the drill overall didn’t seem that effective.  It is a good thing the school is made out of brick so it would take a while to burn because the students weren’t in much of a hurry and the equipment there to fight the fire didn’t seem like it would put out the fire in a timely manner. 

I write this post thinking of how lucky everyone is in the United States for the service the first responders (including firefighters, emergency medical staff, law enforcement, etc.) do every single day.  For them it’s not a job but a passion for helping others.  This past Sunday, Phoenix, Arizona did lose two first responders who were both on duty.  A Phoenix firefighter and Phoenix police officer were killed during separate incidents.  This is a first for the city to lose a firefighter and officer on the same day.  Without much detail the firefighter was injured by some heavy equipment, later dying at the hospital, and the officer was hit by a drunk driver while on a traffic stop.  I have had the privilege to work with both of these departments and I know they will come together strong and remember there fallen friends.  I also hope the community stands behind these departments offering any service possible.  I write this post reminding everyone of the sacrifice these two individuals took, but also to remind everyone of the sacrifice these individuals take day in and day out.  Working long shifts every single day in potentially hazardous situations so that way everyone can sleep well at night knowing help is one phone call away if needed.  Every chance I did have, I did thank these first responders. Even when I was working side by side with them providing help and services for everyone involved.  A little bit of insight into Korean culture, but at the same time an appreciation towards all first responders working worldwide.  I believe next post will have some information on my school.  I will write later.  

Hiking Trip

For everyone who doesn’t know, my job here (the reason for moving to South Korea) is an English teacher. I am pretty sure everyone knew that, but I figured I would remind everyone. Future posts will talk about that experience and the many things that go along with that, but to talk about the hiking trip I need to mention that during the week of midterms this trip happened. Okay, so midterms happened last week. This resulted in no teaching and half days the whole week. I took this time to do some planning and actually went out of town a couple of times for errands. These trips were by myself (or “solo,” like the Koreans like to say it) except for this one hiking trip that is going to be described now. 

It was Monday and after lunch all the teachers loaded up onto a tour bus to go on a hiking trip. It is a bonding experience and a way to get out and enjoy nature. The destination was a little over an hour ride from our school. Before getting there on the bus some snacks and drinks were handed out to everyone on the bus. Nothing that strange until I realised the drinks were beers. So we are riding along on the bus drinking some beers (or coffee for those who didn’t want beer) and eating various snacks such as: chocolates, cucumber, dried squid (tasted like a jerky), almonds, etc. Everyone is conversing and enjoying the drinks. Once we get to the mountain we all get ready to start hiking up the mountain, and start on our way after a group picture was taken at the beginning of the trail. Obviously different people broke off into different groups because of skill level. It was a nice scenic hike but I had my work shoes and clothes on because I was never really informed about the trip. About a quarter of the way up is a resting area where we did stop, and when I did get there they offered me some more beer (these teachers loaded the rest from the bus into their backpacks). I simply wanted my water, but it was pretty funny. After a short break we kept going eventually going quite a ways. I made it to the top with one of the quicker groups. The view was neat. Going back down I was talking with one of the teachers who was wearing a ball cap with the dive flag on the cap. With that being the case we were talking about scuba diving. He is a dive master and does teach it at school on some occasions. So I was asking him about the diving and we were trading some dive stories. Kind of funny how hiking up a mountain and I still end up finding a way to talk about scuba diving.

After making it to the bottom of the mountain it was prearranged for us to have dinner together. It was nice to feed us after hiking for a good two and a half hours. The restaurant was a Korean barbecue place. At these places all the side dishes are laid out on the table and then the meat is brought to the customer raw. There is a grill right in front of you where you cook your own meat and then eat it along with the sides. Another interesting note that some people might not know is that at every Korean place you eat on the floor and shoes are left at the front and not allowed inside. This concept goes for everything, and actually some schools (not mine) even have a no shoe policy. In this case usually “flip-flops” are worn inside. So at this particular restaurant we are inside sitting on the floor with no shoes. Once everyone arrived from hiking they started giving out the meat and we proceeded to cook at each various station. (picture below might show it better than words) Another interesting thing that is different here in Korea is the consumption of alcohol at work dinner gatherings. Before eating somebody walked around pouring everyone a shot and a toast (at least that’s what I think it was considering it was in Korean) was made and everyone drank the shot. Plus throughout the dinner people would walk around offering shots to other people. How it is supposed to work is the younger teacher would offer a drink to the older teacher. That teacher would drink it and then using the same glass pour a shot for the teacher that offered it in the first place. This person then moves onto the next person all along down the line. I lost track how many bottles were used throughout the evening. The drink that is used is called “soju.” It’s a rice based alcohol that doesn’t have too much flavor. Meanwhile this is happening everyone is busy cooking and eating the meat. The meat was smaller cut up meat that once cooked is bite size.  The dinner was good and interesting.  Since that Monday there have been two other times where we have had dinner together with all the teachers.  It seems like here in Korea it is common for all the co-workers to go out together.  Overall I think this concept is a good thing.  Well here are some pictures of the hiking trip.  I will write later.  

Drink and Snacks

Green bottles are some of the Soju bottles 

Grill where the meat was cooked 

List

I have been here a little over two weeks now.  Since being here I have come across a few things that I need to do in order to make it easier on myself.  What follows is that list along with explanations which will give a little insight into Korea:

1.      Buy an umbrella

Since I am from the desert of Arizona I never did own an umbrella.  Sure there is a monsoon season but it seems like most umbrellas in Arizona are used for protection against the sun.  Here in South Korea there is a different story.  My first week and a half it seemed to rain every other day.  Plus when it rains here it is more than just a little bit of precipitation but instead can rain hard and for the entire day.  One of the students did give me his umbrella one day when it was raining but come to find out he gave it to me because it was a little broken (any wind and it would turn inside out).  Luckily starting this past weekend the weather has been nice with no rain, but of course the rainy season isn't supposed to start for a little while longer. 

2.      Find out where to buy a trash bag

Okay that doesn't seem that complicated, correct.  Well in my city of Boryeong there are special bags that need to be used.  I was told by some of my co-workers that I can find these bags near the checkout line at a grocery store.  I obviously have been in a couple of grocery stores in order to get food and other items but have yet to find the bags.  If my Korean was better (see next item on list) then it would be pretty easy to track down a garbage bag but that isn't the case.  So I am still in search of finding a garbage bag.

3.      Keep learning Korean

This does seem simple enough since I am living in Korea.  It is true that each day I do pick up different         words without really studying.  In my city though it is small enough where English isn't known and for any conversation or for that matter anything to happen, Korean needs to be spoken.  (So it is a good thing “sign language” and body gestures for the most part can be understood)  This is what I did want when looking at where to live but now I need to start studying.  Last week I was trying to sign up for this free thing online where it is language courses and language exchange with just about any language, but the sign up wasn't accepting me.  I did figure out how to do it and so now I need to start working on learning Korean.

  

4.      Learn how to use chopsticks

So in order to eat at any restaurant or anywhere for that matter a person needs to know how to use chopsticks.  Before coming to Korea I had never really used chopsticks so now I need to learn.  The nutrition teacher (lunch lady) here at school gave me a fork as a gift the first week I was here.  I kind of laughed because I said I am going to learn how to use chopsticks.  Then my head boss saw me one day and told me to come to his office after eating (thought I was in trouble already).  Instead he gave me a gift of some learner chopsticks.  They are pretty useful and I am starting to get the hang of it.  Last night for dinner I ended up using chopstick and eventually fork when I was eating slower than everyone else.

5.      Take pictures

Last thing on this list is to take pictures.  Okay why would I add this to a list?  I will be here for a year so I do have plenty of time to take a lot of pictures, which is true; however, the scenery here changes rapidly and it won’t be another year to see it like that again.  What I mean by this is one day there is flowers on the trees and then the next day there is less and less.  Most of my life thus far has been in Arizona where scenery doesn't change that rapidly and someone would have time to take many pictures.  Well here where there is going to be four distinct seasons and so some things go away a lot quicker.  It still is spring here but as an example the cherry blossoms are pretty much gone.  When I did get here there were some but it was the end of cherry blossom season and it won’t be till next March or April until they bloom again.  Pretty crazy how it happens that quickly.  Below are some pictures of some of the scenery and my town. 

So that is a list that I should keep working at in order to make life easier in Korea.  The reason I came to Korea is to teach English at a High School.  I have been doing that since the first day I have arrived in Korea, and so I eventually will talk about school and various things.  Right now though I am still getting used to it and actually right now it is midterms so this whole week I am not teaching.  So technically I have only taught two lessons to the students.  Since it is midterms it is half days for students, and so yesterday on Monday, the faculty, we went on a field trip.  I will describe this field trip where we hiked a mountain in the next post.  It was a fun and interesting trip, but for now this will be it.  Here is some pictures like I mentioned earlier and I will keep taking more. 

Flowers from Cherry Blossom Trees 

Cherry Blossom Tree

Last of the flowers 

If I forget what city I just look down 

Welcome sign along the beach 

The Beach (5 minute walk from school I teach at)

Start of New Adventure

Bags were basically packed about a week ago.  Last minute packing on Tuesday night before plane the next morning.  After waiting a while for a plane ticket I am finally set with ticket in hand on Wednesday morning to start a new adventure.  Off to the Far East to a small country by the name of South Korea.  With the news nowadays it isn't so small because the fact everyone knows where Korea is located; but actual geographic area it isn't that big.  After around 24 hour trip I finally make it to my new home in Boryeong, South Korea.  A town about two hours Southwest of Seoul.  I have been out exploring my local neighborhood and slowly unpacking this weekend.  Found a small cafe conveniently close by in order to post and check a few things online since no Internet in my apartment yet.  In fact it might take some time to get Internet hooked up.  Not exactly sure on that yet and when I get my phone sometime next week I hope to figure it out.  My vocabulary consists of about three words and a few numbers, so that is what I am going to start figuring out now.  I did use the same blog as before because I am familiar with the layout and those previous posts are all from experiences abroad.  Will write later and by that time should have some pictures too.