Archive for ‘June 2010’

Well until last night, World Cup season was in full swing. The Koreans go absolutely crazy for their soccer team here. For the opening game we went to a bar in Jongno. There were many other outdoor places like COEX and City Hall that were showing the game, but it was raining so we decided to go inside. The bar was extremely hot and crowded, but we got seats. It was really exciting to watch, and the Koreans at the bar would cheer for just about anything that happened. Luckily the game was at 8:30 PM so we were up for the whole game (and then some). It was a huge party when they won, people int he bar were dancing, we all got free shots, there were hundreds of people dancing and cheering on the street. We stayed afterward and watched the Nigeria - Argentina game, Daniel was sad that they lost. We were going to try to stay up for the America game which was at 3am, but when it got closer to 2am Alex and I decided that we were too drunk and tired to stay up so we went home.

The next game was on a Tuesday at 8:30 PM, and I was a loser that day and just stayed in and watched it. There is a big soccer field by my house and they put up a big screen and a lot of Koreans and their families went and watched it there. The next game was at 3:30am! I got up to watch it but fell asleep during the second half. A LOT of people got up to watch the game. And although I fell asleep, I woke up when all the people outside were cheering. Even some of my kids the next day said they stayed up and watched the game. We tied that game with Nigeria so Korea went on to Stage 2.

Last night Korea played Uruguay at 11 PM. We decided to go to City Hall with the big crowds. It was raining the whole time, and even though we had ponchos we got really went. The ground was covered in trash and wet cardboard, it was gross. But we had a lot of fun. There are not open container laws in Korea so we just got some beer at 7-Eleven and drank while watching the game. There were a lot of people there despite it raining. The crowd was really loud too, and a lot of Koreans would get excited to see us cheering on the team. I even know one or two of the songs they cheer in Korean. Unfortunately Korea lost 2-1 and everyone was really disappointed. We kept holding on to our hope until the very last second :( Luckily they kept the subway open until 2am (it usually stops at midnight) so we were able to take the subway part of the way back.

It was a great experience to be in Korea for the games. They have a lot of national pride, and they get very excited about soccer. There was a big sense of camaraderie during game time, even amongst the foreigners. I can't imagine Americans getting this excited about our games back at home.

My apologies for not having updated my blog in so long. I wish I had a legit excuse, but really, I'm just lazy. So it's been a month since my last post, I'll try to recount all the important things.

Daniel is still home in Nigeria. It's been really hard because he doesn't have internet, and his phone dies all the time. Plus the calling cards suck, and every time I make a call it docks me 6 minutes minimum. That really sucks when I manage to call him and it cuts off right away. He told me last night though that his visa is getting processed, and promised that he will be home within the next three weeks. He's going to move in when he gets back, so that should be nice, I wont have to pay $80 to see him every two weekends.

Towards the beginning of May there were three important days. First came Children's Day. This is a public holiday, so that parents can take the day of and celebrate their children, it's quite nice. The day before we had a fun day at school, with face paintings and going to the park to play with bubbles. There was even a magician. He was god-awful though. It was like watching one of those movies where you feel so embarassed for the main character that you can't bare to watch it (like Superstar or Mrs. Doubtfire). But the kids loved it, and it left the teachers with some funny jokes. Then the following weekend was Parent's Day, which is Mother's and Father's Day all rolled into one, and you just get your parents a nice carnation. Then a week later was Teachers Day. This was great because the kids (and by kids I mean their parents) get the teachers presents. I got flowers, chocolates, gift certificates, and a really nice wallet. Some teachers got designer perfume, face cream, shirts, etc. And all the kids wrote little "Teacher I love you" notes that made me feel special.

The Lantern Festival was held a few weeks ago, basically to celebrate Buddha's birthday. All the buddhist temples were decorated with lotus lanterns. I think you can put your name and a prayer on them, for good luck in the next year. There was also a huge parade. Kelly, Rhea and I went down for the festivities. I made a lotus lantern, a keepsake box, some prayer beads, and a lotus candle. Then we stayed for a few hours to watch the big parade where all sorts of people had all sorts of paper lanterns. We even saw one catch on fire!

The weekend after that I went to Busan which is down in the south on the ocean. Originally Daniel and I planned to go, but he had to leave. Then I invited Tim and Grace, but neither could come, so I was by myself. Rhea and Jeff where there too, but I didn't get a chance to meet up with them. Friday was good, It was warm, so I went to a temple on a mountain called Beomosa, which was still decked out for Buddha's birthday. I had to walk 3km uphill in the sun to get there, before I found out that I could have taken a bus. I actually hurt my leg going up the hill because it was so steep. Then I met a few people from Seoul and went down to the beach. It was nice to walk in the warm sand. After that I went to the aquarium. I hate zoos, but for some reason the aquarium makes me feel like a giddy child again. After that I checked out another temple which was SO MUCH better than the first one. It had a ton more colorful lanterns, plus I went at dusk when they were lighting them. After Friday, things basically sucked. It rained all Saturday and Sunday, and I felt really lonely all by myself. I wanted to go out and do things, but I only brought flats (because I'm an idiot) so my feet wound up getting soaking wet. At one point I had to buy rain boots, but all they had were an ugly pair of floral ones. By the time the weekend was over I was happy to go back to Seoul.

I had parent conferences this week, where all my moms come in and I sugar-coat how great their kids are while trying to slip in the behavior problems with have. But it went well, all my moms really like me. I had to miss like 5 days of work a few months ago, and Lily's mom said that she was literally depressed the whole time. And Joe's mom told me that he comes running home and tells her about everything I do, and how I joke with him. They all want me to stay longer, but I'm not sure if I want to. I also got a new kid in my class, who is straight up crazy. All the teachers say he's "sick in the head" because of some emotional problem he had at his last school. He seems kinda of nice, but he is one of those kids that does stupid shit to show off, and then the other kids start doing it too. I frankly don't have the patience for that. I'm trying to be nice with him, but also being firm on the rules and not letting him slide on things my other kids get in trouble for. I'm worried that Joe will start acting out more again because of this new kid, which will make lots of trouble in the class.

My Korean is coming along well. I'm starting level 2 of Korean class this weekend. And on Wednesday I was able to have 2 conversations in Korean (one to tell the mail guy I was home, and the other to make an appointment at the nail shop). Korean's just had their local election on Wednesday. Unlike in America, people don't buy TV time and blast you with platforms. Instead, the Koreans hire giant trucks with built in stages and LED Screens, and drive around the cities playing songs about their candidates while singing along with choreographed dance moves. They are also all over the place with matching outfits and sashes, handing out business cards. It gets annoying, especially because I live right next to the subway station and I could always hear the must and loud-speaker rallies.

Kyla finished her contract at the school, so we had her going away party in Hongdae this weekend. We wound up staying out until 4am. But we went to a rock dance club, and even though my heels were killing me I still had fun. She left on Tuesday night and the new girl came on Wednesday. Guess where she is from! Oregon! I almost shat myself with excitement when I found out! She grew up in Eugene and went to U of O. It's exciting to have someone from my area. The closest thing I had before was N. California (which counts for nothing because I don't like California) and Vancouver B.C.

Finally, the World Cup is coming around. Although I don't follow football too much, I am excited about it. Apparently the Koreans go absolutely CRAZY for football. There are tons of commercials for the Korean team, and everyone has shirts. I even got Daniel and nice Nike Korea jersey (before I found out that Korea would be playing Nigeria!), and I got myself a t-shirt. They play the games on the big jumbotron at City Hall and the whole area is just a sea of red-shirted people. A bunch of us are going to go to the first game next Saturday. Hopefully Daniel makes is back in time to watch some of the games!

PS. Dexter is doing fine. Still crazy. He ate my shoe.