Hello friends and lovers, if you don't know remember who I am, this is your best friend and love of your life Marilyn, hailing from across the world in this little country known as South Korea.
I am back to the blogging world and i promise to keep you updated with all the crazy stories of my life here.
Let me answer some of your questions...
Where have you been?
I am in South Korea teaching English, why of course! I am always here, you just don't see me because I don't log onto MSN. Catch me 24/7 on Skype @ thelonelytree. I also have a
twitter page. Drop me a message on facebook or an e-mail, I check everyday (it's just I get lazy to respond and/or I forget.)
How is it in Korea?
It's not too bad. I came here expecting it would resemble a third-world country for some reason so boy did I have a smile on my face when I first came to this city and it didn't turn out to be a traditional village in the countryside.
empty city
I live in a new city called
Dongtan ("City of the Future") that is still developing.
metapolis
This is where Metapolis is located - four of the tallest skyscrapers in all of South Korea. Imagine a city without crowds of people (for now) and you have Dongtan, a very family friendly place. You will always see mothers and their children everywhere you go. It is also called a U-City, or
Ubiquitous City which means all of its information technology will be connected. It's comfortable definitely, and since I fit in with my Korean counterparts, I never feel like a foreigner (unless someone talks to me in Korean of course, which they always freakin do).
What is the time difference?
13 hours ahead of Toronto right now
How is the food?
Mainly delicious. No tax & tip = even better. Most of the food is spicy, they put that same red chili paste into everything.
dak galbi deliciousness: chicken, dak (rice cake), cheese... among other things
The food is also very healthy and hearty. They have a variety of sidedishes apart from kimchi.
jia jiang mien...blegh
They don't have normal Chinese food here, it's all a Korean-stylized version of Chinese food and it's disgusting and not even Chinese (I just don't like jia jiang mien, okay?!). They don't have normal Japanese food either. Apart from traditional Korean food, the Koreans love their fried chicken and pork cutlets, kimbap (Korean maki), pizzas are weird with absurd toppings, and they make everything unreasonably sweet (like sweet garlic bread). P.S. Real Korean BBQ is AMAZING.
real Korean BBQ. or just "BBQ" here
Are things cheap over there?
Let me teach you Korean currency: for every approximate $1, it equates to 1,000 won. For example, a big bowl of vegetable bibimbab is 4,000 won which equates to about $4. Tax is included in the final price of almost everything. Food is relatively inexpensive, but in no means, China cheap. A meal can cost anywhere from 2,000 won to 15,000 won depending on what you get and where you go. If I go out, I spend on average 6,000 won for a hearty meal. Face wash, deodorant, shampoo and toiletries in general are way overpriced. So are electronics. Fruits are ridiculously expensive - would you spend $18 on a pathetic-sized watermelon? But going to the dentist and doctor is cheaper: I got a partial root canal and dental scaling for 90,000 won. Medicine here is also inexpensive and also very effective. Public transportation is cheap but with a lot of travelling, it does add up. Clothing is generally the same price (Forever21 is more expensive here than back home), but if you go to certain markets you can get things for as little as 5,000 won.
Do you go to Seoul?
Almost every weekend so far. Twice because my church is in Gangnam, a popular district in Seoul where a lot of food, entertainment and shopping is located. It's a 30 minute express bus ride directly to Gangnam that costs around $2.
the hella comfortable M-bus that takes me to and from Seoul every weekend
I've been to some areas of Seoul, mainly Hongdae for the night life (my training group loves Ho Bar 4. Trivia: there are 10 Ho Bars just in Hongdae).
one of the many crazy nights at Ho Bar IV with training group people
Myeong-dong for it's crazy shopping district.
Myeongdong at night - it never ceases to be busy/packed with people
Samseong for COEX mall & aquarium, Jamsil where Lotte World is and Yeouido where the Cherry Blossom Festival was held next to the National Assembly Building. It is the 8th largest city in the world (IT IS GINORMOUS) and takes almost forever on the subways to get where you want. Each district of Seoul is very unique and it's generally very lively and clean.
How is teaching? Is it hard?
It's definitely a different experience. I work for Chungdahm Institute which is a well-known hagwon (private English academy), but we're also infamous for being strict on policies. It's honestly not bad, I like the structure and I've had no problems so far but there are a lot of horror stories about CDI. The training is a hellish ordeal. It is INTENSE. But actual teaching, is a breeze. I prep a day ahead for every class, and it takes me about 1.5 hours.
I teach different levels and classes, but my kids range in age from 9 to 14. I work 27 hours a week, 6 hours a day (except Tuesdays). I have two classes, each 3 hours long, and one is at 4PM and one at 7PM.
my empty class when I first got here
You basically do the same structure every class, except you use a different story with different vocabulary. It can get really repetitive, but the point is to help the kids in their test taking skills to get into Universities abroad and not to really teach them English. It really makes it easier if you have an enthusiastic attitude in class, and the students really grow on you. They call you "teacher!" and ask you a billion of personal questions (I am divorced with my co-worker because I slapped him and threw him out a window, I also live in a box in Central Park - it's always fun to make up stories because the kids are so darn gullible). 60% of the teaching is really about student management. If my kids are bad, I make them stand up for five minutes or come to the front and give me a dance to a Michael Jackson or Girls Generation song.
Can you speak Korean yet?
Hello, goodbye, thank you make up my daily vocabulary. I know little things here and there, but I need to make more effort to learn the language. It's definitely not something you can just pick up right away.
I want to visit you in Korea! When are you free?
OMG, yes, PLEASE! I am free all the time. I have a one week break sometime in 4 months. I do work everyday but only for 6 hours (3 on Tuesdays), and I am completely free on weekends. Everyone should visit me, I will take you to fun places!
Update me! What's up? What's new?
A lot. I will get to that in upcoming blog posts... with pictures! If you can't wait to find out, check out some of my photos I posted up on facebook of my travels. I don't know man, I really haven't been doing much in these 2.5 months. You get busy adjusting and when you finally adjust, you just get lazy and fall into a slothful routine. I prep often, I watch a lot of shows and play a lot of games. Weekends I usually go to Seoul on Saturday for these crazy nights but I am cutting back on those all-nighters and only going on Sundays for church. So, to answer your question: to be continued.
Do you miss me?
No you suck. Of course I do, but time sure flies doesn't it? I've been here for almost three months now, I'm a quarter of the way there already. By the time I come back, you wouldn't have realized I left at all.
