Korean Living

    

     After two weeks of teaching under our belt, Kelly and I can say that we are getting use to Korean living.  We are finding ourselves more in a routine, working standard hours (10am-6-pm) and even creating grocery lists.  Near our house is a grocery store called "Home Plus".  This store is essentially 7 floors of groceries and home appliances.  Consider it a Target and Lunds combined.  It is very nice and affordable.  We continue to explore restuarants on the weekends, but during the week we enjoy homecooked meals that Kelly has craftfully conjured up.  We have had some delecious meals that are very filling.  We recently got paid for our two weeks of training in December, and we are trying to use that half salary to budget the remaining months (i.e., play money, eating out money, travel money, money to send home).
     For the first time in our working lives, and lives since before college, Kelly and I now realize the true glory of a weekend.  For the first time since I was about 15, I have been able to enjoy a true weekend without work or study.  My past jobs, I worked full time and irregular hours and sometimes weekend work.  Throughout college Kelly and I either had to work on the weekends or beat around the bush with homework.  Having a true weekend is an amazing break from a full week of work. 

Kelly and I hosted our first dinner party last Saturday!  We invited a few Bethel friends over for a spaghetti dinner.  Kelly and I were very happy to host a party at our very own place.  It was very fun catching up with some friends who also live and teach in Korea.

(From left to right; Jordan Groh, Jordan Williams, Tony Hanf, Reuben Haggar, and us.)

Ilsan Living

As mentioned before, Ilsan is a satellite/suburban city located just outside of Seoul.  Satellite city means it was developed with a plan.  We have yet to see any houses.  We do, however, see only high rises.

This is our apartment building. We are on the 5th floor.  It is about a 10 minute walk from our school.  The first floor has a delicious bakery in which we buy several breaded treats.  There is also a convienience store on the first floor, epitomizing the word convience for us.

These are other buildings in our neighborhood. As you can see, all houses are apartments in these high rises.  LG is based in Korea, and come to find out, they have their hands in just about everything, including housing.

A short walk from our apartment.  More high rises.

This picture was taken not in our neighborhood, but from an observatory floor in an office building of 63 floors up (63 Square).  This is a better representation of the grid style housing located in most developed suburban areas around Seoul, like Ilsan.  They are running out of space so the only place they can build is up.  Each one of those apartment complexes are about 15-20 floors.

Lake Park

About 5 minutes (walking) from our apartment is the biggest man-made lake in Asia.  Lake Park is a beautiful, 3 mile loop that was specially designed for runners, walkers, and bike riders.  There are 2 paths, one for riding bikes, and the other for walkers/runners.  The walking/running path has a surface similar to track surfaces.  It is soft, slightly spongy and great for running on.

 

One of many gazebo type places along the paths of Lake Park.  We love the Asian design of them.

A little bit of Lake Park in the background.  The lake is frozen over now, and a lot of people love walking around on it.  I think they should make some broom ball rinks...but that concept would take some time to convey.

Office buildings lining Lake Park.

More pictures are available on our Picasa Web Album

Our School

     A little bit about our school.  Our school is called the Sogang Language Program, or SLP.  It is a branch of Sogang Universtiy, one of the leading research and liberal arts universities in Seoul.  It is essentially a Korean Ivy league school (I heard a guy say that a week ago and it stuck with me).  Anyway, several years ago, Sogang University created a language program for little ones.  The SLP school, where we teach, is one of many English teaching schools around Seoul.  We just happened to be located in Ilsan, a 20 year old city in the greater Seoul area.  There are many, many young students at the school and it can get very loud.

Here Kelly poses for us at the entrance of the library.  Including us, there were 4 new hires at this school and there was/is no room for us in the Teacher's room.  They set up a table for us to work on in the library for an immediate fix to this problem.  Hopefully, however, they will be able to find some space for us in the Teacher's room when the teachers who have ended their contracts in March go home. It would be nice to have more work space.

Our work station set up in the library.

A look down one of the hallways.  The colors are vibrant in this school, making it a pleasant place to work.  Just recently after Christmas break the school did an entire remodeling job (painted/wallpapered the walls) to make it even more vibrant!  The pictures taken here are pre-Christmas break.  The school looks much different now.

This is the main entrance of our school.  Yes, it is an elevator.  This school is not what you think of a typical school back in the states.  There is no playground or fancy climbing gyms where kids chip their teeth on.  This school is located on the 4th and 6th floor of an office building.  It is pretty cool, actually, to be able to look down at the bustling city below while you are teaching.  Quite a different environment from what I was expecting. 

Right when we came to the school for training, they were about a week away from Christmas break (awesome timing for us!).  Once a year, typically before Christmas break, the school has a "Market Day".  Essentially, throughout the school year, students are rewarded stickers for excellent behavior in class, and a job well done (no more than 3 stickers per class period).  At the end of the year, those stickers are tallied up and converted into USD's.  The students then use the dollars to buy really cheap crap that the school orders for them.  It is a great reward system that helps control the students' behavior and promote strong study tactics.

All of the pictures are accessible on our PicasaWeb Album, the link located on the side of the blog, but I thought I'd put a face to the children.  These kids are very energetic, willing to learn, and happy to be in school.  You can tell some of the students are drained (some go to school 10+ hours a day!), but they hold high respect for their teachers.  In the ancient days, teachers ranked just under royalty in Korea.  While I do not think that respect has transferred through the ages, students typically hold high respect for their elders and their teachers.  Makes the job a lot easier.