| For those of you who don't know... |
[Aug. 16th, 2010|08:53 pm] |
I will be returning to the U.S. on September 1st. Totally my fault if you don't know it, as I suck at posting.
Anyway, I'll be in Chicago for a little less than 2 weeks, in CA for...not sure how long, then I'm moving to North Carolina to be with my boyfriend, Abhi. He's studying at Duke, so the plan is for me to find a job there and work toward applying for my own grad program (possibly at Duke, but I'm hoping for Columbia).
In the mean time, I'm looking at things to do in the Triangle Area. What have I found? POLE DANCING CLASSES!!!! I'm so excited for that, no joke. Knowing me, I'll probably crack my head open, but I figure it could be fun. :)
And now back to packing... |
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| update |
[Jul. 1st, 2010|04:08 pm] |
How has this year gone by so quickly? It's insane!
I know I've been off the radar for far too long -- I apologize for that. I've just been swept up in things here. Still, that's not much of an excuse.
Anyway, here's what's up. My contract ends at the end of August, so I'll be returning the the U.S. sometime at the beginning of September. I'll be flying into Chicago (I have to return where I started from according to contract) and I'll be there for a few days. Then I'm off to CA to visit family, followed by a trip to NC to see Abhi (he's moving there in a couple of weeks).
I WILL go to NY at some point, I just don't know when yet. Also, I haven't quite figured out where I'm going to live or work...BUT at least I know which country I'll be in!
I hope to catch up with all of you when I return! :) |
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| urg |
[Jan. 26th, 2010|02:43 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  crappy | ] |
I stand by what I said a couple months ago. I want a redo of my life.
Maybe another relocation is in order? Part of me wants to move to a new place in Korea, but then again, I could start over entirely elsewhere. I'm good at it and it's getting to be that time again. Ecuador still sounds nice...
Blah. Well nothing can be done at the moment, but I need to trash all the negative energy I've had floating around for the past couple of days. I'm thinking a kickass playlist and an extended gym visit is in order. I'll go until I can barely stand, come home, crash and reboot. |
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| AMAZING. |
[Jan. 22nd, 2010|04:03 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  dorky | ] |
So apparently there was supposed to be some Winter Camp class with a small group of 2nd graders, but their teacher went home sick. Since I don't have much to do, I have the kiddies in my classroom and I just have to watch them until their parents pick them up. Originally I gave them some easy books and coloring pages, but that didn't last long.
Now I'm playing Kelly Clarkson and they are having a mini dance party! They are too young to feel embarrassed, so they are going all out. I wish I had my camera!!
In other news, the Sallie Mae site still won't load. Most of the time I can't reach the homepage. If I do, it shuts down when I try to recreate my account. It's like they don't want my money! It's fucking ridiculous. |
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| Another Thursday has passed! |
[Oct. 8th, 2009|10:21 pm] |
Seriously, thank god. I hate Thursday with a burning passion. I tend to have 5 classes per day, but Thursdays, I HAVE 7. That's fucking ridiculous.
The first 6 classes were fine. I managed to put together a rather low-key lesson plan involving a lot of powerpoints and ending with a game of Battleship. The kids seemed to enjoy it and they learned the key points, so I consider it a success.
Then I had my adult/teacher's class, which was actually a lot of fun. So far, only 4 teachers have signed up for the course, meaning we can sit in a circle and have discussions. I think that's the SLC coming out of me. Anyway, both the principal and vice principal of my school are my "students", so that's a bit odd. I mean, I'm 22 and they are in their 50's...and they essentially control my fate in this crazy country.
Today I had the "students" interview each other, then we played 10 Fingers, which they thought was decent. I never realized how lame that game can be without alcohol. Like, whoa. I think the true highlight was the 5 minutes at the end of class when I allowed them to ask me anything and everything. I have a feeling they will want to do that repeatedly, as 5 minutes was not nearly enough time to curb their curiosity.
After work, I went to the American side of town (by the air force base) and ate Mexican food with a new group of friends. I was so happy eating enchiladas, I thought I was going to cry! That was after getting ridiculously lost too (I wandered at least two miles in stilettos), so I was quite hungry.
That was my long-ass day. Now I'm going to NOT clean my apartment, NOT put my clothes away, and NOT sort the pile of random stuff sitting on top of my bed. No, I will simply push everything to the floor and crash. Oh life. |
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| getting in the groove |
[Oct. 2nd, 2009|10:23 pm] |
I have 5 days of freedom, thanks to Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). Whoot!
So far I've lazed around, went grocery shopping, picked up Chuseok gifts for my bosses, and I just had dinner with my school's Vice Principal and his family. That was INTENSE. I was super intimidated at first, but after about an hour, I calmed down. They were very hospitable and kept encouraging me to eat more. Plus, they live right by Camp Humphrey (American military base), so about half of their neighbors are Americans. Due to that, their sons speak English very well.
Tomorrow, I'm heading over to the school librarian's home and celebrating Chuseok with her family. They have essentially adopted me and asked me to call them Omma and Oppa (Mom and Dad). I've met one of their daughters, she's my age and pretty cool. They have another son, so I'm guessing I'll meet him tomorrow. This will be my second meal with them in their home, so I'm not too worried. I do know, however, that all everyone will be dressed in Hanbok. Although I find Hanbok to be beautiful, they are way too expensive, so I guess I'll just wear a dress. I mean, I know they don't really expect me to wear the traditional garb.
And now, I'm going to finish hanging my laundry while rocking out to Eminem. I should probably clean some more too. I never know when someone will come to visit. To sum up, today is has been a good day. Instead of hating my life, I think I could actually stay an extra year or two. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 27th, 2009|01:29 am] |
I've been meaning to post again, but I've been lazy. I spent the past few days at orientation, which was okay. It got a bit boring at times, but I met a lot of really cool people. I now have a small base of foreigners to talk to and hang out with. We don't live super close, but close enough.
The biggest complaint for now is that I'm still sick. As it turns out, I have an infection or virus or something. I'm not exactly sure. Anyway, I had to be taken to the hospital during orientation, which wasn't a total loss, as I was able to miss one of the boring classes. Plus, the government education office paid my medical bills and picked up my meds. I'm now on loads of antibiotics and such...It's like 8 pills with each meal, so I totally feel like an old lady. I haven't told my school about my illness yet, so I'm not sure how they are going to react. I guess I'll just have to wait and see on Monday.
Since I got back, I've pretty much been lazing around. I'm exhausted all the time, so I'm trying to sleep as much as possible. Again, I'm sure that's because I'm sick. I feel badly about it though because I've been ignoring the people I met at orientation. I mean, they understand that I need to rest, but I'm definitely missing out. I've already turned down two invitations. Oh well...I said I'd have dinner with them later this week or something.
And now I'm going to sleep. Again. Good night!! :) |
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| INTERNETZZZZZ |
[Sep. 22nd, 2009|06:17 pm] |
I finally have internet in my apartment, meaning I can start my pirating and livejournal ways again. :)
Life is okay in South Korea, but definitely not glamorous or anything. I have a pretty nice apartment. It may be considered small by American standards, but here it's a family size. I have two bedrooms (although the second is the size of a closet and I use it as a study/storage space). My kitchen is a little ghetto and I'm considering buying a small oven to put on the counter. Right now, I only have a stove, microwave, and a toaster. Apparently I was supposed to also have a rice cooker, but the lady before me broke it. The school would have replaced it, but then they noticed that my contract called for either a toaster OR a rice cooker. Whatever, I eat rice and kimchi at school everyday anyway. Honestly, when I come home, the last thing I want to eat is Korean food.
I like the teachers I work with overall, but I can definitely tell they are shirking their work a bit. One more so than the other...quite literally, he has not written a single lesson plan and he just yells at the kids. Or worse. I have seen kids having their hands hit with a stick. It's weird though, the kids don't seem to care at all. They'd rather be hit repeatedly on the hands than actually do their work or be quiet.
I'm teaching 5th and 6th graders, a 4th grade after-school program, and a teacher's course. So all in all, I'm teaching 26 classes each week. It's not so bad, but I definitely have days where I want to scream. I still hate children.
I have also noticed that South Koreans can be very manipulative, judgmental, and racist. I mean, I realize that's true for nearly everyone, but it seems to be accepted more in the Korean culture. It's taking some getting used to, especially considering that the person they like to manipulate the most is the person who doesn't speak their language. I'm constantly getting overcharged, underpaid, or overworked. It can be quite frustrating.
I swear I'm not always this negative though. Today is just one of those days when I wonder if I can make it a full year. I mean, I will force myself to no matter what, but I was sort of hoping to enjoy this experience more than I am. I figure it'll get better in time. I'm still settling in. Plus, it's not like I have anything to go back to anyway.
Moving along...I have one friend so far. His name is Desmond, he's South African and fabulously gay. We get along very well and he loves to shop too. :) Although I'm not a big fan of Korean fashion...or at all really, I do still find cute clothes occasionally. Hopefully I'll find better things in Seoul. I trying not to judge an entire country solely on what I've seen in my small city.
That's about it for now. I'm been feeling a little ill for the past week or so. I probably caught something from one of the kids. |
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| LAST DAY! |
[Aug. 28th, 2009|12:04 pm] |
Today is my last day in the U.S. for a year! I still need to start packing and such, but I keep procrastinating. I'm excited, but I don't think it has hit me yet.
YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY! |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 21st, 2009|05:46 pm] |
I finally have my South Korean visa! Only 8 days until I leave!!!!!
So now, I'm just waiting on my U.S. residency certificate and my TEFL certificate. :) |
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