Deliciousness, Part I

Banana milk... super yummy!

Do you like things that are delicious? If so, banana milk is something you absolutely must try!

I'm not the biggest fan of bananas, or of milk, really. I mean, sure I'll eat a banana on occasion and I eat my cereal with milk, but the idea of chugging down, and thoroughly enjoying, banana milk was a little foreign to me.

Luckily, I live in South Korea, where everything is a lot foreign to me, so I decided to give banana milk a go. And folks, may I just say, it was delicious!! It's creamy and just a little sweet, and full of banana-y goodness. And if you really love bananas, well I can't imagine how much more delicious this tasty little beverage would be to you!

I have no idea about nutritional content (for anything here, really) but my taste buds say yes, and so the banana milk will stay stocked in my tiny little fridge. Yum!

The Joys of Being a Waygook

Waygooks

The Korean word for foreigner is waygook. Being a waygook isn't something that's easy to forget, but if perchance one does forget this fact for a brief moment, there are many friendly little reminders...

• Friendly Little Reminder #1: You will hear yourself being talked about, which goes something like this, "Korean korean korean korean waygook korean korean korean!"
• FLR #2: If you're caucasian, you will stand out like a sore thumb. If you're a 5'10" caucasian female (like Yours Truly), well, you stand out like Godzilla in the heart of Tokyo. Good thing there are plenty of skyscrapers here for me to climb.
• FLR #3: You find yourself miming everything, even when you're talking with other waygooks. (Seriously, I've only been here for 2 1/2 weeks and I can rock some International Charades!!)
• FLR #4: You find yourself shocked by 9/10 of what you eat. Most of this is self-inflicted due to sheer ignorance at the grocery store. You will find yourself asking such questions as, "Why does this baguette have a creamy center?", "Is that really edible?" and "Why do my noodles have eyes?"
• FLR #5: You forget to take a number at the post office, bank or other place of official business and, though you waited in what appeared to be a line, get chastised for trying to butt in line without taking a number. "Way to go, waygook."

There are many other Friendly Little Reminders that I will write about later. For now, it's time for this waygook to scale a large building and swat angrily at biplanes.

A Birthday at School

Since I moved into my apartment, I can finally get my laptop set up and share some photos with you! There are more to come, but today I thought I'd share pictures from a birthday at school.

On the third Thursday of each month, we celebrate all the kids' birthdays for that month at once. This month it was Amy and Stella. All the students gathered in the multi purpose room and sang Happy Birthday in English, Korean and Chinese. The birthday girls got a gift and a "card" that each teacher wrote a note in (and by "card" I mean "book"... they each had about ten pages!) I hope I get one on my birthday; they were super cute!

It was great to see all the kids so excited and it was definitely a special day for these two little girls.

Gathering to celebrate!

The Birthday Girls!

Make a Wish!

The Feast! Not sure what everything was, but it was delicious!

Yum!

The Power of the Human Mind

Having never taught anything to anyone in my life, I wasn't really sure what to expect when I came to South Korea... to teach.

I tried to completely erase any expectations I had, because if there's one thing that life has taught me... expectations are always way off. Way better or way worse; either way... off.

I had no idea what I was in store for by any means, but I think perhaps one of the most surprising finds for me has been the sheer intelligence of children.

When I think 'kids', thoughts of problem solving and critical thinking don't easily come to mind. Usually it's problem-making. And sticky fingers.

My students have shown me otherwise.

These kids are bright. Real bright. Today, for example, I had to teach my class of six year olds about odd and even number combinations in a foreign language. A language that they are by no means fluent in. This is a brand new concept for them, too. New concept, new numbers, new language. I was skeptical.

But - by jove! - they got it! I was so proud of them! And, to be honest, I was a little proud of myself, too. I never thought I could teach a bunch of squirmy six year olds about math in a foreign language. Maybe I'm not so bad at this whole teaching thing, after all.

Rain, Rain Go Away

When I flew into Incheon last week, the sky was totally white. It was like a giant cloud floated down and rested on the city, and there wasn't a ray of sunshine to be seen. I felt like I was in a dream as large buildings loomed in and out of view, sinking back into the fog. I asked my employer if it was supposed to rain and he looked confused by my question, "Maybe."

I had never seen such a foggy day in my life.

The next day, the sun came out for a little bit and my spirits lifted. I was afraid my entire time here would be spent in a cloud. The week was hot and sunny, and I began to question the "rainy season" I'd read about. I went for walks and drank in the sunshine; there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

By yesterday morning, the clouds had rolled back in with a vengeance. The sky opened up and practically drowned the pedestrians. I have never seen so much rain in my entire life. As I walked some of my kindergarteners to the bus, I saw four kids completely wipe out on the slick ground. (Yet somehow Korean women can still wear super high, pointy stilettos and be fine.)

If we were in Biblical times, I'd be looking around for Noah.

It's no wonder that Koreans carry an umbrella with them wherever they go... although many of them still use umbrellas on a perfectly sunny, cloudless day. It hasn't stopped in 24 hours, and it's still going strong as I write this. My Saturday morning hike I had planned will have to wait, and a subtitled movie marathon will take it's place. I'm learning that in Korea, it's all about flexibility because you never know what will change from one moment to the next.

Adjusting

I just got home from my second day at school, and it was already easier than the first. I'm not going to lie; my first day at school was rough. I only had one day to try to get over my jet lag and then I had to get right to it on Monday morning. What can I say; the Koreans are very industrious people.

I will be teaching kindergarten, which is apparently a hard position to fill. While the first day was overwhelming, today I got more into the groove and I hope that trend continues! The students are super cute, and well-behaved with the exception of a few trouble makers. They are getting used to me and call me "Miss Becky Teacher", which I find endearing.

I went into Emart last night after work, which is like a Korean Super Target, and I walked around in a daze for the better part of an hour. After the enormity of it all subsided, I was able to purchase a few snacks and a razor (mine had gotten destroyed in the flight over.) It felt like a major accomplishment, and I'm proud of myself for braving the unknown with my tiny arsenal of Korean.

Speaking of Korean, mine has already tripled in size since my arrival. Every day I learn new words and phrases, which I try to use whenever possible. The Koreans seem to be pleased when you even say the smallest thing in their language, which I've heard they take as a sign of respect to their culture. Or maybe they're just relieved I'm not speaking English to them.

I still have quite a bit of settling in to do, and it hasn't exactly been a cake walk so far, but it helps to know that my friends and family are supporting me from afar, and I have some fellow American teachers to talk to as well.

Safe & Sound in SoKo

I'm sitting in my little hotel room, looking outside at the sun rising over the mountains and the skyscrapers of Sanbon, yet it still hasn't totally set in that I'm actually in South Korea.

My flight from Atlanta to Incheon was about 16 hours long, and the entire time I had to keep trying to convince myself that I was actually headed to the other side of the world. After landing, my employer Sione picked me up from the airport and took me out to dinner with his family where we had bulgogi, which is one of the dishes that Koreans are known for. Of course, there was kimchi, too! It was delicious, but my jet lag was really catching up with me.

Sione took me to my hotel, which looks nothing like an American hotel by any stretch of the imagination, except that it has a bed. There's a little hallway for you to keep your shoes in and the room is heated through the floor. In the bathroom, there isn't a shower curtain, and all the water from the sink and shower flow to a drain in the middle of the floor. It's a little wet in there after showering! The bedroom itself has a computer, bed with no top sheet and a little bistro table and chairs, as well as a large TV and a water cooler like you'd find in an office. Koreans do not drink tap water.

I spent most of the day yesterday sleeping on and off and I ventured out once to wander around and see Sanbon. I bought a sandwich from a "French" bakery for 4,000 won. (That's a little less than $4.)

It's Monday morning now and I'm about to get ready for my first day at school. I will be teaching the kindergarteners, which I'm excited about. I had dinner with some of the other American teachers last night and got the scoop on what to expect, and I think I'll really like it here.

Sorry no pictures yet, I'm trying to find a safe way to connect to my laptop, so for now I'm using the computer in the hotel room.

Two Days 'til SoKo

It feels a little surreal right now... all the months of planning, packing and paperwork have been leading up to this, yet I still feel unprepared for what awaits.

When I tell people that I'm moving to South Korea, their first question isn't "Why?" or "Do you have family there?"

It's "Why South Korea?"

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I've loved traveling for as long as I can remember, and I felt my life was getting a little stagnant where I was. Not that I didn't love my life, because I did, but it was too comfortable to really stimulate growth. My inner adventurer began to wilt and flicker a bit... so I decided to pack my bags and move away.

Though I wasn't sure where I would go, I felt certain that go I must. I looked into a bunch of countries; ones where I spoke the language, ones where I liked the food, ones where I had friends.

But I kept coming back to South Korea. I didn't want to leave the comfort of my pleasant life for another comfortable and predictable life.

I wanted adventure.

I wanted to explore the unknown.

To throw myself into a completely different culture and see what emerged in my soul.

South Korea was all of those things and more.

As I sit here typing on American soil, I find it difficult to imagine what's looming on the horizon for me. But one thing is for sure, whatever comes by way, I'm ready to live a life out of my comfort zone, embrace the adventure of being alive and - of course - carpe diem.