Happy Birthday to ME!

I have experienced many new things as of late. Let me just start where I left off from the last posting. I did buy a new camera, but it wasn't the one that I had originally planned on buying. I bought the Olympus SP-800UZ with 30x zoom, one of only 3 cameras on the market right now with that much zoom power. It is awesome! I have been taking more pictures so be sure to check out my flickr! account to see all of them. Also, I got a new phone. I got the HTC Desire and, I can't believe that I am going to say this, but I think that maybe I like it better than my iphone! The phone is awesome, but it is not totally compatible with my older mac computer. I found a way around most of the complications so it shouldn't be too bad. I downloaded a program called TextPlus so that I could text people from back home in the States for free. If you are interested in texting with me for free, download this app and I will give you my number. Actually, I think it may only work if I text you first because of the whole different country thing. Anyway, I finally got my cell phone and absolutely love it (even though it took over 2 months)!

We recently went on another field trip with the morning kinder kids. We went to a place called English Village. Basically, it is a place set up for kids where they can go and experience different activities all in English. The kids go through "customs" to get into the place with a fake passport. It is stamped and then they find out where they go first. Our group went to the magic show theatre where they witnessed a magic show in English. Next, we had lunch in the cafeteria, spaghetti with meatballs, and then went to the "hospital." There, the kids were bandaged up and learned how to say different injuries in English. Finally, we headed back to the cafeteria where we had a birthday party and a kind of roller rink-dance party. There were several other groups and not enough time to do everything. They also had a costume shop, a beauty salon, a gym/playroom, an art room, a restaurant, a toy store, and many other things that I am sure that I didn't get to see. Needless to say, it was very cool and if I stay for another year after this one, I want to work there!

Recently, my boss and I were chatting and I learned that I am getting 50% insurance coverage on top of what I am already getting from the school. This means that I have 100% health insurance coverage while working for Ashley. How many people in the States do you think can say that? I bet not too many! Korea is a seriously flawed country in some ways, but it is so amazing in so many others! Did you know that Korea actually has a Costco? Well there are several actually. The closest one is only a 30 min bus ride from my house but only 12 km. I signed up for a membership along with my coworker. We put his name down as my spouse so that he could get a free card out of the deal and he wouldn't have to sign up for a totally separate account. It was actually ingenious on my part! We didn't buy much, but now we know where to go when we need stuff.

Our boss at the school, scheduled a summer vacation for the teachers and the kids. It is only 1 week but it is a much needed break from all of the craziness and drama that is a Korean hogwon! Agnes took a week vacation to Turkey to visit a friend, but before she left she took me Duty-Free shopping. Her and her sister spent so much money there it was crazy! I only got a little makeup from M.A.C. I didn't know this, but apparently at duty-free shops around the globe, the currency used is the U.S. dollar. I will get my stuff when Agnes gets back from Turkey tomorrow, which also happens to be her birthday! Happy Birthday to Agnes!

Speaking of birthdays, I just had my 26th birthday on July 26th. It was so great! I got presents from all of the teachers at school and a couple from the kids as well. I received a gorgeous bouquet, some earrings, a body wash package, a few other things, and a night out on the town with all of the teachers, courtesy of Ashley. We had school so there wasn't much that happened throughout the day other than every class singing Happy Birthday to me, which was really cute! That night after work, we started by going to a traditional 100 year old Korean house that was converted into a restaurant. It was kind of like the Korean version of a ranch/plantation/farm. It was very close to the mountains and everything was absolutely beautiful! I took pictures so check them out! We ate awesome Korean food including warm kimchi with tofu, pa-jeon (seafood pancake), chicken wings, dotori muk (acorn jelly), a couple other things that I can't recall at the moment, AND homemade makali (a weak Korean alcoholic beverage made of rice). Everything was so delicious especially the makali! Next we headed downtown to find a karaoke joint. Now if you don't know, Korean karaoke is very different from the karaoke that we know. In Korea, you rent out a small room with a table and couch-like seating area surrounding the table. There is a huge TV and books with songs. There are 2 microphones with big speakers and a remote control to type in the number of the song that you want to sing. Karaoke is only sung among friends in Korea in a smaller room. On the screen, they have the words and a video that rarely matches that song. It is also BYOB. It was really fun although I don't think they much liked my song choices. The very first song that I sang was Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio! HAHAHAHAHA!! They were pressuring me to go first and that was the first song that I came across that I knew all the words to! Later I sang "Somebody to Love," The Used's "Take It Away," "Don't Stop Believing," "Livin On a Prayer," and a couple others that I can't remember. If we would have stayed a little longer I wanted to do "Sexyback!" LOL! We had a blast and afterward Ashley paid for all of us to take taxis home.

So, now that we are on summer break, I wanted to use this time to do some things that I can't normally do in the middle of the day, like go to the post office and go to the bank. I wanted to go sign up for a Citibank account because they are International and I thought that it would be easier to convert the money back to U.S. dollars when and if I needed to. I went and signed up for the account and when the woman gave me the card, I asked why there was no visa or mastercard logo attached to the check card. She told me that foreigners can't get cards like that and that the Korean Citibank is not really related to the one in the States. She said that the only similarity is the name. I was so upset that I didn't know what to do. Jenny suggested that we go back to my original bank to see if I could get a card like that there. Here is the back story on this bank. I went and signed up for an account around the time I got my first paycheck. They gave me a check card with the Maestro logo on it. When I went online and was trying to buy some things, everywhere I looked it told me that Mastro card either wasn't accepted or it needed a special number from the card which mine didn't have. I need to be able to purchase airline tickets online to go back and forth. Ok, so we went into KB and told them my situation. The woman told Jenny that it was no problem, all I had to do was open a savings account tied to my checking account. I said ok and wanted to get started. Then the woman said that I would need 1,000,000 ₩ ($1000 U.S.) to put in a new savings account that couldn't be touched for 6 whole months. Now, I haven't been in Korea very long and I have technically only had one full paycheck since I have been here. I had enough money to do it, but I would be left with very little to live on until the next paycheck. So, I have to wait until I get paid again. Everything is so complicated here! Nothing can ever just be easy when it comes to the important stuff!

The final thing that I have to talk about is my trip to Lotte World. Jenny and I talked one day and I learned that she was going to take a couple of girls from school (students) to a place called Kidzania. She invited me to go and of course I went. At Kidzania, the kids can experience what it is like to work at a job of their choice. They have different stations and rooms where they kids can act out their career fantasies! It looks really cool, but we didn't get in because all of the tickets were sold out. Instead we went to Lotte World which is a indoor/outdoor theme park. It is Disney related, but I don't think it is officially Disney. We had so much fun with Hannah and Bella, the two students. We rode rides and took so many pictures. It really was very cool and I couldn't have asked for 2 better students to go with! We all left with cute headbands. Hannah and Bella got giant bows like Minnie Mouse would wear, Jenny got bunny ears, and I got cat ears. There were all really cute!

If you are interested in seeing any pictures, please check out my flickr! account. The link is just below. Copy and paste in your address bar.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/keatonturner/sets/72157624467563326/

The photos are not uploading properly so I think that I am going to put them on facebook and you can look at them there.

I'm an Alien!

As most of you know, I have been doing a lot of walking since I have been here. I noticed how out of shape I am and how my feet hurt almost every night. I have been asking one of the teachers to go with me to find a gym for a while now. Then, I found out that there is one in the building next to ours. They are practically attached! It would be so easy and convenient. We went to inquire about the costs and to take a look around. I learned about the locker system and that if you want to add the pool to your package that it costs extra. I found out that they offer a free shuttle service from around my house to the gym every day, you get a cool looking gym bag when you join, and they actually offer you clothes to work out in. They give you like a uniform to work out in and then you just put it in the laundry basket when you are finished. They wash them and ask you your size when you come in the next time. It is actually very weird to me. To think that you will be working out in clothes that have been worn a hundred other times by sweaty individuals. Gross!! I'll bring my own clothes, thank you! Anyway, when I asked to check out the locker rooms I got another surprise. The locker rooms are completely open as well as the shower room. In the shower room there are shower heads all along the outer wall. There are a couple jacuzzi tubs in the middle of the room and one larger tub/pool (I am not sure what this is for but there are always women in there). There is a tub with several water streams like a fountain and there are mini showers where the women get stools, sit, and bathe themselves that way. I never realized how much bonding could go on in an open showering room. The women, who love to walk around naked everywhere in the locker room and the shower room ALL OF THE TIME, sit and chat and gossip while bathing or sitting in the sauna or even while doing hair and makeup. For any of you who know me, you know that this makes me completely and totally uncomfortable, especially in a place where I am a foreigner and people already stare at me all of the time!

Needless to say, I joined the gym and have been going every day for the past week and a half. I go in the mornings so that I can just shower and get ready there before work. The other day when I was trying to ask about the shuttle bus, there was a girl who works in the actual fitness area who found another who could speak some English and asked me if I know how to workout properly. She said that she had been watching me for a few days and that all I do is run. I told her that I played volleyball all my life and had several workouts. I took several weightlifting courses in college and I worked at a gym for 2 years! I told her that I wanted to slim down a little and get my endurance up before I started lifting weights. This whole conversation occurred while I was on the treadmill and afterward I guess there was some misunderstanding about the information that they gave me about the shuttle bus, because the girl followed me into the shower just as I turned on the water. So she is standing there fully clothed and I am very naked and very aware that I am naked standing there talking to her. She just wanted to make sure that she understood me correctly. When I assured her that everything was fine, she thankfully left me, to be gawked at by all of the other naked Korean older women in the shower room at that time.

We have gone on a few field trips since I have been here, but this last one was by far my favorite. We went to a huge indoor market. First, we stopped at the fish market and then right across the street is the vegetable and fruit market. It was actually pretty cool and the kids really enjoyed it. The school had their parents send some money and a shopping list with them to school and the kids actually went shopping like they were adults. It was so cute! The other teacher took quite a few pictures, so at the end of this posting I will put up a link to them and several others. These blog sites are not very photo-friendly, so I have to post them elsewhere when I have several of them at once. I get paid on Monday again and plan to buy a very nice camera seeing as how I have been taking not-so-great pictures with my phone. Then I will take lots of pictures!

I still don't have a cell phone yet, but I am so close I can almost hear it ringing sometimes!! LOL! Last week, I went to the immigration office in Seoul with Hong Kong, my boss and visa sponsor's father. I was expecting to get my Alien ID card, be out of there, and get my cell phone all in the same day. Everyone I talked to said that I would get the ID right away, no problems. Apparently none of them knew what the heck they were talking about! When we pulled up, he made me get out early because there is a line that you have to wait in for parking. You can't go into the parking lot until someone else leaves. I went inside, got a number, filled out some paperwork, and took out my extra passport photo and my physical health form. I waited for over an hour in line and when I got to the woman she said that I was missing paperwork. I needed something else from the school. Luckily this happens frequently so they have a fax machine set up in the lobby for anyone to use. Hong Kong called Ashley and got the documents faxed. Then the lady told me to go upstairs to buy a revenue stamp and the form filing process was complete. She told me that it would be ready in 10 days!! AHHHH! The other American teacher went to the Immigration office the day after me and gets his ID 2 days earlier then me! How messed up is that!!?? So, I don't get it or a cell phone until this Thursday! Man, I feel very old-fashioned and somewhat left out. You never know how important something is until you don't have it!!

Lastly, I got a package from my mother in the mail this week. It was great! I was so excited and smiled all day! It had several toys for the kiddos in it, as well as bed sheets for me, that I have desperately needed for 2 months now, and some other odds and ends that I will definitely use! Just FYI, bed sheets here are a luxury that most people don't indulge in; they are very expensive and are sold separately. Mom was telling me that I should open a bed sheet market here and I could make a fortune. I am not sure that anyone would purchase that product seeing as how they are actually comfortable sleeping on the floor! I however, can't believe that slept without sheets for that long! It felt absolutely amazing with my new air conditioner and my awesome bed sheets to sleep in!

Here is the link to my photos. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8088960@N03/sets/72157624467563326/