On Thursday I joined a new gym here. Normally this isn't something I'd write about, but it was interesting for a few reasons. It's called the Hyundai Sports Centre - it seems almost everything here has Samsung or Hyundai in its name! (On Thursday we also went on another field trip to the Samsung Transportation museum!) It's really nice gym, it opened a couple years ago so everything is quite new.
Anyway, I arrived fully prepared to do my own thing at the gym as I always do, but when I walked out of the change room I was greeted by a trainer from the gym who just said "come here" (his English was limited). He walked me over to an area of the gym where I proceeded to be weighed and measured. After this I still thought I was going to do my own thing. Boy was I wrong, he proceeded to be my personal trainer for the day and lead me through a workout, including a ton of abs, squats, lunges, dead lifts, the treadmill, bike and some jump rope thrown in for good measure! Towards the end of the workout he told me I would have to jump rope 300 times, I think when he saw my eyes bug out he realized he has said something wrong. So then he said no, no... 30 minutes in the treadmill and 20 minutes on the bike. Okay, that was a lot better.
While I was on the treadmill I saw the funniest warning sign. It said 'Please use caution when exercising in, on, or around children, invalids or the disabled' That's right, IN or ON children, invalids or the disabled. This made me laugh and took my mind off the pain in my legs for a few minutes. After the workout I saw the second funny thing, a sign in the bathrooms that says 'Clean Toilet, Clean Korea.'
Now, I knew my muscles would be sore after, but I had no idea exactly how sore. By the end of Friday I was moving at a slow hobble and saying 'ow' with every step. When I got up this morning I could hardly move. It's better now, but definitely put a crimp in my plans to hit the gym yesterday and today! Oh well, back at it tomorrow.... I did go into Seoul today to a market that had a lot of very interesting food. I'll write more about it in the next day or so!
March 31, 2007
March 25, 2007
School Field Trip
Last Thursday my school went on a field trip for the morning. There are about 80 students at the kindergarten and they range from 4 - 7 years old Korean age, this is about 2 - 5 or 6 North American age, so some of them are very tiny! I have the 7 year olds in my homeroom class which is also called Wise class. We went to a Housing and Civilization museum, it was very interesting. Unfortunately for me almost all the information was in Korean but they had a lot of pictures and diagrams which helped! The museum showed the change in Korean cities over the last hundred or so years from small traditional houses to the apartment blocks that are now everywhere.
Here are a few pics:
My homeroom
Manda with her homeroom class - the Joyful class
My class with their gift from the museum - a pink piggy bank!
With my homeroom
Elizabeth and Alice with their piggybanks
On the bus!
Here are a few pics:
My homeroom
Manda with her homeroom class - the Joyful class
My class with their gift from the museum - a pink piggy bank!
With my homeroom
Elizabeth and Alice with their piggybanks
On the bus!
March 21, 2007
Some Konglish
Today I thought I'd share some Konglish (Korean English) with you. The following are the instructions that came with an ice pack I bought from the pharmacy. I kid you not, this is what it really says, including all the spelling and spacing errors:
How to use
- For micro wave: 3 - 4 minute operate after seaes part (eith belt protecting is a more then 1 - 2 H/R)
- For hot boiling: we have not micro wave pack in the boiling water about 20minute
- Refrigeration (cold storage)/ keep in cold storage user long terms operate cold storage in 2-3 H/A
Suggestion
1. For fomentation hot or cold: must use of wrap up in a towel
2. For fomentation only hot: punctual to the minute when boiling 4minute over (because worry about get damaged)
Caution
- Don't shock, No pierce the pack with knife, drill, etc
- Keep in a cool & dry place, no expose the pack directly to the sun
- Not eat though be harmless as the human body
Sometimes they do a really good job translating to English, and sometimes they don't! It can be funny though :-)
How to use
- For micro wave: 3 - 4 minute operate after seaes part (eith belt protecting is a more then 1 - 2 H/R)
- For hot boiling: we have not micro wave pack in the boiling water about 20minute
- Refrigeration (cold storage)/ keep in cold storage user long terms operate cold storage in 2-3 H/A
Suggestion
1. For fomentation hot or cold: must use of wrap up in a towel
2. For fomentation only hot: punctual to the minute when boiling 4minute over (because worry about get damaged)
Caution
- Don't shock, No pierce the pack with knife, drill, etc
- Keep in a cool & dry place, no expose the pack directly to the sun
- Not eat though be harmless as the human body
Sometimes they do a really good job translating to English, and sometimes they don't! It can be funny though :-)
March 19, 2007
Along the river
Yesterday I went for a walk along the Tancheon "river". I put river in quotations because it's actually more like a big drain! But it's quite beautiful to walk along. There are great running/walking paths along it. Spring is just starting here so some of the trees are blooming.
If you look close you'll see a white spot, this is a pet bunny a woman had on the grass. Very cute, it wasn't on a leash she was just feeding it and playing with it!The were so many kids along the path, I was nearly hit in the knees by a few small rollerbladers and some kids on bikes! Actually there are so many kids everywhere here! I have never seen so many small children in supermarkets and just out with their families, but it's nice to see.
March 17, 2007
My western style weekend!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Ok, I've finally sat down to write. I've been wanting to all week, but have had this nasty cold that just won't go away and haven't felt up to it. I've been told it hits most people shortly after they get here and I've been one of them. It's a combination of the poor air quality, being around kids all day and some questionable hygiene practices here (the subject of a future post). I think it's getting better, I found some Robitussin cough syrup today, and it's really helped. This leads to the theme of today's post - all things western in Seoul. And by western I mean all things North American, not all things country and western! I wanted to start by going over my first few weeks here, but now I'm just going to start where I'm at and maybe do a post later on about the rest of my first month here.
I've really been enjoying the Korean food and culture, but somehow this past couple of days became very western!
Last night, after a long week of teaching, I went with Manda and Alysa, the other girls I teach with, to Starbucks to have a coffee, or in my case a chai tea latte. I don't drink caffeine and discovered shortly after I got here that decaf is not available at most places, so I've had to adapt! It's a good thing I love the chai tea latte. So anyway, we had our coffee/tea and a good vent about the work week and then headed home. Once there Alysa and I walked to Papa John's Pizza which is conveniently located on the same block of our apartment building! We ordered pizza and then the 3 of us went back to my place to eat. It was sooo good. I was happy to discover some great pizza here.
After the pizza it was time to go to a movie. We went to see 'Music and Lyrics' at the CGV theatre close to where we live. They don't dub over the English here, they just add Korean subtitles which is nice for us! It was a good show, some of the humour doesn't translate, so at some points I think it was just Alysa, Manda and I laughing which made it even funnier.
After the movie we decided to go for a coffee (hot chocolate this time for me!). So we took the subway to Jong ja which is 2 stops away. In Jong ja they have a street that is all cafes, it doesn't feel like you are in Korea. All of the buildings on the street are only one level, not 20 or more floors like most. We went to this great place that makes all kinds of bread and cookies.
Today Manda and I went into Seoul for some foreign foods. We took the bus in and first stopped at a market just outside Itaewon where I found the previously mentioned Robitussin and bought some granola cereal. Most of the cereal they sell in the Korean supermarkets is very sugary, and I didn't realize how much I liked cereal until I couldn't find any! Then it was into Itaewon where I bought licorice and the newest Oprah magazine.
Next we met up with Yuna and Jee and went to Apujong for dinner. We went to Mad for Garlic, which I didn't realize is part of the Tony Roma's chain. Needless to say we ate a lot of garlic which I'm hoping will help with my cold! It was very garlicky and very good. After dinner we went for a coffee/tea, this time at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Then it was back on the bus home. Once home we decided to go have one drink for St. Patty's day and a western style bar across the street from our place. And this brought the western style weekend to a close. Tomorrow it will be back to Korean food!
I promise more about Korea soon. I've added new pics to Ringo, including some of my apartment, the recent snow here and Insadong, a traditional area of Seoul that I went to last weekend. I met up with Jeong hee, she lived with my Uncle Al and Auntie Mindy in Regina while in the UofR ESL program. It was great to see a familiar face.
Ok, I've finally sat down to write. I've been wanting to all week, but have had this nasty cold that just won't go away and haven't felt up to it. I've been told it hits most people shortly after they get here and I've been one of them. It's a combination of the poor air quality, being around kids all day and some questionable hygiene practices here (the subject of a future post). I think it's getting better, I found some Robitussin cough syrup today, and it's really helped. This leads to the theme of today's post - all things western in Seoul. And by western I mean all things North American, not all things country and western! I wanted to start by going over my first few weeks here, but now I'm just going to start where I'm at and maybe do a post later on about the rest of my first month here.
I've really been enjoying the Korean food and culture, but somehow this past couple of days became very western!
Last night, after a long week of teaching, I went with Manda and Alysa, the other girls I teach with, to Starbucks to have a coffee, or in my case a chai tea latte. I don't drink caffeine and discovered shortly after I got here that decaf is not available at most places, so I've had to adapt! It's a good thing I love the chai tea latte. So anyway, we had our coffee/tea and a good vent about the work week and then headed home. Once there Alysa and I walked to Papa John's Pizza which is conveniently located on the same block of our apartment building! We ordered pizza and then the 3 of us went back to my place to eat. It was sooo good. I was happy to discover some great pizza here.
After the pizza it was time to go to a movie. We went to see 'Music and Lyrics' at the CGV theatre close to where we live. They don't dub over the English here, they just add Korean subtitles which is nice for us! It was a good show, some of the humour doesn't translate, so at some points I think it was just Alysa, Manda and I laughing which made it even funnier.
After the movie we decided to go for a coffee (hot chocolate this time for me!). So we took the subway to Jong ja which is 2 stops away. In Jong ja they have a street that is all cafes, it doesn't feel like you are in Korea. All of the buildings on the street are only one level, not 20 or more floors like most. We went to this great place that makes all kinds of bread and cookies.
Today Manda and I went into Seoul for some foreign foods. We took the bus in and first stopped at a market just outside Itaewon where I found the previously mentioned Robitussin and bought some granola cereal. Most of the cereal they sell in the Korean supermarkets is very sugary, and I didn't realize how much I liked cereal until I couldn't find any! Then it was into Itaewon where I bought licorice and the newest Oprah magazine.
Next we met up with Yuna and Jee and went to Apujong for dinner. We went to Mad for Garlic, which I didn't realize is part of the Tony Roma's chain. Needless to say we ate a lot of garlic which I'm hoping will help with my cold! It was very garlicky and very good. After dinner we went for a coffee/tea, this time at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Then it was back on the bus home. Once home we decided to go have one drink for St. Patty's day and a western style bar across the street from our place. And this brought the western style weekend to a close. Tomorrow it will be back to Korean food!
I promise more about Korea soon. I've added new pics to Ringo, including some of my apartment, the recent snow here and Insadong, a traditional area of Seoul that I went to last weekend. I met up with Jeong hee, she lived with my Uncle Al and Auntie Mindy in Regina while in the UofR ESL program. It was great to see a familiar face.
March 11, 2007
Here we go...
Well everyone, here's my first blog entry... I hope to write often about my experiences in South Korea and my travels while I'm here. I've got a bit of catching up to do since I've been here for just over 3 weeks now! I'll still be adding my pictures to Ringo, so if anyone wants to see them and can't, just send me an email and I'll add you. It's been an interesting and for the most part enjoyable first few weeks. Easier to adjust to life here than I thought it would be. Stay tuned, I'll be adding more this week!
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