Lake Park and the passing of the torchIlsan, South Korea

This weekend is a five-day weekend, so Thursday was our last day to observe classes. By the end of it, we'd seen about half of the courses we'll be taking over. Elaine and Sean said their goodbyes to their co-teachers and students that evening, both very sad to leave them. Despite the difficulty of living and working in a foreign country, and any disagreements or difficulties, it was clear that they both were very attached to their students (and the students to them). Given this, we know that we have big shoes to fill, but on the other hand, we're assured that the coming year will be a worthwhile experience.

After school on Thursday, Sean showed us around his (now our) apartment to introduce us to its tricks and quirks. Afterwards, we went to La Festa, a huge shopping/entertainment district, for a couple beers and some last bits of wisdom before we embark upon our own teaching career. It's hard to explain exactly the change that has occurred in this past week - from our first day landing in Incheon to our first day in our new apartment... we've seen classes, gotten to know some of the students and teachers a bit better, gotten a glimpse into what we will be doing for a year, and obtained an immeasurable increase in confidence and ideas from Elaine and Sean.

Last night Mark came to visit us and the next day we all explored Lake Park (with a huge man-made lake) and Ilsan in general. While walking around, Jay and Mark worked on learning to read Hangul, using any and all signs we saw on our way as practice. I only needed to help occasionally, as both of them have learned to memorize most of the alphabet really quickly. We also got to use the subway for the first time to visit Mark and see where he lives as well. He's in about the same situation as us, with similarly-aged students, though a few subway stations apart.

I'll explain more about our apartment (with photos!) once we've settled in a bit more. 

First day in KoreaIlsan, South Korea

Well, we're here. We arrived last night. After a 12-hour flight (on a side note, I whole-heartedly recommend Singapore Airlines to anyone traveling across the Pacific). After collecting our baggage and clearing customs faster than in any other country, we emerged from the terminal to see tons of Koreans waiting, many with signs containing various names. Our driver, Mr. Li, had no problem spotting us (the only confused foreigners in the lot), and quickly herded us outside, where he and the majority of the Korean men exiting the airport immediately lit a cigarette. Welcome to Asia.

It took us about half an hour to reach our school, where we met our vice-president/director/head teacher/boss, Joe, and some of the foreign and Korean teachers. Joe showed us around the school, which has one floor in a giant building for the older (elementary - high school) students and a separate, new building exclusively for kindergardeners and some 1st graders. After the tour, Joe took us to our temporary hotel room - right across the street from our school - and then took us out to dinner and helped us find breads to buy for breakfast. We returned back to the hotel around 10 PM (which is 6 AM in California). We set our alarms fro 9:30 the next day, since we needed to be at the school by noon, and crashed.

We were both wide awake by 8 this morning, not quite able to internalize the fact that we're here. In Korea. To teach. For a year. Huh.

Having purchased breakfast-y breads the night before, we ate breakfast in our hotel room and learned to operate the shower (there is no curtain or door, but rather the entire restroom is made of plastic, the toilet paper is covered, and the floor itself has a drain to get rid of all the water). After getting dressed and acclimating for a while to Korean music videos, we headed over to the school for our first day of class-observing.

From around noon until about 6:00, we observed 4 classes with 3 different teachers (Joe and the two foreign teachers we are to replace - Elaine and Sean). We also met the rest of the Korean and foreign teachers, got mobbed by very enthusiastic (and not at all shy) kindergardeners, and checked out some of the available course materials.

During a break, we went to the same tiny Korean restaurant that we'd eaten at the night before, and managed to procure a delicious, spicy seafood and noodle soup with my poor Korean reading abilities and some creative signing. The waiter, who was amazingly indulgent of our inability to communicate properly, also brought us some kim chi and water. Korean word of the day: 짭뽕라면. Meaning: Delicious cheap noodle-fish-chili-soup that I can't pronounce properly.

After observing classes, we went and got our photos taken for the alien registration card that the school's owner will apply for on our behalf. Tomorrow, another day of observation - in the kindergarden as well as with some Korean teachers. For now, off to take photos and find food.

Preparing for South KoreaBerkeley, California

Our visas are ready, our tickets are purchased, our bags are (somewhat) packed... Jay and I are leaving in less than a week to spend a year in South Korea - in Ilsan, a suburb to the Northeast of Seoul, in the Gyeonggi province. We don't speak Korean to any usable degree, we have never been to Asia before, and we haven't met the people responsible for sending us there.

We will be teaching English for a year at a private school, which will pay for our airfare and provide us with housing. It would be an absurd lie to say I wasn't nervous, but, at the same time, I am tingling with excitement. Once again, I have the opportunity to travel, to learn a new language, and to experience a new culture... Why wouldn't excitement be the most noticeable emotion?

Right now, Jay and I are both trying to see our friends and families for a bit longer before he comes down to the Bay Area and then... we're off! Updates will be forthcoming, once we're across the Pacific.

Final semester - ready go!Portland, Oregon

I'm excited for this semester - I have a pathetically tiny course load (13 credits), and my classes seem surprisingly doable. My Spanish literature course is focused on Don Quijote this semester (probably a good work to read for, say, a Hispanics Studies major), and my German class is focused on love and death in German literature. Both seem to be interesting topics, with good professors, so yay for foreign languages that I will inevitably mix together when speaking (oops).

Other than that, I still haven't taken a lab science (an unfortunate requirement at this silly liberal arts place - wanting students to have a well-rounded education... disgusting!) So I'm taking environmental chemistry. Not too excited about returning to mathy stuff, and the professor is...not entirely inspiring, but it will be doable. Plus, my last class is yoga. Now, bear in mind that I will destroy any and all good things that the yoga class does to my body by running off to lift weights shortly afterwards, but hey, at least it'll be a fun class.

With such a light course load, I have the opportunity to work on other stuff this semester as well. Namely, art, excercise, sleep, and learning Korean. Maybe working on Finnish and Japanese as well, but those two are rather less likely. And playing ridiculous amounts of board games with Jay, since we have far too many in our apartment. Ah well. On the note of our apartment, though, (and in the words of my linguisticly-creative madre): hallefrickenloolah. What a difference it makes to actually tolerate one's roommate (let alone absolutely adore). This bodes well for the coming semester.

Oh, I forgot to mention: I have no classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Muahahaha! This means sleeping sufficiently, and then fun stuff (ie Korean) before having to hit them books.... Though when I do study, it's interesting material! What a change from last semester! Okay, I'm inspired to work a bit more on my Korean so I'm off!

Finishing finals...Portland, Oregon

*Whew* I am now done with all final exams and therefore officially finished with Spanish Lit (To be continued next semester), Early European History, and Colonial Latin American History. May the histories rest in peace and never never never plague my semester schedule again. Seriously. How is it that 2 400-level foreign language classes were a breeze while 2 100-level history classes gave me so much trouble? History is no good, I say. But it's over. All I have left is a presentation in my German class (gender roles in the Nibelungenlied) and then I'm home free.

Jay and I are moving into a huge on-campus double apartment next semester, so we have to move all our stuff into the storage facility of that hall. We're pretty much done though, so that's not particularly stressful. While I'll miss having an oven, I will absolutely not miss the women I lived with for the first part of this semester. Guh. In one case especially, I had to deal with pretty much the preppy/immature/spoiled type that I spent all of high school avoiding. And then we lived together. Lovely. Personality clash to the extreme.

On that note, next semester will be the first ever that I've actually selected my roommate. Honestly, I had great luck my first two years, and technically lived without a roommate last year, so a few duds were bound to come my way at some point... The residents of my old room were clearly they. Blah. I am, however, eagerly awaiting my return to Berkeley, especially since my family's new cat is probably the size of a small tiger by this time. Oh, and of course seeing family and friends will be wonderful. I'm also looking forward to a potential mini-road trip to Death Valley with Jules, which would be amazing if we can figure out how to do it.

For the most part, aside from looking forward to vacation, I'm just trying to get a grip on my senioritis and uncertainty for the coming year(s). South Korea is looking like a very attractive (and rather likely) possibility, as both Jay and a good friend of his are interested. This of course serves to re-spark my interest in Asian languages, so I'm back to making flashcards to learn Japanese and Korean. I have to say, Korean is a lot less complicated than the languages of its neighbors. I just wish I'd put in the effort to maintain the small amount of Korean literacy I had after my semester in Chile - after a year and a half of concentrating on other languages, I'll have to start all over by re-learning the alphabet.

Additionally, I'm excited to visit the art store this weekend to prepare for creativity bursts next semester. They're bound to happen... I hope. If not, I may as well try to find an off-campus job, since I have two free days during the week and I should keep myself entertained somehow. Maybe I'll just raid the libraries in the area and try to learn Italian, Korean, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Finnish, and Arabic. Oh, and maybe Greek. ^_^.

Honestly though, I don't quite know how I'm going to do justice to what very well may be my last year in Portland. My time here has gone by so fast... And while I regret that my time abroad precluded my ability to keep strong connections here at LC, the time I spent in Latin America and Europe was invaluable to developing the person I'm still in the process of becoming. At the least, I have some pretty photos. At the best, I have an infinite source of inspiration to keep exploring. And all the while, I haven't even thoroughly explored Portland and what it has to offer. Maybe in the coming months (as the sun begins to reappear), I'll have a chance to run amok through the bridges and streets of Portland as I should have by now.

Much love to everyone, and here's to hoping the holidays and the new year are wonderful. May we not get tangled in Christmas lights (though, if our cat does, I promise I'll pass the pictures along).