Took the train.

This weekend was surprisingly busy.

On Friday night I met up with a group of foreigners in my town and we went out to dinner and then we got drinks. Dinner consisted of all-you-can-eat meat that you cooked yourself for about 10$ each. It was a pretty good meal, any large quantity of meat is hard to come by and expensive in Korea, so this particular get together was quite welcome. The only catch was that you could only really cook a small amount of meat at a time on the table top grills. So it would take forever to get a decent sized portion down. It was worth it though. The bar we went to had kettles of alcohol for about 4$ each.  It was awesome. We chose a milky kiwi alcohol which was really nice on the pallet. I went home content that night, I had good company, good food, and good drinks.

My only complaint is that there were no actual Koreans with us. Foreigners seem to stick together here and its nice that there is that bond available, but at the same time they don't provide a link to Korea that will last.

On Saturday I was really bored so I decided to take a 10$ train ride to Daegu, the 3rd largest city in Korea. The train ride took about three hours and I went alone. I was kind of winging it to be honest. I knew that some people were going to be in the city, but I had no idea where or if I was going to stay the night and how reliable communication with people would be. About 20 minutes after getting off the train I was walking around the major downtown shopping/bar district of the city and I ran into Tyler, a fellow TaLK Scholar. I decided to tag along with him and we eventually met up with other people in the city. We went to a couple bars first and then around 11pm we went to a place call MK Club. This club had good music and was packed! We went on the stage area and danced for a few hours until we were deaf and tired and then made our way to a cheap motel about a mile away to get some sleep. (I bought a 30$ small sleeping bag earlier that day and it was one of the best purchases I made in Korea so far as I have been sleeping on the floor a lot on the weekends.)

I took the train home the next day. I have decided I really like using the train is foreign countries. There is a real sense of adventure AND comfort that the train brings to travel. (you also KNOW where the train is going, which brings a nice feeling of security to a trip).

I took this picture on stage in the MK Club. Lots of people.

Kettles of Alcohol. It was a nice (inexpensive) time.

Long bus ride to Pohang.

This weekend I finally got out of Yeongju to see some places I haven't been before. This weekend that happened to be the coastal city of Pohang.

Pohang is a city that is famous for the POSCO steel plant. This is a huge facility that makes and refines a crazy amount of steel. Pohang also has numerous beaches and a Navy base, so at night you can see all the U.S. Navy personnel walking around downtown and going to the bars.

The first night I went to a TaLK meet and greet at an Indian restaurant. It was delicious, is weird how after a week straight of only Korean food and ramen anything different becomes a gourmet meal (including McDonald's).  I ended up sleep on the floor of another TaLK scholars apartment, it was pretty comfortable surprisingly. The next day I went with a couple other people from my town, Elisa Kim and Ian Preston, to the beach and then to downtown for some shopping and McDonald's. We left to go back to the bus when it started raining.

The bus is fairly cheap here. For a 3 hour bus ride to Pohang it is less than $20.00. When I finally get paid I'm excited to explore Korea and see people more often like this weekend!

Beach!

A small fraction of the huge POSCO steel mill.

Road and shops along the beach.

Downtown Pohang.

Eliza Kim, Ian Preston, and I. We all live in Yeongju!

Dirty Streets and Neon Lights

Korea can be characterized by the coexistence of the old with the new. While nothing is really maintained, its simply changed. I've noticed that while a lot of buildings are new, shiny, and brightly lit up at night, a good number of the buildings on the side streets are literally falling apart. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or not, but it seems as if a new paint job every once in awhile would make Korea a better looking country in general. Though this would probably be seen as a waste of money over here.

On another note, my weekend after the first week of teaching was nice. The first two days I just chilled at home and rested. On Sunday night I went to the nearest bigger city to meet up with some friends for dinner. We had fried chicken and beer. It was really good. I headed back the next morning and went straight to work. Overall a good weekend!

One of the many Korean buildings that seem to be in disrepair.

Beautiful walk to the bus terminal with mountains in the background.

Andong at night! Pretty new facades.

Andong in the morning, Trying to find a taxi to get to work.

Hweshik

My first week of teaching is almost over. I really enjoy teaching. Little kids are really cute and when you teach (or attempt to teach) you really have a sense of productivity. I teach in two different schools, one mwf and the other tues/thurs. Both schools are fun to teach in and it lets me re-use lesson plans. However traveling to the schools is a pain, but manageable. The country side is beautiful! with many huge and dynamic mountain ranges. I want to explore them someday.

On Wednesday night I was asked by the Vice Principal to join all the teachers for dinner, drink, and afterwards Noraebang. This is what is called a Hweshik in Korea. Every so often all the teachers get together and have a good time. It is akin to a team building activity where the staff gets to know one another. Before we started eating the Principal asked that I introduce myself to everybody (the schools staff only consists of about 10 people) by making a short speech on the spot. After dinner everybody went to a Noraebang for continued fun. I was asked to sing first, so I chose "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. It is one song I just happen to know all the words to. Luckily one of the other teachers lives in Yeongju so I got a ride home at around 9pm. 

Everybody has to take off their shoes and put on these sandals when entering the school.

My classroom at my second school.

First day of teaching!

Today was my first day of teaching at Dong Yang Elementary School. It was awesome! I taught 1st-4th graders today and they were all angelic. Amazing attention spans and they were nice. To get to the school I had to take 2 buses and it took about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Teaching for the first time was an interesting experience. There were a couple times where I ran out of things to do or they did not understand what I wanted them to do so I had to think on my feet and make up stuff. This was just a reminder for me to keep a whole set of games ready just in case. I feel better about teaching now than I did before.

1st bus station that I walk to.

2nd bus station that I transfer at.

My classroom!

My main school, Dong Yang Elementary School.

Good & Different.

Today I went exploring more by myself in Yeongju. I walked about 20 minutes to get to the downtown area near the bus terminal. This is where all the stores and the main market are. I was extremely happy the first time I was here because I was afraid I would understand nothing in this town, but this place is the exception. There are brands and stores I know here and the store fronts are big and in English!

I had another run in with how nice Koreans can be. I accidentally dropped 5000won ($5.00) when I was taking a picture and as I was walking away an old Korean woman yelled and ran up to me and handed the money to me. I was very surprised and thanked her.

Today was a good day, I feel like I am finally getting an idea of where things are in this town and I did not get lost. Now I have to figure out public transportation and how to get out of this town to visit other places. A whole new set of challenges await..

There is a river outside my front door btw.

Shopping district in Yeongju.

Yeongju Market.

Busy downtown.

Good & Different.

Kittens.

So. Today I met another TaLK Scholar who lives upstairs. HEr name is Da Hae, she is from American Simoa but was born in Korea. She showed me around downtown Yeoungju which was really nice. We also ate at a decent pasta restaurant which was surprisingly good and had a nice atmosphere.

The main reason I am writing this entry though is because of a couple cats I came across. They were adorable.

awwww