Holidays: Home for Christmas and NYE in Korea

A week at home is not enough.

With exactly seven days to enjoy California, I made it my mission to do anything and everything. Except sleep #overrated. This included lots of sunshine, family time and food babies, and I couldn't have been happier about it.

I got back to Korea late Monday night, met the boyfriend at the subway station and would not let go of him. Lots of hugs and kisses and him carrying my luggage. Yessss. With everything going on, I'm really thankful that he's able to take in my mood swings and bouts of crying/laughter/emotions. I don't know how he does it. Cue lots of Christmas presents for him, partly to make up for my lack of physical presence on Christmas and partly because I am a fantastic girlfriend. And super modest.

It's been a quiet couple of days for us and I'm not complaining. We've only left the apartment a couple of times, instead wanting to be together and couple-y. AWWW. As much as I would have liked to celebrate NYE in a more rambunctious atmosphere, it was nice being with him and *finally* getting a proper kiss at midnight! It's quite a change from last NYE, which we spent in a recently befriended Filipino man's house, singing and drinking and dancing, but enjoyable all the same.

2013's Resolutions:

Visit five new countries; live in one.

—Hmmm. Thailand. Malaysia. Indonesia. But it's not really my fault that our trip got cut short. Shout out to stalker Kuta taxi drivers. On the other hand, I stayed in England for three months, so that's semi like living in another country. *Damn Korea and its good pay!

Read another Steinbeck novel.

—Oops.

Be more open—say yes!

—Yes. Definitely. YES.

2014's Resolutions:

Appreciate relationships—Family. Friends. Boyfriend. I'm beyond grateful that I still have the relationships that I do and it's about time that I amp up my efforts.

Erase debt—Simple enough. 

Laugh things off—Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't mind the bullshit. Pagoda and Korea will test me on this one, but I'm not about to surrender so easily. 

Winter Blues

December has been exhausting.

After working nine hours a day on average with no nap in between my split shifts, familial issues and trying to have some semblance of a personal life, I'm ready for 2013 to be over.


Cash Money

I would still much rather be at Pagoda than another academy, but, for one reason or another, this month was tough. 

My December schedule consisted of SLE Advanced classes and a PIP (work/study abroad) course. Other teachers had warned me about the advanced classes—the students can be a handful, arrogant and full of themselves. However, aside from a select few, most of them were great. But. Those few. Even though my classes are over, I can still not-so-fondly picture them. News flash: just because you are at an 'advanced' level of English, does not mean that you can be outright disrespectful, condescending or a downright dick to others. Your English capability doesn't give you a free pass to be an asshole.

Not that this wasn't true in the old building also, but the teachers room is a negative environment. Don't get me wrong; I'm definitely glad that we have one. But um…if it's just used for venting frustrations and ranting about some issue or another, it just breeds more negativity. Rob and I have gone with the idea that it's better to not get involved. If it doesn't involve ourselves or our paychecks, mehhh.

Okay. Enough about work. Don't I just sound like I'm complaining? I'm not. I like working there. I just need more sleep!


Family

Emotional. Draining. Disconnectedness. Laughter. Closeness. Home for the holidays.

Maintaining Relationships

I have been shite at this one recently. I've been taking my anger out on the boyfriend and not keeping up with my friends as much as I should be and want to be. How are some people still decent human beings when they're sleep-deprived? Share your wisdom.


And it's -10 in Korea. Brrr. Give me cuddles.

Birthday Celebration in Seoul—I'm Old!

Technology is basically my best friend while living abroad, allowing me to communicate with people around the world. This is particularly important during holidays, and my birthday is no exception. Nothing has made me appreciate family and friends more than celebrating holidays without them, but this isn't to say that I don't enjoy holidays while abroad!

This year, Rob really spoiled me. I had a rough first week of November at work and I came home on Friday night to flowers, a card and a pre-birthday present (because isn’t your birthday a week-long celebration too?).  On Saturday, I was woken up with kisses and even more presents. As most of you know, I’m anti-cold weather, but we ventured out in the rain to eat a delicious brunch at Honey Bowl. OH GOD. Honey Bowl, I want to take you home with me. Thankfully, we live just a short walk away from the Hapjeong area, so we can start going more often (edit: Honey Bowl is renovating in November 2013. Boo.)! Photos of our meal below include a veggie omelette (yuuuum), eggs benedict (I’ve had this before and just think it’s okay; the sauce is a bit bland for me. Rob thought it was good though!) and chocolate chip pancakes (aka the BEST part of the meal). Chocolate chip pancakes have been a birthday/special day tradition in my house ever since I can remember, so it was the perfect brunch dessert to split. Yep. Even brunch can finish with dessert! 

Note: Directions at the end of the post.

That night, we made our way to the Seoul Lantern Festival, which ran for a few weeks in November. There were some really interesting ones from various countries (photos below), but it was raining the entire time we were there, which kind of dampened our mood. In all honesty, it was almost identical to the Jinju Lantern Festival that I went to last summer, but it was nice celebrating with the boyfriend.

Of course, my birthday didn’t end on the day. On Sunday, we went shopping and I finally chopped off four inches of my damaged-from-traveling hair! But that’s for another post.

Until next time x

Directions: Honey Bowl (decorated with yellow and white decor and honeycomb on the outside) is located right off of the main street of Hongdae that consists of bars/restaurants (including Taco Bell, H&M, the kebab place, etc.). Walk away from these places in the direction of Hapjeong. If you think you've gone too far, KEEP GOING. Honey Bowl will be on the right on a side street, but easily viewable from the main street. If you've hit a dead end with a 7/11, you've gone too far.

Other Directions: Go to the Hapjeong station, exit 8 and make a left at the first street. Keep walking for about 5-10 minutes. When there is a 7/11 on your right side, make a left. Make another left onto the first street and Honey Bowl will be on your left.

First Month at Pagoda Academy

After a month of mid-afternoon naps and schedule mishaps, we've made it to November. Mid-November, actually. Who knew the first week of classes was so hectic? Oh, yeah. Every. Other. Instructor. So apologies for the late review of Pagoda Academy (all specific information is referring to the Jong-ro branch). Hope it helps some of you make the right decision for yourselves!


Pros: They're adults. They're SLE (speaking, listening, expression) classes. At the end of the day, the job itself is really good. Most students are decent, friendly human beings. The other instructors and managers at this branch are too! I only taught one level (2A), which is the lowest intermediate level, and my students were amazing. There's not much to complain about when you're just teaching a bit of grammar and having conversations. 

The classes are loosely based on books, but if you aren't fond of a particular unit/lesson, you have the option to supplement with anything. As long as the students are happy, the managers are happy.


Cons: The hours. The. Hours. THE HOURS. In two different ways. 
1. Timing. 90% of the instructors here have both the first class and the last class of the day, and our schedules were no exceptions. The first SLE class is at 7AM and the last one finishes at 10PM. It's a long day. If you can't take a nap during the day, you are in for a rough month. For October, we woke up at 5:30AM, tried to take naps 2-5PM, and then always went to bed around 12-1AM. It's probably the hardest part of the job. You know what you're like when you don't get enough sleep. Now multiply that by 100 when it's on a regular basis. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be your friend either.

2. Scheduling. If you don't have a long enough break between classes to go home, get used to sleeping on couches. My snoring will not be appreciated. Not only that, but because of either the number of instructors or the number of students, there seems to be some heavy competition for classes. The minimum number of classes that we are required to have every day is six, with the maximum being eight. However, classes with less than three students are dropped. Therefore, if you are only scheduled for six classes/day, but a couple of them have less than the mandatory three students, the classes will be dropped (cancelled) and you will be under the minimum. Mass. Panic. You then have to coordinate with the managers and other instructors to figure out how to rectify the situation. It generally gets sorted out, but additional stress during the first week of new classes is never appreciated.


Overall: Based on my first month, I have no qualms recommending Pagoda. Even though the hours are really hard, the classes are exactly what I want. Sure, there are certain students/classes that I prefer, but I would pick all of them over kids classes in a heartbeat. I enjoy discussing various subjects in depth, especially those that I had never given much thought to before. We're able to gain different perspectives and even my own grammar/vocabulary has improved! Rob can attest.

Hope you're all surviving the cold weather! I'm already wearing scarves and gloves! x

One Year

You make me a better person. 

Happy anniversary x

First Day at Pagoda Academy: Jong-ro

We survived!

After going into work the morning before to pick up our schedules and textbooks.
After getting our revised schedules the night before classes.
After waking up before the sun.

And even after [my first time having] a split shift of 7-10am, 6-10pm.

We. Survived.

The managers were really accommodating and adjusted our initial schedules to both 1) not have a triple split shift and 2) make us have the same time schedule. Plus, I'm only teaching one level this month (while Rob only has two) and we both have more than the six classes that we're guaranteed.

Yes, it sounds a bit daunting, but being able to come back to the apartment to have a cup of tea and take a nap doesn't sound that bad. 

Here's to hoping that we can keep up the enthusiasm.

Pagoda Academy Training: Check!

After a full day of flying, the boyfriend and I finally arrived in Seoul with 100+ lbs. of luggage between us and enough jet lag to last a lifetime. Luckily, the Pagoda housing manager saw us straight away and introduced himself. Unluckily, he only introduced himself to Rob. Only looked at Rob when he was speaking. Only shook Rob's hand when Rob introduced himself. And then turned and started walking toward the taxi stand. Yes, I was dealing with a lack of sleep, but the words 'rude' and 'sexist' flashed before my eyes. In bold, neon letters. Hmph.

Deep breath. Anyway.

We spent the next day looking for apartments ranging in sizes and prices; I had definitely prepared myself for a small, room-sized apartment that would take half of my salary away, but we ended up with something really nice that's a 5 minute walk to a subway station and the downtown area of Sinchon! We've been collecting things here and there and hope to have it finished within a couple weeks. [insert boring before apartment photos here] But I won't trouble you.

Training was technically for three days, with the first two being spent at the Gangnam branch. Training can be tedious because every employer wants to do it "their way", but we moved through the 50-page manual pretty seamlessly. Plus, if anyone remembers EPIK training (10 days and endless activities, speakers and downtime), this was a breeze. It was only a few other new teachers going to various branches and lasted from 9am-3pm. Doable. 

The last day was spent at our actual branch in Jong-ro (which is actually pronounced Jong-no...tricky), where we were supposed to observe two classes. Guess whose second class of students didn't show up. 

Then, due to some miracle, we had a week off between training and our first day of classes, so it gave us some time to get ourselves together and our apartment semi-presentable.

Next up—first day at Pagoda Academy!

Pit Stop to the Best Coast

Hi, California. Did you miss us?!

In these three, short weeks, we've managed to scrape together as much of what I love about LA as possible: Dates. Western food. Beach trips. Jacuzzi nights. Sunshine with no humidity. And a museum trip, for good measure.

Roscoe's!

Getty Museum visit

He's a kappa dee!

The first leg of this journey is in a few hours—LAX>SFO—and then we're off to Korea for round two. We've cleaned. We've packed. We've said our goodbyes. Cross your fingers for us! x

Cat burrito

Six Months of Travel: England [June-August 2013]

Needless to say, the accident changed our plans considerably. Instead of spending the summer hiking through forests and lounging on beaches, we made our way to Norfolk, England, to lick our wounds and recover from the thrashing. First time meeting the parents/family after a major accident? Sure.

We spent the first month being 80 years old, taking daily naps and rarely leaving the house, except for the occasional doctor appointment.

But after the recovery period, we ventured out and took advantage of everything England had to offer.

Castles? Check.
English breakfast? Check.
Beers in a park? Check. 
Football match? OBVIOUSLY. ...even if it wasn't Man United.


And. I have a new obsession. Give me English tea. With. Milk.

Okay, I lied. Two obsessions. Why can't America have more cider??

Bali, Indonesia—Injury of Summer 2013

We were just getting into a routine in Bali. We were about to pay for our apartment. I had started a hot yoga class. We even had a favorite restaurant!

Then, on the last weekend of May, our motorbike and a taxi collided in the early morning hours, leaving the boyfriend and I to become reallllyyy close with the road.