K-pop

Korea is famous for something else: Korean pop, or as it is more widely known "K-pop."

I have started getting into the K-pop scene here. There are some wildly addicting songs out there, complete with their own dances. My kids every once in a while like to dance the "Bo Peep" song by T-ara. I know some of the dance moves myself, so I dance along with them. K-pop songs also love to throw in English words (as you will find out soon). I currently have 3 K-pop songs on my iPod that I'm addicted to (oh, as a side note: I caved in and bought myself a 64gb iPod Touch in Seoul. It was more expensive than if I bought in the US, but due to the circumstances I think it was a smart buy in the end). I will post the youtube links to the videos of these songs.

The first song is by a group called 2NE1. The song title is translated in different ways. Sometimes it's listed as "Try to Follow Me," while other times it has "Follow Me" or "Try to Follow (Copy) Me," etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAJ6Xk9bnew

The next song is by the aforementioned T-ara, and the song is called "Bo Peep" (although when we first heard it the chorus sounds like they're saying "papi" or something to that effect, not "bo peep"). This song is frequently played at the clubs Yelena and I go to on weekends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9403-9CptH8

The last one is by a boy band called Big Bang. It is a video and song released to promote the Lollipop 2, a cell phone. The original Lollipop song and promo campaign was sung by Big Bang and 2NE1 for the original Lollipop cell phone. I like this song better than the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLEuWZ31PBs

Enjoy!

-AALA

Three Trips in 2 months

So as previously posted I have a trip to the DMZ in May and another trip in June to Jeju Island. Today I paid for a trip where I would do a Temple Stay and then visit the city of Busan.

The temple I will be visiting and staying at is located in Gyeongju (in southern Korea). This temple was built in the 16th century, and is made out of solid rock, and it is the only cave temple in Korea. At this temple I will also be able to observe the emphasis the temple has on zen martial arts, as well as take part in traditional stuff like the tea ceremony and zen meditation. My temple stay schedule is something like this:

FRIDAY
14:00 p.m. Check in at Golgulsa, receive temple uniforms and room assignments.
15:00 p.m Opening ceremony and orientation.
16:00 p.m. Tour of the temple.
18:00 p.m. Dinner at the temple.
19:00 p.m. Evening ceremonial service.
19:30 p.m. Tea ceremony and conversation with monks and nuns.
20:30 p.m. Prepare for bed.

SATURDAY

04:00 a.m. Predawn ceremonial service and meditation.
06:00 a.m. Breakfast at the temple.
07:00 a.m. Community work.
08:00 a.m. Hermitage tour.
11:00 a.m. Closing ceremony.
12:00 p.m. Lunch at the temple.

After my stay I will be heading to Busan, famous in Korea for its beaches. As I'm going in May I'm hoping the weather will be perfect for being at the beach... however, I don't know how reasonable that would be a this rate. Two days ago it was sunny and in the mid 60s, and then today it was in the 40s with some light snowing. In mid-April! I didn't think I'd deal with this weather once I left Chicago...

-AALA

Date Update and Travel Plans

So my date went surprisingly well as far as conversation goes. Despite the language barrier we had a very good conversation, and we found out a lot about each other. We saw each other again on Saturday night while I was out with a friend, and we're making plans to see each other this weekend. He has promised me to continue working on his English so that we could better communicate. I am pleasantly surprised how well things are going despite the huge differences in knowledge of languages and cultural backgrounds. At this rate I'll REALLY have to work on my Korean hahaha.

I am now officially going to go on a trip to Jeju. Information can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju-do

The trip I paid for cost 350,000 won (or roughly $315) and it includes 4-star hotel accommodation, round-trip airfare, 2 buffet lunches, a chartered bus on the island, a submarine ride, and horseback riding. My friend and fellow teacher, Yelena, and I are both going together on the DMZ and Jeju trips, so it's sure to be a good time. We'll be going in a group, so we'll also be meeting new people. My only regret is I won't be able to go to Loveland. Just read the Wikipedia entry and you'll find out what that is...

-AALA

PS -finally got my first paycheck today! And it feels great.

A Date with the Language Barrier

So, I'm about to embark on a situation that I surprisingly never expected would happen to me, despite the fact that I intend on making traveling my career: I'm going on a date with a guy who does not speak English fluently. And funny enough, he's not even Korean; he's Iranian. He's fluent in Persian, Turkish, and Korean, and he tries to communicate the best he can in English, but it's hard for him. I'm going to try and find a Korean-English pocket dictionary so I can put in as much effort for him to understand me as he does for me to understand him. At any rate, it won't be bad practice for me in the long run as it will help me pick up more of the Korean language.

I must admit this is an incredibly interesting situation for me. It is sure to be a fascinating study into the dating norms and ideas of other cultures... and I can bet this will be a story down the line. But for now I will go on this date, take the difficulties as they come, and see how things go. Perhaps the language barrier will prove too much. Perhaps not. We shall see.

-AALA

Happy Easter

A Happy Easter to everyone!

I have pictures of my visit to the Korean Folk Village that I want to post, but I have yet to save some really great action shots of me playing jump rope with some Koreans that my friend and fellow teacher, Yelena, took. So that entry will be for another time.

I am starting to bond with my kids. They are getting closer to me, and more of them have been hugging me and playing with me. They have also (thankfully) started to get into the rhythm of how I do things and my strictness. They're learning what they can and can't get away with. They are definitely better behaved than when I first got them. Not to say that they behaved badly to begin with! On the contrary, all of my kids are indeed a good bunch of kids. But, for example, more of them say "thank you" and "please" and they stay sitting in their chairs longer than they did in the first place. So it's coming along nicely. And a few of them can even say one long sentence I taught them which is "I don't have to go to the bathroom." I'm so proud of them! I'm starting to see the rewarding side of teaching.

I have a trip to the DMZ coming up in May. "DMZ" stands for Demilitarized Zone. There are tons of tourist groups that go, and since I haven't been able to make a major trip yet this is something I've been looking forward to. For more information go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone

-AALA