The Never-ending cold

So Sunday marked the start of the third consecutive month of constant colds. I got sick the day after Christmas and have stayed that way. I've been to a doctor (who told me I was fine and basically to go away) and 2 pharmacists (who actually helped more than the doctor). I haven't really felt too bad over all of it, but it's always there. I've only had 2 or 3 days when I felt "sick" and those could honestly have been because I was tired, not because of the cold.

The cycle starts with some coughing and a slightly itchy throat due to drainage. Then my nose gets stuffy and my throat continues to be dry and scratchy because I can't breathe with my nose (especially at night). Then the nose junk moves down into my chest and I fully embrace the Korean habit of spitting everywhere (although I totally don't because eww and also I can't do it because I just end up gagging or spitting on myself so extra eww).

Then I finally think it has all gone away, I stop sounding like Kathleen Turner after smoking 2 packs of cigarettes, and start to put away all the Kleenex boxes when boom - it returns. Basically the doctor told me I am dehydrated and need to drink more water and that I should also stop talking. The talking part just ain't gonna happen due to my job and the fact that I am me. I am trying with the water thing and do drink a fair amount. The only problem is that when you drink a lot of water, you have to pee a lot and I don't often have time to go. I think a lot of this issue is the cold weather. The last time I started to get better, it was warming up. Then a cold front hit, it snowed (very lightly) and I got sick again. I really hope that as soon as it warms up for reals this cold will go away for good.

Also, stupid cold.

Kids essays - Part 10 - Lost in translation (or how rainbows get naughty)

The rainbow has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, sodomy and purple. I think rainbow give the happy.

The rainbow has seven colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, newlyweds (?) and purple.

        n  After some research and help from Korean speaking friends, we found out that the Korean word for indigo has 2 different spellings (depending on if you use Chinese or Korean characters). The translation of one is sodomy; the other is both indigo and newlyweds.

Title of an essay: “Noisy donkey” – it was about a donkey who was an alarm clock for the town and they got mad because he was so loud so he was sad and got sick and went to the hospital. Then the town was lazy because they all got up late so they apologized to the donkey and he got better and went home.

The earth is very small. It’s similar with a bowel.

I can read bulky volumes.

We protect the environment – don’t throw the garbage anywhere, don’t smoke, we use the less soup.

I think the wind is magician because it steal leaves.

O3 protects sun’s neutrino and infrared rays.

My daydream is fly. But finally my magic power is empty and I fall down 1492 km. I have heart failure then you wake up. I apologized but teacher said I must write 15000 words to I’m sorry to sleep in class.

On a test where they had to write the opposite adjective: Shy – outgoing; serious – ingoing

Elephant v. mouse – I want to be taller than my friend. I want to be string but I don’t want to be fat.

On mice – It’s dirty and crawly.

On a test where they had to write out the time: 9:45 – 10 quarter to 15

First, we eat kimchi and we don’t eat bugs like ants or sluggard.

There are competition of cow.  – bullfights

He met my grandmother one time and they are married. “Old people were married like this” they said.

On my haircut – “teacher it makes you look Spanish.”

Photo Update

This totally counts as a post by the way.
So here were the pictures I was waiting on before I posted the blog about my ski trip:

Group shot outside a gift shop. Here's the best view of my sweet pants.

Olivia (9 months) going sledding

Car ride on the way home. My hair looked like a homeless person's because of sweat and goggles all day.

 Here are 2 pictures from before Gareth left (which was before Christmas).

I think this was the second or third bowling night. Only 3 people (including me) still go

300 Beer for Gareth's going away party

Here's a picture at Kyle's going away party (oddly without Kyle) right before it turned into my birthday.

Not the great of a picture of any of us so I don't really know why I am sharing it

Everyday I get a poster or flyer or coupons stuck to my door. This one is one of the more interesting ones. Especially since it's for an English school next to the apartment building. Great use of English.

I really do want a triceratops to lawn my garden

Sunday night soup leads to productive Monday

This is Liezle's last week in Korea (until she potentially comes back in May) and also Cindy's last week in Jinju (she's moves to Daegu which is an hour and a half bus ride away). So we're going to new/old restaurants and trying to spend a lot of time together this week.

On Sunday we tried to go to a place near GNU, but they stopped serving at 9, then a whole bunch of other places were also closed/closing so we ended up going to a soup place that none of us had been to. It was actually really good. We ordered 2 kinds of soup - kimchi jigae, which is a spicy soup with tofu and kimchi and then a chicken soup with some potatoes and carrots in it, which was also spicy. Both were very good though. One cool feature of this restaurant is the chairs. They are barrels with a pad on top, but you put your bags, coats etc. inside the barrel while you're eating. This idea is genius because my coat always ends up at least partially on the floor.

Barrel seats

My coat in the barrel. The people at the table next to ours couldn't really understand why I was taking this picture.

Kimchi jigae

 Then we went for ice cream and went home. I ended up reading until 4 am, which has been happening a lot lately. I am still doing the Bible in 180 days, so I read a few chapter every night, plus I'm reading a book for book club (23 Things you didn't know about capitalism - not my fav) and the Game of Thrones series (I'm in book 2 now). I usually don't read so many books at once, but it just sort of happened.

Guess what this is a bag for...

On Monday morning I got up early (anything before 10am is early for me) and met Liezle to go glasses shopping (see above bag photo). Cindy was going to meet us but she was really sick and couldn't make it. The glasses place feels like a cafe. They have 2 dozen nail polishes on a table if you're bored while you wait, computers, free coffee and ice cream (both a self serve where you scoop it into a cone and a freezer of packaged bars). There is 1 guy who speaks decent English so when I came in they had to go get him. He tested my eyes (I'm now a 2.0 instead of a 1.5) and showed me where to pick out frames. I tried on about 15-20 different pairs and ended up getting 2. Glasses here are super cheap. My total for both frames, mid-grade lenses and the exam was less than $80. He also took my old glasses, replaced the nose pieces, adjusted them and cleaned them. They they gave me 2 cases and cleaning clothes, which are hilarious because they also give these to adult men.

Panda cleaning cloth

Cat cleaning cloth

After glasses shopping (which took maybe 30-45 minutes from when I walked in to when I walked out with both pairs in hand), Liezle and I went to lunch. Then we went to the pharmacy because her throat is feeling sore and she doesn't want to ride home on the plane sick. She had to go into work early, so I then went to the bank and paid some bills, then went to a stationary store and got an envelope I needed, some random cards and these stickers.

Guess who's getting these??

Then I went to work early where I finished a stack of essays, graded a set of tests and wrote and copied 3 more sets of tests on top of my regular lesson plans. During my break I also told my boss about a way for kids to print something and he called me a genius - I am so going to miss working here. I also got this email from my recruiter:

BTW Mr Jung has been very happy with your work. He says you are the best teacher that W school has had. He wanted to re-sign with you, but he understands you have your life in America

After work I went grocery shopping with Caroline, made dinner and am about to do the dishes (mainly because Liezle's shower is broken and she's using mine tomorrow and I don't want her to see that I live like a frat boy). So, it's been a good day. Tomorrow is going to be another busy one - bible study in the morning, lunch with Liezle and Cindy, downtown errands/shopping then work and possibly dinner and some cleaning (although probably not if I'm being realistic).

What's that? You wanted to see my new glasses? Ignore the crazy hair please.

Coffee

Koreans love coffee. Or at least love coffee places. I probably spend about a third of my budget on coffee.

Coffee at Le brunchie in Seoul during mom's trip here

There are lots of places to get coffee or tea here. Seriously, I can throw a rock from just about anywhere and hit a coffee place. That's saying a lot because I can't throw a rock that far. There are 2 fairly large places just past the grocery store near my house. One is called "Angel in Us" but Korean's pronounce it "Angelina's" and if you say it the way it's spelled they have no idea what you're talking about.

The other is Tom n Toms. Here's their sleeve. 

Refresh your body and soul

The side of the sleeve says "Please enjoy the fresh coffee in the world. It is your privilege from TOMNTOMS COFFEE. Don't forget to try our natural syrup if you still want flavored coffee." Tom n Toms has a really nice inside area and a patio. They also have liquid sugar (the natural syrup) as well as sugar packets. The syrup is actually a good idea for coffee because it mixes in well. The best thing about Toms is the bathroom. As I have posted here before, lots of Korean restaurants have squat toilets. Many bathrooms also have freezing cold water, a bar of soap (sometimes mounted on a stick) and a kitchen towel. So lots of times it's probably more sanitary to not wash your hands. No wonder why I have constant colds. Toms not only has foam soap, hot water and paper towels (along with complementary mouth wash), they also have heated toilet seats. This freaked me out the first time I went because ew, why was the seat hot? But when many bathrooms have open windows and aren't heated (even when it's snowing outside), the heated seat makes you happy. It's the little things. They also give you a free cookie if you get a coffee during weekdays in the afternoon. They also provide blankets for people who want to sit on their patio in winter (it's also the smoking section).

There is another big chain around, but not within walking distace of me. It's called Holly's coffee. Too bad it doesn't also sell ice cream and underwear (or nachos). (And yes, I realize about 4 people understand that last sentence.)

Holly's has pretty good sandwiches and a soup bread bowl, so I go there for lunch with people. They also have a mint hot chocolate with neon green piping over the top, which is fun and scary at the same time. There are half a dozen Holly's in Jinju. This place also saved me lots of time when buying Christmas presents for my sister. She got a mug, a hand grip and a dozen cardboard rings. You're welcome.

And there are a million in Seoul where I took this picture. This one was 3 stories and had an elevator.

The next big chain is Cafe Bene. I only know of 2 in Jinju, although a third is in the works. I have only been to one once and that was because I was waiting for someone and they got delayed and it was cold outside. 

This coffee was not from Cafe Bene. Neither was the photo bomb.

Waining Coffee is another chain. There are 2 huge ones here. The best thing they have is a chai latte. This (and a tiny tea house) is the only place I get chais. I also have a stamp card here and in 3 more, I get a free "couples drink". Cindy also swears by the blueberry yogurt smoothie. They also provide complementary toothbrushes (wrapped) and toothpaste along with their mouthwash. By the way, the mouthwash is in what looks like a soap dispenser with tiny cups next to it. Liezle thought it was a soap dispenser and broke one at a bar, but luckily I fixed it.

Sleeve from Wain-ing

One thing that's nice about the chain coffee places is that they usually don't mind you sitting there for hours. This has literally happened. I sometimes go to a coffee shop to grade papers and I have met up with people to chat. Most of them have really comfortable chairs and wi-fi. A lot of them also have computers set up for you to use while you wait or while you're drinking your coffee. I approve of this.

I also approve of dressing small children as wild animals. This picture was taken at a coffee shop, so it's allowed in this post.

My book club meets at another chain (although I think Jinju only has 1) called Sleepless in Seattle. It has super cute chairs (velvet covered and weird shaped) and they also do coffee art sometimes. They put your flavor syrup (vanilla latte) in a little pour jar so you can add what you want.

Still don't why it's turned!! Smiley face latte. If you look to the right (or bottom) you can see the flavor syrup.

I also have been to Parnell Road (small owned), Cafe tiamo (chain but 1 in the Ju), Gallery (small, cute), Coffee Flower (really cute with a garden out front - place of the infamous banana latte), Tutto (run by a really cute lady who gives us cookies or Korean treats and makes really good coffee but is randomly closed,  and probably 6-10 other places that I can't even think of right now. At that's all in Jinju, which is considered a fairly small town. How Koreans aren't wired all the time blows my mind.

Chocolate latte (aka hot chocolate) at Parnell Rd.

That's also not to mention Tous les Jours and Paris Baguette, 2 chains that cover Korea but aren't really known for coffee - they also do bread, baked goods, cakes and sandwiches. I had a chicken Cesar salad there for lunch today. Paris' cups all have eyes on them and they change up the sleeve with seasonal decorations. 

Santa coffee

IEC Muju ski/snowboard trip

Last Saturday I went snowboarding (sort of) with a group of people from church. I actually had this post ready Sunday night, but was waiting for some pictures from other people. There are still a few I'd like to have, but I'm posting this anyways because it's been almost a week with no new post. I decided to go kind of last minute, mainly because I liked all the people going and wanted to hang out with them. I didn't really want to go skiing or snowboarding. I've previously tried both to semi-disastrous ends and since I am in worse shape now than when I made my prior attempts, it wasn't really something on my to-do list in Korea. But, like I said, I wanted to go hang out with these people, plus there were a few others who didn't want to ski or snowboard either, so I decided to go. We piled in a van and drove about 2 hours to Muju. I've written about it before because Jeff skied there once and I went with him the day before to look at it.

In the van on the way up, I basically got talked into it/talked myself into it. We got a decent discount that included a half day pass, board and gear (pants, jacket, goggles). Plus Dan (one of the guys with us) told us that he would be willing to teach some of us newbies how to do it. The first issue was clothing. I am not Korean sized. They did have clothes that fit me, they were just unusual. More unusual than other people's - plaid pink and purple pants, mixed with a camo hunting jacket. It was pretty stylin'.

Me and Heather at the bottom of the slope. That's my outfit - plaid pants and camo jacket.
Add some red gloves and bam  - stylin'

After getting geared up, we drove up to the resort area where the slopes are. We had lunch in a group and then Jamie, Olivia (the baby) and Corinne split off from the rest of us because they weren't skiing or snowboarding. They ended up walking around a lot and sledding. We walked back down to the van to get our boots on and then to get our boards/skis.

The next issue was walking in boots. I tried on my right boot before I left the store, but didn't try on the left because I figured they were the same size, and if anything, my right foot would be bigger than my left. I was wrong. I had to shove to get my left foot in the boot and later lost feeling in my baby toe for about an hour. It's fine now, but that lesson is learned - try on BOTH boots.

It's semi crowded at Muju, but luckily we decided to go to the west side because that's where we had to pick up our boards. That side was less crowded than the other side. The slope itself wasn't too bad, but the area around the lifts was quite crowded. The bunny slope is basically the end of the intermediate slope and that's where we started (and I ended). Dan and his co-teacher Ducky (that's what he told us to call him) tried to help me and Heather snowboard. We were able to get the boards on our feet and that's pretty much where I was done. I am not athletic enough, flexible enough or in good enough shape to snowboard. I pretty much can't get up without a lot of effort or a hand from someone else. And when you fall on your butt in 5 seconds, all that effort feels wasted. The only semi-redeeming thing was that plenty of Koreans around us couldn't get up either.

Brandon giving a basic lesson to Amy and Ilani. Dan's about to teach us how to fall.

Crowds at the bottom waiting for a lift

Conveyor belt up the slope. This was for the smaller bunny hill. The lift took you further up the same slope.

Heather hanging out and me and Ducky in the background - I'm standing!

Conveyor belt - bunny slope
Lift - intermediate on same hill
Gondola - further up the same hill some more

Ducky and Dan stayed with us for awhile and held our hands so we wouldn't fall to try and show us basic techniques. I can actually do some of that, but when I fall, I'm pretty much down. So I made about a minute "run" and then butt scooted/attempted several ways to get up/slid down the rest of the hill. Heather was having the same problems until we saw a different way to stand - grab the board and push at the same time. I tried it, but my arms aren't long enough to reach the board and flat behind me. It took 2 hours for Heather and I to get down the first time and that was enough for me. Ilani tried to ski and lasted even shorter than me and ended up walking down the hill. We were going to switch boots so she could try to board and I would ski, but mine were too tight and hers were a bit loose, so we watched people. Heather made a second run and did much better until she fell on her face and while she went down the rest of the slope, she was done. It was kind of sad that Jamie and Corinne were in a totally separate area (they were on the east slopes because that's where the resort is) because we would have met up with them and gone sledding or something.

How I looked most of the day - on my butt

Luckily it was a good day for the rest of the group. Dan met up with one of his co-workers and after showing us a few things, Heather and I told him to take off and have fun. So they got quite a few runs in. Brandon knows how to ski, but hadn't been for 15 years. Luckily, he got right back into it and was able to show Amy, who was a first-timer, how to do it. Ilani couldn't pick it up, but Amy did and was even able to get an intermediate run in before we left. Jungwha and Heejin met up with a friend of theirs from school and took off right after we got there. We met up with them at the end of the day, but they said they had fun.

Brandon on the ski lift

Girls after skiing/boarding

Using pressurized air to blow snow off your equipment. Everyone was doing it.

We all piled back in the van and drove 2 hours home, with a pit stop at a rest area for dinner and coffee. I really need to take a picture of a rest area because Koreans know how to do a rest area. They have massage chairs, food, really nice and clean toilets, nursing areas, gifts shops etc. We got back a little after 8 but everyone was starting to feel sore and tired so we all went home. I am glad that I decided to give snowboarding another try. Now I can for sure say I don't like it. I do think I will try skiing again at some point in the future, but hopefully somewhere where I can't run over dozens of little children and with someone to pull me like this kid:

Little girl being pulled down the hill by her brother

Frozen lake outside of the resort

Kids essays - Part 9 - Winter camp edition

The month of January is our winter camp. Just like in summer camp, the kids come everyday instead of 2 or 3 times a week. They still come in 2 shifts (morning or afternoon) and take 4 classes, get homework and have tests. The kids often do not like camp but I think they do benefit by having English everyday. They don't have to write daily essays during camp, in part because Caroline and I wouldn't have time to grade them. Instead, they do 1 a week (or are supposed to). Camp is nice for me because we get kids who are more interested in learning and are often a bit better behaved. It's hard though because I have 9 classes a day from 9-5:30 with an hour and a half break for lunch. Needles to say, I was just as happy to see the last day of camp as the kids were. Here are some of the gems from the camp essays:

Not in an essay, just a student commenting on my scarf – “you look like an alien”

I have many friends. Maybe because of my sociability.

I don’t like to get up early. These days it’s very cold and I’m so tired.

About being an elephant – It can water shower from its nose. I want to do that.

I want a mutual understand with dolphins.

I want to be a monkey because they can climb trees. Also I like bananas.

When I’m a rabbit I will be free without study, homework, school. But I’ll stay in a cage and miss my family so I don’t want to be a rabbit right now. Not studying is a bestest good thing. I’m very stressful for my many homework. (Not sure if my favorite part is the "when I'm a rabbit, not if I were a rabbit" or "so I don't want to be a rabbit right now" which seems to imply that maybe sometime in the future she'd be ok with it.

In an essay about Steve Jobs – He had drugs. He wanted to become perfect person. He was a vegetarian. So he didn’t take a shower. He looked like jungle man.

My mother and father produced me.

I want to be an actor or singer but my mom is disagree about my dream so I can’t be an actor or singer and I have new dream but I don’t know how to say this job.

Not a student but a waiter at a restaurant: “Do you have pancakes?” “Yes. But they are not available.”

While waiting with a student for her dad to pick her up: “Teacher you have a phone? Can you borrow me?”

“My dad’s office principal is my grandpa.”