Laura Fail

I went to Seoul and made numerous attempts to take pictures of myself in front of historical/ cultural relics. The results were mixed...

Hello there, Long Time No See

I know, I know, its been weeks since I've updated this thing. Please accept my sincere apologies. It's been an interesting few weeks in Daegu for me. The initial excitement of being here has started to wear off and what I'm left with is the reality of life here. I still think it's great that I'm doing this. It's an opportunity to see some of the world and learn about myself in the process, but I've become a bit homesick recently. It's nothing major and I know this feeling will pass, but currently I'm missing home and my friends. But I am here to make the most of this experience and that's what I'm gonna do.

Work: Teaching has become fairly routine now. I know what to expect from my classes and my students and I like that. Things will definitely change in the future but I'm happy for the time being I have a handle of what I'm doing at work. Currently we are on school vacation. No work until the new year!

What am I going to do with this time off? I'm glad you asked. I've decided to head up to Seoul for a few days and do some sightseeing. There's plenty that I haven't seen in Daegu yet, but to feel like this is a real vacation, I need to take off and go somewhere. It should be fun and an adventure. On a whim I decided to book a hostel and will take a train up tomorrow morning. I will be back in Daegu for New Years.

I've Been Here for One Month

Yesterday marks my being in Korea for one month. I know I should have updated this yesterday but I didn't feel like it and I got side tracked with doing other stuff that I should've done a while ago.

So yesterday, instead of updating the blog, I did a few things to make it feel like I fully live here. I finally cleaned out my wallet. I have no need for those four dollars and three cents in my wallet. And that Berryline card I had in my wallet, I know I will get a free one one day but not for a while. And I doubt I will be riding the MBTA any time soon. So I will put aside the cash, my T pass, and the five frequent buyers cards. They are a symbol of my life in Boston, a life that I've left behind in search of something new, an adventure. In their place are the many South Korean cards I've already acquired.

I also finally hung up my pictures. I don't know why I waited this long to hang them up. When I went abroad, hanging up my pictures came only second to unpacking my suitcases. But now that is done so I am officially moved in with nothing left to do to set up my apartment. It's a crazy feeling to know that I really live here and don't have anything left to do to establish myself here.

Another Week Done

I have now finished my fourth week in South Korea. Life is becoming a bit more routine now; I'm getting a better handle on my classes and am starting to learn my way around downtown Daegu and my neighborhood.

One thing is for sure: this is definitely a job not a vacation. I'm working really hard and happy to be doing so. I teach a total of 28 classes a week, which is not a bad course load by any means, and do additional training and orientation stuff on top of that. I do really enjoy teaching for the most part and most of my students are really awesome and seem to be enjoying my classes. The hard and frustrating part is when students are not interested in being there or learning. I have to get through the curriculum in a certain amount of time and its really hard when the students just stare blankly at you. I have not idea if they are not comprehending what I'm saying or just bored out of their minds. Oh well, I guess it's just part of the job.

This weekend was also really good, especially because we didn't have to work on Saturday. Friday night I went out to some of the usual places that foreigners in Daegu frequent. I stayed out way too late, causing a bit of a sleep deprived Saturday, but that did not stop me from going out and exploring a bit.

After doing a lot of research about places to go, I decided upon checking out Duryu Park mainly because of its close proximity to a subway stop. I figured it was a good choice because I would most likely not get lost on my way. It was a nice place to walk around and take pictures. I came across another pretty lake. After exploring the park for a while I headed downtown to do a bit of shopping. A combination of Korea not having clothes dryers and my eating healthy food has made every pair of jeans I own gigantic. I stopped in this store, Uni Qlo, which is very popular here. I discovered that I am the largest size that they sell jeans for and they are on the top shelf that is kind of hard to reach. I guess size 6 women are not their target demographic. But these South Korean jeans certainly fit me like a glove. I think it has something to do with the fact that my lack of curves is more akin to the Korean figure than the ideal western figure. All in all, a good day...a little exploring, new jeans, and a new flannel shirt that I'm in love with.

I was a little late getting up on Sunday. Despite staying in the previous night and going to bed relatively early for the weekend, I slept later than I did on Saturday. My body was probably compensating from lack of sleep the previous night. After doing a bit of wash and cleaning, I headed downtown in search of a new winter hat and gloves since it's starting to get pretty cold here. After succeeding in purchasing new gloves and a scarf, I headed to a coffee shop to enjoy a nice warm beverage and read my book for a while. And now I am back at home updating my blog and sad that the weekend is practically over.

A few images from my trip to Duryu Park:

I Actually Have Energy So Why Not Update The Blog

I'm sitting in my mess of an apartment and thinking to myself, "Wow, I don't feel sick and tired anymore. This is amazing! What should I do? I could wander around downtown again, but its already 10pm and I don't know how late stores stay open. I know! I will clean and update my blog and upload the few pictures I've taken."

My energy level could have something to do with the fact that Tuesdays are my easiest day. I only teach four classes as opposed to Mondays and Thursdays when I teach eight classes with only a five minute break between classes. Whatever the reason, I'm happy to be having a productive Tuesday night.

There is still so much of Daegu that I haven't seen yet, but I have gone out and explored a bit. A week and a half ago I went to Suseong Lake, which is about a half hour walk from my apartment. It kind of reminds me of the Public Garden in Boston because it feels very man-made and there are swan boats that people can ride in. It was a nice little excursion.

Last Weekend (Don't Try This At Home)

I guess I need to start updating this thing about my day to day life here in Daegu so here is a post about my weekend.

I would like to preface this by saying that Koreans and English teachers alike work really had and party just as hard. Definitely not the lifestyle I had while back in the states but I'm enjoying myself now that I'm here.

Friday: We (me and the other foreign teachers at my school) got done work at 7:30pm with full knowledge that we have a makeup day on Saturday starting at 11am. But it's Friday night, we can't just stay in because we have work the next day. We head downtown at around 11pm to a restaurant and share a bottle of wine and have good conversation. A while later we head to a bar that I hadn't been to before and don't remember the name of and share multiple pitchers of beer between seven people, but the night is not over yet. We head to our final location after 2am (I'm not sure of the exact time). We head to Who's Bob, a very popular foreigner bar in Daegu that I had been to several times. It's a good place if you're interested in playing foosball or playing pool or dancing. I ended up staying much longer than anticipated. A word to the wise: that tequila shot you want to take a 5am, just say no, especially if you have to be at work in six hours. It's just a bad idea. The night ended at Orange Place (the ubiquitous restaurants around Korea where you can get a variety of great, cheap food) at 6am. I was home by 6:30 and would wake up in a mere three hours to start my work day.

Saturday: As you would expect from the amount of sleep I got, Saturday was a bit rough. The classes all seemed long, longer still because of the fact that so many students didn't show up so we couldn't cover new topics. It was just a lot of reviewing what had already been taught. I felt bad for the students because nothing important was being taught and they had to give up their Saturday to come to school, as if they don't already go to school enough. Saturday night, despite our exhaustion went out again. This was a more chill night spent at another popular foreigner haunt, Communes. We spent the night watching a rugby game on TV - Ireland vs. South Africa. I was the only American in the group and didn't really know what was going on. It was explained to me a bit, but I still wasn't clear on the rules of the game. It was interesting to watch even if I wasn't fully aware of what was happening on the field. The night ended at the very respectable hour of 2am.

Sunday: I was supposed to go sight seeing with a friend, but the weather was pretty awful - rainy and cold - so I decided to just use my Sunday to rest and try to get over this cold that has developed over the past week. If I'm gonna go to a temple I'd prefer it be nice outside for the sake of the photos I want to take. Sunday night I went with a few people to this break dancing show. It was pretty amazing, that's all I have to say.

All in all, a pretty good weekend.

Back to School

I started my first day of school not really knowing what to expect. I hadn't talked with any of the teachers except during my brief interview in September. I was told during that interview what age students I would be teaching but by November I had forgotten. I was really just jumping in without any expectations, trying to keep as open a mind as possible.

The school was only a short walk from my apartment (I was met by one of the other foreign teachers who showed me the way.) I arrived at the school at 11am and met all the other teachers. There are 5 Korean teachers and 3 foreign teachers including myself. Everyone was very kind and welcoming.

During my first few days, I spent a lot of time observing other teachers teach and talking to them about the different course levels and effective teaching techniques. I was trying to pay very close attention because I knew that I would start teaching my first classes on my third day. From Wednesday to Friday of my first week I would teach two classes a day and observe for the rest of the day.

My first classes were a little rough; I was very nervous and didn't know how students would respond to me. For the most part, I was standing in front of the class trying to get students to participate and they were just staring at me. I didn't know if they were staring at me because they didn't understand what I was saying, uncomfortable with a new person, or uninterested in doing their school work. No matter the reason, it was fairly nerve-wracking.

When I started my second week, I started teaching my full course load. I taught the preschool kids library class and P.E. Both of which are self-explanatory. No real problems with these classes except convincing the students that P.E. is not just playtime. I also started teaching about five elementary classes a day. These were a little more challenging. I had a curriculum that I had to get though and had to make sure all students were learning what I was attempting to teach.

It is now the end of my third week (second week of teaching). I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of this teaching thing. I'm no longer nervous about getting in front of class, but I'm still trying to figure out the best ways to teach the curriculum and make it fun and interesting too. I'm also having such a hard time remembering student names. It's really a problem. But, I'm happy to report that I'm enjoying teaching so far and like most of my students. That one class I teach full of preteens is not as much fun, but I guess you can't like them all.

I Have an Address... Sort of

I know, I know, I need to update this thing more often. I promise to write about my life here very soon and post pictures once I finally take some, but until that time I have news to report.

I know my address! Well, it's not my address, it's the school address. But it is the address to be used if you wish to send me mail or a package (and I know you do).

Any mail can be sent to:

Laura Dicht
Arche Language School
3F 595-30
Bumeodong, Suseong-Gu
Daegu, Korea

En Route to South Korea...

So I left America on Saturday, November 7th. I had a 12:40 flight direct from JFK Airport to Incheon Airport, the main hub in South Korea, and then a one hour flight to Daegu.

We got to the airport with plenty of time and I was waiting... waiting for something, the realization that I was leaving everything and everyone I know behind for a year. I think I expected to feel sad or nervous or anxious, I didn't feel any of these things.

When 12:30 rolled around I got on the plane just like I would get on a plane when leaving for a vacation that I would return from in a week. But I would not be going on a vacation and I would not be returning home any time soon. A mere 14 1/2 hours later i would land in South Korea.

The flight over was actually my introduction to Korean food. I had something that I can't remember the name of and it was delicious and spicy. I was very happy that they provided forks and spoons instead of chopsticks to eat with since at this point I was not confident in my ability to eat with chopsticks without making a mess and making a fool out of myself (I still am not confident in this ability but I'm getting better).

I was hoping to be able to sleep during the flight but that was not the case. I was awake for the majority of the long flight and watched many inflight movies - some good but most not so good. I think what really kept me awake was the fact that my mind was racing thinking about the unknown that would come with this experience. I was finally getting nervous about five hours into the flight and it manifested itself in me over-thinking and over-analyzing everything.

We landed in Incheon at about 5pm on Sunday, November 8th, only 29 hours after I had started the journey the previous day. But my traveling wasn't done yet. I had a connecting flight to catch to Daegu. I arrived in Daegu at around 8pm and was met by the school administrator who took me to to dinner and my temporary apartment.

I settled into my apartment and passed out. I would be reporting to my first day of work in only 12 hours.

Yes, I have finally started a blog!!

So I have been here for over a week now and I know before I left I said I'd keep people updated via a blog. Well... I've finally started it. I finally have Internet in my apartment, therefore time to sit down and do this. There is so much to catch everyone up on since so much has happened already.

But first, an explanation of my blog name... thank you Jacob for this one. So apparently there is this park in Daegu called Aspan Park (I haven't been there yet but I'm sure it's lovely). For anyone who doesn't get it, the title is a play off of Springsteen's "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ." Being that I'm from Jersey and a Springsteen fan I couldn't pass this one up. It was much better than any of the other options i came up with such as "A Jew in Daegu" or the very basic "Laura in Korea."

So there you have it, "Greetings from Aspan Park, SK" has been born. I will do my best to keep everyone up to date on my life and I want to know what's going on back home as well. I would love to get emails and can you you a more detailed account of things that way. I'm also available via Gchat and Skype. I also do have a mailing address and once i figure out what that is I will let the world know.

I guess, that's all for now. My next post will actually contain some info about my new life in SK.