3 1/2 Month Mark: Thoughts on My Job and Life in General

September 10th was my 3 month-iversary of being in Korea! In honor of living and working here for 3 1/2 months, I would like to share thoughts about my working experience.

I work at a small, private English academy (a hagwon) called Raffles in Hakdong, in the city of Gwangju. Overall I have had a good experience at Raffles. Of course no job is perfect. There are always upsides and downsides. Sometimes the same exact job is good for one person but isn't a good fit for someone else. 

Looking for a job in Korea can be very stressful, especially when you decide to do private instead of public school. The top things most people worry about when signing a contract with a hagwon are:

• Stability--hagwons are businesses and businesses can run out of money and close down, leaving you without a job in a foreign country
• Pay--there are hagwons that are unreliable when it comes to paying teachers 
• Living conditions--the majority of hagwons place foreign teachers in an apartment and pay for the rent. Some of these apartments aren't pretty.

Fortunately, I have been hired by a good school in these respects. Raffles is small but does not run the risk of closing down anytime soon. I have always been paid fairly and in a timely manner. The living conditions were so-so at first but that has been resolved. I did an apartment tour post when I first moved in where I mentioned the old wallpaper and mold in my room. After my coworker and I complained to our boss about the condition, she hired cleaners and had the wallpaper replaced. 

Raffle's entrance

The library center

The office

One of the perks that comes with my job is the wonderful location! The school is next door so I don't have to take public transportation to work. Also I am a half hour walk away from downtown Gwangju and a 45 minute walk away from some great mountain trails. The bus and subway are easy to figure out too, if you want to get there quicker.

Hiking Mudeung Mountain

There are a couple Buddhist temples up there too

As I mentioned before, Raffles is a small school. My largest class has 8 students and my smallest has only 2. 

I have a degree in Elementary Education and was a substitute teacher before coming to Korea so I worked in many U.S. public schools, all with large class sizes. Being at a small school is such a nice change and all my students are great kids.

Being a teacher at Raffles is also unique in that I do not just teach English conversation all day! Other foreign teachers I meet are surprised when they hear I am a science and math teacher. My emphasis for my Elementary Education degree is Earth Science so I have an opportunity to teach what I am passionate about. The other foreign teacher teaches geography, history, and some English conversation. From what I hear, this is not a common position in the world of hagwons.

Building a diorama for science

Playing a math game

Not everything is perfect at Raffles. My schedule is not terrible by any means but some days I do not like it much. Even though I do not pay rent, my electricity bill is more expensive than I anticipated. Sometimes it is difficult to communicate clearly with coworkers. 

Each hagwon is so, so different. For anyone who wants to teach in Korea, do your research by talking to a current or previous teacher. That is the best way to know all the positives and negatives about the job. Remember that not everyone will experience a job the same way-- this all has to do with personal attitude. You get out what you put in. 

To family and friends reading, I hope this gives you a little more insight about my job at Raffles.

To anyone interested in teaching in Korea, feel free to contact me if you have any questions about hagwons or living in Korea. I know the prospect of accepting a hagwon job can be a little nerve wracking and I would love to talk about any concerns you may have, even if you don't plan on living near Gwangju. Also, please peruse the rest of my blog if you would like to see what your life could be like in Korea! I have written about working a summer camp, food, grocery shopping, vacationing, making friends, restaurants, hiking, etc. Check it out!

Music I listened to while writing this post: Regina Spektor (this song, man...)  

I Love Sundays!

This week started with a bang. That bang being my co-worker making the decision to suddenly leave Korea early Tuesday morning. Tuesday was hectic, as my boss and the Korean teachers and I rushed to adjust the schedule now that we were unexpectedly one teacher down for the day. None of us knew my coworker was gone until she did not show up for work. Fortunately everything calmed down quite quickly. I only had to teach one extra hour this week and I have successfully sorted through the work left behind by the previous teacher that I needed!

BUT. Today I do not want to focus on office drama. Today is a Sunday. And oh, how I love Sundays.

I am incredibly blessed to have a place to go every Sunday where I can be in the company of good people who are striving to be better and a place where I can learn and worship.

Ahhh Sundays.

This Sunday was, as we call in the LDS faith, Ward Conference. Honestly, it is very much like most Sundays! There are a couple special things we do but mostly we were encouraged to bring a friend. While I did not fulfill this challenge, I still felt very spiritually uplifted.

A couple of my friends were dressed in hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) as they greeted all visitors at the door. Hanbok is typically worn for special events and holidays. I think these clothes are absolutely beautiful so I had to get a picture with these lovely ladies!

After our church service, we shared a delicious bibimbap meal. If you have never experienced the delight that is bibimbap, I urge you to rethink life and change your ways! It has the healthful freshness of a salad but the flavor-fullness of actual food (yes I'm bashing salads, whatcha gonna do about it?)

Elder Woods, Elder Wagner, and I ate with a group of investigators (people who are taking lessons from missionaries to learn more about the Gospel). Mix that bibimbap!

Four of them are from Cambodia. The three on the left expressed a desire to be baptized as of today! Hooray! 

I wanted to snap a picture to show how many people we had but I'm always worried about being too invasive with picture taking so this one is not a good representation because I was trying not to draw attention to myself!

After the meal, the missionaries invited me to join them for a jolly game of good old fashioned charades. Well, of course it was a very bi-lingual edition since we had Korean and English speakers alike playing together.

It was also a Sister's birthday so we had cake and ice cream! Sister Mikesell is trying to act out "science," I believe.

Can you guess what Sister Naatjes is acting out? She ended up requiring some assistance!

We ended this activity with a short video and spiritual thought. I would also like to share the video we watched together. It is one man's personal experience about coming to know God after years and years of pain and struggle. I felt very moved by his story. Always remember that we are eternal, infinite beings. God works with us everyday to better ourselves but the betterment only happens when we are willing to embrace it. Sometimes this self-improvement requires difficult trials. These painful trials may feel like they will last forever but they won't. Trust in God and trust those around you to help you!

So now I am in my apartment, on my bed, taking in the beauty of yet another great day as I prepare for the week ahead. I have a couple things I wanted to write about. For example, my fantastic friend Jessica Drake sent me a birthday package, on top of three birthday cards I received from others. It was nice to get a second wave of birthday greetings. Also, September 10th was my 3rd month-aversary of being in Korea! I am 1/4 of the way through this incredible adventure. To celebrate, I went hiking and took several pictures of a beautiful temple that I would like to post about. Hopefully I will get this done before my 4th month-aversary!

Thanks, as always, for coming along with me on my Korea adventure. I will write again soon. 

Enjoy the new week, friends and family!

23rd Birthday

My friend Seungeun took me to Damyang for my birthday! Why am I not at work on a Tuesday?? Because it is Korea's Thanksgiving holiday--Chuseok! Damyang is not too far from Gwangju. It's a very lovely place. We went to a bamboo forest--the air was so fresh there! It was nice to take a break from the big city pollution for a short time. While we were there we also had bamboo ice cream. I did not know this existed! And my goodness, it was tasty!

Now that we had eaten ice cream, it was time for lunch, naturally! We walked a short distance to Noodle Road. Not sure if that's the official name but that's what I shall call it. It is a long road with noodle shops. Everyone eats outside on bamboo platforms. This was a new sight for me. I thought it was a fun way to seat people!

After lunch, we walked to the Meta Sequoia Road. It's a long road lined with beautiful sequoia trees. Somewhere along the road there was a mini shopping and carnival area for children--including a cute teddy bear store.

By the end of the day we had done a lot of walking! I found it quite rejuvenating--especially with the pleasant weather.

On the bus back to Gwangju, our bishop from church called Seungeun to invite us to dinner. The bishop's wife, Sister Yoon was very excited to feed me here homemade Korean food. And I can see why! It was so, so good!

Enjoy the pictures! There are many of them so I created an album on photobucket. Click here to see the pictures!

Here is a video of noodle road. What do you think??

Music I listened to while writing this post: Post Modern Jukebox on youtube. They take modern songs and restyle them to sound vintage. Love it!

Fun Times with the Sister Missionaries

Today is what I understand to be the most important day of Chuseok (Korea's Thanksgiving holiday). Originally I was supposed to join the missionaries in my ward for dinner at our bishop's house. Sadly, bishop's wife is ill so dinner was cancelled.

I still met up with the four sister missionaries downtown. For those unfamiliar with LDS missionary schedules, once a week, they have "pday," or preparation day where they have some time to write letters, send emails to friends and family, shop, etc. Missionaries cannot do anything like go see a movie even on pday. ANYWAY. Mondays are pday here so I got to eat lunch and do some shopping with the sisters! I've been downtown several times but they introduced me to a number of new things.

First thing we did was get some dak galbi for lunch (one of my favorite meals!) But now thanks to the sisters, I know I can order CHEESE to be mixed in. This is fabulous (and fattening) news.

We struggled with the 5 person selfie...so we tried a different angle

...eh close enough!

Sister Wagner started crying because she accidentally rubbed her eyes after eating our spicy meal haha

I don't remember what this is called but it's just caramelized brown sugar that a street vendor was making. He uses a cookie cutter to make a shape on the treat. If you can cut out the shape perfectly using a toothpick, you get another one for free. Sadly Sister Lee was unsuccessful. But she shared a little piece of the one she paid for. It kind of tastes like toasted marshmallow.

They're so cute, right? The other Sister Lee (doing the peace sign) goes home in two weeks!

Next we did "sticker pictures." It's a photo booth that makes your eyes super big and then you can slap on tons of cutesy graphics before printing them haha. Sister Naatjes pointed out the saying on this one and we thought it was hilarious: "Some times are good, some times are just okay, and some times are really bad, but no two times are the same."

"Even in depression, girls can be more beautiful."

Pondering Korean wisdom.

Our finished products!

Shopping!

Outrageous Korean accessories 

BINGSOO. It's a traditional Korean dessert. It's shaved ice with various toppings. The bottom one is bean powder, the other one is berries. Both were sooo delicious. The little cups are filled with condensed milk. You eat off the top part of the bingsoo a little bit and then you drizzle on the condensed milk. Ugh. So good.

This break has been pretty chill for me--nothing overly exciting. But I don't regret my decision not to go on a big trip. Tomorrow I will have an opportunity to see a new city anyway: Damyang! More fun stories to come!

Music I listened to while writing this post: Weezer

Excuse the Vanity

Even though I didn't have anywhere special to go today I still put effort into my hair and makeup. Aaaand since I'm feeling a little vain, I took a picture so others could see hahaha

Carols! Vlog 10: Cookies and Chuseok Socks

I will explain more about Chuseok in a later post. Right now it is very late and I should get some sleep!