Running with Chopsticks

So, I've been informed I don't update enough.

Probably true.

Well... definitely true.

Sorry.

So we've officially been here a month. Insane. The weeks absolutely fly. Working at GKI is amazing. I was leaving the kindergarten building yesterday when, for some reason, I started thinking about the jobs I'd probably be doing if I were back in the states. Bleh. Nothing good. Instead, I get to play with Korean kids and teach them the difference between "too much" and "too many." Yeah!

Joy and I are so lucky to be where we are. I've heard some horror stories from the other teachers about previous experiences in Korea, or about friends who've gotten the shaft. It's been nothing but good so far.

We're especially lucky to have landed a school with such a great foreign staff. The other teachers have been nothing short of super-fantastic. They take us where we need to be, answer our questions, hang out with us like every night. It's been quite a welcome. I imagine the transition would've been much rockier without the support they've given us. We're making some good friends.

Ummm... I'm sitting here trying to think of funny things that've happened in the last three weeks. I'm just gonna write 'em as I think of 'em.

So, last night a bunch of us went and go wings in Itaewon, which is basically the foreign ghetto (for us the place most like home in seoul). On the subway, this old guy leaned over to Joy and started gibbering something to her in Korean. Weeelllll, needless to say, Joy had no idea what was going on, and the rest of us just kind of smiled and laughed, happy we weren't being singled out. Thankfully, our friend Tae was with us, and he speaks Korean. Apparently, the guy was asking if Joy was a student. Tae told her she was a teacher from America, and the guys eyes about came out of his head. I really don't know why. It was funny though. He just kept staring at Joy like he couldn't believe she was really standing there in front of him. And he didn't seem to understand that she no idea what he was saying. After Tae talked to him, he was quiet for a while, but he wouldn't stop staring. After about ten minutes, he started trying to talk to Joy again and get her to translate one of the English headlines in his newspaper into Korean. It was funny.

Also, when we first got here, I was aware of Koreans always staring. Mostly, you get the stares if you're by yourself or traveling in a herd with other foreigners. Now, though, I notice Westerners stare far more than Koreans. Actually.... I should rephrase: we Westerners stare at each other. I was talking about the staring with Kenna, one of the other teachers, the other night, then last night in Itaewon, we started laughing cause we realized we were staring at everyone. It's just so weird to see Westerners now. It's jarring. Korea is such a homogenous country.

What else...

I have a Palestinian friend! Friend is a relative term, actually. I've talked briefly to him twice. He works at/owns (I don't really know) a Middle Eastern restaurant in Itaewon. I went there the other day to smoke hookah and talk with him, but he didn't show up til I was about to leave. I'm hoping to work on Arabic there eventually. Learning Korean's probably a bit more pressing though, huh?

Alright, that's enough for now. If I try to recap 3 weeks, I'll be here all night, and you'll be bored. I'll slap up some pictures, and try to update more regularly. Cheers.

Dangling window-washers.

Olympic Park

Dinner

Rice

Chris, Lynn, Aden, Duke, Jim, Ryan, June, Dana

Joanne, Aaron, Alice, Julia, Judy, Carrie, Alex, Chris, Peterpan (seriously), Pete

Lynn, confused about Teacher wielding a camera

Joy with her kindies