Two Weeks Down

50 to go!

Haven't been updating a whole lot- blog wise. I've put up a bunch of pictures and videos though, so you really should check those out.

Things are getting a little easier and a little more routine, though, not 100%, obviously. Its still difficult not understanding the language and not really knowing anyone. Today is Chuseok, an important Korean holiday so I'm not sure what I'll be doing as everything in the world closes down. Ok, maybe just everything in Korea. I guess Jenna's weekend of being a lazy bum continues.

Back to the language issue, its fine for certain things, like convenience stores and the mall, but other things require a little more communication, like hair cuts. That was my adventure yesterday- I went into a salon and the woman cutting my hair (as well as everyone in the place) spoke no english and I obviously speak no Korean the only thing I could say to her was "I'm sorry I don't understand Korean". I brought my computer though, with pictures, and she went off of that and it ended up being a great cut! While I was sitting there, in silence, I looked around and noticed it was kind of a nice place. There were 3 people taking care of me: one cutting, one standing there to wipe hair off my face and another just watching. Then when they dried my hair two of them did it and it was done in a snap! Great, I thought, I just got a $100 haircut and I won't know it until I get to the desk because I couldn't ask how much before this whole thing started! When the cut was done, the woman cutting my hair handed me a cell phone and a woman who spoke a little English asked if I liked the cut or if it needed to be shorter or if I would like her to relay anything? I said no and she gave the message in Korean. Then, the moment of truth, I walked over to the desk, waited for her to write out the number since she knew I wouldn't undersand if she said it, and huzzah! Only twenty bucks. Obviously I asked for her card so I could come back to her and not have to play charades again. Obstacle one, down.

I've moved into my new apartment and its quite a change from my last one. Instead of a 30 minute walk to school and everything else, its 5. Instead of no internet except for at night, I have it 24/7 (knock on wood that it doesn't disappear). Instead of being the size of a beach towel its quite large. All in all I'm quite fond of it. I've put up some pictures and in a bit I'll make a video of it.

I had my first week of teaching, and while I'm not sure I'm really cut out to be an educator- one thing is for sure, the kids are adorable! This was them dressed up for Chuseok activities on Thursday. We all had a lot of fun making songpyeon, baskets to put the songpyeon in, playing games and doing Korean dances. The whole thing was a lot like making turkeys out of your hand when you were younger.

I'll make it a point to write some more when I have time- I've just been a lazy wretch!


Don't forget!
http://www.youtube.com/user/chopstickslol