New Home Stay and the hustle and bustle of Seoul

Lets see...

So, I moved to my new home stay's house last Wed. so almost exactly a week ago.  I'm living with a mother and her daughter (30 yrs old). They are extremely nice and friendly! I think it'll be a good living situation. The only slightly inconvenient thing, is they live on the top of this small mountain, and the only two ways to get down are to take a bus, that only comes every 20 minutes, or to take the stairs, all 210 of them. Going down isn't bad, but going up is a trek. whew. I've done it 3 times so far. Nik told me I should check my heart rate now and then again after a few months to see if I've improved. ^^
However, by bus, I can get to the Sinchon subway station in 5 min. flat, and then, all I have is about a 10 minute walk to get to class. So, in the mornings going to class is very easy.

My room is also really small! I mean, I know Korea doesn't have a lot of room to spare, but when I first saw it, I wasn't sure all of my stuff was going to fit.. but it actually turned out just fine, and now I look around it and it doesn't seem that small anymore. I guess I've gotten used to it ^^. I think Americans are just spacey greedy... haha.

With the help of Nik and Fulbright, I also got a volunteer opportunity set up at a deaf school in seoul to teach ASL to interested middle school students. I've had two classes so far, and I'm really enjoying it! I have two male students, and they are so sweet and are so enthusiastic! I think from next week on, I'll split my class into two parts, and continue teaching the boys for the first part, and younger middle school students the second part.

What else... I met up with one of the Tte members, whom I initially made friends with during study abroad. I can't believe that was 3 years ago!!! crazy... It was so great to see her again!
On Friday, two of my students got into a fist fight!!! I've never seen a fistfight before. Not at LdF or anywhere... I was shocked. It started out with name calling and teasing and then all of a sudden, one of them wound up and punched the other in the face. Then all hell broke loose. The main teacher came over and broke it up. But she mostly yelled at the kid who got punched, which I didn't understand why... I felt really bad for him too, because he'd started to cry and then the other kids started making fun of him because he was crying.  Plus, he and his family are North Korean refugees, so the other kids were making fun of him for that too... omg.

Emily came in from Po-hang, where she is teaching English for the weekend. So, after (a very hectic) work on Friday, I met her at KoRoot and we spent the night there. Unfortunately, I came down with a cold... So, we hung low and caught up.  On Saturday we went to Myeongdong and we each bought a fleece jacket at uniqlo. its so warm!  Then, later, I met up with Nathan for dinner, and Em went to have dinner with her boyfriend.  Nathan introduced me to some of his friends, which was fun. One of them is a KSL interpreter on the news, I think MBC and EBS.  She also taught herself ASL! so jealous! She knows Korean, KSL, English, and ASL! wow.
On Sunday, I was supposed to meet Emily to say goodbye, as she was supposed to head back to Po-hang and then up with SupHo people in Gangnam for dinner.  However, Emily got elbowed by an ajuma (middle aged woman) and was knocked down the subway stairs and severly sprained her ankle!!! Em and I concluded that that experience pretty much sums up Korea. Crazy ajuma knocks her down and doesn't even stop to help her or make sure she's okay, but another ajuma stopped and helped her to the station office.
To make a long story short, we spend the day finding ice, a bandage, and then the hospital.  I think everyone thought we were insane too, because we keep laughing like mad. That's what happens when we hangout.. we get loopy have crazy escapades. Luckily, she is okay though. She spend a few more days in Seoul and then went back to Po-hang.

in the office at wangshimni subway station

at Hanyang University Hospital

So, on Monday after work, I went to Apgujung to Youngmi unni's house and met up with some SupHo staff. I was happy to make it to that gathering ^^ Eunji unni painted all of the girls nails! So pretty! Unfortnately, I'm very bad at keeping things pretty. In less than 24 hours, I'd kind of messed them up. I complained to Nik and he said, "haha. You're such a tomboy."

Pil, Yunjeong unni, Eunji unni, Minji, and Youngmi unni

Yesterday, after my volunteering, I met up with Jiyoon unni! She was mine and Susie's language partner in MN during the summer/fall. She was studying English at St. Thomas. Her younger sister also was there studying English, so after Jiyoon left to go back to Korea, I hung out with her sister~  It was so crazy seeing her in Korea instead of America! Her mom knit me a beautiful scarf!!! It is so pretty and warm and thick! I can't wait to use it!

Last night, after I got home, I made Jello for my student as a kind of Christmas present.  So, I'll bring that today and then, afterwork, we are having our Holt (work) xmas party. It should be fun~