Domcheemb

Updates have been happening less frequently lately, I know.  I have just been so effing busy/tired!  A lot's been happening at school, including my boss becoming ever more bitchy to everyone as each day passes.  And, man, preschoolers are so whiny.  And they cry so much.  Ughhhh.  Two new teachers arrived today.  Both are teachers in the US and Canada.  I didn't think that would be the case when coming here!  They are all expecting us to come up with real lesson plans and shit, for 10 classes a day!  Anyway, new teachers seem aight.  Tomorrow is kindergarten graduation, should be pretty fun.  And word is the school is treating us to the Outback tomorrow, holla!  Outback here is v expensive!


Now to talk about the title.  Domcheemb, I think, is like the Korean version of pantsing someone, but not the same.  They sneak up behind you with their hands together as if they are clapping and try to ram their hand up your butt.  It's so freaking weird, and they all do it.  Occasionally they try it on me, but they get in big trouble.  Charles managed to work domcheemb into his essay yesterday.  The writing prompt was "describe what you would like to do over a school vacation."  Charles wrote: "Over vacation, I want to first domcheemb an anaconda.  Then the anaconda will attack me.  After I will punch."  Oh man, I really hope I have him for writing class again next semester.  I will miss him a lot!


Jullia and I did some exploring around Seoul last weekend.  The weather is finally warming up.  We hit up an outdoor market in Insadong and peeped some temples.  Long weekend coming up (Korean Independence Day -- independence from Japan, fyi, not North Korea!) so hopefully we are going to norebang!  

Monks and some other peeps posing for a pic at the gate of the temple in Anguk, Seoul.

Temple, it was crazy fancy inside!  

Another temple.  Don't be afraid of the swastika emblem on the top -- it's a sacred Buddhist symbol denoting a temple. 

Us cheeseballs posing with the happy Buddha.  I hate that people dump their water bottles there!

Imma buy you a drank

There is no Korean equivalent for the phrase "skeet, skeet."  Shocking, I know.   And disappointing, skeet skeet is one of my fav phrases!  Went out in Sinchon last night with the usual crew.  Another painful day at work!  My coworker Scott and I met Jullia at Beer O'Clock for some food and beers.  Shortly after, 3 Korean friends joined (same ones that stayed out with us really late after super bowl).  The intention was to watch the Olympics, so we got some drinks, drank them, got drunk (T Pain lyric right there!) and decided we were in the mood for some stripper pole action again.  Man, I love that bar with the stripper poles!  It's funny, in the US I would prolly be like, why the fuck are there stripper poles in here, but in Korea I am bout it bout it!  Really fun night!  We drank somaekcol, played darts, danced like crazy, and I ended up in the DJ booth taking over the lap top (yes, I got in trouble for this.  Filipe, the Spanish speaking Korean bartender was like WTF are you doing in there?).   In typical fashion, 2 Korean friends passed out at the bar, and one dude - who we call T Pain bc we can't pronounce his name - was out cold!  Scott had to carry him up the stairs and put him in a cab with the other friends.  Hilarious!  And although there is no word for skeet, I did learn chaesu upda (suck it), shido (I hate you), and domchemb (up your butt).  Overall, a very successful evening/morning.

Today was less enjoyable.  I had a sick hangover, but you can't tell the kids that!  I started to feel better around 4:30; by this time I had taken about 6 tylenol and 3 b12 pills.  I did have a very good laugh when one of my second graders got kicked in the junk during the break before reading class.  I shouldn't have laughed, but I couldn't help it.  He was sitting in a chair when I walked in and yelled, "Alexandra Teacher!  Stephano kicked me here!"  while holding his crotch.  And Stephano was just sitting there laughing his ass off.  Now if only my director would understand that I didn't come to Korea to be a teacher, things would be a lot better.  I keep catching her peeking in the windows of my classroom, checking out what's going on.  She's been extra scary lately, always yelling at the kids for playing and stuff.  They are kids!  They only get a 5 min break between classes, let them be silly.   Two new people are coming on Monday, I think.  We want to plan a norebang night (Korean karaoke), to welcome them.  When I say we, I mean myself and one other person.  We'll see if they're game.

Early night in on this Friday evening.  We were out til 4 last night, then a 10.5 hour day today, so I am pretty wiped out.  Just got back from sushi and going to veg and hit the sack.  I want to do some sight seeing stuff around Seoul tomorrow.  It's supposed to warm up a lot this weekend and I want to take advantage.  Will def take some pics!

Domo Obrigato, Mr. Roboto

It's bad.  I am obsessed with Japan.  OB-SESS-ED.  Well, Tokyo technically since it's the only part of Japan I have visited thus far.  I fear I am going to become one of those terribly annoying people who compares everything to some other place they have visited (ie, "This sushi is ok, but it's so much better in Japan."  "The QuickE Mart in Japan has way more stuff than this" (which is true), or "I really prefer to pay in Yen." LOL).  Bottom line, our trip fucking rocked.

I could give the play by play of the weekend, but the pics pretty much tell it all (many of them have captions), so here's the link to my picasa album:  HOLLA TOKYO!  The only thing that is not there is Sat night up in da club, because the damn place wouldn't less us take pictures!  Believe me, we tried!  But da club played all the hot jams, so they're forgiven.  Anyway, instead, I am going to perform a comparative analysis on Korea vs. Japan.

KOREA
1. The subway is cheaper.
2.  Cabs are WAYYY cheaper (they are absolutely ridic in Toyko).
3.  Korea has more street food.
4.  Korea has the waffle treat, Japan does not.

JAPAN
1. Not sure why, but the Japanese are SO friendly.  People went out of their way to help us!
2. The food is DA BOMB!  Everything we ate was absolutely delicious.  And since we were ballin on a budget, we didn't even splurge on anything extravagant.  A $7 sushi meal was to die for (yes, I used the phrase 'to die for').
3. Toyko is very picturesque.  From the Vegas style neon lights to the mid-city gardens and temples, everything is gorgeous and well manicured.  Can't beat a Japanese garden!
4.  There are parks and gardens everywhere!
5. All different types of people are represented.  Korea is a kinda uptight and vain culture.  You have your super skinny females in their standard outfit of dress, leggings, super high heels, and Louis Vuitton bag and your metrosexual males in tight pants, tight shirt, tight jacket, scarf, purse, and man bob.  Pretty much everyone looks like that.  In Japan, peeps of all walks of life are prevalent!  There were Japanese (obvs), other Asians, North Americans, Europeans, white people, black people, gay people, David Bowie clones, Harajuku girls, everything.  And no one looks at you twice.  It's very un-Korea, where there are mostly Koreans and white teachers.
6.  I can buy shoes there!  They had regular sizes!

Now if only they offered the same type of teaching contract Korean schools offer, I would be there in a heartbeat!  I am seriously shocked at how different the two countries are. The vibe is different, the culture is shockingly different, even the weather is different (Tokyo is warmer).

Anyway, I am super tired -- still catching up on sleep, but here are a few pics.  Check out my web album for more.  (I don't know why these look so blurry!  They are normal in web album.)

Me and new friend, Atsuso, who showed us around.  We are eating squid balls on the street.

Dinner on Sat night:  salmon, tuna, and chopped tuna belly :-)

Jullia and I at Meiji Garden in Harajuku.

Sanja-sama shrine in Asakusa

So, I like sushi...

...and giant bottles of sake!

The Hangover, Writing by Charles, and Food Pics!

Today I am in pain.  Not sure how I survived this day at school, but it's over and I am relaxing with some Rice Snacks (cheese) -- that's their name.  A few of us went to a Super Bowl party last night at Beer O'Clock in Sinchon.  It was super fun and we left around 12:30am.  On the walk to find a cab, we decided we all wanted "just one more beer."  Ha!  I got home at 4:30am after drinking quite a few somakcols.  We ended up randomly picking this bar that had not one, but two stripper poles and a Spanish speaking Korean bartender (I have NO idea how we discovered he spoke Spanish!  We were prolly muttering something about donde esta la biblioteca.)  VERY fun night, not so fun morning.  And I was observed today by the director.  I actually did manage to pull it together quite well. For some reason, all the kids wanted to sit on my lap today too.  I was thinking, ughh, please don't touch me.  And no loud noises or sudden movements :-)

Us; notice the size of the pitchers here.  They all look like this.  

Stripper pole on the left and I'm doing the Asian V.  

Me and my somakcol # ??

I have more writing to post.  Charles is at it again for your entertainment.  Kid is seriously a genius.  

Topic:  Have you ever wanted to look like someone you admire?  Describe what you would do to look like this person.  

Charles:

I always want to look like singer G-Dragon.  He have a big bushy silver and gold hair.  He is handsome and tough.  When I saw him first time on the television When I saw he it click tame.  So now I like to be singer G-Dragon.  If I want to look like him I will make a wig and put on the wig on my head.  Then I will be very funny.  Wisgly, Buggly, Bissly.  Now I finished!  But I will slow a singer G-Dragon.  If I throw you need to catch and see the picture and throw again.  Please I want to be a award!

Excellent work here, Charles.  I seriously look forward to everything he writes.  Today, he wrote a short story about T-Rexes dropping out of the sky like rain.  He also rocks the perm and John Lennon style round glasses, priceless.  Oh, and if you are interested in seeing Korean pop star "G-Dragon," here's his FB http://www.facebook.com/pages/GDragon/12737047477 .

As promised, here are some pictures of food.   I eat all this stuff on a regular basis (excect the pizza).  

Tonight's dinner, kimchi jigae (kimchi stew).  Yes, it is served boiling hot and Koreans eat it like that.  

Lunch, tuk mandu guk -- rice cake and dumpling soup.  Kimchi left overs back left. 

Kimchi - from R to L kimchi cabbage, something from the sea in the front, spinach-ish veggie in the back, and mysterious fish substance that I eat almost everyday but have no idea what it is. 

Dolset bibimbap - spicy rice and veggies served in a hot stone pot topped with an egg.  

Pizza, wings, and beer at the super bowl party.  Holla!

I know food pics are a big hit and peeps are curious about what I eat, so I am trying to take pics of everything I eat this week.   This includes Japan, where hopefully I will get some bomb sushi and homemade ramen - as in handmade noodles.  

Bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yay

Yup, there are 4 dogs in that photo and 2 girls sippin lattes.  That's because it was taken at the dog cafe!  So cool!  I was a little nervous going there that the dogs might be sedated or something, but they were def happy and running anywhere they wanted (there are more pics on my facebook).  They def poo-ed anywhere they wanted too.  One lucky man had the job of following dogs around cleaning up poo poo.  I guess my job isn't that bad.  But then again, he does get to play with dogs...  I counted, there were at least 35 dogs and one fat kitty.  Potentially the coolest thing about Korea thus far.  


Pretty chill weekend.  After the dog cafe we went out to dinner in Hongdae and met some new Korean friends.  They were super friendly and a lot of fun.  They introduced us to somakcol shots -- which is a glass of beer with a shot glass of coke at the bottom, and a shot of soju inside.  We had a great time with them, until the guy dropped his condoms on the floor and Jullia tried to "discretely" draw his attention to it.  He picked them up off the floor, realized what they were, and flung them 5 feet!  He tried to deny they were his and his gf was HORRIFIED.  I think it was a life time of embarrassment for her in 10 seconds.  Apparently you don't point out dropped condoms in Korea.  Good to know!  We left shortly after. 


I FINALLY saw Avatar today.  This time I showed up 3 hours before the movie to get the tickets.  And it sold out, again.  But not before I got mine!  It was great though.  Of course I didn't get to see it on the biggest IMAX screen in Korea though, which was my goal.  That was screen 7, and we got screen 4.  Oh well.  Joining the gym is proving to be just as challenging as seeing the movie!  I tried that 4 times this week with no success.  No one is ever working the desk!  And today, there was someone there, but you can't join on Sundays.  WTF?!  I might just give in and join the more expensive one in my apartment building, this is too much of a pain in the ass.  I get fatter everyday that passes...


Hoping this week goes by quickly.  We are going to a super bowl party after work tomorrow.  The game is on at 8am here, so we will be watching it 12 hours later.  That means no internet for me tomorrow!  Wed we are going on a field trip at school to see some play.  And then the much needed 3 DAY WEEKEND!  

If you ain't got no money take ur broke ass home!

Idk if I mentioned that I replaced my camera last week at Digital World.  Digital World basically rocks.  It's a giant, giant Best Buy, but if you pay cash, they bargain with you.  It's awesome.  Best part is that the starting off price is pretty good, then they throw in all these extras, AND slash the price!  The dude even gave me a second battery!  Loving it!  Anyway, bad thing is I am nervous to carry it around with me now.  And I need to be carrying it bc I want to start photographing my food and posting the pics.  So many times I am thinking, damn I wish I had a picture of this.   Pos next week I will take pics of all the stuff I eat regularly (ie most of the 4 squares menu).  Oh!  Breaking news!  4 squares has a real name!  It's Kimbap Heaven!  Kimbap is like Korean sushi, except with no raw fish.  I'm not that into it, but peeps love it.  Typically, it's egg, spam (yes, spam), florescent radish (this is served with everything, will post pic), sesame leave (not good), carrot and some other garbage, rolled in rice and seaweed.  Maybe it would be good sans spam and radish.  I fucking hate the radish.  It's like kimchi, always on your table, only disgusting.  It is FLORESCENT YELLOW.  And it doesn't start out that way.  Can't be healthy. Pics to come this week.  Anyway, the point is, although 4 squares may want to call itself Kimbab Heaven, the rightful name remains 4 squares.

The kids continue to be a constant source of entertainment / WTF moments.  We've started doing something new in preschool thanks to Scott Teacher.  Normally, when the kids are bad, we take stars away from them.  They hate it, but it's only effective with some of them.  The worst kids don't care (funniest thing is the stars don't mean anything!  They just get erased at the end of the day, but they die for stars).  So now when they are bad, we put red dots next to their names, which can't be erased.  They HATE it!  In reality, it means nothing, but they hate seeing the dot.  It's kinda working in the Rainbow class, that combined with threatening to take away computer time.  "If you act like little shit heads, no computer class!"  Always the "if, then."  Ughh, I am always talking about Rainbow, and I don't talk about Sunshine enough.  Sunshine is the class that sings.  I love them, so much.  Sure, they are hard to control and never want to stay in their seat, but they are cute overload oh fo sho!  They are so happy!  They never fight, they hardly ever cry, and they have the best personalities. The girls are always decked out with huge bows in their hair and poofy skirts while the boys wear polo and sweater vests with bowties.  Not one kid has a perm in this class!  (have I mentioned the perms before?  Please comment/email me and let me know.  It's post-worthy if I've missed it).  I always save 5-10 minutes at the end of this class for dancing.  I really need to tape it.  These kids have moves!  Last week we learned the twist, they love twisting and some of them can really move their hips!  This week was the YMCA, which is so funny bc they have no clue what the Y is, but they LOVE the dance.  One kid has this cowboy lasso move he does while swinging his hips that makes me die laughing.  He knows I love it, so he does it every time he sees me.  I NEED to get that on tape.  Also, my fav kinder class (yeah, I have favorites, so what?) does a dance to "Yellow Submarine" which involves sliding on the floor, I guess like a submarine.  It's hilarious.  My job is to stand on the edge of their dancing circle so they can high five me as they go around.  Oh boy!

As promised, I have more essays.  Charles was a big hit last week, and I don't think these will live up to his caliber as an author, but they are still amusing.  Writing journals are due on Monday, so more goodness awaits!

Topic:  Think about a time when you forgot something important.  What did you forget?  What happened?  Write about what happened first, next, and last.

DongHa:
First: I go to school.  And friend show the piece of pictre.  And I thought piece of papor is my home, next: I find and find but I didn't find a piece of pictre.  It must be here.  Iast, I give up for find pice of picter.  But my ohtor friend give my piece of papor.  I think it is amigaize.  And I show piece of pictre.

WTF?  Does anyone understand what it is he lost?!

Jason (same topic):
I'm say my grandfa.
"Can you record TV?" he said ok. next I'm happy so much, I want tv record good.  The TV record is nice!
I want to see the TV tonight.

Worst part about Jason's is I gave it back to him twice and told him to write more!  This is the 3rd edition of this story!  Ay ay ay!  How do I grade these?

In other news, Jullia and I booked a last minute trip to Tokyo for a week from tomorrow (long weekend for the Lunar New Year).  HOLLA TOKYO!

Punxsutawney Phil

It's Groundhog Day, and of course that little fucker saw his shadow!  Not sure what kind of effect a Pennsylvanian rodent has on weather in SoKo (also known as the RoK for Republic of Korea), but I am pissed nonetheless.  The temps dropped majorly today, so I blame Phil.  I also blame Bill Murray and his Groundhog Day movie, where everyday is the same bad day.  That is how I feel at school!  Everyday it's the same shit.  Drama, drama, drama.  Today we had a meeting with the director about the Rainbow class (the bad class).  Basically she told us they are too out of control and we need to break up more fights before they start.  Also, they need to stop acting like wild beasts in the hallways before and after lunch.  Ughh, I usually teach them before lunch, so now I am responsible for getting them to act human before they eat.  One of the other teachers suggested I tell them if they don't behave, they don't get to eat.  LOL.  I have become the master of threatening kids and the "if, then" situation.  "If you don't stop talking, I am taking away 5 points and writing a note to your mother,"  "If you burp again, you are being sent to sit alone in the library,"  "If I hear one more person quack, I am erasing all your stars."  And on, and on.  Bribing works as well as threatening, "If you want to watch the Happy Feet dance, then you have to finish 3 workbook pages."  It never stops.  So, we'll see how tomorrow goes and my newest threat, "If you don't sit in your seat and wait to be called to line up, go to the bathroom, wash your hands, and get out your placemat without getting into any fights (sigh)... you don't get food."

Anyway, my real reason for posting is this amazing essay written by Charles in first grade.  Charles actually speaks English well, but clearly doesn't give a fuck about his journal and just writes any old thang.

Topic:  Write a letter to the mayor of your city.  Tell him/her what you like about your neighborhood and what you would like to change.

Dear neighborhood
Nice to meet you.  We can't tease ity.  We need to gather money speedy and help ity.  We need to have enough money and, put on the pitcher.  Next we need to wait untill it rumble on ity.  And when it's finished, raise up the pitcher.  The delivery will bring it to ity.  Then if it is finished again, we need to march.  And we need to tell when they are on market, tell what is more tastier.  last, when it's done, we can do anything.  But don't be pokey!
Sincerly,
Charles

I want to write on his paper: "Charles, WTF are you saying?!"  There's more good writing to come later this week, I am sure!  It's level test on Wed and Thurs, meaning the kids have to test to see what class they are placed in in March.  That means a whole lot of new essays they have to write on the spot.  They are sure to be interesting.