Alphabetically speaking... we're OK

So you've probably heard all the hub-bub about south korea getting hit with artillery from the north. We have too. Fear not! Everything is fine and dandy like dried squid candy out here. If things get hairy, we can always make like a banana. So enough about the sword rattling.

Lacey and I went on an excellent adventure through a small little Korean market a few blocks away from our home. It was quite an experience. The smells alone were worth the price of admission. The price of admission being the jumping out of your skin after you've noticed the pig heads hanging behind you, of course. There were little old ladies using really big knives, to 'finish the job' on some local sea life; Vegetables so large that they must have been shipped in from chernobyl, and a whole lot of smiles. Here are some pictures. If you don't like pig heads, you may wanna skip them: 

 

After our stroll through the market we took a walk down to the river. Looking across the river you can see Shinae. Shinae is considered old downtown. If you are ever in the market for matching couple underwear, men dressed up as donald duck trying to strongarm you into buying a phone, and sweatshirts with the arms the length of a an inchworm, than Shinae is the place for you.

After fighting the urge to purchase neon pink matching undies, we made the trek back across the river to Samsandong. Samsandong is considered the "new downtown" of our city. It has a gob-of-goobin of coffee shops, boutiques, and restaurants. It is also home to some of the best parking jobs I have seen in our city:

Yep, that's a sidewalk

After we finished taking our parallel parking 2.0 lesson, we went out to a barbecue joint and had beef galbi. It was like having our own personal hibachi at our table. But instead of having a chef flipping shrimp through a ring of fire into our water glass, whilst cracking an egg with his elbow, we had a chef who dropped kimchi into his beer glass not once, but twice. yeah...two times.

Chez Gowdy

The next day we went to a soccer match. We had been to three matches before, and we had yet to see our tigers win a game on their home turf. This match was no exception. The Ulsan Tigers made it into the K-league playoffs, but unfortunately for us the slump continued. But the match was still chalk full of all the classic soccer necessities: Penalty kicks, inflatable tigers, road flares, and parachuting loaves of bread from Bennigans. yeah...Bennigans.

pa'rye'chute

You can't spell "champions" without the champ.

Repeat after teacher: "Mule"..."Meewhall"

On the morning of 11/11 one must take precautions when going into a Korean school. Swat helmets, riot shields, buckets of patience, and elastic pants. Pepero day comes once a year, and every year it falls on the vertical lines of 11/11. What is pepero day you ask? Pepero day is a Korean valentines day; trading the love and hearts for boxes and boxes of pepero. Pepero are little slim biscuits dipped in chocolate. I've seen them sold as Pocky in America. All the kiddos bring in boxes of pepero for themselves, their friends, and lucky for us, their teachers. By about noon thirty kiddos are bouncing off the walls all hopped up on pepero, and the teachers are cringing in pain after eating a life's worth of pepero in about a 3 hour sitting. It's a scene.

Ok, last one

The loot

 After Pepero day, we had to buckle down and prepare for our presentations. The school has eleven "kindergarten" classes. Each class was required to put on a presentation for the parents this last weekend. We have been working on dance moves, sing alongs, and poetry for about a month and a half with these classes. Every morning, toiling over presentations. All for 25 minutes of glory. Apparently this is what the parents pay for when they sign their students up at our school. From what I can gather, the presentation day is a recruiting tool to get kids signed up into our school as opposed to the 5 different schools around the corner. This being said, the production blows away any school production I have ever seen before. The costumes alone are worth the price of tuition. The best way to describe it is as a cornucopia of choreographed dance moves, disney songs, K-pop, and sequins. See for yourself:

Mission Accomplished!

After the presentations, we all went out to dinner to celebrate. After stuffing ourselves full of delicious galbi, dwanjaengchiga, rice, beer, and sighs of relief, we moved on to korean karaoke known as noraebang. Its just like karaoke as you know it but with laser light shows, and couches. It was the cherry on top of our saturday sundae.

The next morning Lacey and I figured we could use some fresh ocean air. We decided to take a bus down to Ilsan beach. This beach is on the outskirts of our beloved Ulsan. Now when I say fresh air, i realize that I am using the term quite loosely, as Ilsan beach is located next to the biggest ship yard in the world. We get to the beach and we see the horizon littered with tankers and tug boats. It was amazing. We hiked over the cove and found what appeared to be quite the tourist attraction. The trip to the beach was the cherry on top of our sunday sundae.

Ewha Little Campus

Nestled between a soju bar, a corner store, and what appears to be a korean mafia headquarters masquerading as some type of laundromat, is Ewha Little campus. This is where we go every day to teach our youngsters. The building is a good mix of tuscany, meets the hobby lobby sales bin. Inside the school, some of us taller folk have to dodge and weave low hanging ceilings, catacomb like thresholds, and a stairwell into the basement classroom that simply wont quit. The computer lab consists of two PCs. One that types in the familiar romanized alphabet, and one that...doesn't. The copier that we all use is an absolute piece of "dong". (dong is korean for mookie, while out here mookie coincidentally means fly; the insect, not the super power.) The copier jams every single time it's used. Part of the charm of the place I guess. 
This brings us to our personal favourite: The kimchi fridge. Located in the foreign teachers office, right next to all our desks is the kimchi fridge. Every morning, adjumma opens this fridge to get the kimchi for the day, and it smells like death. Pure, pickled, fermented, rotten death. You could try to keep grading papers while holding your breath, but the battle is always lost to the fridge. As soon as that fridge door opens, it's bye bye curly haired people, hello playground. It is a smell we will never, ever, get adjusted to. Despite all its "charm", we have really taken a shining to this school. The quirks make every day that much closer to a Wes Anderson movie, and let's be honest, why else would we be here? 

This little boy didn't turn in his journal to jamie teacher

My panic room

Lotte Wheel!!!

Notice how all the sprinkles are missing. Hmmm?

The out-of-focus entrance to the behemouth

we have "mountains" too.

After enjoying a sixth floor cup of coffee topped with neon sprinkles, Lacey and I ventured off into the sunset and found ourselves at the base of Ulsan's famous Lotte Wheel. Located on top of a movie theatre/hotel/department store is the Lotte wheel. A giant ferris wheel that invites the rider to take in the city from a creaking, frightening birds eye view. After the ride, we went to the city's premier "English" pub. Craving some western food we ordered what promised to be the best "Phillya cheesie burger steak" sandwich in the city. Needless to say, we have never had a better Phillya cheesie burger steak in our lives.

Grand Park

Yesterday, Lacey and I took a stroll through Ulsan Grand Park. The park itself is gigantic. It takes about two hours to walk the whole thing. It has fountains, waterfalls, windmills, lilly pads, the whole gamut. Not to mention, leaves falling everywhere. Autumn is stunning out here. Here are some photos to give you a taste of what a Korean central park is like: 

The Month that felt like the year that felt like a minute

Out Our front door

Well, we have been in Ulsan for over a month now. It has been quite the adjustment. The first three weeks of our adventure were a bit of a tough go. We were both sick and jet lagged. A mixture of kids who are never taught to cover their mouths when they cough, and a less than "fresh" air quality probably played a major part. But once we got over our coughs and sniffles, we really started to miss our old beds less and less, and started to fall more and more in love with our new country. Teaching is completely different than we thought it would be. The whole system is completely opposite of everything we grew up with. Big cultural differences on childhood development out here. Somethings are completely appalling, while others make you laugh like crazy with joy. Everyday we need to take deep breaths and remind ourselves where we are, and mutter "Well, that's Korea for ya." The kids are great. They are absolutely adorable and friggin crazy. So far "Birthday Friday" and "Halloween Day" have been the ultimate.

Birthday Friday meets Halloween Day

After working, we get to play. Last weekend we met our friend Beth in the sea-side city of Busan. We walked the beach, watched a fireworks extravaganza, wandered through an aquarium, (where people pay to swim in the shark tank without a cage.) and explored a buddhist temple in the rain. It was a good weekend to say the least.



To wrap up this post, here is a list compiled after the first month.

Loves at first sight:

1. Learning to read Hangul
2. Magnetized shopping carts
3. Successfully communicating with cab drivers
4. Eating like Anthony Bourdain on a daily basis 
5. Having a space that is completely ours 

I'm over it:

1. The random whiffs of who knows what, while waiting at the crosswalks 
2. The batting cage that operates at 3am outside our back window 
3. getting stared at 
4. finding octopus beaks in my soup 
5. Instant coffee 

That does it for now. We love you all and miss you dearly: Lacey and Jamie