Sleeping Schedule

..... or lack thereof.

Working in the late afternoon is horrible. I feel the need to stay up and do whatever until around 6amish when the Korean sun is beginning to peek over the mountains. Do I do anything really productive during that time? Nope, just playing with facebook, watching my Asian soaps, and catching up on American movies. High five for me for not being that foreigner that spends all their free time drinking it up every night and such. I don't know how others can do that night after night.

I am trying to sign up for Korean classes so if that happens, I will have to go to bed at a decent hour some nights of the week that way I can wake up. My Korean is zilch, just Hello, Thank You, Left, Right, and Straight. Gotta know how to talk to the cabbies that way I can get home or to school. I really want to learn how to read Hangul and know what the different types of food are on the menu and be able to order.

Speaking of food...I had a pumpkin porridge last night that was amazing. Who knew I liked porridge???

Term 2 - Teaching Schedule

Our terms last for 13 weeks. During week 11 the students take their level up tests. If they pass, they move up to the next class but if not, they have to retake the same class again. We make sure that the students don't have the same teachers in a row but sometimes you may have them again depending on how the cookie crumbles. The first class is only for Junior Level aka elementary school students from 4:00 to 6:55pm. The second class is for Senior Level aka middle school students from 7:05 to 10:00pm.

Here is my not-to-awesome schedule:

Mon EC4 (English Chip 4)

Reading Birdie

Tues EC3

Reading Par

Wed Memory Tera

Off early!

Thur EC4

Listening Birdie

Fri EC3

Listening Par

Sat Memory Tera

Off early!

Sun NO WORK!!!!

Seoul Day 2

Leah and I woke up late on Sunday aka noon. (It's okay though, it's my only day off. I'm allowed to get my full 8 hours of sleep.) We take the bus back into Soeul and meet up with Jessica and Jenny in Itaewon aka the foreigners area. It's near an Army base and has a Taco Bell, english bookstores, sports bars, mexican restaurants, clothing for giants, and more! We went during the day and had a leisurely lunch at a sports bar and watched DVR'd college football games and indulged in some Budweiser. Mmmmmm!

Jessica then took us to the Gagnum Underground Market. It's a narrow market about 600-800 meters long (I'm guessing, I didn't get to see it all) full of cheap clothing, shoes, and home decor. It's full of people and get this, it's not air conditioned! This is when I start missing the good oldUS of A but I did find a dress and a bunch of earrings. After that, we all went our separate ways. I stayed with Jenny on Sunday night so I could be closer to the train station in the morning. We went to Home Plus and bought some veggies for her to make some soup with. Her crock pot rocks!

Woke up late on Monday morning but after a 45 minute subway ride, make it to Seoul Station and hop on the KTX at 11:30. I was back in Daegu by 1:15pm and at work at 1:50. Pretty good timing eh?

Fun Fact about Korean couples: They like to go out and about in public wearing matching shirts. There are even stores that just sell Couples Tees... if anybody needs a set to cement your love I'll hook you up!

Weekend in Seoul

This past weekend I traveled to Seoul to meet up with a few buddies from training aka the week from hell and to take in the sights and sounds of the city. Yes I did stay in Seoul for a week during training for my job but let me tell you, we did not leave our hotel for nothing. Training week was hard since all of us were majorly jetlagged and freaking out about the intense workload being thrust upon us. We kept getting told that only 87% pass that

first week and let me tell you, a few of us were freaking out. But more on that later....

As we all know, I am the Queen of Procrastinating. When I should have been packing for Seoul I was watching "He's Just Not That Into You" on TV. My packing was officially finished by 4am Saturday morning. The only problem: I had to be at work by 8:30am to teach at 9am. Good thing I only have one class on Saturdays. As soon as that bell rang at noon, I quickly changed out of Teacher wear and into Tourist gear. I hopped onto the su

bway, took it to the train station, quickly bought my ticket from the machine, and hopped on the 1pm train to Seoul.

The KTX train goes as fast as 300KM/hour so obviously, the train is the fastest way to Seoul. I took a nap and arrived in Seoul at 2:45. Yes everyone, I arrived in Seoul even before the second class was out at 3pm at my school. Technology is awesome! After I arrived at Seoul Station, I hopped onto the subway and proceeded to ride another 50 minutes to Gangnam where my pals Leah and Jessica were waiting for me. Leah is from England and is super nice and smiley. Except when she gives you the creepy British eyes...you know that look. Jessica was my roommate at the Coatel Hotel during training. She was the best roomie ever!

We had coffee drinks and gabbed at Angels-In-Us, a delightful cafe chain filled with cherubs, feathers and fake flowers galore. It even had a gold, glittery toilet seat in the loo. Ahhh Korea, trust you not to forget about over decorating the bathroom. Jessica and Leah had heard about a show called Nanta and bought tickets for the show. It's the oldest Korean show running and has been performed all over the world. After a walk in the rain and a taxi drive to point us in the right direction, we arrived at the theater. It was a bit pricey at 50,000 won but it was AMAZING! (click the link to see a preview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XQ-hFrhE_Q)

After that, we proceed to get lost (like all good little tourists do) but we did see import car dealerships. It was the closest I have ever been to a Ferrari... I hope that wiped my face smudges off the window.... We finally located the subway station and were on our merry way to the bus stop. Jessica went back to her place and I went with Leah to hers. Leah lives in Dongton which is 30 min bus ride outside of Seoul. Her town is pretty cute, it's all brand new and designed as an eco-city. Lots of green space, trees, fountains, and wide streets for parking and driving! There was even a scrap booking store! A tropical storm went through that night so it was pretty fierce and wet. But well worth it to see some great friends!

Outback, Korea Style

Dear Outback Steakhouse,

I first want to say thank you for boxing my leftovers up for me. You could just drop a box by my table but Noooo, you go above and beyond that. You take it away and reappear a few minutes later with a giant bag filled with boxes. As I glance inside I see that my chicken tenders are separate from my salad (awesome) and you even threw in two loaves of you yummy bread and some to go ramekins of honey butter. Awww, you shouldn't have. That really made my night

Fast forward four hours: Mmmmm, it's Midnight and I'm ready for dinner. I do believe that I'll just have my delicious blue cheese salad leftovers to abate my hunger. GASP! I open my take out carton and what do I see? A plain garden salad staring up at me sans blue cheese dressing! "What happened to my salad," I ask myself. Where did he go???

I can only assume that you didn't deem my salad tasty enough to take home. Albeit, he was drenched and a little stinky but darn it! He was MINE! After I mourned the loss of my beloved salad I vowed never to get attached to my future leftovers ever again. But thanks again for the bread. It looks pretty amazing. Oh, never substitute my food ever again! I paid 16,000 won for it and I want every last won!

Love, Erica

P.S. Maybe you added another chicken strip to the box.......

A lot of learnin' left to do...

Two days shy of the two month mark here in Korea and today I realized something. I love it here. Even though the weather can be unbearable and the language barrier is about as penetrable as the DMZ, this country is pretty enjoyable.

Today the weather wasn't unbearably hot and humid like it has been every day since I arrived. The weather was 77 when I went to work today at 3pm and when I was off at 7, a nice breeze was blowing making me change my mind about taking the bus home. I decided to walk and stop in shops along the way. I bought some large potatoes and some leafy greens from a few vendors off the street and wandered into an accessory shop. I don't take too much time out to fix my hair for class so it's usually a huge fro. I went into the shop and the shopkeeper spent 10 mins combing through her stock to find a clip that could accommodate my thick hair. Usually I do not have any patience for that and if I was in the US I would have left politely. But since I can't make small talk I suffer through it just to be nice. Good thing I did. I bought a nice clip and she even gave me a free hair tie. I think she thought my hair was a mess and wanted to help as much as she could. Nevertheless I will buy all my hair clips from that store from now on.

I'm just now beginning to become comfortable with my surroundings.

Made it Safely onto Korean Soil!

Hello hot stuffs! I made it safely but let me tell you, I have stories! I'm not going to go to deep into them but here's a taste...

On the flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo I sat next to a Japanese girl around Brittany's age. She didn't speak too much English but smiles and gestures go a long way. Well about 2.5 hours into the flight homegirl has a seizure. I put my arms around her and just held while the flight attendants found a doctor. No, I didn't leave her side and sat next to her during the flight. The flight attendants really appreciated me making sure she was okay so they gave me lots of white wine aka business class goodness. They also had me sign up for the skymiles program and gave me 1000 miles. Not bad.

So I arrive in Seoul on time at 9:45pm but only have until 10:30 to make it through customs, immigration, and claim my baggage. So yeah, didn't make it in time. After talking to the info desk lady and missing all buses and trains going into the city, it looked like I was going to be staying the night in on a bench which at that point sounded really nice. But I ended up catching a late bus at 1:20am to take me to a bus station in central Seoul which was a 5km drive to the hotel. Once the bus dropped me off I took a taxi to the hotel and thus thanked my lucky stars that I arrived safely at 3am. But I did wake up my roommate in the process which was a good thing because I didn't know how to operates the lighting...fun times lol. She is really nice and on the same sleeping schedule that I am. We fell asleep around 4:30 and awoke at 9:30 am.

Now I'm off to forage for rice and eggs. Already had rice three times yesterday!

And the preperation begins....

So now that I am offiacially headed to my new expat homeland, all the packing and paperwork that needs to be done is rushing at me! I really don't have the funds to buy too much to prepare but I do need one new/bigger suitcase, computer, and winter coat.

WHAT??? A winter coat? Yes everyone, I am getting ready to buy a winter coat to take with me to save my my parents shipping charges... but I may let them send it to me lol. Either way I have to find one that is long enough in the arms for me. Oh man, this means I can't wear my awesome vintage coat... good thing it'll always be old so I can wear it in later years :)

Other than that, I signed my contract today and I just need to scan it and send it to Boston, where my recruiting office is located, and to Korea, to finish my visa paperwork. Just stuck working at the hotel this weekend and working on wedding gifts. Sadly I'm going to miss two weddings this summer, sorority sister and a dear friend from Prague. I'll have to make several nice gifts to make up for it!

Korea here I come!

Good news world, I am now moving to KOREA in early July! I have landed a teaching job in Daegu South Korea and I am soooo excited! This whole journey of just applying for the job started a week before last Christmas (2009) and five months later I finally have a contract! as I stated, I will be teaching/living in Daegu (Taegu) South Korea in the Shiji district. It's in the eastern part of the city where many of the expats (*expatriates) reside.

It's not glamorous aka not amazing money but it's better than the $8 an hour I'm making at the Doubletree Hotel here in Jefferson City MO. I'll be paid 2,200,000 won/month with free rent, my employer will pay half my medical insurance, pay for my flights, and I only work 30 hours a week. Did I mention that I will be paid a couple million a month? A COUPLE MILLION!!! I don't care that it's not in dollars, I feel like a big deal right now :)

I have been in a funk because I never thought I would escape this place and now I am. Yes, I am sad to leave my family and friends behind but I'll be okay. A year is a long time but yet short. Before you know it, I'll be back in the USA grumbling about the lack of adventure in my life. This is the one time that I am thankful I am single, no children, or large debts of any kind. My family is healthy, my friends know I love them, and the loan companies will like my $$$ to pay off the student loans.

I am branching out, done staring at the fork in the road. I have settled for the path of adventure and cultural understanding, one that may force me to rethink the possibility of children. Man I hope teaching English is going to be more enjoyable than working in a call center.

This is my real face, not my poker face.

*An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence.

The Joys of Unemployment

Statistic: Age group 16-24 19% Unemployment

Erica's Age = 24

Erica = Unemployed

Haven't had to punch a clock since 30 December 2009. And no, I'm not bragging. I send my resume out to at least 50 companies per day, average about 10 fill in the blank apps per day, and usually get frustrated about the lack of employment around 20,000,000 times. Nah, only about once a day.

Who do I blame for this crisis of unemployment? Do I blame the consumer for not spending money? The business for cutting back on employees? The government?

It seems that everyone is blaming someone. Mostly I hear the government getting blamed and how they need to do more. Well I don't know if I believe that or not. I look at it this way, nobody saw this coming. Well maybe someone but I'm not going to blame them. I'm not going to blame anyone. The American lifestyle of living a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget is catching up to us. Most citizens of this country live outside of their means carrying a heavy debt and crippling the economy. This was bound to catch up with us sooner or later.

Wait, I change my mind. I'm blaming debtors. I am blaming the people who lived a lavish lifestyle and who accrued large amounts of debt. Greed has finally caught up with us and it's biting us in the butt. Granted the banking and lending industry are ultimately the perpetrators but in all reality the choice to take out loans is the consumers fault.

I'll admit it. I have a credit card that is almost maxed out because I am living a lifestyle that I should not have lived. I didn't budget myself in Europe and that's where all my debt occurred. It also doesn't help that I am unemployed and have had to put a car repair and new tire on there that way I can drive to interviews trying to land the job. Oh, I also have student loans amounting to $10,000 bucks. But I'm okay with that. My college years were spent working long hours for minimum wage but I am proud that I went to college for 5.5 years aka 9 semesters and only accrued that much in loans. But yet I have not helped the economy and I'm still not but being umemployed.

Here is my plea: Please America! Please give me a job that way I can right myself financially and I can be debt free. I can only hope that others will feel the same way about living a debt free life as I do.

Czech it out.... (hahaha)

I started a new blog entitled the Midwest Beer Fairy that will talk about my beer experiences and my thoughts on the brews that will encounter my taste buds so Czech it out!

Catch Up on my LIFE

So here's the scoop:

Hated working at my call center job. I am not cut out for 1. Being behind a desk for 8 hours, 2. Wearing a headset, or 3. Forced to give a complainer my complete and undivided attention. THe job essentially depressed me and I was unable to have any semblance of a social life. And also being constantly woken up by phone calls did not make Erica a happy girl. I decided that since I had $$$ saved and that I was soon going to crack, that I needed to put my two weeks in ASAP! So on Dec 30 I was again unemployed in this crappy job market.

Long story short, I have applied to over 150 jobs by either applications or by submitting resumes by the end of January. No bites except this one (drumroll please mistro).... Teaching English in South Korea!!!

Now before you think I've fallen and have had major brain damage, know that it is a relatively safe country (do you really think N. Korea would really nuke their neighbors? They would also die from the radiation) and that the $$$ for teachers is really good. The only basic qualifications to apply are to have your Bachelors, a citizen from an English speaking country, and be able to pass a background check. So of course I applied. My wanderlust has not been satisfied yet and I admit, I am ready to leave the US again.

I applied to work at Chang Dam, a private English school in S. Korea and have been accepted. Today I will receive and email hopefully containing a contract that would tell me how much they are willing to pay, when I can leave, and where I would go. The contract would be for one year teaching year round. Idk what ages I would teach but I really would like to teach elementary school children.

Not to worry though. I'm still applying for jobs here since I need to be able to pay the student loans back and my beer money. I also discovered a few jobs in Praha that I can apply for so I will still continue trying to plan my return to E.E. (Eastern Europe). Grad school is put on hold for a few weeks while I contemplate my immediate future. I would really like to pay my undergrad loans off before I incur any new ones. My present student loans are <$10,000 at this moment and I pay the loan sharks every month. My goal with Korea is to pay them off that way I could go and get my Masters eventually.

Today could be the defining day for me. I could get an amazing offer to live in an incredibly foreign land will I will easily tower over the populous and be able to learn new skills. Oh, and lose an incredible amount of weight by eating rice and fermented spicy cabbage everyday. Let's hope that this first day of February is a lucky day!