merry xmas

from a rather infamous blog the metropolitician, who plugs another great blog feet man seoul:

This Christmas season, the must-have item is the bear hat, courtesy of Paris Baguette. And if you are a couple, a matching pair is the way to go. This couple is the quintessential Seoul Christmas couple, since they're not only rocking the hats, but have a Christmas cake in tow, as well as a little bit of candy, a lollipop that looks freshly picked from a Dr. Seuss Christmas tree. All items, it appears, that you can find in the original commercial.

from sarah

click to enlarge and read this lovely letter from little sarah--->

hey, i've been working here in korea at cdi for near 9 months now. *phew!* i have my complaints about my job, as do we all, but overall im really happy there. i love the kids, and i like teaching. i love my apartment. i LOVE my apartment. like really, i love it. i may never leave.

it's coming to the end of my 3rd term and i'll say goodbye to my kids, and hello to a whole new group of classes. sometimes students will leave before the end of the term, which i really dont like b/c they seem to disappear one day and then i dont get a chance to tell them goodbye. :(

sometimes the student knows they're leaving, so i tell them how wonderful it was to have them in my class, and i tell them to watch lots of english movies, and read lots of english books, and tell them they're brilliant and good luck in the future and email me if you ever need anything. i don't tear up or cry, tho when sarah told me goodbye and gave me this note, i got real reeeeeeeal close.

happy choseok

little charlie from one of my elementary school classes said his mother told him to bring me these song-pyeong, rice cakes with some sort of sweet bean paste inside. they're common food fare for chuseok. i didnt eat them (they're similar to philipino desserts, and i never developed the taste for them) but i kept them forever, opening the refrigerator everyday and smiling and thinking that i must be some kind of fantastic teacher for a student to bring me treats. ha!

paying bills back home

The only bill ive had to pay back home is my student loan. every month at payday, i go to the bank and transfer money to my account back home, then i pay everything online once the money is in the account. i have also done some online shopping w/amazon, using my home account as well (it's a atm/visa check card through my bank).

other bills i was able to transfer to other names/people, or cut off entirely; but if there were others, im sure i'd be able to do it all online just as i am w/the student loan.

my old apartment still has bills and my cats, but i send money to the roommates and they make sure everything is taken care of. we did it all online before, anyway, so it's all staying the same.

i think i've written this elsewhere, but here it is again:

• before you leave for korea, go to your bank, tell them you're leaving the country so that they dont cut your account privileges.
• check your billing adrs and contact number the bank has (i changed mine to my parents adrs & phone)
• double check your account number, password, routing number.
• get the bank full adrs, phone number, and email (i was able to email my korea adrs and phone number to my bank once i got here).

summer work

if i had known about summer and winter jobs here, i might've used the opportunity to visit korea before making the big move here. these seasonal jobs all include free accomodations, paid airfare, and around 2000USD for one month of work. the quality of the job depends on the employer, of course. anyway, to all those in cyberworld who've let me know they're considering korea, maybe check out a summer gig.

check here for the eslcafe korea job board. i got this link by doing a google search for the phrase "summer camp," narrowing the search to pull only from the eslcafe korea job board.

moving service

click this and this forum on eslcafe, or here on global village about how to move: There are moving services or you can get just a bongo truck guy. But unless you speak and read Korean really well you would probably need a korean to help you get one.

This guy speaks english.... seems about 40,000 to move most things:

When you need a truck , Please send below items ! I will reply the price asap !

• name & cell phone ex) brandon : 010-7707-4280
  

• from where to where ex) from habangchon to kangnam


• how many stuffs ? ex) 1 couch, 1 washing machine, 1 computer desk, 5 suit cases, 10 paper boxes…… * from which floor to which floor ex) from 2th floor to first floor


• old address & destination address ex) yongsan2gadong 391-12 & ilwondong 234-76 kmk20287@hotmail.com

update: i used the above guy, brandon, he was cool. spoke fluent english. i paid 50 to move a piece of exercise equipment from hanaam to pyeongchon.

oh my gosh, if you go on google

and search "cdi seoul black"

my blog is the FIRST RESULT!

im famous!

some africans are still enslaved and dont feel complete without a chain around their neck...

thanks to nisha for passing this on.

this doesnt have anything to do w/korea or esl... it is part of a 1999 documentary called 'Cry Freetown' .

ive noticed a couple of nigerian men here in korea (i notice ALL them, actually, handsome lot they are), and im saddened and enraged at the same time to see how they emulate this one part, this bane of african american culture: wearing the shiniest, gaudiest, bit of bling they can buy, adorning their fingers and necks and wrists and ears and teeth.

it's up to us, black people. we can make a choice. BE the change you want to see in the world. dont buy diamonds. dont glorify it. it's a stone, it's NOTHING. sisters, let's not reward our brothers for stepping on the backs of our own people to showcase their "success." brothers, be brave and turn away from the self deprecating display and quit showing off your necklace to the camera. as if it's supposed to mean something. only if we give it meaning.

i love rap music. i hate that the only rap music that is more known and mainstream is anything that cripples and distorts black culture. what are non black people to think when the only thing they see in the media is anything gangster, showcasing one's material goods, im so tough, i got guns, all women are hoes and tricks and bitches and i fuck them all (whatever, all this muscle flashing is ladden with homo erotic OVERtones anyway)... and then compile that with the few lost and brainwashed black folks they see on the street. no wonder. and it's fucking global! africans on the continent call themselves Niggaz!

ok... and now i leave you with the words of krs one:

Instead of broadcasting how we smoke them trees

On the radio we need to hear more local emcees

Where you at?, c'mon where you at?

This is the difference between emceein' and rap

Rappers spit rhymes that are mostly illegal

Emcees spit rhymes to uplift their people

mental health/pills

good chunk of info on daves about mental health. i do not advise you tell anyone at your job about it if you do take meds. not that it's anything to be ashamed of, but you'll have enough questions/intrusions about you/your life without adding your mental health to it. if you can function w/out hurting/affecting others, then really, it's not anybody's business but yours.

Dr. Park's Psychiatric Clinic for Foreigners
Tel: 02-563-0609, 0678
email: mdoctor@korea.com
Exit 7, Seolleung Sta Line 2
http://www.psychotherapy.co.kr/

sometimes when you call, the woman who answers doesnt speak english, so just say "i'll call back" and then do so later, and get help from someone who speaks english. or just email with the day/time you want to come in. the doctor is korean, but speaks english.

===========================

update 03/09 these are emails from a davester about getting pills cheaper at mental health/stress clinics:

Just about any Korean mental health clinic should be cheaper. I have been to three others. One in Gwangmyeong, one in Yeoju, and one in Wonju. They were all cheaper.

They don't really like to give you a month's worth. They like you to come in every couple of weeks to monitor your progress. They usually adjust the medication pretty regularly. Obviously there are pluses and minuses to this, but it's worth the savings. Just find any mental health clinic near where you live. I'm sure you could find a bilingual to help you if the doctor doesn't speak English well enough to consult with you. It is less than 10,000 a week. 7,000 a week maybe? Again, I don't know how many other docs would be willing to give you a months supply, I don't think they do things that way here. You could go to the doc, tell them what you are taking and see if they would continue you on the same stuff, but they might want to put you on something else.
Koreans doctors I have been to have perscribed anti-depressants and anti-anxieties for me to take at the same time. They work nicely together, and for the first few days really left me feeling groovy. Going in every couple of weeks allows them to monitor your progress and adjust the meds/dosages accordingly.
I know from years of experience with different psychoactives that a body will build up a tolerance for the drug and need to be changed after some time.
When I came to Korea I had just gotten off of 2 years of taking Lexapro. I started taking meds again after I was here less than a year, went through a major life philosophy change, quit taking those meds in 2006, haven't felt the need for them again since. Last year I was taking some more SSRI's to help with my temper and anxiety and in turn help my marriage, but I haven't experienced the same kind of "want to run into oncoming traffic suicide" since my change of philosophy back in 2006.
Anyway, from a fellow human who has suffered a great deal of depression, good luck with your journey. If I can offer you any help/advice, just let me know.

how i got cable tv

if you need help getting cable or anything "living" related, contact global village.

update 07/2011:
a good number for getting cable tv:
KT has a customer service number for English speakers (in seoul). You can have them come on a saturday even. ah-sahh! 02-1588-8448
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i didnt have cable back home b/c it's so expensive and i was always so poor. we can add cable tv to my top ten reasons of why i came to korea.

i asked a coworker that lived in my building how he hooked up his cable and he tells me, "oh, i dont know, my girlfriend helped me." >:( that alone made my teeth clench b/c every question i ask of him is answered, "my girlfriend helped me." well damn, can you ask your girlfriend how she did it and pass the info onto me? you jerk! not really. he's the nicest guy, but i was annoyed.)

i asked the doorman in my building and he gave a phone number that was disconnected. i asked another coworker, who gave me another number, which was also disconnected. i asked a third coworker, who said i need to ask the landlord. i emailed human resources at my school who got my the apt to find out how to get in touch with my landlord & he told me i ought to talk to someone at the school..../

angry. not so much b/c people didnt know, but rather i was annoyed that it was something i couldnt do on my own. even if i did have the right phone number, i couldnt call it w/my english only fat ass. usually im really independent, i do things for myself, not have people do things for me. my ultimate goal is become as fluent as i can in korean, so that i can better take care of myself.

i hate asking for help, b/c often this is exactly what happens: you have to ask and ask until someone finally can help you; it makes me feel like a pest. having to lean on other people sucks. for one it means you have to wait on people to get back to you and for two i hate asking help from people i hardly know. thanks again to the coworker who helped me with the cell phone. i appreciate not only her taking the time to help me, but she also showed me HOW to keep up on the phone so that i can do it myself and not have to run to somebody for help all the damn time. *sigh* i'd have asked her for help, but she doesnt have a tv.

i REALLY hate asking the korean staff at my school for help b/c they're so overworked and underpaid and im sure have better things to do than to take care of the new foreigner. plus they speak little english and im embarrassed to try to communicate b/c i speak no korean.

hey, thanks for letting me rant, blogworld. anyway, i sucked it up and one of the korean staff at my school helped me. she was of course really sweet and kind and helped me out.