Tuesday in South Korea

Hey guys!

Sorry I'm a little bit late posting. I had a bit of trouble getting the pictures up. I just want to say that I'm SO glad we're doing this! What a great idea, Kate! I loved seeing Matt and Eric's days, and I can't wait to see the rest. It's almost like we're back on the ship again, running into each other throughout the day. So, my Tuesday was pretty basic as far as Tuesdays go. I hope you all enjoy!


This is my little apartment building. Notice the very ship-like windows. I live above an octopus restaurant. Just across the street is yet another octopus restaurant! Oh, Korea.


Work is about a 10 minute walk away. Walk with me, won't you? Here's the road I walk on everyday. It was really nice and sunny, though quite chilly.

Everyday I pass my favorite coffee shop. And I mean favorite in the world, not just Korea! This place is super cozy and cute and has incredible coffee/tea. The decor is really unique (which is saying a lot for Korea) and kind of amazing. It is inexplicably called "tree and bicycle" in Korean.


I also pass this place. A few months ago (probably after they realized there's a famous American movie with someone named Scarlett in it) this gigantic poster went up. This place appears to be in business though I've never once seen anyone leaving or entering. Weird.


Here's my desk! Pretty boring. You can't see in this picture, but it's not an individual desk, but a big one where there's a Korean teacher on either side of me. It's kind of annoying.


Everyday I have to correct the students' postings on the school's website (you may need to click on it to be able to read it). They're sort of like daily journal entries. This one is hilarious to me for some reason. "Nope." The girl who wrote this one was wearing a face mask yesterday to protect her from breathing in any "radiation" from Japan. Priceless.


Sometimes, to amuse ourselves, my boyfriend/coworker and I write responses like this one. Gotta get through the day somehow :).


Our school's curriculum is based around animation. So we spend most of the time watching ESL cartoons on a giant screen. It's pretty mind-numbing. That little bubble in the corner above the door is the CCTV camera. They're everywhere in Korea. Like, really everywhere.


This is my favorite Tuesday/Thursday class. I took this picture when they were all actually working and quiet. Sort of like when a wildlife photographer captures an endangered white tiger or elusive mountain goat on film.


Same class. Right after I took this picture, the kid holding the yellow phone said, "shit mothafucka!" It's one of the more colorful English phrases he's picked up.


That's Jully. She's one of my favorite students. Some kids say rude stuff to me cause I'm a foreigner, but she says stuff like, "Teacher, I like you a lot!" She's cool.


Sweet baby Jesus, it's finally time to go home. That's my walking-out-the-door pose. You could even call it a posed-candid.


This is my desk in my apartment. I got that map in Kyoto on SAS. I was cleaning up while talking to Josh on skype.


The other side of my apartment. I didn't buy those sheets, mind you. My boss got them, which should tell you a lot about what women my age are expected to like in Korea. It's a mess cause I'm cleaning up and getting ready to pack everything up. And also cause I'm kind of messy.


Then Josh distracted me from my cleaning (ok, I kind of let him) and we went to Lotte mart to buy some food. Lotte mart is this giant store where you can buy almost anything. It's also a huge brand that owns tons of stuff in Korea. They even have a theme park in Seoul. Anyway, this isle is just for instant ramen.


The dismal foreign section (there's another one too, but it's not much bigger). It says "world section" in Korean at the top. I got Josh to post next to it cause he's a foreigner.


Sometimes they make fun sculptures out of stuff that's on sale. On Valentine's Day there were pink boxes made into a gigantic heart.


Then we walked home and made dinner. We made naan and chickpea chole curry. Yum!


Then we watched Curb Your Enthusiasm and laughed our heads off. A nice end to a nice Tuesday.

Yay! Hope that wasn't toooo many pics. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed capturing my day for you. Also, I wasn't sure if you were interested, but Tuesday happened to be the air raid emergency drill day of the month, so I made a little video but I wasn't sure if I should post it. It's just a recording of the creepy air raid siren drill. I didn't want to overwhelm you guys with a jillion pics AND a video.

Can't wait to see the rest! Love you guys,
Natalie