Suppository?
I had a student show me this word on his phone. He was using the Korean-English dictionary. A group of boys wanted to know the English pronunciation. I said, "You will never need to use that word in English."
I was doing laundry the other night and realized I didn't have a drying rack. I asked Kevin (a Korean, CDI staff) where I could buy one. He said he would bring one to my apartment after work.
I was leaving work and met a teacher from a school across the street. She invited me to dinner. We were halfway through the meal when I remembered Kevin was supposed to stop by my apartment. I was going to call him, but I left my cell phone at home. Roxie didn't have a phone (and even if she had, I didn't know Kevin's number). I assumed he would just leave the drying rack outside the door. I thought wrong.
Kevin waited for an hour until finally calling Sonia, our boss. She came over to my apartment. They both kept trying to call me. They called every teacher at the school. No one knew where I was. They almost called the police. They broke into my apartment to make sure I wasn't dead inside. When I finally made it home I found a frantic note saying to call Sonia immediately.
I got a long lecture on carrying my cell phone or telling someone where I am at all times. She made me attach a Mickey Mouse wrist strap to my phone. I guess Mickey is supposed to help me remember it now.
You would think I would be used to this because of all the Peace Corps volunteers that disappear, but no. I could go weeks at a time without talking to PC and no one worried. I guess it is nice to know people care about me here!
I bought some groceries yesterday at a Korean shop. Nothing was in English. I was just hoping to get home with everything I thought I was buying. I was so excited when I opened what I thought was butter and it actually was! I still haven't tested to see if the eggs are raw and not the cooked ones they sell. It's possible that I washed my hair with body was today...
I still have to teach eight more classes this week, but one is DONE! I am so proud of myself. I was a little unsure of what was going on in the first 30 minutes, but once the third hour came around I was AWESOME. Just kidding.
I had fourteen 14-year-olds all looking at me like I was crazy. It took me quite awhile to realize they were talking to me when they said "teacher." (You think I'm kidding...) The video camera kind of freaked me out, but I'm sure I will get used to it soon.
I will keep you posted on the rest of my classes. Hopefully, I won't have any horribly, embarrassing story to post about though.
I have to move apartments now. I will finally have a home in Korea!
I wasn't going to blog about my own birthday (because that seems a little strange), but the nicest thing happened. Last night I was picked up by a CDI staff, Kevin. He asked me how old I was. I said 23. Then I realized it was past midnight, so I said, "Actually I have been 24 for 15 minutes."
Today I had to observe a class at my new school. The teacher was just talking and randomly a hand comes in the door and turns off the lights. Then they open the door and there is a beautiful cake with candles. They sang me happy birthday and made me blow out the candles. It was all very embarrassing, but sweet. There was even someone take photos of the whole thing. They haven't even known me for 24 hours yet! It cracked me up.
After the class, we ate the cake with chopsticks. No lie.
Yesterday I finished training. It was such a relief to be finished. It was getting very stressful, but I did well on my tests and mock teaching for both classes. Now I just have to prepare for my first day of classes, which is just about as scary if not more!
I didn't finish training until 8:40 pm, and I still had to get to Daegu. A taxi took me to the Seoul Train Station. Something I'm loving/still trying to figure out is the car television. It seems that everyone watches tv while they are driving. I learned three things while watching tv with my driver.
1) The tv reception in his car is better than at my parent's house.
2) There is contortionist-ribbon dancing in the Olympics.
3) Even intently watching South Korea win gold in taekwando, he still drove better than Becca.
I've been trying very hard to continue eating healthy. It's very difficult when I don't know what I am ordering and I can't read labels. Rachel, a girl from New Zealand (who also conveniently speaks Korean) showed me which one was sugar. She didn't know the rest, but that one is pretty helpful.
Even though I should NEVER, EVER do this, I learned the coolest thing: McDonald's delivers. How awesome is that? Megan and I ate there yesterday and saw the delivery guy. He had a red McDonald's jacket, helmet and motorbike. It was so cute! (I forgot my camera yesterday. I'll look for another McDonald's delivery guy when I have my camera on me.)
Yesterday I also started my mock teaching in training. It was a little intimidating, but only two more days! Training is pretty stressful. I will be glad when it is over. I passed my grammar test on the first try, so now I can worry about one less thing.
I landed in Seoul at 6:00 pm Sunday night. I had been traveling for 18 or 19 hours at that point. The taxi ride is mostly a blur. I remember lots of tall buildings and a big river (and paying a lot for the taxi, but that is another story). The first thing that made me feel like I was in a foreign country was my hotel's toilet.
There's a bidet! I'm not exactly sure why/how people use these, but I have seen them on many toilets now. I guess Americans are just dirtier people?
Monday morning I went to CDI orientation. I was waiting in the lobby of my hotel for the shuttle and who should appear? Another SNU grad. So random! I'm still amazed that out of all the English schools in Korea and all the other weeks of CDI training, we would end up at the same school during the same training. Megan has definitely made me feel more at home. It's so nice to have a familiar face and someone who I can talk to about Oklahoma and she understands me!
Yesterday I started the full training. Megan, her roommate Pam and I have the same training schedule. We don't start until 3 pm and then we go until almost 9. We are still having a hard time finding places to eat, knowing what to order, how much it costs, etc. Pam said she saw Dunkin' Donuts had sandwiches. I was a little curious about what kind of sandwiches they could have, but it was so nice! It all looked very gourmet, even the donuts. They have a store on almost every corner. And judging by the amount of people in each one, I would say they are very trendy. Just look at how pretty it is!
I walked by a huge blanket the other day that was covered in high heels. The lady was selling them for $6! I think I love any country that has cheap, cute shoes. I like the subway even though you get pushed around by a lot of people. Besides being a little stressed about the training, I am really enjoying myself.
Sorry it has taken me so long to write. I am experiencing some major jet-lag and I usually just study, go to class, eat and sleep. Hopefully, things will slow down or at least I'll get used to the time difference. Good luck with Wednesday (I've already started mine)!
All three bags (plus an over-sized purse) are packed. I am just trying to calm down enough to get some sleep now. We are leaving my house at 6 am. I'm still a little concerned about the airport to hotel transportation in Korea, but I know I am just overwhelmed by the anticipation of it all more than anything. Wish me good luck and say a prayer for me!
My next post will be from Korea. It is 14 hours ahead of central time. Maybe I can tell you what to expect for the next day! :)
I am pretty sure that "road-tripping" isn't a word, but that is what Becca and I are doing. I found out last week I had to go to Houston in order to get my Korean visa. It was pretty expensive to fly, and Becca doesn't have a job; we decided to take a quick road trip. We left yesterday to drive through rainstorms all day.
Yes, that says 598 miles. You want to know the best part of the story? Becca's car is a stick-shift, and I can't drive it. She had to drive all nine hours by herself.
We passed the Oklahoma Horseshoeing School. Who knew we had that?
We made a short stop at the Bedré chocolate factory (run by the Chickasaw tribe). Don't worry I got sugar-free!
We made to Houston late last night. I went to the Korean Consulate this morning. And I got my visa! Yeah! I'm going to Korea.
Becca is really enjoying the hotel furniture. She doesn't get out much.
My parents invited all the Rovenstines over for a goodbye party. I just love my family. They are so great! This is Big Dalene (but only big as in older)...
When I was younger, I hated being called Little Dalene. I don't mind it so much now. :)
Becca was slacking with her photography, but she did get a few shots of funny cousins...or is it second cousins? first cousins once-removed? hmm...
And the staple at any Rovenstine gathering...Nanny...
Thanks, everyone for coming! I will miss you all!
A few summers ago I had a severe reaction to eating too many tomatoes. We had an abundance from our garden , and my mom served them three times a day. I had to go to the dermatologist because it was so bad. He said I had something called "cheilitis." (It's pronounced key-lie-tis.) It just means swollen lips. My lips were so swollen I could barely open my mouth enough to eat. It was really painful...a lot of people thought it was funny, but I did NOT.
I used the medication until it went away, but a few weeks later it came back. I started using the medication again. I ended up going back to the doctor. I told him that whenever I stopped using the medication it came back. He prescribed me more medication. I just assumed I would have to use it forever (and I assumed the doctor thought that too).
I went to my dermatologist's PA yesterday to get more medicine. He said it was a very, very bad thing that I was still using this medication. I'm not really sure how this happened, but apparently I have been applying steroid cream to my lips every day for a few years now. I'm an addict. I think I have to stop, but the doctor didn't really tell me if it was possible for my lips to ever adjust. I am trying to decide what is worse: being addicted to steroids or having sore lips?
Styles do recycle. I just didn't realize 23 year-olds could accidentally recycle their own 6 year-old hairstyles.
I got a haircut today. I've been getting curlier and curlier as I have gotten older. For some reason, the humidity in Suriname didn't just affect my hair there. It won't go away! I have decided just to embrace. As Sara Evans says... "all the straight hair girls they all want curls." I guess I'm lucky enough to have had both in my life. :)
Becca needed help moving out of her apartment on Tuesday. We wanted to eat somewhere "fun" for lunch before coming back to Bartlesville. Becca mentioned PF Changs. Once she said it, there was no going back. I love PF Changs. Jonnie had never been there, but he sat down, ordered his usual Dr. Pepper and started drinking. We had been there maybe 15 minutes and he had gone through three cupfuls. I kept telling him to slow down because he was embarassing us, but our waiter just laughed. A little while later I see our waiter coming from the back with a large to-go container. It was a 1-liter soup container to be exact. He had punched a whole in the top and put a straw in it. He told Jonnie, "This should hold you for a while." Becca and I were about to die; Jonnie thought it was "awesome."
Of course he had to drink it all. He finished it on the ride home. We were annoying him about something, and he tried to threaten us. He meant to say, "I am full of a liter of Dr. Pepper. Don't make me use it." Instead he said, "I am full of a liter of gas (ugh...I mean Dr. Pepper). Don't make me use it!" We had to stop at every restroom the entire way back to Bartlesville. And it turned out that he was kidding about the 1 liter of gas!
And on another note...
This is what Jonnie and Becca had for dessert, The Great Wall of Chocolate:
This is what I had for dessert, yes, that says sugar-free, fat-free:
