What I've been waiting so long for....

English subtitled Korean movies!!!! It was FINALLY announced (yea, they did say they would announce it in March, I'm just impatient) that the two cinemas that would show English subtitled movies are two Cinus cinemas. One in Myongdong and one in Gangnam. This is perfect for me! I frequent Myeongdong enough, and I've been going to Gangnam more often, since my friends seem to be migrating to that side of the world lately.

Feel free to check out the article in the JoongAng Daily: New Subtitle Service for Korean Movies

Click here to view Cinus's pathetic English service website. I say pathetic because they don't put the movie times available in English... Or summaries for that matter... And I can't even check the movie times anymore on their Korean site, not because I don't understand, but because for some reason my computer won't process the hangul (just on their site) and all I can read is gibberish.

For old blog posts about Korean movies and subtitles, check out the following links:

신기전: Shingijeon or The Divine Weapon, and seeing Korean movies with English subtitles in Seoul

Checking Movie Times

The Host

Field Trip Day

Every month at SLP, generally the fourth Thursday of the month, the preschoolers get to go on a field trip. I was just happy, because I didn't have to teach. We got to school, made the kids go to the bathroom, stuck name tags on them with our Korean partner teacher's phone number on them in case the wandered off, stuck them on a bus and off we went.


I didn't really know anything about what we were going to see, other than the fact that it was some sort of show, that it was in Hyehwa, and that it was in Korean. It was called 오디 (Audi). Sadly, I kind of enjoyed this production made for pre-schoolers because the Korean was only just slightly above my level instead of completely incomprehensible. I found that I could actually understand every third word or so, and could follow along quite well. Every once in a while I asked one of the Korean teachers what some word was, but they were generally words that I could have guessed on my own, but I just wanted to make sure. I learned two words: akki (instrument) and insa (bow).

The show first took about 20 minutes showing off some strange instruments and letting the kids try them.

Then after the woman (who exaggerated every word out of her mouth) introduced all the instruments, she called out the other "teachers" to the stage. Then they taught the kids from a storybook about a Gorilla who paints pictures. Actually, I think this is an American picture book, because it looked familiar, but they made the production in Korean.

My kids were very well behaved and they all seemed to love it. I was so pleased when one of my kids screamed out in English (Very Nice!!!), even though all the other classes were talking in Korean.

The Korean "Teacher" showing us the book and explaining art to us...

Then we headed back to the bus and back to SLP just in time for lunch. After lunch the kids got to watch the rest of the DVD that they had started watching on birthday party day. Lucky me, I had such a nice, peaceful day. Why can't everyday be so easy??

Line to go home from Hyehwa

Rock Paper Scissors in the bus ride home.... if you don't know, this is the most popular game in Korea... and also the end-all be-all of deciding who goes first in any other game.

Voice of America Broadcasts to North Korea

I just read this article about a AM radio broadcast making it's way into North Korea. As important as this is for North Koreans, I just worry that this will raise tensions even more. Things are so tense as it is right now, we don't need to make any more provocations to North Korea since they are planning their missile launch next week. If anything goes wrong with that missile and it lands in the wrong place or flies in the wrong direction... it could mean war. It's kinda scary... Anyway, there's nothing I can do about it. Anyway, the article is interested, check it out here:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jcy26NBdyp0AatfXFK5rHG9CJWGwD976TC281

A Visit To Yongsan Base

Last weekend, my one friend in the American military invited me and some friends to see a movie on base. While I knew nothing about the movie (what else is new? I don't watch TV) I jumped at the opportunity to see base. I've always wanted an excuse to go, and I didn't really want that experience to be from some random soldier who wants to pick me up in Itaewon....

We met at Samgaji Station (line 4/line 6) and walked to base. Just to get on base, we needed two forms of ID, a passport and a license. OR just our Korean Alien Residency card. Luckily I always carry around my ARC. Probably a throw back to Chile where you needed to carry around your national ID card by law. I'm not sure if it's the law here or not, but it has gotten me into clubs on the rare occasions that they check IDs. This time it got me on base without hassle. We were given visitor's passes that we had to carry around while we were on base.

We walked around base and first thing our friend brought us to was the "White House". This is the building where all the top military officials in Korea work. Evidently, it's pretty famous. What do I know?

"White House"... really not that exciting looking. There is a parade ground in front for military formations or something...

Then we walked a ways and found ourselves at the food court. My friends, who are all English teachers like me, were amazed to see a Taco Bell, an American style Chinese food restaurant, a Burger King with shakes and menus only in English. We weren't even hungry, but we ran to Taco Bell and each got a taco to eat before the movie.

One of the most annoying parts of going to base is that everything on base is in USD. So, our choice was to find some American cash, use our credit/debit cards from home, or use Won and get a crappy exchange rate. Before I went, I dug up all I had in US dollars, which was something like 20 dollars or so... no, probably less than that... I didn't even think to bring my debit card, since I don't have any reason to carry that around in Seoul, generally speaking. Some of my friends stopped by this ATM, which was run by Bank of America... so weird...
My friend was a slightly amused by our fascination with the ATM machine..

In this same area there was a small mall too:

Then we trekked over to the movie theater.... I didn't realize that it would be so far... I had no idea just how big the base really was.... On the way there, here are some of the sights we saw:

Wow... a Burger King with a playground... crazy...

We finally got to the theater and were just on time for the movie. Those with a military ID get in for free... pretty sweet deal.... for civilians it's $4... still a pretty sweet deal... We watched 'Gran Torino'. It was ok. I really liked the plot, but some of the acting was a little painful to watch...

We then went to the Dragon Hill hotel to get dinner. Prices were pretty reasonable... well, except for the fact that I didn't have enough USD on me to buy in American dollars. I wound up paying in Won and it was SOOO much more expensive. But, whatever. For a real, good, American restaurant, it was worth it. And what did I order? Chicken Parmesan! Who would have guessed I'd take a photo of chicken parmesan... it's so... not exotic at home... but here... it just doesn't exist in any decent form.

Dragon Hill Hotel

Mmmm... Sooo Yummy......

So after dinner we walked back to the exit. There was such a nice view of Namsan. I did my best to get a good photo....

Not bad, considering what I'm working with....

Anyway, I had a fun visit to base. It was one of the things I really wanted to do while in Seoul, so I can scratch one more thing off my list.

Birthday Party Day

The third Friday of the month is a special day at SLP. We hold a giant birthday party for all the preschoolers whose birthday was in the month. So, this means we get to take a break from teaching for 1/2 an hour, bring our kids to the gym. First they sing some of their favorite Kid's Pop songs. Kid's Pop is one of our afternoon activities. They actually learn some decent songs. For example, we've learned 'Hello, Good-Bye' by the Beatles, 'All Together Now' by someone else famous... can't remember his name. We also learned 'Apples and Bananas' and 'It's a Small World'. Anyway, here you can see one of my coworkers leading the kids in song.


Then the MC introduces all the birthday boys and girls.


The kids have to stand on chairs (isn't that dangerous?) and introduce themselves. Most kids were so shy, not to mention that their English skills right now are SO low because they've only been here for 3 weeks, that they might not even understand the question "how old are you?" and "What's your name?". But... I hate to brag, but my kids answered loud and clear and put the other kids to shame. Then again, my class is a much higher level than most of the other classes. Two or three of the kids either went to an English hagwon before coming here, or had private tutors, so, they actually can make basic (though incorrect) sentences... and the other kids learn faster from each other than they do from me. I never taught them "How old are you", but they could all answer!

This is Woo Yong in the pink hat, Ji Yoon in the blue hat and Han Ju in the yellow hat. They are three of my Fornax students, the birthday boys and girls.

After everything is over, we all have to pose for some group photos with our classes. I actually have two classes. Fornax, my favorites, and Jupiter, the loathed ones. The other grown-up in the photo here is Marley Teacher. She is my partner teacher. She teaches one class (Jupiter) and I teach Fornax for the first 80 minutes in the morning. Then we switch for another 80 minutes. They come to my classroom, and my kids go to her classroom. Then after that 80 minutes, we switch back for lunch and play time. Then they have their 40 minute afternoon activity, then they go home. Next month, I will be teaching in Jupiter, and she will be teaching in Fornax. I'll have Jupiter students as my homeroom and I'll eat lunch with them. NOT looking forward to that day... which is quickly approaching! Ahhhhhh.

Yongpyong Ski Resort

Two weekends ago (or was it three now? I can't remember) I went to Yongpyong ski resort to ski for the day. We skied from 11:30 or so, until 4:00. Because it is considered off-season, the full day ticket was only 20,000 won. Definitely a steal.



While the weather in Seoul was in the mid 40's (at least), arriving in the resort area was quite a shock. There was actually snow on the ground. That's why we decided to go here actually. They had just received 40 cm of snow two days earlier (1.3 feet?). The great thing about Yongpyong is it's height. Most ski hills in Korea are pretty small in my humble opinion. Yongpyong has got to be one of the highest ski hills in the country. So, when you're up on top, you can feel the frigid air and ski in great conditions. But you can feel the temperature chance by the time you make it to the bottom and you're skiing in slush and ripping off layers of clothes.


Here is the cable car that takes you from the bottom to the highest peak. It's a nice ride.

The drama "Winter Sonata" partially filmed here, so Yongpyong markets it as much as possible. But, I love ridiculous photo ops....

Me in the gondola... ready to ski!

Anyway, I really like Yongpyong. it's a bit far from Seoul (2 hours or so by car... if there's no traffic and you drive really fast) but, if you get the chance, I'd say it's worth it. Luckily, I was able to drive there since my friend has a car. If not, it might have been a rather long bus ride.

Anyway... I sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. I have so many posts in my head that need to be written, but my present schedule leaves little time for such luxuries... I just keep telling myself that my paycheck at the end of the month will make it worth it......

Oh, and if anyone is curious, I really did ski a double black diamond. :-)

The #1 Reason Why I love this country: Dressing Up

I was walking by Doksugung Palace Saturday, and we happened to go by during the changing of the guard ceremony. I've seen it before, and we were sort of in a rush, so we didn't stop to watch, but as I passed by, I saw a tent set up called "Free Traditional Clothes-Wearing Experience". Now, really, who could turn down something with a name like that???

Here's me, getting tied in.
I think this is the best photo of me....


... But this one is nice too, and it has the palace in the background....


And here's me with some guys dressed up in guard uniforms. They wanted a photo with me too.. HAHA. This is me in a guard uniform at the Korean Folk Village in Suwon in October. Not the most flattering photo of me actually....
Here's me over the summer at the Hi Seoul festival. The ROK military had a tent set up. God only knows why, but they had fun uniforms to try on....

Man, I love this country sometimes..................