Trick Eye Museum (and Ice Museum)
April 14, 2014 at 12:59 | Posted in Adventures | 2 CommentsTags: gratuitous number of photos, Hongdae, Korea, Trick Eye Museum
In the magical land of Hongdae exists the Trick Eye Museum. It’s basically a series of silly art-based photo opportunities. As an added bonus, you also get to visit the Ice Museum. I think I may have to revisit my definition of the word museum.
creepy frozen ice people…umm, what sort of museum was this again?
Cafe Table A (aka best cat cafe ever)
April 13, 2014 at 12:46 | Posted in Adventures | 2 CommentsTags: Cafe Table A, cat cafe, cute, Hongdae, kitten on a hamburger pillow, Korea
I suppose you could call me a cat person. Problem is, my current living situation is sans cat. And Skype dates with cats just aren’t as fulfilling as video chats with people. But lucky for me, in Korea there are ways to cope. I’ve been to cat cafes in Korea before, but Cafe Table A in Hongdae is superior in just about every way. There are tons of cats and even a few kittens (subject to change of course; even Korea has not yet developed kitten maintenance technology). I can say with confidence that this cafe’s cat cuteness is one standard deviation above the norm. The cats were also more friendly, not requiring the lure of food, just the lure of a good lap.
우리가만든미케익 (The pretty cake we made)
April 9, 2014 at 20:02 | Posted in Adventures | 2 CommentsTags: cafes, Cake decorating cafe, Korea, Korea is cute
One thing I love about Korea is all the cafes. They typically sell your usual coffee beverages but also lots of more uniquely Korean choices as well (sweet potato lattes being a recent favorite of mine). Decor ranges from cutesy to chic to luxurious to eclectic to downright confusing. Lots of them have themes. There seems to be a cafe for everything. A few weeks back we went to a cake decorating cafe, because that’s a thing. The name of the place was “내가만든미케익” which means something like “the pretty cake that I made.” You pick out the size, shape, and flavor of your cake and the base layer of frosting (which they conveniently prepare for you). You pick out another color/flavor and decorating tip for piping or whatever else you have in mind. The wall is covered in pictures of your cake decorating potentials.
Nadia and Brinae looking for inspiration while we wait for our cake
Badger Blogging Blitz — Day 2
March 25, 2014 at 20:20 | Posted in Badger Blogging Blitz, Life, Work | 4 CommentsTags: Korea, School lunch, Teaching English
Here we go again!
8:30: Walk to school. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. 안녕하세요, bow. Lots of greeters out today. I hear “Hello, Miss Ashley!” from behind and a fifth grade boy who often walks to school the same time as me runs to catch up. His English is pretty good and we chat about how we’re feeling, the weather, and his upcoming trip to China.
Badger Blogging Blitz — Day 1
March 24, 2014 at 21:54 | Posted in Adventures, Badger Blogging Blitz, Cultural Confusion, Life, Work | 1 CommentTags: Korea, Teaching English, The Pink Hole
Alright, welcome to Day 1 of the Badger Blogging Blitz. Each post will start with a recap of my day. If you’re interested in the mundane details of my daily life, then this is the week for you! Otherwise, you may find this incredibly tedious. It’s been a pretty uneventful day, but here’s the play-by-play.
8:30: Walk to school. It’s only a three minute walk, but I say “안녕하세요” [annyeonghaseyo] (hello) and bow nine separate times to various crossing guards, teachers, etc. As I walk to my classroom, kids greet me with varying degrees of enthusiasm. One kid says “Hi” but then bows deep Korean style; his friends laugh at his awkward combo and he covers his face in apparent shame. I find it endearing. My first class is at 9:00 AM, so I busy myself reviewing the day’s lesson plans and mentally preparing myself for the onslaught of 120 kids that will filter through my classroom today.
Communication Woes: Law of Diminishing Returns
March 14, 2014 at 06:30 | Posted in Cultural Confusion, Language | 1 CommentTags: graphs giving the illusion of legitimacy, Korea, Korean, SLA, whiiiiiine
I’ve found my Korean ability to be both a blessing and a curse. Admittedly, it is probably more often the former than the latter, as evidenced by the random free food and drinks it often results in. However, it comes with its fair share of frustration. If you can manage to speak even a single word of Korean, you will be instantly met with excited gasps, cheering, clapping, ooh’s and ahh’s, thumbs up, etc. I should point out that I’m not really exaggerating here.
However, once you get past that first word, it goes downhill pretty quickly. Your novelty wears thin, and apathy takes over as it sinks in that conversations with non-native speakers require a substantial amount of effort – on both sides. This is what I like to call the diminishing returns of Korean communication. Here, I even made a graph for you:
Law of Diminishing Returns of Korean Communication
Continue Reading Communication Woes: Law of Diminishing Returns…
Stationery, because Korea
March 8, 2014 at 10:14 | Posted in Cultural Confusion, Language | 1 CommentTags: English, job security, Korea, stationery, wtf
Stationery is kind of a big deal in Korea. It’s cheap and ubiquitous and adorable. There are stationery stores everywhere. However, my absolute favorite thing about the stationery is the English. It comes in all flavors of ridiculous. I’ve started a bit of a collection but simply have neither the space nor the funds to collect it all. So what I cannot own, I sometimes take a picture of, lest these gems of linguistic and contextual contortion go forever unappreciated.
Of note is the endless font of knowledge which stationery provides. Notebooks are not simply a tool with which you can record information, they are apparently also a great source of facts. Because why the hell not?
“Raspberries contain significant amounts of polyphenol antioxidants such as anthocyanin pigments linked to potential health protection against several human diseases.” …good to know
Dark Side of the Yongmoon
March 1, 2014 at 21:19 | Posted in Adventures | 1 CommentTags: ajumma, hiking, Korea
We’ve been lucky enough to have temperatures in the 50’s for the past week, so I took that as an imperative to finally leave the comfy heated floor refuge of my house and get some exercise. It would be nice not to run out of breath by the time I reach my third floor classroom every day. I’ve already been to nearby Yongmun Mountain a half dozen or so times but always in the same general area –lured in by its 1500 year old ginkgo tree and shrines and lanterns and whatnot. However, the thing about mountains is that they just sort of keep going around. So today we decided to explore the other side of the mountain.
Stuff that happened forever ago: Korean Folk Village Edition
December 2, 2013 at 05:49 | Posted in Adventures | Leave a commentTags: field trip, Folk Village, Korea
In September, we went on a school field trip to the Korean Folk Village [한국민속촌]. I accompanied the 3rd and 4th graders who just happen to occupy the more adorable end of the spectrum of my students. This may at least be in part because they also happen to occupy the We-especially-love-Ashley end of that spectrum.
Once we arrived, we let the students loose and the teachers went off to relax on their own. Unbeknownst to me, everyone had prepared all kinds of delicious food to eat, and so we had a little feast. This probably being the nth time they’ve all been carted off to the folk village, the other teachers seemed to have little interest in walking around. Ever the intrepid explorer, I wandered off on my own to see the sights.
Continue Reading Stuff that happened forever ago: Korean Folk Village Edition…
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