Trip to Beijing

For Chuseok we had three days off of school, which gave us a five day break including the weekend, and one of the few times we have time to travel to another country. Britt, one of my best friends here has family connections in Beijing, China, and they offered us their apartment as well as a friend to take us around while we were there. It was too good an opportunity to pass up so we bought plane tickets and decided to go to Beijing. Me, Britt and Wennie, a friend from another shcool left on Saturday morning for Beijing. It started out a little rough when we got to the airport and were told they had overbooked our flight and our seats were given away. The airline ended up switching us to another flight with a different airline and we were bumped up to first class. It was my first time in first class and we were definately flying in style! They offered us slippers, wine, and served us food for almost the entire two hour flight. When we got to Beijing we were pretty exhausted. We walked around the city on Saturday with Cathy, the lady that was our "tour guide," and had our first real Chinese food. It was amazing! We ordered several things from the menu and shared everything, which is how meals work in Chiina. We had so much food and everything we tasted was delicious. For our first meal had a spicy chicken dish with peanuts, shrimp with veggies, fried rice, some pancake/egg type things, fried dough dipped in a sweet sauce and a big bowl of soup. China is so cheap, and the entire meal came out to about a total of $10, which served 5 of us with plenty of leftoevers. We walked around a little more and then decided on an early night. We ended the day with a foot and body massage, also a first for me, and it was something to experience! In Asia, massages are of a different breed. They are much more rough and it is normal to add in some slapping and punching. Lucky for me, I got the craziest masseuse there was who must have trained as a kung fu fighter. She beat the heck out of my back and it hurt but I couldn't help but laugh. I could get a good beating for free...but the I'll never forget the experience.

The apartment we stayed in was amazing. It was in a highrise apartment community, and the owner is rarely there. He lets people who are in Beijing setting up for the 2008 olympics stay there so you have to imagine it must be nice! We all had our own rooms with jacuzzi bath tubs, a big screen TV and they stocked the kitchen with foods from America that we can't get here. It was Heaven! The next morning we woke up early for a day of shopping at the markets. The first one we went to was an antique market that was full of antiques and also Chinese cultural things like statues, jewelry and tapestries. It was fun to see but we had our hearts set on going to the Silk Market, which is like a huge shopping mall filled with stands of knock off designer items where you barter and get things for next to nothing. Cathy was with us when we went, so at the beginning she taught us the ways of bartering adn then left us to work it on our own. It was so much fun and we bought so much stuff! We ended up buying a new piece of luggage as well to put everything in on the trip home. This place was definitely my little piece of Heaven on the trip...if you know me, you know I love to shop!

The Silk Market may have been overwhelming to some people. You walk in and it is jampacked with fake designer clothes, shoes, purses and bags, jewelry, makeup...pretty much anything you can think of. The people who work the booths are really push. Everywhere we walked people were grabbing our arms to come into their booth and yelling thing like "Hey lady, you need a new bag!" Not sure we needed as many bas as we bought, but who can have too many purses...right? Some of the ladies were really funny. We heard one yell out to a guy who refused to buy pants from her, "Whatever, your pants are all ripped and tore up, you need new jeans." Blunt but definitely funny! We got in all of the shopping we could, and more delicious meals priced next to nothing, and headed home for movies and relaxation. The next day we had big plans so it was another early night.

Monday was our busiest day. We wanted to fit in all of the sight seeing in one day so we could have another full day of shopping on Tuesday...priorities, right??? We woke up at about 7 AM and headed to the Great Wall of China. It's one of the must sees in the world and we were all so excited. For those that don't know, parts of the Great Wall were built as early as the 5th Century BC, and it was meant to protect the northern borders of a Chinese empire. The wall is huge, over 4,000 miles long, and made from stone. There are different sections to access in Beijing to climb, and we went to one of the most popular ones. It was amazing to see! It seemed like we climbed forever, and it was pretty hard because all of the steps were different hights. Some were a foot high, others 2 feet etc. You had to watch every step and try not to look up to see how much further you had to climb to reach the top. As out of breat as we were, the view from the top was beautiful and worth every step! You could see so much of the wall from the top of the section we climbed, as well as mountains and parts of the city.

When we got enough of the Great Wall, we left for the Summer Palace, another must see in Beijing. The Summer Palace served as a summer resort for certain Chinese royalty because it was cooler than other palaces and places they lived in China. It was beautiful! There were several different buildings and palaces that reflected Chinese architecture, and tons of gardens and plants. It was built around a lake, and we took a really cool boat to an island that had other sights to see from the Summer Palace. We were anxious to finish up and head to the Forbidden City, which we had all heard was amazing to see.

We finally made it there and were exhausted, but kept walking and toured the Forbidden City. It is a palace that was used as the center of the Chinese government, mostly during the Ming Dynasty. The emperor and his family lived there, and it became known as the Forbidden City because no one could come in or go out without his permission. It was really cool to walk through. It is pretty much all made of wood, and there were tons of different wings to walk down. It was kind of divided up the middle. One side housed the emperor and his family and was very luxurious. The other side was made up of small rooms where the emperor had numerous concubines, which are like prostitutes, or girls he could have his way with at will. The girls actually chose to serve as concubines and it was accepted because it was a chance for them to see power and money. It was interesting to hear about the history there, and one of my favorite things we saw in Beijing.

To top of the day, we went to a Chinese tea house where we had another amazing meal, then had tickets for a show that was made up of dfferent acts, from dancing, to kung fu fighting and magic. It is a famous tea house, and people like President Bush and other huge political figures have been to see the shows. We were so exhausted...we dragged our feet home and planned for sleep and then another day of shopping.

Lucky me, I woke up at 7 AM with undescribable pain in my lower abdomen. I was curled into a ball screaming in pain and begging for an ambulance to take me to the hospita. Luckily, Cathy lived close by, and she came over as quickly as she could and got an ambulance there. I was in so much pain, I don't remember much of the morning, but I made it to the hospital where they did tests and I left having just about no idea what was wrong. No one spoke English so I had to depend on Cathy, with no medical knowledge to translate. I heard various things, from blockage in my intestines, to cysts on my ovaries, to infection and inflamation in my ovaries and uterus. Anyways, they gave me meds and I slept most of the day while the other two girls went shopping. Luckily the unbarable pain only lasted about 30 minutes, then turned into a constant ache that felt similar to appendicitis, only over a larger area. I made the girls go shopping...I definitely didn't want to ruin their last day! I was just ready to get back to Korea to go to a doctor there.

I made it through the day and night with no more episodes, only the constant achiness, and we went to the airport early the next morning for our flight home. When we got to the airport we were so pleased to hear that once again they overbooked our flight and we didn't have seats. Only this time, the airlines weren't nearly as helpful or friendly. They made up every excuse possible as to why this whole situation was our fault. All flights that day from Beijing to Seoul were booked full, so our only option was to wait on standby for each flight and pray that a seat opened up. That's exactly what we did. Between arguing with the airlines and sitting right in front of the desk on "standby," we were pretty frustrated. Luckily I got a flight at about 2 PM (as opposed to our 8:50 AM flight we were supposed to have). Only one seat was available and Britt let me take it so I could get back and go to the doctor. The only thing good that happened that day was that once again I was bumped up to first class. Britt ended up getting in way later that night...but we both made it back safely so I guess we have something to be thankful for.

Since returning to Korea, I have been to the doctor twice. As far as I know now, I have a bad infection in my ovaries and uterus...and cysts as well. I am still not 100% sure and have pretty much lost faith in the Asian medical system. Tomorrow I have another appointment so we'll see how it goes! Keep me in your prayers and I will do the same for all of you!

Miss you all and love you!

Chuseok Celebrations

We had three days off of school this week because of the Korean holiday called Chuseok. It's kind of the equivalent of Thanksgiving in the US. Instead of all of the pilgrim and indian stuff, they use this day to pray for and worship their ancestors. They give thanks for family and it's a huge celebration. In school last Thursday, we celebrated the holiday with the kids. They all dressed up in traditional Korean costumes callen han bo which were beautiful! I have put pictures of the kids up in their outfits. They are made of a silk like material with different bright colors. The girls wear dresses and ornaments in their hair, and the boys wear a sort of jacket with balloon pants. Very hard to describe but you have to see the pictures! We helped the kids make songpyon, which is a traditional food for the holiday. You use a sort of dough made from rice, flatten it, and fill it with a sesame seed mixture or a bean paste, then make it into almost a moon shape. It is then cooked and eaten! Songpyon is very different, and you either love it or hate it. I think it's actually pretty good...like nothing i've ever tasted.

We also played traditional games with the kids and they were so much fun! The boys competed in a came called chicken, where they hold one leg up and kind of hop around trying to knock the other boys over. The last one standing wins. It was so funny to watch! The girls competed in arm wrestling which was also pretty funny. Then the classes competed in their version of a pinata game, where the teachers held baskets over their heads, and the kids threw colorful balls into the baskets. It was fun, getting hit in the face with the balls and all! It was definitely an experience I will never forget. Completely different culture and traditions.

A little stressed

So it's been pretty stressful lately, trying to adjust to the new director at work. We work really long days, about 10 hours with only a lunch break, and I am also taking graduate classes online. This means I come home from a long day of working with kids to 2 or 3 hours of homework. I have so much going on and am trying my hardest, but might end up dropping the number of classes i'm taking. We'll see! Hopefully i'll make the right decision.

A lot of people have been asking for my address. I love getting things in the mail, even letters or cards! So here it is. It looks long and funny but if you just copy it exactly it will get to me. Hope everyone is doing well and I love you all!

Attn: Christi Russell
46-4 Shinil Plaza, 2F Jongja-Dong Sung Nam-Si
Bundang-Gu KyJong-Ki-Do
South Korea

My job and other fun things.

It's been a busy few weeks, but still so much fun! The longer i'm here, the more I learn about Koreans in general, especially as far as work goes. Things have been a little hard at work lately for everyone. We are trying to get used to the new director who isn't happy with the way things have been, concerning lesson plans and textbooks etc. Luckily, the old director had plans for the rest of the school year (which lasts until February), and then she will completely implement her own plans. She's starting a little early, trying to prepare all of the teachers for what is to come. We already work very long days, and now we have added duties, like writing long, detailed ideas for daily plans, and observation sheets. For now we are all kinda going with the flow, so we'll see how the transition goes from one director to another.

Also, a huge part of the school is based on keeping the parents happy. They pay a lot of money for their kids to go to the private English school, and there are so many of them around, that if parents are unhappy we can easily lose kids. For this reason, we are given different directions on a daily basis, based on what parents are saying/complaining about...which they do ALL the time. One day we might be told to implement more games, and the next it might be to be more strict with the students. It's kinda stressful to work for the parents, and not for what's in the best interest of the students. Also, Koreans are very non-confrontational, and very not direct. They will tell you what they think you want to hear, or avoid disagreements at any cost. There is also a hierarchy in the school, based on the teachers and staff that have been there the longest. Just an example, I had one of my classes taken away from me and was told it was because parents had complained and I wasn't pushing them enough. I was pretty upset about it, until finally the truth came out that my class was given to the lead teacher because she had an opening in her schedule. I guess things like this will happen in any job...it is just taking some getting used to.

Enough complaining...despite all of the stress, I love the job and the kids and wouldn't trade it for the world. This week we went on a field trip to a folk village, which is kinda like visiting Jamestown. It was an old colony-like setting, with differnt places set up to show how people used to do wood work, what there schools were like etc. The kids had a lot of fun. There was also a performance by a chinese group of acrobats that were there. One of the acts used a giant see saw, and there was one girl on each side. One jumped and landed, which would shoot the other into the air and it would go back and forth. They did flips and jumped through hoola hoops in the air. It was so good! There was also a tight rope with no kind of protection, and a man jumped across and did tricks on it. It was a great day for me and the kids! I am working on getting my pictures up from that trip.

As far as the fun stuff...last weekend we had a really good time. Through Facebook, a site online, a few of us from my school joined a group that is all teachers that live around this area. We had our first event, which was an 80's roof top party and we all dressed like freaks and geeks. There was so much neon and bright colors...it was hilarious! We met a lot of cool people that we will definitely be hanging out with more! Tomorrow night we are having a dinner at a german restaurant and then going together. Fun times! Only one more week until Beijing, and two weeks until my Birthday...can't wait! Hope everyone is doing well!

Trip to Daecheon

Me and Si have been planning to take a weekend trip to the beach while it's still warm out, and we made an attempt last weekend but things didn't go so well. We knew where we wanted to go but we get off of work so late, that we didn't get on a bus to head to the train station in Seoul until after 8:00. We didn't do much research or planning and it turned out that the last train to Daecheon, the beach we wanted to go to, was at 8:45. We ended up buying our tickets that night to go this past weekend, leaving on the last train out on Friday night.

As soon as we got out of work on Friday, we grabbed out bags and headed for the train station in Seoul, which can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Just our luck, the traffic was awful and it took us about an hour and a half to get into the city, and we still had to take a cab to the train station. We hurried and ran and missed our train by 5 minutes...bad luck! We were able to trade out tickets for the first train the next morning, which left at 5:45 AM. We were stuck in an area we weren't familiar with, with our bags and nowhere to stay. We set out to look for a hotel, or motel...pretty much just anywhere to sleep for a couple hours! We ended up on a neon-lit prostitute street. The front of all of the "rooms" were glass and a girl was sitting on a stool looking inviting behind each window. It was definitely an experience, but one i'd rather not repeat! We eventually ran into some military guys from America who took us to a hotel they knew of. It was the bare minimum and cost only $20, but I guess that's about what you get for your money! Luckily we made out train the next morning and got to Daecheon a little after 8:00 on Saturday morning. Daecheon is known for natural mud, used for facials and body scrubs, and they have an annual mud festival that is a huge party on the beach with tons of mud brought in and games and music etc. Si went this year and had a blast, but I was on my vacation to Busan with my co-teachers so had to live vicariously through pictures.

Unfortunately for us, it was completely cloudy and rainy on Saturday and we couldn't believe all of the bad luck with our trip. We ended up getting a really good deal to stay in the nicest hotel in the town that had a huge outdoor waterpark and indoor jacuzzi/massage pool. It was so nice! The waterpark had tons of water slides and fake surfing that Si had a blast doing. I had a blast watching people try to stay on the board and completely bust! Even though it was raining, we had a lot of fun going on the water slides and down the rocky river in a tube.

Inside the hotel was a hot tub about the size of a football field. It was all decorated to look like you were under the sea...absolutely beautiful! It was filled with different spots, and each one massaged a different part of your body. It was amazing and I can't even begin to describe how cool it felt! There was also a sauna and an oxygen room.

Also on Saturday, we went to the mud health spa to get mud massages and facials. Spas are very common here. You usually pay an enterance fee for the use of hot/cold baths, sea bath, saunas and other things that are split into male/female rooms. You have to go in nude, which is hard to get used to, but if you don't know anyone it's not so bad. This particular spa also had a mud bath and mud you painted all over your body to make a body mask which is supposedly really good for your skin. After I went through the steps in this big room...from bath to bath, I had my feet soaked and massaged, and then a facial with a mud mask. It was really cool, especially since i've never done anything like it! Even though the weather was nasty, we had a great time and did things that we probably wouldn't have done had the sun been out!

It was a great, relaxing weekend that was much needed! Now it's back to work, and school (my graduate classes have started online), so I am super busy but still loving Korea! Talk to you all soon and check out my pictures!