I went to Seoul my first weekend in Korea because I needed to go up to receive training. The school tells me on Friday that I would be going up on either Sunday, or Monday (which ever day worked best for me). I met someone named Jay (co-worker) that Friday, and I told him my situation. I told him that the school was sending me up to Seoul without anything, and I had no idea how to get up there. Lucky for me, Jay was also to go up to Seoul that week for training. Jay is a Korea native, so a trip up to Seoul was nothing to him. If it weren’t for Jay, I would’ve never made it to Seoul. The school asked me if I could come in on that Saturday, but I told them that some family members were coming to visit me and that I would not be able to come in. They agreed that I could take the day off. I met up with my family on Saturday and went out to eat lunch with them. We picked up a few things for my apartment and went to go drop the goods off. On my door was a sticky note that requested that I come into the school as soon as I can. I figured that they needed some information or something so I told my family that I’d be back in about 10 minutes. My cousin came along with me to help me in case I couldn’t understand the request. When I got there, the school told me that I needed to come in for work. I was extremely upset because less than 12 hours ago, they agreed to give me the day off so I could meet up with my family. So, my family took a 4.5 hour journey from Daegu to Jeonju so they could eat lunch with me for 30 minutes, and now they would have to go back home. This is how Korean people bend you over, and repeatedly stick their cock in your ass. I finished work, and went home around 1am in a grumpy mood.
Jay and I agreed to head up to Seoul on Sunday so we wouldn’t have to wake up early as hell on Monday. We got to Seoul mid-afternoon, and just walked around to learn our surroundings. We found a cheap and comfortable hotel, and claimed our room for the night. Afterwards, Jay took me to Coex Mall and Lotte World where we went to a museum that was featuring the history of Korea. We did a bit more exploring and mapped out the bus and subway routes, then went back to the hotel. The hotel was very nice and I couldn’t believe that it would only cost us roughly $50 a night. That’s when Jay told me that the hotel has a “love hotel” reputation. What that means is that people come to the hotel, have sex for a few hours, and then return to normal human life. The hotel sure did have all the makings of a “love hotel.” A mirror ceiling, a class door into the bathroom, a large bathtub, a shower with glass doors, and all sorts of Asian porn. In fact, the computer had more pre-loaded porn that regular programming. The computer was linked to a big LCD TV so you could stream anything from the computer to the TV.
The next morning Jay and I headed out extra early to make a good first impression. During our checkout, we asked the workers at the hotel if we could reserve the same room for that night. They told us that we could, but that we would have to take all of our belongings with us. This would be very inconvenient as Jay and I packed enough stuff for a week in Seoul. However, we needed to save all the money we could, so we agreed to do so. The reason why we needed to move our belongings out was that people come in and check into rooms for a few hours (for some, a few minutes), and then leave. I didn’t know that mid-afternoon sex on a weekday was such good business. Training sucked ass as expected. The training was presented about 90% in Korean, so the information went in one ear, took a shit in my head, and then went out the other ear. During training week, I probably averaged about 5 hours of sleep. If we weren’t at the training center getting lectured, we were studying for the exams, or preparing for our demonstration classes. It was a brutal week that was no help at all to me.
I don’t remember much after that as it’s been almost two months. I just remember going into work, getting shit on and disrespected, going home and feeling like shit, coming in early the next day only to get shit and pissed on, going home to sleep, waking up, and doing it all over. Of course it’s not all bad as my co-workers have been a saving grace and kept me afloat when the times were tough. The weekends were our reserved time to unwind, bitch about JLS, and just let out some energy. I can’t say I’ve done much other than work and hang out with co-workers. Work is constantly changing and it’s impossible to find solid ground here. They want us to do one thing one day, and then it’s completely different the next day. I had numerous meetings with my director, and eventually the lack of communication between us forced Jay to step in and translate. By that time, so much damage had been done, it would be impossible to fix. We would just go along with this as long as it didn’t break. The school and I still haven’t found a level of comfort, but I’m still here and they tell me the parents have been sending in compliments. The school is probably lying to make me feel better about myself. Koreans lie a lot, so I’ve learned not to trust any information unless I get it first hand. Again, it’s not all bad. I’m sure if any of you have been following my uploaded pictures or my vlogs, it’d very much seem like this trip has been a lot of fun. It’s a blast going out with co-workers and exploring Korea, it’s just very difficult to organize things and for me, it’s very difficult to keep sane because I need to be able to plan everything out and see what’s ahead of me. My co-worker Scott lives a floor below me, and so when ever I just needed to be around someone, or I needed to borrow some food, or I needed help getting somewhere, I would go to him. He has been extremely helpful, and I only regret not being able to help him more since he is also going through a tough time. When ever I feel like Korea is crashing down on me, I go to Jay. Jay has taken me under his wing and helped me out financially, and has also made my time in Korea much more pleasant. I feel like I owe Jay about $1,000,000. I feel like I can go to Jay for just about anything. I also have become very close to my co-workers named Jenna, and Song. They’ve been there for me when I needed someone to talk to. When I have an emotional or psychological burden, they’ve been there to share to load. I don’t know how I can pay them back for keeping me sane, because this is something that can’t be measured. I have an insane amount of love for all these people, and I feel as though I’ll forever be in debt to them. I hope that they will never be in a position where they need my help, but if there ever comes a time that they do need my help, I will be there for hear their call.
This blog is a mess, and it covers a wide range of time. Sorry.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Third Blog From Korea
I intended on blogging with more frequency than I have been, but if any of my readers have been following my Facebook, they know quite well by this point that I have an absolutely brutal job. The lack of time and lack of Internet access at home make for a very bad combination when it comes to blogging. I was just beginning my plane ride to Korea in my last blog, but that seems like an eternity ago, and most of those memories have faded. The memories have faded quicker than usual, as I have been on a rollercoaster ride from hell. I feel like a bi-polar teenage girl, who is on her period. I was hoping to keep my blog neat and organized, but at this point, that seems like a futile task. I will try my best to catch up and keep up, but I can’t promise anything.
I believe I when I last left my blog, I was just hopping into a plane at the international airport in Minneapolis. Saying goodbye to my friends and family was one of the toughest things I had to do in a while. I got through all the security scans and to my gate with plenty of time to spare. In fact, too much time to spare. The flight to Chicago wasn’t bad at all and seemed pretty quick as the adrenaline was still filtering out of my system. I didn’t have any time to spare in Chicago. I was headed to San Francisco right away. My plane got the San Francisco 30 minutes early, and I had a 2 hour lay-over. Lucky for me, I needed that time to regroup, finally eat something, and get some music onto my iPod for the long flight. I also gave my family a short call, and it was very short because payphones are a bitch. I was hoping to relax, watch a couple of movies, and listen to a bunch of music on my flight to Korea, but there was an old Korean man sitting next to me that insisted on having lengthy conversations. Conversations are a great way to pass the time, and normally I would be all for it, but not this time as my Korean is very limited, and the old man’s English was very limited. There must’ve be a cultural gap because I had my headphones in, but the man continued to tap my shoulder and would spark a new conversation every 10 minutes. If I knew how to say, “shut the fuck up old man,” in Korean, that would have been the time to use that phrase. I watched a total of 0 movies without interruption, I listened to a total of 0 albums without interruption, and had 2 naps interrupted. The moral of this story is that Koreans are fucking dumb.
I landed in Incheon and I wanted to shoot my brains out. Airplanes are so goddamn cramped. It took forever to get through immigration, but finding my bags and customs were a breeze. One of the workers actually told me to lie on my customs card when I asked him, as it would speed up the process. That’s Korea for you. I got out into the lobby, and searched for my recruiter, but no one was there waiting for me. That was understandable as my plane landed a bit early. I waited in the lobby for about 30 minutes. My stomach began to warn me that my meeting with the toilet would begin soon, and that I should get prepared. As I started my way towards the bathroom, a woman with a sign runs into the lobby. The name on the sign read, “Min Woo Kim,” but for some odd reason I thought that could be me. I don’t know why I thought it was. The odds there was another Min Woo Kim in that lobby were probably very high. Koreans have about 3 names total. Lee, Kim, or Bak. However, that lady walked right toward me and it turned out to be my recruiter. I still needed to go to the bathroom, but she had a lot to say. I calmly stopped her when I started sweating, and told her I needed to make a run to the bathroom. I paid for a bus ticket (thanks for taking care of me Korean people), and made my way toward Jeonju. My recruiter told me that she would contact my director, and let her know that I was on my way to Jeonju and that she should expect my arrival in a few hours. I had been awake for almost 48 hours, and I kept falling asleep in the bus. I tried my best to stay awake, because I didn’t want to miss my stop and have to explain my situation to a bunch of Koreans. I got to Jeonju, and I waited outside for my director to pick me up. I helped a couple of white people get to their school via taxi because they knew zero Korean. I felt bad for them, because their school expected them to find their own way to the school. That’s Korean people for you. I waited outside for about 30 minutes, and no one came. It was the middle of the night, and I was half frozen so I desperately looked for a phone. I called my director from a payphone, and ran out of time in the middle of my call. I waved for the next taxi, and hoped that maybe the driver knew where JLS English Academy was. He didn’t, but he was kind enough to ask for my director’s phone number and called her for me. I eventually got to the school, and I was ready for bed. However, they wanted to hold an interview so I my sleep would have to be put on hold. They then told me that my apartment was not set up yet, so they would put me into a motel. I got dropped off at the motel at 2am, and my director told me to get to school the next day at 10am. That would be 6 hours of sleep, after a 16 hour plane ride, and after zero sleep for the last 48 hours. They could’ve at least had the courtesy of picking me up at the right time. Of course I got there at 9:45am the next day, and the entire room seemed as if it were spinning. I had never felt such a sensation. The moral of this story is that Koreans are always late, Koreans don’t give a shit about how you feel, and that Koreans are mother fucking ass-holes.
I believe I when I last left my blog, I was just hopping into a plane at the international airport in Minneapolis. Saying goodbye to my friends and family was one of the toughest things I had to do in a while. I got through all the security scans and to my gate with plenty of time to spare. In fact, too much time to spare. The flight to Chicago wasn’t bad at all and seemed pretty quick as the adrenaline was still filtering out of my system. I didn’t have any time to spare in Chicago. I was headed to San Francisco right away. My plane got the San Francisco 30 minutes early, and I had a 2 hour lay-over. Lucky for me, I needed that time to regroup, finally eat something, and get some music onto my iPod for the long flight. I also gave my family a short call, and it was very short because payphones are a bitch. I was hoping to relax, watch a couple of movies, and listen to a bunch of music on my flight to Korea, but there was an old Korean man sitting next to me that insisted on having lengthy conversations. Conversations are a great way to pass the time, and normally I would be all for it, but not this time as my Korean is very limited, and the old man’s English was very limited. There must’ve be a cultural gap because I had my headphones in, but the man continued to tap my shoulder and would spark a new conversation every 10 minutes. If I knew how to say, “shut the fuck up old man,” in Korean, that would have been the time to use that phrase. I watched a total of 0 movies without interruption, I listened to a total of 0 albums without interruption, and had 2 naps interrupted. The moral of this story is that Koreans are fucking dumb.
I landed in Incheon and I wanted to shoot my brains out. Airplanes are so goddamn cramped. It took forever to get through immigration, but finding my bags and customs were a breeze. One of the workers actually told me to lie on my customs card when I asked him, as it would speed up the process. That’s Korea for you. I got out into the lobby, and searched for my recruiter, but no one was there waiting for me. That was understandable as my plane landed a bit early. I waited in the lobby for about 30 minutes. My stomach began to warn me that my meeting with the toilet would begin soon, and that I should get prepared. As I started my way towards the bathroom, a woman with a sign runs into the lobby. The name on the sign read, “Min Woo Kim,” but for some odd reason I thought that could be me. I don’t know why I thought it was. The odds there was another Min Woo Kim in that lobby were probably very high. Koreans have about 3 names total. Lee, Kim, or Bak. However, that lady walked right toward me and it turned out to be my recruiter. I still needed to go to the bathroom, but she had a lot to say. I calmly stopped her when I started sweating, and told her I needed to make a run to the bathroom. I paid for a bus ticket (thanks for taking care of me Korean people), and made my way toward Jeonju. My recruiter told me that she would contact my director, and let her know that I was on my way to Jeonju and that she should expect my arrival in a few hours. I had been awake for almost 48 hours, and I kept falling asleep in the bus. I tried my best to stay awake, because I didn’t want to miss my stop and have to explain my situation to a bunch of Koreans. I got to Jeonju, and I waited outside for my director to pick me up. I helped a couple of white people get to their school via taxi because they knew zero Korean. I felt bad for them, because their school expected them to find their own way to the school. That’s Korean people for you. I waited outside for about 30 minutes, and no one came. It was the middle of the night, and I was half frozen so I desperately looked for a phone. I called my director from a payphone, and ran out of time in the middle of my call. I waved for the next taxi, and hoped that maybe the driver knew where JLS English Academy was. He didn’t, but he was kind enough to ask for my director’s phone number and called her for me. I eventually got to the school, and I was ready for bed. However, they wanted to hold an interview so I my sleep would have to be put on hold. They then told me that my apartment was not set up yet, so they would put me into a motel. I got dropped off at the motel at 2am, and my director told me to get to school the next day at 10am. That would be 6 hours of sleep, after a 16 hour plane ride, and after zero sleep for the last 48 hours. They could’ve at least had the courtesy of picking me up at the right time. Of course I got there at 9:45am the next day, and the entire room seemed as if it were spinning. I had never felt such a sensation. The moral of this story is that Koreans are always late, Koreans don’t give a shit about how you feel, and that Koreans are mother fucking ass-holes.
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