Message I sent before I left for Korea

Going to South Korea in Novemeber 2011

Hey everyone. I just bought my airplane ticket to Korea! So I should see everyone in November if everything goes well. If I miss your name in this note, please don't take offense. I just wanted to make a quick note to let people know, and I know word spreads fast by mouth. Hope to see everyone there! TTYL!

 
 

 

Things I miss about Florida

1. Clothes Dryer- Almost every household has a washer but they don't have a dryer. They use a clothesline, which makes the clothes stiff and smell weird. Plus, it takes a long time to dry.
2. Dishwasher- Although I don't have as many dishes to wash compared to America, I still wish I had one.
3. Oven- There's a stove but no oven to bake food.
4. My car and driving it. It's too crowded and scary to drive in Korea even though I technically can. Public transportation is so time-consuming and inconvenient with this amount of people.
5. Having actual land on your property. There are no actual houses here. Houses in Korea are the equivalent of apartment complexes or condos in America. In addition, all the "houses" are crammed side by side.
6. Wide, open roads- Only a dream in Korea. No such thing exist.
7. My Samsung Galaxy cellphone and its QWERTY keypad. Although Korean cellphones are pretty cool and have lots of features, text messaging is a pain.
8. Bumping into familiar faces randomly. Also, it's weird to see similar faces everywhere. They all have straight, black hair and Asian faces.
9. Shower curtains- They're not needed here because there is a big drain in the bathroom, that allows water to seep through but still.
10. My own bed and comforter- Luckily, I sleep on the bed and not on the floor, which is normal in Korea. But I would prefer my own.
11. Personal pool- Although it's winter now so I can't swim right now, I would like the satisfaction of knowing that there is one. In Korea, they only have community pools that you pay to get into. Plus, there's like 300 people there since there's not a lot of pools around.
12. The WARM Floridian winter- Yeah, I said warm. You Floridians can say it's freezing now but you don't got any idea of the term freezing. I'm waking up and getting out of bed in 17 F weather over here (and this is without snow). And it's only going to get colder, a lot colder. Believe me, Floridian winter is a tropical paradise by comparison.
13. Mash Potatoe- Don't ask. I just do. I got the strangest craving for them


And the thing I miss the most.....................................




14. YOU!!!!! Of course :) Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. I miss you and love you. See you soon in June 2012!!!!!!!!

Only in Korea...

So as I come to live in Korea and learn more about the country, I got to admit that some things are better
1. Public transportation system (although I still prefer my personal car)
2. Cake with fruit topping
3. Free unlimited side dishes
4. Use of land since they don't really have a choice. Land is limited and they know how to maximize their land
5. Sweet potato pizza (tastes 100x better than it sounds)
6. Spicy food
7. Recycling is somewhat mandatory here
8. Delivery service system (you can pretty much get anything delivered to you, McDonald, groceries, etc)
9. How everything is messaged to your phone (ie when you charge something on your card)
10. Banana flavored milk
11. Ramen noodles
12. Summer clothes (pretty innovative and cute)
13. Lack of guns (even the police officers don't carry them)
14. How English speakers are viewed here
15. No sale tax
16. No tipping

Speaking Topics for ESL Instructors

So as the only foreign English teacher at my academy, I oversee every speaking and presentation class. This entails coming up with possible speaking topics and providing an outline for them to structure their presentations. Here a just a few I have utilized in my classes. If used effectively, you can use each topic for a 50-minutes course.



About Me: Self-Introductions
Best Friend
Book Report on any book
Careers and Your Dream Job
Chores and Other Responsibilities you have
Daily Schedule: An average day in your life
Extinct and Endangered Animals
Family
Famous Person
Favorite ___________
Games
Greek Gods and Goddesses
Hobbies: In my free time
Holidays
If I had one hundred days to live
If I had one million dollars
If I lost one sense
If I owned GnB
If I ruled the world
My Hero
Seasons and Seasonal Activities
Singers and songs
Sports and Exercise
Superheroes and Superpowers
Versus (Cake vs Pie, Dog vs Cat in debate form)
Ways to Destress
Weather Safety
What are some benefits of learning English?
What country do you want to visit?
What institutes a country?
What if ___________?
Write a personal letter
5 Senses Diary (sense of time, common sense)
5 Surprising Things About You


And remember, these are just a few. There are a plethora of versatile topics that you can use. Please feel free to add your own to the list!

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball in Seoul

Lady Gaga was ridiculously amazing! She pulled out all the stops: the iconic meat dress, pushing two males into a meat grinder and making them into mince meat, being born from a giant-@$$ bird's @&u$, riding a motorcycle that had the Korean flag with a built-in keyboard and playing it at the same time, poking fun of the Korean government for banning 18 years olds from seeing her concert, making rah-rah-rah into Rah-rah-Kor-re-rah!!! It was epic. As well as freaky, chaotic, and deafening. Just the way I like it. J I think she lip-synched some of the songs and probably did. But she gave one hell of a performance. She performed all her popular songs as well as not so popular: (not necessarily in this order) Poker Face, Telephone, Judas, Paparazzi, Bad Romance, Born This Way, Alejandro, and a lot more.

And the audience! All the freaks and geeks were there. Including moi. LOL And so many Americans! And costumes. A lot of costumes. It was like Halloween in April. Platinum blonde wigs galore. Traffic was unbelievably horrible. It took nearly 2 hours to get there when normally it’s like 25 minutes. Met some really cool people there who invited me to go drinking with them. Most of them were English teachers, of course. But the fact that under 18 years old are banned, most of the audience were in my age range.

Definitely one of the best night I had in Korea!

April 27, 2012; Friday

Seoul, South Korea

Jamsil Olympic Stadium

8:00 p.m. ~ 10:10 p.m.

Foreign English Instructor for GnB Wanted!

REQUIRED: Bachelors Degree in any major with a 2.0 overall GPA (at time of graduation)

Must have received college degree by May 25, 2012

Native English Speaker

Will be expected to have a copy of diploma, passport and visa by starting date

Expected to stay in South Korea for at least eight months

NOT REQUIRED, BUT HELPFUL TO HAVE: TESOL/TEFL certification, Major in English/Education, Any Knowledge of Korean language

Benefits:

Starting salary is 1,900,000 won/month but negotiable

Health insurance is not included but easily affordable with salary

Renewable contract if you wish to continue working at GnB

Campus Name: GnB Dream

Campus Director: Sun Kim

Campus Address: South Korea (Country), Seoul (City), Gwanahk-gu (Province), Bongchun-dong (Neighborhood), 496-6, Go-oon Building, 4th Floor

Starting Date: Late May 2012/ June 1^st, 2012

Duration of Contract: 8 months at least but highly prefer 1 year

Average # of Foreign English Teachers: 1

Average # of Native Korean Teachers: 2

Class Size: 3-10 students

Class Length: 50 minutes

Work Hours: Monday-Friday, 1 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. but only teach 4-5 classes a day. The rest of the time is lunch break, teachers’ meetings, preparation time, etc.

Most of the websites are in Korean!

GnB Website: www.gnbenglish.com

Campus Website: www.gnbenglish.com/mini_gnb/?mini_cd=S020006061

Campus Blog: blog.naver.com/gnbdream

For further inquiry about this position, please email with (expected) college graduation date to Campus Director Sun Kim: alici@hanmail.net

Or if you like to know more about the personal experience of working as an instructor for GnB, you can email: patzz4891@yahoo.com [출처] Address and Directions to Dream Campus|작성자 지앤비 드림캠퍼스

It's springtime for Gina and Korea

Today has been the first day since I felt like the weather has been good. It's finally starting to feel like spring and loving the weather. Even more impressive are the cherry blossoms blooming throughout South Korea. Such a memerizing sight. This one moment makes up for the last three weeks coughing out my lungs. Still sick as a dog but even I can't deny the beauty of spring in Korea. Cotton candy, gentle breeze, ducks quacking and birds chirping, kite-flying. All the signs of spring are here.