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Getting a haircut in Seoul

I had been in Korea for about 3 months and I needed a haircut pretty desperately. So, naturally, I went a’googling. And not surprisingly, all that did was terrify me. I found links to horror story upon horror story about Toni and Guy in Apgujeong, Zen Hair near Ewha women’s university, the Green Turtle in Itaewon…etc, and how all of their stylists were going to be rude, awful, and ruin my hair. I have very “fine” hair (which I think is a euphomism for “thin”, but my hair dresser back home insists there’s a difference..) so I’m extremely picky about who cuts my hair. And based on everything I had read on Dave’s ESL, I was decidedly going to get a bad haircut, no matter where I went. After wearing my hair in a pony tail for 3 weeks, I finally caved and asked my Korean friend to make me an appointment with someone at the Toni and Guy in Chungdam-dong (but not after attemping to call the Ichon location myself and being shot down by “No English, sorry!”). I chose the Chungdam-dong branch because their website lists it as the ‘head salon’ and because I hadn’t seen their name pop up in any reviews, good or bad.

So my friend called me on a Friday to tell me that she’d made an appointment for me later that day. There was no turning back. I mean this ponytail of mine was not attractive at all, thin hair + ponytail ǂ cute. So I had to face my fears and show up for this appointment because it would have taken me another two weeks to reschedule. After school I hopped on the train, took the bus, got off at the right stop…and then got lost. After walking around for 20 minutes trying to find the place, I gave in and called them. Much to my delight, the receptionist spoke nearly perfect English. I followed her directions and found the place with no problems. My hair dresser spoke English just as well as the receptionist, at least she definitely knew her hair salon vocabulary. I brought in two pictures and she definitely gave me a combination of the two. The haircut itself was nothing like my haircuts back home…much more choppy…but she still took her time with it, overall I think it was an hour between the time I arrived and the time I left. The weirdest part was when she started to blowdry my hair…and then her assistant also started to blowdry my hair with another blowdryer…that was a new experience.

Anyways, in summary, I highly recommend Kim Yang Hee (김양희) at the Chungdam-dong Toni and Guy. It is not the best haircut I have ever had, but it’s pretty close to what I asked for, and it was an overall relaxing experience. It was exactly what I expected from Toni and Guy in the states, and very much worth the 60,000won, which is A LOT for a haircut in Korea (10,000won is about average). It’s about time to go back. I have a 3-month policy, meaning that I am not allowed to get my hair cut more often than once every 3 months. I’ve almost cleared the window…should be much less scary this time.

Hwagye Market

Like a million years ago I went on a day trip to Hwagye market and uh..some temple whose name I still can not remember (ss-something-sa). Originally we were going to see the cherry blossoms, but they were kind of all gone by this point. It was still beautiful, though. It’s really nice to get out of the city now and then. I think we spent more time on trains and busses than in the actual town but the train ride is half the fun, as you can see from my pictures.

First of all, on the morning of the trip we still had pretty much no idea where we were going (our lives were, as they often are, in Inhee’s hands). The morning of the trip started out with Blake calling Steven from the train station only to discover that Steven’s alarm hadn’t gone off…giving him something like 15 minutes to get all the way from Sincheon to Seoul Station. Blake, Inhee, and I were on the bus counting down the minutes and looking around hopefully for Steven’s face. Inhee kept saying that the situation was making her very thirsty. I don’t know what that means, but I like it. Anyways, miraculously, Steven made it onto the train with 2 seconds to spare. Here is what ensued:

we know how to bring the party

decorating eggs…i don’t remember why?

i know easter was coming up

I think I mentioned before that all buses in Korea are weird. If not, here is proof.

I call these melon squashes because I don’t know what they are but that’s what they taste like. I don’t like them.

obsessed with the ajuma trio here

lunch

little tiny clams and fried fish heads

whooo still some cherry blossoms haning on

I have more pictures from Blake’s camera…but it’s bed time.

Costco in Seoul

Last month (I’m so behind) I got a Costco membership!! It was only ₩35,000 for both Blake and myself. Costco was everything I hoped for and more. If you’re going to Costco in Korea, bring cash and go hungry (REAL pizza, omfglkkendakjsv). Highlights: They have REAL Mountain Dew I was wrong, they don’t.. And Tanqueray for the same price as back home. And some pretty serious baked goods…dinner rolls, croissants, muffins, bagels, cheesecake…I’m going again this Saturday. Can’t wait because I didn’t actually buy the Dew last time (I wasn’t sure if it was legit…but then I tried it in a resto in Itaewon and my dreams came true…you can tell because the can is the normal US 12oz size and not the typical “international” 8oz can..…too bad I was wrong about that theory.) Here are some pictures from the trip:

Sangbong location

escalator for carts…this one is going down into the glorious basement full of food. going up, it is actually someone’s job to help you push/pull your cart off the escalator.

it’s about time Jackie Chan got in on this

Oh, heavens.

My beloved saviours, Inhee and the Costco pizza. I’d pay the ₩35,000 just to have access to this pizza for a year. Seriously.

Pelicana

We live very close to a fried chicken restaurant called Pelicana. Actually we live very close to three other fried chicken places, too (BBQ, Two-Two, and Chicken Man…it’s a bit much). Anyways, every night around 5pm all of the students from the nearby university head to the Pelicana to get, as I like to say, butt-housed. The week that Blake and I moved in we decided to check it out. They serve you pretty much the entire chicken chopped up into scary looking deep-fried chunks (neck included). Aside from the eerieness, though, the chicken is delicious.

They also have normal popcorn at Pelicana, which is kind of rare for Korea (it’s usually kind of sweet instead of salty). In case you are wondering…that’s cabbage topped with mayo and ketchup. I like to call it “fancy cabbage”.

While we were there we met a nice student wearing an Atlanta Braves hat. All we got out of him were the words “Chippa Jonezu” and this picture.

JIFF

For the Children’s Day vacation I went to the Jeonju International Film Festival. Recap:

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Back from three days in Jeonju (sometimes referred to as ‘Chonju’). The weekend started off on a bad note when Friday night we discovered that our bank would be closed until Monday evening…meaning that we had no access to online banking, ATMs, or, for some reason, even our debit cards all weekend. Would have been helpful to know about this in advance. I would expect this kind of thing from France, but not you, Korea. Oh well. We used our American bank accounts to get us through the trip. Saturday was a little miniature breakdown day. Our accommodations turned out to be a love motel. Apparently it’s pretty common for people (I think foreigners, especially) to stay in these motels on vacations – they are pretty cheap and have much better last minute availability than most hotels. They even supply you with all of the following: two toothbrushes, ‘facial yogurt’, a disposable razor, a condom, hair gel, cologne, hair spray, two hangers (no closet), lots of tissue boxes, and insecticide. I really was not mentally prepared for this…not to mention I had no towel, shower shoes, or safety blanket to sleep on (those sheets + the comforter = disgusting nightmare).

yuck.

So after frantically joining couch surfers and messaging everyone in the area, we left the “U N I” (You and I) Motel to drown our stress in booze and try to enjoy the film festival. Oh, also, before joining couch surfers we discovered that pretty much all the movies we wanted to see were sold out. So anyways, we caught the tail end of a B Boy competition, bought tickets for a film the next day, went to see Wolverine, and attempted to go out for drinks…which is apparently not the thing to do in Jeonju. After being turned away from several full restaurants, we ended up at Miller Time, which is exactly what it sounds like. And it was raining.
So that was Saturday. Sunday was pretty great. The weather was fabulous. We ate some world famous Jeonju bibimbap, went to the Hanok village, which was having its annual paper festival (traditional Korean paper called hanji…I don’t know the details about its significance), did some shopping (tons of good shopping in Jeonju), watched some apparently famous guy’s concert, then caught the outdoor screening of Tokyo!. It was a little disappointing because there were no English subtitles and my Japanese listening comprehension sucks. It made me really want to see the film again, though (…with subtitles). I think I liked Michel Gondry’s the best, but it’s hard to say for sure.

bibimbap!

No idea who he is (Chang/Jang Kiha and (the) faces, see more here and here.), but the back up girls were super hot. They started smoking on stage after their first song and the crowd just started literally screaming with joy. (see previous post re: women smoking in Korea)

After Tokyo!, we took the shuttle bus to the university where Midnight Obsession was playing. There were three nights of the Midnight Obsession series, each with a different theme. It begins at midnight and lasts until the third movie is over with 20 minute breaks and snackies in between films. We went to Horror Night and saw I Sell the Dead…the director was there to present it, though I would have preferred Dominic Monaghan or Ron Perlman in his place. After I Sell the Dead we stayed for some Japanese compilation called Kiru(Kill)…I was asleep for most of it.
Monday we saw this film about Catherine Deneuve going to Lebanon called Je Veux Voir. It was only 64 minutes long. Blake really hated it, but it struck a chord with me. After the movie we went to an adorable café inside of which was an adult-sized kiddie club house with different rooms as table, including an upstairs balcony with ladder access. Stupidly I didn’t take a picture. For some reason, all of these cafés in Jeonju like to blatantly advertise the fact that they sell wine and beer…but when you try to order these things they give you that “take it easy, cowboy” face and inform you that they have no alcohol in stock. I don’t understand it.

rosé from the cutie café because they were “out” of white
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I was so relieved to be away from Seoul and away from my life as a teacher for a while. Coming home was just as much of a relief, though. I will never take sleeping under my sheets for granted ever again. So many pictures coming soon.

Excerpts from “In Korea…”

My friend Tamra posted this in her blog. I thought I would share some highlights. My comments are in bold.

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Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.

Everywhere I go I see at least one person sucking on a sucker.

Most women wear 3-inch heels everyday. Also, I have worn heels one time in Seoul and since then have sworn them off almost entirely. The subways and roads here are three times more difficult to walk on for some reason.

Motorcycles and cars drive on the sidewalk.

I eat rice and kimchi every week day at school.

Koreans stare obviously and do not look away when you watch them stare at you.

Korean women use the bathroom stalls to smoke. Girls aren’t “allowed” to smoke here. Not literally, but it’s a big faux pas.

You can find a mirror anywhere you go, and there is usually a Korean (man or woman) looking at themselves.

You can only buy medicine in a pharmacy, even the basic cough/cold remedies.

You must always speak in simple short sentences… I came here to teach English and my English is getting worse.

Anything you want to find is 5 times harder, especially when you’re in a hurry.

Most Koreans are very helpful and eager to assist you however they can.

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Thanks, Tamra!

The Principal’s Office

My principal’s office looks like a nail salon.
…Speaking of nail salons…that’s one more place that I’d really like to go to…but I’m too scared. still have not been.

The Job

Mondays throught Fridays from 8:40 in the morning to 4:40 in the evening I teach English to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at a public elementary school in Seoul. The students are adorable and the best part of my day. I have three coteachers, plus one woman who is “in charge” of me. At first I was terrified by the thought of having more than one coteacher, but now I am so appreciative of all of them. Building relationships with as many people as possible is key to survival in these schools. Typically when I walk into the teachers’ break room, and especially when I don’t have one of my coteachers with me, anyone inside immediately gets up and leaves. They tend to avoid me at all costs. It’s a little disconcerting but also kind of..peaceful? Most of the teachers can speak English, and some of them are really very good, just too modest. Anyways, let me introduce the two main characters in my life right now:

Mr. Kang, age: 30 (Korean years); Theology major; unmarried but he has a lady friend; was studying to be a Catholic priest but decided “his God was different from the one he was studying”; he is hard to explain..a very happy workaholic who is very very good at English and has been a saviour to Blake and I so far; he is somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to teaching; but I probably need that sometimes. lately our teaching styles have been clashing, hopefully that will change with the beginning of the new semester.

Mrs. Song, age: 53 (Korean years); married with two daughters; she lived in London for almost ten years but moved back to Korea last Fall; she is a temporary teacher at my school (like myself); we share an office; she is very into studying English and, for her age, her level is very good; she is a perfectionist when it comes to grammar and memorizes sentence structures in her spare time; her daughters still live in England and she will move back there when she retires. She was replaced with a permanent teacher 2 weeks before the end of last semester. I miss teaching with her, but a new office buddy was welcome.

When I’m not teaching, I’m lesson planning. On top of my 21 classes a week at my school, I teach an afterschool program at Blake’s school 2 hours a day, 3 days a week. The afterschool class is actually an Earth Science course in English so it can be a bit ridiculous at times. Today my students learned renewable and nonrenewable resources. Poor things. They haven’t even learned it in Korean yet. The afterschool class earns me an extra ₩720,000 a month, but it is extremely exhausting. At the same time, it keeps me from going stir crazy. It only lasts until mid-July.

I extended my contract with the after school program. It was overwhelming at first, but now I don’t know what I would do without it.

Teaching is draining for sure, but I’m getting used to it. The text book can be pretty miserable, but once I learned to accept it, my life became drastically less complicated. I’ll end with some pictures of the kiddies. Too cute.

I Used to Think This Blog Would Help People Wanting to Teach In Korea: How I Chose My Program

Finding a place to teach English in Korea can be completely overwhelming. Because of the very high demand for English language education, Korean private schools (“hagwons“) are abundant and almost always hiring. Hagwons sometimes pay a little more and offer more flexible work hours; however, they are not as reliable, as you may have problems with your boss/contract and, thus, less job security. Public schools may pay a little less (between ₩1.8 million and ₩2.7 million), but offer more benefits and a guaranteed contract. Just Google ‘hagwon or public school?’ and you will have a pretty good general idea of popular sentiments surrounding the question. Here are a few excerpts:

“Every year the public school jobs are getting worse with salary of 2 million won , 14 days holiday per year and long hours of working.”
“So far, on my adventure, I have moved from a hagwon to a public school.”
“At the same time as the hagwon system fails to deliver, a new opportunity for English-learning is opening up in the public school sytem”
“The problem is that hagwons are businesses first and education…”

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) -
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s official website.
SMOE is not exactly a “program,” but it is the name of the government office responsible for hiring “NSET’s” (Native Speaker English Teachers). If you want to work in a public school, you will have to go through SMOE. In order to do so, you will more than likely need a recruiter.

Recruiters:
As far as I know, SMOE gives you three options:
- Korea Connections
- Footprints
- Work n Play
*EDIT* – Korvia also seems to be an option

Jay Lee with Korea Connections was my recruiter, and he was very easy to work with. He was very quick to respond to any of my questions, and very helpful. He never tried to push a hagwon or any other job on me, and was nothing but encouraging. I have read some negative reviews of WorknPlay as well as Footprints, so be sure to do your research before deciding. I will say that WorknPlay gave their hires free Seoul Land tickets and Footprints gave out free t-shirts. There was also a recruiting company that gave out little care travel packages with a plug adaptor and those cool pens with the subway maps in them that roll out…anyway, I forget who that was with. No presents from Korea Connections…I don’t know if that will sway you either way.

Korea Connections FAQ