Starbox - Gwangju Gym

English Speaking Gym- Gwangju.
We go to the Starbox Gym in Sangmu.
Price:
₩10,000 for one day.
‎₩80,000 for one month.
‎₩150,000 three months.
Opening Times:
6am - 11pm Monday to Friday
9am - 6pm Saturday to Sunday

From the Sangmu station head out past the outlet mall exit towards the city hall. You will walk past the BYC building and Ramada hotel at the halfway point. Once your walk past the collection of Korean banks at the corner with the Starbucks is the Starbox building.
Remember to keep looking up as the name is in English at the top of the building.

Go up to the gym on the 7th floor, and speak with the trainers.
They should take you down to the 6th floor where you can pay for your membership. There isn't much English speaking staff, so just point to the months you want displayed on the counter if you don't speak Korean.

English Speaking Gwangju Doctor

We have been to and highly recommend Dr. Seunggwan Khang as an English speaking doctor in Gwangju.
His specialty is pain management, but he can also take care of most general practice needs.

Details:

http://www.geomedclinic.com/about.html
GeoMed Clinic (former Body & Soul Clinic)
Jongyoung Bd. 5th Fl., 361-1 Joongheung-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, Korea 500-040

  Tel  Office    82-62-525-0606
  Mail  geomedclinic@gmail.com
Opening hours (walk-ins)
Weekdays
8:30-5:30
Saturday
8:30-12.00
Sunday
Closed

We use show the map along with it's Korean address to a taxi driver to get to his clinic.

Dentist visit

Let's say it's been a long time since I've been to the dentist and I was very apprehensive. But Neil insisted we should at least get a check up so we went.  The location was easy to find from the subway, it's near U-Square. The building has several other medical offices.

It was a rainy day and we sat in the reception area waiting for our turn. Once we're called up, we went into this long room with several dentist chairs. There's a glass barrier between each one so you can't see the next person. There were a ton of nurses around. The dentist came by and he spoke perfect English and seemed very nice and kind. He took a look in my mouth and told me I still had two of my wisdom tooth. One is easy to take out and the other a bit trickier. He also asked me what I'd like to do today. I told him I'd like a cleaning first and then will think about taking out one of my wisdom tooth. 

The nurse came and showed me a piece of paper with instructions on what to do if I feel too much pain. I don't think she really spoke much English at all. Then she went to work on cleaning my teeth. She was very thorough and took about 30 minutes cleaning. At times it did hurt but I managed through the pain. My mouth felt really clean after that and I know it would be sensitive for a while. 

After Neil was done with his appointment we went to set up our next appointment where I would get my teeth pulled out and Neil will get some thing added to his gum. I'm still not sure what it's called. The best part of this experience was finding out the price. That almost hour-long visit only cost us each 30,000 won (which is roughly $30). 

My next dentist visit was much less apprehensive. I can only describe it as quick, thorough and painless. The nurse once again cleaned my mouth for about 20 minutes and then once the anesthesia worked, the dentist came by and pulled out my tooth. It took less than five minutes! I had to wait 30 minutes for Neil's appointment to be done. When we went to pay, they decided to give us discounts. My cost was only 12,900 won. And Neil's 3 gum thing was 120,000 won. Wow, what a deal! 

I have since recovered from this and it only took about a day of eating soft food before I was ready for some solid food. There was no bad reaction at all either. Neil took a video of me describing our experience and I look like a chipmunk and sound funny because of the cotton ball in my mouth. 

A day in the life of a hagwon teacher in Gwangju

(This is a post I've been meaning to write but haven't had the time)

We've been here for almost a year and things are finally going in a routine manner. We work 5 days a week with the weekends off. Working in a Hagwon (aka English Academy) means we work late. So here's a snapshot of a typical Monday morning.

Morning

Neil usually starts the day off by waking up anywhere between 8am and 9am and then heads to the gym that's a block away from us. I'd wake up and spend about half an hour to an hour on my ipad, catching up with the west coast and playing some games. Eventually I'll get up and wash the dishes (if it hasn't been washed the night before). If I hadn't packed lunch the night before I'd start prepping breakfast and lunch. By the time Neil gets back, breakfast is usually ready and lunch is cooling down. Typical breakfast includes dumplings, eggs and toast, congee or if I'm feeling fancy then french toast. On extremely lazy days Neil will have oatmeal and I'll have nutella and peanut butter on toast. Oh and we always have either coffee or tea in the morning that Neil makes. Our lunches are usually leftovers from the night before or I'll make something easy like fried rice. 

We'll watch a short Netflix TedTalk or episode of something funny while having breakfast. Then I'll usually take a shower first because it takes a lot longer for me to get ready in the morning. I'm usually still finishing my coffee or tea. By the time we're both ready - dressed and packed - we'll head out the door by 12:30pm. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we have to get to work by 1:00pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's 2:00pm so we'll spend an extra hour watching tv or leave early to run an errand like pay bills or buy something. 

Afternoon

By the time we get to work, most of the other teachers are just trickling in as well. On Mondays, all the Korean teachers have a meeting so that usually runs from 12pm-ish to about 1:30pm. I usually begin my lesson planning. There are 8 classes in one day that are paired up into 4 blocks. Korean and Native teachers share half the classes and students are generally here for 2 hours. The first block is usually the youngest students ranging from 7 years old to 10 years old. We teach them course books - which are designated books with a set curriculum. There's a pattern to these and eventually you'll get the hang of them and it's fairly simple to teach. The next block are a bit older but still in Elementary school. But again, still course books with set curriculum. In the third block, we have the older students, either in the last few years of Elementary school or first year Middle school. Native teachers focus mainly on teaching reading and writing books. Reading two times a week and writing once a week. Our last block are the Middle school students. There tend to be less of those students and some teachers have more breaks at this time. Once students have graduated from Middle school they no longer come to us and goes to a different type of hagwon.

I digress. Mostly planning is a bit robotic. I have a notebook where I write down what I plan to do with the kids. Usually the first thing I do is check their homework then we review vocabulary. Depending on the type of lesson, we read or do an activity. I also note down what homework I'm assigning for the day. For my younger students, I always give them special stickers for homework and if they've done well in class, I'd give them a certain amount of the school stickers. They all have sticker books that they'll collect and claim a prize from the receptionist. 

After planning my lessons, it's about 2:30pm and Neil and I head to the break room and have our lunch. Most of the other native teachers also eat around this time so we all sit together and catch up. Shortly before 3:00pm we can hear kids running and talking in the lobby and know we'll have to get back to our desk soon because classes start at 3:00pm. After each block of classes, we'll get a 10 minute break, which is nice to give us time to sit down or use the bathroom. On Mondays I teach 7 classes and get to leave at around 9:00pm. 

Night

Since March, Neil and I both get off at 9:00pm on Mondays so we'll head home together. Depending on what we're eating for dinner, we sometimes stop by the grocery along the way to pick up stuff. After getting home, we'll put our stuff down and get out of our work clothes. I start prepping dinner. Usually dinner is ready in about an hour. I specifically choose easy meals so I don't have to spend so much time cooking so late. A typical dinner includes black bean pork over rice, chicken curry, tomato noodle soup, shanghai udon fried noodle, pasta, or a chicken salad. After eating we'll usually watch an episode of something on Netflix to relax and digest. Then we'll get ready for bed. While in bed, I'd play on my ipad some more and Neil would be on his phone reading. Then we'd call it a night and start the day all over again. :)  

Seoul with Tommy & Stacey - Part 2 (with pictures)

<read part 1 first>

We were both still tired and a bit cranky the next morning but a quick stop at the convenience store, we greeted Tommy and Stacey with better spirits.

Today we wanted to head to the Hanok Village before the crowds so we got a cab there around 10am. Since we haven't ate yet, we stopped by a restaurant that was advertising Ginseng Chicken soup. Normally I am NOT a fan of ginseng at all. The strong medicinal taste really turns me off. But when the soup came out, the smell was minimal and the chicken was so tender. I would defintely have it again. My mom would be so proud of me for having ginseng without her coercion! 

We walked around the hilly area and there are some old-style houses mixed in with more modern ones. I think I prefer the Jeonju one more. It's more compact and there's an actual map to know what I'm looking at. Next, we took a cab to Norangjin Fish Market to get some fresh seafood. It was a very interesting place but after a while, all the seafood stands looked like they sold the same things. After almost walking the entire place, we chose a stand and got some jumbo shrimps ($14), jumbo scallops ($10) and little live octopus ($15). Then just after we paid and they packed up our food, a woman from one of the restaurants grabbed our food and said for us to follow her. She led us through a series of tables and chairs and finally told us to go into an enclose place with other tables and chairs filled with people. We found a seat for four at the back and sat down. Later, a woman asked us how we wanted them cooked. For the octopus we said "sashimi", the scallops "bbq" and same for the shrimps. When the food came we proceeded to eat and take pictures and videos. It was very yummy! Surprisingly between the four of us, we still couldn't finish it all. At the end, it costs us another $10 for each dish so that meal came to $69. Not bad but would've been expensive if it was just Neil and I.

We still had some time to kill before our Eland cruise on the Hangang River so we hopped into a cab and went to Coex Mall to kill some time. We walked around until we were tired and went to a coffee shop to have some drinks and rest. Then we caught the subway to head to cruise. Unfortunately Tommy twisted his ankle at one of the stations but we weren't that far so we kept going. And then we got off one station too early, so we grabbed a cab but after the cab dropped us off, we were still a good 10 minute walk away from the docks. We had to go to the terminal window to pick up tickets and sign some kind of waiver form. Thinking back now, it's almost like those airplane passenger list because we had to fill in our names, sex and date of birth. I guess it's in case the boat capsizes. Anyhow, this area by the river is very nice and lively. It reminded me a bit like Vancouver's English Bay. Lots of people around, flying kites, lying on the grass, biking, etc. Next time, I definitely have to go back.

After we boarded the cruise ship, we just sat down and they announced that there's going to a live music performance shortly after 8pm. At the beginning many people were sitting and once the boat started moving, everyone got up and just went to stand out by the rails for a better look and pictures. This was an ideal time to be on the cruise, we were able to watch the sunset then we passed the Banpo Rainbow bridge. It began to light up and we took many pictures. The weather was very pleasant, with a slight chill. It was a very nice way to cruise along the river (spoiler alert! We also saw one of the buildings that was used in the filming of Avengers 2). Next time, we'll have to do the cruise + buffet. 

After a long day of adventures, we headed back to Itaewon and grabbed some Thai food at Wang Thai. We ordered two curry and pad thai and some appies to share. The pad thai was amazing! I am still thinking about it now. I wished I had bought some home with me. Mmmm....another place we have to go back to! 

On the last day, I was hoping to say something to management before we checked out but. Again no one was around so we just left. We dropped off our bags at T&S's and went to get some western breakfast at the Wolfhound (a place Neil and I have been to before). We bid our adieus and went our separate ways. T&S went to do a little shopping before they have to leave the next day and N & I went do grab some books at What The Book and grocercies at High Street Market. 

And that was the end of our long weekend in Seoul with Tommy and Stacey. A short but very sweet trip!

First Week in Gwangju

We arrived in Gwangju after travelling for over 24 hours. 

Our first stop was our new school - ECC. We met the director, vice directors, admin staff, Korean teachers and native (english-speaking) teachers. We also got a tour of the facilities. Afterwards, Mr. Kim took us (luggages in tow) to our first apartment. Let's just say after being three months vacant, the place left little to be desired. We don't think any cleaning had been done. After putting our things down (NOT unpacking), we went to Lotte Mart to grab some food and cleaning supplies. We spent about three hours that night cleaning the apartment from top to bottom. The bleach smell was very strong that night.

The next three days we did our observations from 2pm - 10pm (classes start at 3pm). The first few nights we continued cleaning the apartment until it was livable again. I wish I had taken some before pictures, but we were too tired and just wanted to clean the place up as soon as possible. In SK, you need to put your garbage in specially marked bags which you can purchase at most stores. It costs from $0.50 to $1.00 depending on the size. There are four sizes. For our apartment, we bring our garbage bags down through the backdoor and someone or something picks it up. I've never seen it picked up but after a few days the garbage does disappear. 

After our observations, the school was closed for holidays so we had six days to do as we please. Rather than going anywhere, we decided to stay in GJ and familiarize ourselves with our surroundings. We tried many wonderful food including food court Korean food, fast/take-out Korean food, poutine (from expat bar), pho, fried chicken (sooooo good!), pizza, popcorn at the movie theatre and pasta. The food here is very reasonably priced and so good! The portion size is also very good, even though I still sometimes struggle to finish my food. I also made some food at home as well: fried rice, stir fry, soup, sandwiches and congee :) 

We don't have an oven so Neil hasn't had a chance to test out his culinary skills. In our next apartment, that will be one of first purchases.

We watched two movies: Planet of the Apes and Guardians of the Galaxy. We just purchased our tickets and pre-selected our seats and food on a machine so we didn't need to use too much Korean. Truth is, we can't :( We will be signing up for Korean classes for September. In the mean time, one look at Neil and everyone does try to speak a bit of English so that helps. 

The subway in GJ is only one line but we live very close to it so it's convenient for us. The price is only about $1.20 ($1.10 if using a transit card) each way anywhere on the line. It's super cheap! We haven't tried the taxi yet, but I hear that's really cheap as well. 

Well, that's all for the update today. Neil is working on our apartment tour video so hopefully in our next post, we can show our place! (all nice and cleaned)