Fanny & Neil do South Korea: esl

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Sunday, 23 August 2015

A guide to Gwangju (광주), and to a lesser extent South Korea.

A guide to Gwangju (광주), and to a lesser extent South Korea.
A definitive guide to Gwangju (광주) and South Korea is impossible as a lot businesses don't last long.
Places pop up and disappear faster than the cherry blossom bloom so this guide is going to go over the broad strokes and focus on bigger establishments than tend to last longer.

Transportation:
The public transport in Gwangju is pretty good and easy to use.
What you need is a "hanpay" card that you can use on both the subway and buses.
You can pick one up from any convenience store (7/11, CU, G25) and charge it at the store, subway stations and even online. Note, this card is for Gwangju and you'll probably need something similar if you travel to different cities in Korea.
https://www.hanpay.net/

(Image from www.gwangjunewsgic.com)

Supermarkets
There's the big 3; Lotte mart (lottemart.com), E-mart (emart.com) and Homeplus (homeplus.co.kr).
All these stores are basically departments stores with sections for food, electronics, clothing etc.
However, they are relatively expensive and you'd be better going to a local mart 마트 (SMmart - www.smmart.kr) for food. In addition, be aware the big 3 don't open the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month.

School / Household Supplies
The best place to pick up anything for the house or school is a dollar store type place called Daiso (다이소)
www.daiso.co.kr
Image result for Daiso korea

(Image from seoulistic.com)

Clothing / Electronic Stores
There are many clothing shops in the Gwangju city center. The city center which can be reached via the subway station 금남로4가 (Geumnamno 4 Ga). There are many local shops but also big brand stores such as H&M, Uniqlo and Zara with staff that general speak more English.
There is also high-end clothing at Sejong Outlet which is right next to the Sangmu subway station.
In addition, there is also U-Square which is the biggest mall in Gwangju and houses the bus terminal as well.
For electronics there is a huge department store called Kumho World near U-Square. www.ikumhoworld.co.kr

Banks
There are many banks you can sign up with but we'd recommend KEB.
KEB (or the Korea Exchange Bank - 외환은행) www.keb.co.kr/main/en is a bank that specifically caters to foreign business thus has more English speaking services and even online banking.

Cinema
There are many cinemas that you can visit in Korea, including Lotte Cinema, Megabox and CGV.
We personally recommend CGV (http://www.cgv.co.kr/reserve/show-times/eng/).
CGV tends to have more English speakers and most have ticket machines with an English option.
There is also this great site http://cineinkorea.com/movie/index.php that provides times in English.

Doctor / Dentist
For a dentist there is
http://mediphildent.com/
Next to usquare/shinsegae. There is a footbridge close to shinsegae on the main road. Cross the bridge and you will see a bank. The entrance is where the IDk Bank is and on the 6th floor.

Fitness
There are no big gym brands in Gwangju so most places are local.
We go to Star Fitness which is located on the 6th floor above SMmart.
It's only 5 minutes from Sangmu subway station.

Karaoke
There are many great Korean Karaoke/Singing rooms or locally called Noraebang 노래방.
In the city center there is an 'Alien' themed room which is is in the building next to the Burger King where the arcade games area is (35.147004, 126.916903).Below is a guide to the controls that you'll find in the different rooms:
http://www.korea4expats.com/article-noraebang-machine-functions-english-translation.html

Other Resources:
The best resource for life in Gwangju is the GIC Gwangju International Center (eng.gic.or.kr)
We personally recommend their Korean Classes.
Social media is also a great resource, especiaaly the Gwangju group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2330675731/

Immigration
Address: 광주출입국관리사무소행정실 광주광역시서구쌍촌동
627-1 Gwanju Immigration Office Seo-gu, Ssangchon-dong, 627-1
Relocation Date: Monday November 4th, 2013
Phone Number: +82 62-605-5333
Public Transportation -
Bus #16, 19, 69, 72, 760, stop @ Honam University Entrance (호남대입구) - Subway stop @ Uncheon Station (Honam University) 운천역 (호남대입구), Exit 4
Hours:Open from Monday to Friday from 09:00 am until 18:00 pm. Closed for 1 hr between 12:00 pm and 13:00 pm for lunch. Open on Saturday from 09:00 am – 13:00 pm. Closed on Sundays and Holidays.
*TIP* Smiling and being friendly seems to speed things along considerably. These people have a difficult job…try not to make it more so by yelling at them.
-Fingerprinting, if you need it, can be done at any of the large police stations…not the little “on the corner” ones. Print out the card from your government’s website and head on down. The one I know many people go to is at the end of Art Street nearest the Culture Center construction. Big place with a wall around it.
-Immigrationis where you go to renew your visa. You will fill out a form at the desk when you go in. Check the “Extension of Sojourn” box. Take a number for Residence and wait. Cost: 30,000 won. Bring your passport, copy of contract, and your school’s business license. Many schools will take care of this for you…this is for those that don’t.
-You can also get a new ARC here. Same form as the renewal, different box. Will cost @10,000. Bring a picture on a white background. They have a photo booth outside the office if you forget.
-Same form for changing your address as the above two items.
-If your Visa is an E-2, it is tied to your place of employment. You work in Korea with your school’s permission. Working at another job without it is illegal. Some programs like EPIK have understandings with other schools. Other opportunities may come up through your school. Try to find out what your school allows. Private tutoring is generally not allowed unless you are an F visa holder.
(great guide from Brian Burgoyne)

Facebook:
Below is an awesome list from the (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2330675731/) gwangju fb group.

A small collection of groups around Gwangju (with which you may become involved):

Nerd Culture:

Arts and Entertainment:

Buying/Selling/Trading:

Athletics:

Gwangju Hikers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/895350487188528/?fref=nf

Restaurants/Cafes/Taphouses:

Tequilaz:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tequilazr/
Corona Mexican Food:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/146972625500831/
The First Alleyway:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/345509095224/
Alley Tap House: https://www.facebook.com/allytaphouse?ref=profile
Able Taphouse: https://www.facebook.com/abletaphouse?ref=ts&fref=ts

Voyagers: https://www.facebook.com/voyagersgwangju?fref=ts

Jobs:

Gwangju-Jeolla Job Bank:https://www.facebook.com/groups/154136797947014/

Community:

Global Families of Gwangju:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1415320322015004/
Jeolla-do Travel Advice:https://www.facebook.com/groups/551274054925072/
Gwangju-Jeolla Pet Sitters:https://www.facebook.com/groups/138227567287/
Gwangju Language Exchange:https://www.facebook.com/groups/258201910995284/
Gwangju EPIK Teachers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4951693838/
Ladies of Gwangju and Vicinity:https://www.facebook.com/groups/gwangjuwomen/
Gwangju Korean Learners Club:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/338781432841101/
GIC Talk:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/191633644281304/
Jeollanamdo Readers & Speakers Club:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/152066238290044/
Gwangju Heath Care: https://www.facebook.com/groups/519690444837832/
광주동부 "피해자 전담경찰관" Victim Support Officer (Gwangju Korean Police Officer for Crime Victim Support): https://www.facebook.com/victimsupportcop?fref=ts

Gwangsangu-ers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/129079153968737/345627412313909/?notif_t=group_activity

Gwangju Community Builders: https://www.facebook.com/groups/452871204866054/

Ecology:

Gwangju Birds Korea:https://www.facebook.com/groups/birdskoreagwangju/
Gwangju Window Gardens:https://www.facebook.com/groups/572225996206954/

Clean Gwangju: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CleanGwangju

Lifestyle/Well-being:

Saturday, 13 June 2015

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. :)

Sunday, 29 March 2015

House (No. 3) Warming

At the end of the month, after settling in we decided to invite our co-workers over for a house warming and get together. Unlike Christmas, I only prepped snacks this time around. Veggies and chips. Everyone bought some drinks and dessert to share. There were raspberry sponge cake and cheesecake!

Most of the native teachers showed up and had no trouble finding our place because we are so much closer now. Two Korean teachers showed up! One even bought us a box of strawberries and toilet paper. Apparently a Korean tradition when someone moves into a new place is bring toilet paper. Interesting...

Rather than dancing, we opted for Cards Against Humanity game instead. It was great, especially when I was doing so well. It was great just socializing and talking with each other. As this was at the end of the semester, we had a lot of stories to share about our students and classes. We all dolled out advice on how to manage certain students and classes. The next month, we would have a whole new schedule and new classes and new students (obviously).

There are two major breaks in the Korean school semester: summer and winter. And also two new semester starts: September and March. Korean students graduate in February and move to a new level in March. So every March we would get a whole new schedule and change classes and students. In September, nothing really changes. But this is a busy time for new incoming foreign teachers. Our school should be expecting some new foreign teachers at that time.

Sunday, 22 March 2015

Comedy Show @ Speakeasy Gwangju

One thing Neil wanted to pursue is comedy. Unfortunately Gwangju still hasn't built a big enough community of comics to really go anywhere. So whenever we go to the bigger cities like Seoul and Busan, we try to go to a comedy night. It's a shame that most happens on weeknights instead of weekends when we can go there. It's too bad.

When Neil heard there's a comedy night at the local pub Speakeasy, we made a point to head there. This comic was someone we had seen in Seoul: Brian Aylward. He was hosting a amateur comedy night and was very good so we knew it was going to be a good show. Apparently Brian has been on a tour all over Asia.

We ended sitting with the comic himself! and a few of his friends. They were all very nice. Brian is actually Canadian, so I instantly liked him! His set was very good, as we had expected. Then we spent the rest of the night chatting and drinking with him and his friends. After numerous drinks and shots, I was well tipsy and super tired. We don't normally go out at night very much so I usually get tired easily. And especially with some alcohol in us. But it was definitely a good night, I'd do it again in a heart beat, even if it meant all the suffering the next morning.

Monday, 16 March 2015

Suncheon

So our friend and past colleague had moved to Suncheon at the end of last year. He's invited us out to visit whenever we're free. The last couple of months have been busy but finally we decided to take him up on the offer and take the 2.5 hour bus trip there.

We woke up a little later than we intended to and ended up getting there around dinner time. Ashley and his wife Amy picked us up at the bus terminal and then we all took the bus to a buffet restaurant. I can't quite recall the name but it was popular so we had to wait a little bit. After a nice buffet dinner, we decided to go for karaoke.

At first we entered an establishment that reminded me of those 80s karaoke lounge from Chinese shows. There's a huge stench of old ladies' perfume and there were booths covered with purple velvet. Most of the patrons were well into their 50s? After stepping into this place, we quickly realized this was not what we were looking for so we said our goodbyes and hightailed out of there.

The next place is very much the typical karaoke place so we planted ourselves down for the next two hours and belted ballads, rock songs, etc. It was a great way to spend a Saturday night! After sufficiently wrecking our vocal cords, we headed back to A&A's abode. Their apartment is in a newly developed complex - even area. Everywhere around that area looked so new and clean! And their apartment was gorgeous! It was a three bedroom, with 1 bathroom and an ensuite, an open floor plan of the living and dining/kitchen space. Amy told me that she bought a lot of her future online - I wish I could do the same but alas she is Korean so it's a lot easier for her.

After a night's rest, we spent the next morning walking around their area. It's very spacious with very tall buildings. There's not much traffic or people walking around because it's still new and people are slowly moving in the area. But because it's so far from the city center (very much a suburb), most people would need to have cars as the buses don't run that frequently. After walking around the area and having some lunch, Ashley decided to take us to the Suncheon Bay Gardens. It took us a long time to find a cab, reminded me a bit like Vancouver (lol). Amy almost had to call a cab for us but eventually we found one and started off on our adventure.

This garden is not little, it was massive! We were too early for many of the flowers to be in bloom but I bet it would be so beautiful come spring and summer. There were lots of people there and we spent a good few hours and still couldn't walk around the whole place. One very interesting thing we did here was ride the SkyCube. It's a compact unmanned streetcar. It sits on tracks above ground (like a skytrain!). It takes about 12 minutes to get from the garden to the next stop. It fits about 8 people and costs $5 for a round trip. According to the brochure because it's run on electricity, it's suppose to protect the Suncheon Bay (world top 5 wetland) from exhaust and traffic congestion. From this experience, we also learned that Suncheon wants to be known as one of the most green cities in the world. As we were walking through an exhibition hall, I saw Vancouver named as one of the top green cities in the world. Made me miss Vancouver a little bit and feel a bit proud of my hometown. (both pic on the bottom if found via google)

After we got back to their apartment, Amy had make a wonderful roast chicken dinner for us! By the way, she has a full size oven that I am completely envious of! After thanking our hosts, we headed to the train station to head home. Unlike Gwangju, after buying our tickets we had to line up to get a seat on the bus rather than having it assigned. Needles to say, the station was super busy! Never knew so many would head back to Gwangju on the same night.

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Lunar New Year - Seoul Getaway

For Lunar New Year we got five days off and decided to head to Seoul. We booked our hostel in the Jong-no area called Fortune Hostel. It was great! Very convenient and close to the subway station. Only one train from the bus station.

We kept hearing about how it would be really busy to travel on this day but our trip was really smooth. We got there in 3.5 hours and no big traffic jams. After getting to the hostel, we decided to head out the Itaewon to grab dinner. We originally wanted to eat at a Thai restaurant but changed our minds and headed to Boiling Crab instead. BEST decision! It was delicious!

After dinner we went to Tony's Bar for their stand-up comedy night. It was also very good. We'll definitely go back there the next time we're in Seoul.

The next day (Thursday) we went to Gyeonbokgung Palace. It was a 20-minute walk from our hostel. Being as it's LNY, we got free entrance to the palace and there was also a festival going on as well. Too bad, the tour wasn't going on so that's another place I want to read up on or go again. I bought some treats at the various food tents. Next we went to find the dim sum restaurant Mong Jung Heon. It was nice and super fancy. The dishes were very expensive. The shrimp dumplings were delicious but the pork dumplings did not taste homemade at all. It looked and tasted like the ones I could buy at T&T in Vancouver.

Afterwards we headed to Seoul Grand Park Children's Zoo. It has been a long time since I was at a zoo and this one was pretty cool. During this holiday, it seems half of Seoul was empty and it's been remarked on by some comedians the night before. It was great because that meant we could sit down on the subway and the lines were not long to all the attractions, including the zoo. The zoo was huge! In fact, the whole park was huge! We spent at least two to three hours and there was a whole avian area we skipped (due to the avian flu warnings). We went back to the hostel to rest a bit before heading out for dinner. We were going for Thai food (again, tried) but it was closed so we ended up across the street at an Irish Bar. Neil had some bangers and mash and I had fish and chips. It was okay.

On Friday, we visited the Seodaemun Prison and learned quite a bit about the Korean/Japan war/colonization. It reminded me a bit of the Alcatraz but less scary. It was definitely more educational. Next we went to the Coex Aquarium in the Coex Mall. Before the aquarium, we had some pho in the mall. The mall was beautiful! There's so much to see and it's just very pretty. The last time we were there, the renovations wasn't complete so we didn't see how beautiful it was. The ticket for the aquarium was pricey but we went anyways. It was interesting. There was a section where there were fish tanks in every day items like a fridge and a washing machine.

After the aquarium, we saw another Chinese restaurant so we went there to try their dim sum. It seems like this was another fancy restaurant too. The pork dumplings were much much better but the spring rolls were super tiny and meh.

On Saturday, we had booked a DMZ-tour and the guide came to pick us up at our hotel at 7am. There were five other people in the tour with us. I really liked the tour, the guide was very thorough and gave a lot of explanation and history. She really took care of us. We took a van ride to a city near the DMZ (de-militarized zone) called Paju to meet up with other tourists with their own tour guides (mostly Chinese and western) to travel on a bus to the Third Tunnel. As this is not a UN tour, we couldn't go into the actual DMZ. That tour needs to be booked months in advance and cost slightly more. We did enter the DMZ through the third tunnel which went under this area. We gained a lot insightful information about South and North Korea. This tour was worth it and I would go on the UN tour to see more of the DMZ.

After getting dropped off in Hongdae (after a gingseng store tour...) we went to find this sushi place my co-worker Rami told us about. The thing about Seoul is that there are tons of little and side streets that don't have names so it's a real challenge finidng anything! We walked around the area for at least 20 minutes before we finally found it! At one point I was going to give up but it was definitely worth it. We finally had salmon sashimi and it was sooooo good! We also got some "service" (=free) items such as a shrimp sashimi (I ate both and they were so sweet!) and a seared salmon.

That night after resting at our hostel, we headed to Itaewon again to do a bit of foreign grocery shopping. We also finally had some Thai food. It was a super pretty place (all purple!). The food was good but it wasn't excellent. It's too bad. We also dropped by a place called Ben's Cookies and bought half a dozen. We had them for dessert back at our hostel. It was delicious! One cookie was really filling.

By Sunday, we decided to do a little bit of shopping and then head home. However, we didn't find anything we wanted and just took the bus home. It was a very productive trip and there's only a few things we still have to do (i.e. rainbow bridge, fish market, etc.) Until next time Seoul!