Pros and Cons of Korea
It's starting to get chilly here. Today was sunny, but the wind was really strong. It nearly blew me into work. I'm going to move my bed once it gets too cold to sleep. I haven't had to deal with that yet, but it may change soon. Korea doesn't have very good insulation, especially around the windows.
Today was slightly better. I wasted more time with Memory Giga during the lesson so we'd have less free time. We still had about five minutes left, so I talked bands with one of my students. She's really into this Korean band called Big Bang. She also listens to j-pop. She knew how Ellegarden was, which made me happy.
EC2 was good, until the last half hour. I am trying to think of things I can do to keep these kids busy, because if I try to get them to watch a movie or something else, they just go psycho. Kids that young should not be locked up in school all day. They need to run around and burn off that excess energy. Bah. I'm not any more of a fan of Korean schools than I am of Chinese ones. >_< I think Asia in general is far too obsessed with school and doesn't let kids have enough time to go out and have fun. I'm not saying they all need to be as awesome as American schools (*heavy sarcasm here*), but kids need to be kids!
Anyway, from what I can tell, I like Korea, even if I don't completely love my job here. There are plenty of things that bug me, but it's not like my own country didn't either. Some things I dislike are:
1) I get yelled at for talking on the bus/subway, even though other Koreans are talking too, some even on their cell phones. Not fair.
2) People have to use special garbage bags here, and they throw their garbage on the streets instead of in a can. It's kind of gross.
3) The lack of a dryer for clothes
4) The lack of a dishwasher
5) crappy insulation
6) clothes are expensive
7) Dominoes and Pizza Hut. The two pizza parlors I hate most are the only American pizza places in Korea. WTF. They have "weird" toppings too.
8) no free refills. This makes me very sad
9) Korea's obsession with alcohol and smoking. LAME.
10) Korean food is spicy. Aya cannot eat spicy food.
11) the inconvenience of shopping at Lotte Mart. You cannot get food at Lotte Mart then go and look at a different floor. You have to drop off your bags somewhere, like in the car or whatever, before you can go to another floor.
12) People littering like crazy.
Some things I like about Korea:
1) cheap good transportation. I don't even have to drive!
2) cheap video games and electronics! If you know where to shop
3) fun monuments and old buildings like castles and shrines
4) the presence of McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, and etc
5) Busan
6) being so close to the ocean
7) how everything closes at 12 am
8) it's a very safe country
9) Pepsi! Cheaper than Coke!
10) convenience stores. Especially the fact that they have one in my building
11) Book Off. Even if I have to go to Seoul to get to it
12) good side walks and bike lanes
13) pretty clean, despite all the litter. They have people who go around and garbage pick all day
14) good internet
15) Bulgogi. Soooooo good.
Do the benefits outweigh the cost? I don't know....
Speaking of which, someone from my church asked me to write an article about my time in Korea for the church newsletter. They want me to do a thankful theme since it will be printed a little after November. I have no clue what to write about. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be really grateful. Thanks!
I'm really tempted to do an America pros and cons one now. Hetalia's got me convinced that America is the coolest and lamest country ever. He is lame because he is made of fail, and he's cool because he is lame. That makes no sense, I know. Too bad Korea is so badly represented. XD
Today was slightly better. I wasted more time with Memory Giga during the lesson so we'd have less free time. We still had about five minutes left, so I talked bands with one of my students. She's really into this Korean band called Big Bang. She also listens to j-pop. She knew how Ellegarden was, which made me happy.
EC2 was good, until the last half hour. I am trying to think of things I can do to keep these kids busy, because if I try to get them to watch a movie or something else, they just go psycho. Kids that young should not be locked up in school all day. They need to run around and burn off that excess energy. Bah. I'm not any more of a fan of Korean schools than I am of Chinese ones. >_< I think Asia in general is far too obsessed with school and doesn't let kids have enough time to go out and have fun. I'm not saying they all need to be as awesome as American schools (*heavy sarcasm here*), but kids need to be kids!
Anyway, from what I can tell, I like Korea, even if I don't completely love my job here. There are plenty of things that bug me, but it's not like my own country didn't either. Some things I dislike are:
1) I get yelled at for talking on the bus/subway, even though other Koreans are talking too, some even on their cell phones. Not fair.
2) People have to use special garbage bags here, and they throw their garbage on the streets instead of in a can. It's kind of gross.
3) The lack of a dryer for clothes
4) The lack of a dishwasher
5) crappy insulation
6) clothes are expensive
7) Dominoes and Pizza Hut. The two pizza parlors I hate most are the only American pizza places in Korea. WTF. They have "weird" toppings too.
8) no free refills. This makes me very sad
9) Korea's obsession with alcohol and smoking. LAME.
10) Korean food is spicy. Aya cannot eat spicy food.
11) the inconvenience of shopping at Lotte Mart. You cannot get food at Lotte Mart then go and look at a different floor. You have to drop off your bags somewhere, like in the car or whatever, before you can go to another floor.
12) People littering like crazy.
Some things I like about Korea:
1) cheap good transportation. I don't even have to drive!
2) cheap video games and electronics! If you know where to shop
3) fun monuments and old buildings like castles and shrines
4) the presence of McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, and etc
5) Busan
6) being so close to the ocean
7) how everything closes at 12 am
8) it's a very safe country
9) Pepsi! Cheaper than Coke!
10) convenience stores. Especially the fact that they have one in my building
11) Book Off. Even if I have to go to Seoul to get to it
12) good side walks and bike lanes
13) pretty clean, despite all the litter. They have people who go around and garbage pick all day
14) good internet
15) Bulgogi. Soooooo good.
Do the benefits outweigh the cost? I don't know....
Speaking of which, someone from my church asked me to write an article about my time in Korea for the church newsletter. They want me to do a thankful theme since it will be printed a little after November. I have no clue what to write about. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be really grateful. Thanks!
I'm really tempted to do an America pros and cons one now. Hetalia's got me convinced that America is the coolest and lamest country ever. He is lame because he is made of fail, and he's cool because he is lame. That makes no sense, I know. Too bad Korea is so badly represented. XD