Cave Exploring: Hwanseongul in Samcheok

Since I'm terrible at remembering to finish and publish blog entires, I have a lot of catching up to do... So, let's rewind to last fall when Dinah and Marley came to visit and we took a trip over to Korea's east coast...

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A trip to Samcheok on Korea's east coast isn't complete without a visit to one of its best tourist destinations: Hwanseon Cave. I'd never been in a large cave before, so I was seriously excited to check out one that boasted being not only the "largest limestone cave in Korea," but also one of the largest in all of Asia. Last fall, I took a weekend trip with some friends who were visiting from the U.S. and the cave was just as awe-inspiring as we were hoping.

The Samcheok area is full of activities, such as a very, ahem, special park (photo blog coming soon of this gem...), gorgeous beaches, delicious seafood, railbiking, and great hiking. They have two caves, Hwanseongul and Daegeumgul. We only had time for one cave, so we opted for Hwanseongul. It sounded the most impressive with its 6.2 kilometers of known passages. So, we bought tickets and hopped on a bus from Samcheok Intercity Bus Terminal, ready to do some cave exploring.

The bus from the bus terminal drops you off in a big parking lot, with the bat-shaped ticket booth ahead, which is where you purchase tickets for the cave for ₩4,000. 

In order to get up to the cave, since it's inside a mountain, you have two options: a short hike or a ride up a little monorail. Since we were looking to conserve energy, we chose the monorail. A roundtrip ticket is ₩5,000, which is what we opted for, but you can also do a one-way for ₩3,000. 

Before going up to the monorail platform, stop at the little ticketing booth to purchase your ticket.

Strange little boxy monorail car, with the track ascending in the background.

My view from the monorail window as we went up. 

The entrance! 

The mountain air was already crisp and cool, but as we approached the cave, we could feel the temperature dropping. We stopped for some pictures and marveled at the map of what we get to explore vs. the sheer size of the entire cave and its tunnels:

As you can see, this cave is HUGE. 

And in we go. 

Walking inside, we were immediately hit with sounds of rushing water. This cave, as you'll see in my pictures, is very, very wet. It has quite a few small lakes and waterfalls. There's something about the sound of water echoing through gigantic chambers of rock that's just cool. 

Photos just don't do it justice.

Tons of really strange looking rock formations.

Took this leaning over the side of a bridge -- the pit below is of unknown depth. Meaning it's too deep for anyone to be able to tell. Crazy!

Lots of rope lights in this place...

As you can see, the entire cave was pretty well lit. They've set up small spotlights on the various features of the cave, along with names and little information signs telling you about how it formed/what it is/etc. It was all very interesting, so if you go, try to make the time to read as you walk through. 

More crazy looking rocks.

Just incredible.

Tips for visiting Hwanseongul:

• Get there super early. We caught the 8:20am bus from Samcheok Intercity Bus Terminal, arriving at the cave around 9am, and it was nice and quiet. We were able to wander through at a leisurely pace, not feeling rushed by crowds of people behind us. When we made it back to the bus stop to leave around 11am, floods of people were getting off tour buses. 
• Dress warm! Even in the summertime, the cave stays a cool 12-24°C (53-75°F), so plan to always have at least a light cardigan on you. In the winter it's obviously even colder, with the average being 8-9°C (46-48°F). 
• Wear shoes with a good tread. As you can see in the pictures, the paths through the cave are all metal, including the grates that make up the flooring. Also, the cave is quite wet. While I was wearing decently grippy shoes, I was anxious to watch my footing because it did feel like it could easily be slippery. 
• Speaking of water, beware of drips. If you're coming into the cave with a nice camera, be ready to shield it from dripping water -- it's pretty much everywhere.
• Your overall travel time to and from the cave will look something like this: 40 minute bus ride from Samcheok Intercity Bus Terminal, about a 15 minute walk up the base of the mountain to reach the monorail station, about 15 minutes on the monorail itself, and about an hour to meander through the cave. If you actually want to hike to and from the cave, budget in about an extra hour or so. 
• For more information, check out Samcheok's website and Korea Tourism Organization's Hwanseongul website.

I highly recommend a trip to Hwanseongul. Samcheok is a beautiful area and well worth a weekend getaway, and while you're there, definitely make the time to see this massive cave! 

Monthly Photo Recap: September 2013

I'm not really sure where the month of September went... In fact, I'm completely bewildered by the fact that we're already a week into October? September was full of the beginnings of fall, a Chuseok vacation to the beautiful island of Ulleungdo, and the start of my mom's visit to Korea! I was kept pretty busy, as can be seen by all the blog entries and emails that are piling up...

Surprisingly, I didn't take many pictures last month. Well, on Ulleungdo I took a cool 200, but I don't want to post too many of those here... they deserve their own blog! So, this month's photo recap will be a little shorter than the past two. October's, however, is already off to a bangin' start.

Enjoy!

So, I went to a K-pop concert... It was interesting. I came out of it caring no more or no less about K-pop than I did going in, which is fine. It just isn't my "thing," but I still had a really good time. Blog entries about the whole experience are going up soon -- we got in for free for participating in a K-pop flash mob! Pretty cool. Stay tuned for the full story. 

EXO, at the concert, Incheon Korean Music Wave 2013. 

We had -incredible- seats, by the way. :)

Scorsese is such a weirdo. Cats are aliens.

But why?

I got to check out a HUGE exhibit of original Studio Ghibli sketches -- it was pretty amazing. 

And across from the Ghibli exhibit was a wonderful Mucha show -- seriously awe-inspiring. As a massive Mucha fan, it was nearly a religious experience for me. 

Starting off my Chuseok vacation the right way: watching the sunrise on a beach on Korea's east coast.

Ulleungdo! Billions of photo-heavy blog entries coming soon about this magical place. 

I would happily trek along Ulleungdo's coast every. single. day. 

Me and my mom! In Korea! 

Mom brought Reese's to help build our depleted stockpile back up. Sorry, not sharing. 

It isn't quite cold enough for "real" sweaters yet, but they're already on the racks in the subway shopping centers! And for W10,000 each?! (That's less than $10 USD, y'all.) Can't wait to wear these this winter. I think I have a sweater buying problem. (Also, I need to clean my mirror... -_- )

I envy all the napping he gets to do.

Ended the month with the last day of the Gauguin exhibit in Seoul, which was really great. Way too crowded, but that's what we get for going on the last day... Still worth it. 

Teaching Tips for a New Term at Chungdahm

This blog entry was originally published on the Aclipse Blog, which is produced by current Chungdahm Learning teachers in Korea. The blog features entries on current events around Korea, advice for incoming teachers, and the best spots sightseeing, shopping, and eating. The original entry can be viewed here. It has been edited slightly for content. For more information about Aclipse and Chungdahm Learning, click here. 

A new term has started here at CDI, and with that comes new classes with new students. Even though this term will round out two years in Korea for me, the first days of new classes still fill me with a little excitement and anxiety. I just want them to like me, you know? In my time teaching at CDI, I have learned a thing or two about how to start your new term off on the right foot. So whether you're fresh outta training or you're a fellow seasoned teacher, here are some tips to implement in the first few weeks of a new term.

Be clear with your expectations.

CDI's set curriculum gives us teachers a solid structure to lean on -- you have set components of each class with clear methodology as well as a timeframe for each class that's (usually) accurate and helpful. As you become more experienced as a teacher, you'll find ways to improve or modify some of those components, which is a great way to keep the class more dynamic.

Since every teacher will be a little different, your students need to understand what you want from them -- this is one of the biggest questions in their minds during your first classes together. You need to outline your expectations for your classroom clearly. Make sure they know your goals, your rules, and your consequences for breaking said rules. If you do this well, you'll set up your classroom for a great term. 

If students could make the class rules, this is what they would look like.

Don't be afraid to be strict.

Every CDI branch will vary when it comes to discipline, and one thing my particular branch chose to implement was a "yellow card" system. It's essentially a referral, given out for rule infractions. Usually, these are given to kids who speak Korean in the classroom, which at Chungdahm, is a huge no-no since we are trying our best to create an English immersion environment. As a student receives a second, third, or fourth yellow card, their punishment escalates accordingly, from a phone call to their mother to detention.

No matter what you or your school's method of discipline may be, the most important part is following through. When a student breaks a rule, you can't give them another chance, followed by another chance, and then another. When you get a new class, the students are typically spending those first classes getting a read on you. They want to see what the parameters will be for your classroom, so they can then gauge reactions to their bad behavior accordingly. As soon as they realize you mean business, they'll fall into line and class will be more enjoyable for everyone.

Always remember this advice: as a teacher, it's easy to move from strict to fun over the course of a term, but it's really difficult to make the switch from fun to strict. 

But, also remember to have some fun.

At my branch, the first class means no homework check or vocabulary test, so we've got some extra time at the beginning to get to know each other. I love this part of the new term because I feel like it's a chance to show my new class that they don't need to be afraid of me, and that I do have a sense of humor.

My go-to icebreaker game lately has been Two Truths and One Lie. After explaining the rules carefully, stressing that they need to be creative and trick all of us, I give the class time to jot down their three things. The fun part of this is getting the rest of the class to guess the lie. Each student reads their three things and then I lead the class in trying to figure out the lie. It's a great way to get everyone laughing and lighten the first-day-of-class nerves for the students. 

For some of my more advanced classes, I've been having a lot of fun with Would You Rather. We all take turns coming up with ridiculous questions and then each student thinks of their answer. Since these students have higher English skills, I typically also ask them to explain why, stipulating that silly questions can definitely have silly answers, so long as they are well-developed. This went over well with my students, and everyone seemed to enjoy the ridiculousness. 

Get to know your students.

In the first few weeks with a new group of students, I ask them questions constantly. Before class, during group work, during break time, during CTP... I just strike up conversations so I can get to know a little bit more about each student. The one-on-one conversations also make them feel more at ease with you as a teacher, meaning they'll feel more comfortable about expressing opinions or asking a question when they don't understand something. These kids are going to have a billion questions for you, and while you patiently field each and every one of them, feel free to fire questions back at them, too. 

Obviously, this shouldn't stop after the first couple of weeks. So many of CDI's lessons have built-in discussion questions that can lead to some really fun conversations with your classes. I learned a lot about my new Bridge class today because our lesson was about fears and phobias. As soon as I shared some of my own, hands were flying into the air to share stories, most of which were quite funny. 

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What advice would you give to a new teacher? Any sage wisdom to pass along from your time in the classroom? Leave it in the comments below! 

How-To: Teach English in Korea

Quite a while back, I wrote an article for Go! Girl Guides all about getting started with teaching in Korea. And then I totally forgot I wrote it for a few months. Recently, I've had a lot of people asking me questions about how to get a job over here, which made me remember that I wrote about it, and also that I'd totally forgotten to repost the info onto my own blog!

You can read the original entry here, and while you're at it, check out their website! Full of really great information for solo lady travelers all over the world. Definitely a great resource. :)

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Making the decision to move abroad is huge, especially when you also have to make decisions about where you want to work. When looking into teaching in Korea, the number of choices is absolutely overwhelming.

Here’s some basic information to help guide you through this intimidating decision-making process:

First, why should I teach in Korea? Is it really that great? 

Excellent question. “Why Korea?” I still get asked that regularly. For most people, when they hear “Korea,” they think of a) M*A*S*H, b) Kim Jong-Un and the bizarre hermit North Korea, or c) absolutely nothing at all. Korea is often dismissed or overlooked, which is a shame, since it’s an amazingly modern, interesting country with a wonderful culture and incredibly kind people. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that Korea is well on its way to surpassing Japan in fancy technology. Plus, it’s super inexpensive to live there, especially when you compare the cost of living to the salary you’ll make as a teacher. I’m in debt from my student loans, a car loan, credit card payments… etc. Each month, I can send over $1000 home to put towards payments and still have the money to eat out for dinner most nights, go shopping, pay my iPhone bill, and take trips around the country.

So, yes, Korea really is that great.

What do I need to get a job teaching English in Korea?

First, you need to speak English fluently. If it’s your first language, you’re golden. Actually, even if it isn’t your first language but you speak it fluently and with little to no accent, you’ve still got a chance at getting hired.

The second thing you need is that fancy piece of paper that says you graduated from a 4-year university/college with a Bachelor’s degree. Some jobs prefer an English-related degree, but for the most part, it doesn’t matter which degree you earned, simply that you did.

Also: have strong verbal skills. Speaking to a group is an important part of this job, so make sure you can see yourself in that role.

What kinds of teaching jobs are out there?

While you’ll find a variety of English teaching jobs out there, I’m going to cover the two most common types: public school and private English academy. (If you’ve got an MA and/or substantial teaching experience, look into university jobs. I don’t know much about those, so I’m not going to cover it, but I hear it’s a pretty sweet gig.)

What to expect from a public school:

• “Normal” school hours, being something like 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday.
• Larger classes, usually at least 20 kids, many of whom you only see once or twice a week, for about an hour at a time.
• Vacation time generally reflects when the students are in school, meaning public school teachers often have more time off than private academy teachers.
• The big hiring times are geared around the start of the school year in February and then the mid-way point in August.
• It’s likely you will be one of a small number of foreign teachers at your school, if not the only one.
• Check out the following links for information about the big government programs that hire for public schools: EPIK, GEPIK, and SMOE.

What to expect from a private academy, or hagwon:

• After school hours, typically starting around 3pm and ending around 10pm, Monday through Friday. Some academies have Saturday classes, so keep an eye out for that too.
• Smaller classes, usually no more than 15 kids.
• Depending on the academy, you might have a different class each hour, or you might have one group of kids for two or three hours.
• Vacation time really varies between academies. Mine only offers 5 unpaid vacation days per year, plus two of the biggest holidays, whereas others cancel classes for every national holiday and offer excellent vacation time.
• Academies don’t have specific hiring periods — it’s pretty much a continuous/monthly thing.
• When looking into academy jobs, recruiting agencies are the popular route. Browse the following recruiting company sites for more information: Aclipse Recruiting, Footprints Recruiting, and Pegasus Recruiting. (All three of these are legit — I got my job through Aclipse and I know people who used Footprings and Pegasus — good experiences all around.)

Okay, you keep mentioning recruiters… Should I use a recruiting agency?

Ah, the big debate. Personally, I liked having a recruiter to guide me through the entire process, making sure my paperwork was in order and that I didn’t miss any deadlines. Other people just branch out on their own, contacting schools directly about a job. It’s really up to you. Overall, nearly everyone I know used a recruiter to find their job and they were happy with the process. Using a recruiter won’t cost you anything — the schools hire and pay them to find teachers, so don’t worry about that part.

Do I need to do a TEFL/CELTA certification course?

It depends on where you want to teach. For public school jobs, it is sometimes a requirement, such as with EPIK. SMOE seems to prefer you have it, whereas GEPIK doesn’t seem to care. When it comes to working for an academy, it could be helpful, and might get you a nice little pay bump, but it’s unlikely it will be required.

How exhaustively should I research a potential job?

Research until your brain can’t handle any more information. I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough. I’ve been lucky with my experience in Korea because my academy has been honest and (so far) hasn’t taken advantage. But it does happen. Doing thorough research won’t necessarily give you an immunity to shady behavior, but it should decrease the chances of having a miserable experience with a stingy school director.

The wonderful Internet is a great resource for you, so use it. Type something like “expat Korea blog” into your search engine of choice and see what pops up. Message bloggers — most of them are super nice and happy to answer questions. As you’re looking into specific schools or areas, look it up! Try to get in contact with a current teacher and ask a million questions.

One resource that I was pointed to by a friend, which is very popular, is Dave’s ESL Cafe. Lots of great information, including a page of job postings and a forum. Though be warned, there are a lot of bitter, grumpy people out there, and an internet forum is just the sounding board they need… Find all the information you can, but use your judgment and take some of it with a grain of salt. When in doubt, keep researching and asking questions.

Above all, remember that if one job doesn’t work out, there are tons of others. These schools need you, and with the right amount of digging, you’re sure to find a school that’s a perfect fit. For more information about this process, leave a comment or check out this GGG post from a couple years ago — it covers some of what I wrote and also goes into depth about what happens once you’ve been offered a job!

Do you have any sage advice to add? An experience worth sharing? Leave a comment below! 

Monthly Photo Recap: July 2013.

As I've become an avid blog reader, especially of expat/travel/South Korea blogs, I've really enjoyed when a blogger does an end of the month recap. I'm looking to keep this blog updated more frequently -- I'm still falling into the swing of getting an entry written weekly for the Aclipse blog, and with that, I've felt like steppin' up my game a little and keeping this blog even more active.

To kick off this grand plan of mine, I've decided to start a new series: Monthly Photo Recap. At the end of each month, I'm going to scroll through the photos I've taken (and probably Instagrammed), choose a handful that represent my month well, and post them. Often, I like letting a picture speak for what I'm doing -- one of the many reasons why I prefer Instagram to the likes of Twitter.

I take photos on my phone constantly. A lot do end up on Instagram, but even then, the caption they get doesn't always fully explain what's happening. And when I do get around to uploading pictures to Facebook, it's mostly just a massive photo dump, without much (or any) explanation. Posting photos at the end of each month will give me a chance to reflect on what I did and provide more information about the photo. Let's be real, I end up doing this verbally on Skype or through texting on KakaoTalk with most of my family and friends as it is, so here's all the info, for everyone, all at the same time. :)

So, without any further ado, here's the month of July, in photos.

As though it was timed with the start of the month, monsoon season officially kicked off. 

Fat cat! Scorsese and I are bonding, slowly but surely. I think it's because I've been feeding him every now and then when Corey isn't here for his eating time...

The 4th was too rainy for fireworks, so we ate Indian food and then got ice cream. 'Merica!

Birthday banner! Corey was busy making this for me while I was at work on my birthday and he hung it up across our living room window.

My Paris Baguette birthday cake -- six different flavors, which was actually a lot of fun because we were all able to try at least two kinds of cake. And it was delicious! Well, except for the sweet potato one. (Top of the photo, with the potato/fry sticks in it...) I'll pass on that one from now on. 

The Mustoy doll cafe! One of the cooler cafes I've found in Korea, second only to the dog cafe, obviously. It was a great way to spend a rainy/muggy afternoon. 

R16 Bboy Competition! My cousin's crew flew out from Las Vegas to represent North America in this international competition and we had a lot of fun watching the teams battle. As a dancer, I've always been fascinated slash completely confused by this style of dancing -- my ballerina brain just can't even comprehend some of it. Which makes for a very entertaining show. Korea walked away with the championship, which was well-deserved. The Korean team Morning of Owl was absolutely incredible. 

Rainy day in Insadong for Amy's birthday. We found a spot on top of the Ssamzigil building where people have left hundreds (maybe thousands?) of these tags hanging, all with messages. 

Wandering through the Bukchon Hanok Village. Blog entry coming soon about this area -- there's so much I want to check out, including craft museums and stuff with hands-on activities. (But it's going to take another weekend trip so I can gather the adequate amount of information.)

Le Cle, a really great little jazz bar in Samcheongdong. Nice was to enjoy our evening out, just sitting back and listening to jazz music. It made me realize how much I really, really miss live music in bars. 

Corey's birthday! (So many birthdays in July!) I got him a Pororo cake since he has a strange obsession with this particular kids show. He was excited, especially because Pororo was edible. (Read: made of solid sugar. Gross.) 

Cousins! It's been cool having a guest, especially someone that's family. I've enjoyed showing off Korea and my life here quite a lot, and I can't wait for my upcoming guests in the next couple of months! 

For Corey's birthday, we checked out a bar in our neighborhood that he's been wondering about -- Old Clock. Due to its semi-sketchy second floor exterior and the quiet neighborhood, we were fully prepared for it to be a hooker bar or something totally creepy. Turns out, it's possibly the most amazing neighborhood find ever. The woman in the photo owns all the records behind her. When we walked in, she brought us pieces of paper so we could write down requests. Upon telling her what we wanted to hear, she immediately found the record needed and put it on the turntable. Her collection is very impressive, and is her encyclopedic knowledge of her collection's discography. The whole time we were there, we only saw a few other people, who were all Korean. It was quiet, relaxed, and definitely our new favorite spot to go grab a beer. 

The sun came out! For, like, a couple hours. :( Can monsoon season end already? I know the next stage in the Korean summer is stifling humidity and heat, but right now, that sounds preferable to being rained on while walking to and from work. I'm from the South. I'm fine with being sweaty. Bring it on, Korea. 

Bowling with Corey's coworkers in honor of his birthday. 

Been feelin' the need to draw lately, and I finally finished my ongoing file folder piece, which I would work on every now and then during class when my students would be working on a test. Took me a couple weeks of working on it for maybe ten to fifteen minutes at a time, but I got it done! 

I'm teaching a summer intensive for the next couple weeks, and since it's a 10am-1pm class, this is what immediately happens when the bell rings for break time. Power naps for everyone! I wish I could put my head down too, but I'm too busy spending my five minutes of freedom guzzling coffee so I can keep the energy up for the rest of the class. The nocturnal schedule of an academy teacher definitely makes early morning teaching difficult. 

Level-up Week: Day One.
I love when the level-up exam week rolls around each term: it means hours of proctoring exams, during which I passively keep an eye on students while they take tests for hours and hours. It's gotten to where I anticipate this week of downtime, trying to plan out what I want to draw while my classes work. This time around, I've been having fun with typography. I love putting tiny, intricate details into what I draw, as well as perfectly drawing typeface, so this is an excellent theme for the week to keep myself occupied while I'm proctoring. 

Level-Up Week: Day Two.
This one was drawn for my friend Eleanor, who gave me the quote and told me to go to town. After a fair amount of going back and forth to her with different font ideas and such, this is what I came up with. I successfully finished it with an hour to spare today, which was great. I think one of the reasons I don't draw as much anymore is because I'm not in a classroom setting, imposing deadlines and exercises on me. When I'm given parameters and a timeframe and nothing else to be doing (read: proctoring), I find it much easier to knuckle down and get something finished. So I'm going to take full advantage of this week of testing. Three more days left!

And to round out this post with a photo from July 31st as well as a nice even number of pictures, here's a selfie (or selca, if you're Korean) that I took at work today, because I was a) bored and b) bummed that I was stuck inside on a day when the damn sun was actually out. 

Alright, thoughts? Feedback? I've been trying to think of other weekly things I can post about... Maybe some kind of weekly Engrish finds? Because I sure do find a lot of that stuff and it always amuses me.

Also coming soon: a damn apartment tour/post. Corey and I wanted to give ourselves time to settle in and make it look like home before showing it off, and I think we're about at that point now. We recently purchased a convection oven AND a crockpot, so we're basically living the dream over here, haha. Post coming soon! I promise!

ps. Is anyone else in denial that it's already August? Where have the past few months gone?!