10. Hiking. There are so many beautiful places to go hiking whether it’s in Seoul or around the country. Due to my bout with illness in the fall I missed two hikes, but aim to visit Bukhansan and Seoraksan in the Spring.
9. Ondol Heat System. Imagine your feet are never cold. In the dead of winter, you come home, take off your shoes, take off your socks and your feet are nice and toasty warm. No more jewelry falling down the heating vents, no more is there a need to lean over the vent to get warm. Just lie down on the floor because the whole thing is heated!!!
8. Restaurants. They’re not trying to take you for all your money – just the chain restaurants from America. You can get a full meal complete with the main dish and endless side dishes for around $5! And the food is good for you. And it tastes good too! It’s a Christmas miracle!
7. Public Transportation. So convenient and relatively inexpensive. The subway trains can take you anywhere you need to go in the city. The bus routes are laid out pretty well too. Although, the bus can be its own amusement park ride at times…as my Aunt Sue would say, “Hang on to your pantyhose!” No, really…hang on to something. The buses are all stick shifts and some of the drivers are…well…fascinating as to how and where they obtained a drivers license.
6. My Korean Tutor…he’s cute. Enough said.
5. Street Food Vendors. Hotteok is amazing. It’s a pancake with brown sugary deliciousness inside. And then there’s shawarma for a late night snack. And Tteokbokki. And kabobs. And it’s cheap – I know you’ll like that Dad.
4. Going to the movies. For one, you don’t pay an arm and a leg for concessions. You can get a “couples” package that includes 2 sodas and a huge popcorn for under $7. And…the best part…you get to pick your seats before getting into the theatre. So no more lineups for Harry Potter afraid that you won’t be able to sit with the rest of your crew. No more fights over the back rows and you are no longer forced to sit in the front row if you are late. You have a seat reserved! It’s fantastic! Why don’t they do that in the States?
3. Health care. It’s affordable and medicine too doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg. Now making an appointment with a non-English speaking receptionist might be a challenge but who cares? Typically 3-5 days of medicine will cost around $5 (unless you get an inhaler or U.S. drug – then it’s very expensive (but not as expensive as the States).
2. Korean Dramas. I have spent many happy hours watching Korean Dramas on the internet. Check out KimchiDrama.net and watch Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Dr. Champ, Boys Over Flowers, and Athena (the newest one). Yes, some of it may be a little cheesy, but it’s nice to dive into another world for a while…or a long while.
1. My kids. The kids I teach are just so cute. Even when they’re bad, and not listening, and talking because they’re trying to tattle on each other, and picking their noses until they bleed, and attempting to punch the boy across the room because that boy said that the other boy has a crush on a girl in the classroom, I still just love them. And when you can teach them something and they actually learn it, it’s amazing. I’m truly happy teaching these kids even on my worst day.
So those are the basics of why I’m staying here. Now I could think of a few more, but perhaps I’ll save that for next year’s list ;)
So those are the basics of why I’m staying here. Now I could think of a few more, but perhaps I’ll save that for next year’s list ;)
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