Balancing my happiness and the happiness of those I love

I have been living in Korea for almost 2 years now. I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs. I’ve called my mom with joy, anger, sadness and every other emotion I’ve felt on this expat roller coaster. It’s expected to have these crazy emotions while living abroad that sometimes expats become completely clueless to what’s happening back in their hometowns. Expats are so self-centered sometimes that they are too busy talking about their exciting lives and forget to ask how everyone at home is doing. Why do most expats forget about their family and friends back home?

I truly feel guilty that some of friends are going through some really tough times and I’m living it up here in a foreign country. I’m seriously sad that I am not physically there for them to help them out. I never really realized how much my friends needed me on the regular. I guess I under valued myself as a friend. When I left Canada, I honestly thought that I would miss my friends more than they would miss me when it’s complete opposite. I miss my friends but, surprisingly, they miss me more! I feel like a shitty friend.

I am partially guilty of being a bit selfish in conversations with my friends back home. I message some more than others. They usually contact me first with, “I miss you Mona~~ come back already!” It makes me feel wanted yet very sad. I obviously miss my friends back home but it makes me feel guilty for not being there for them when they need me the most. I’ve always been the rock in my group of friends. We’re all at that age where we finished school (or close to finishing school), trying to decide a career, being financially responsible for ourselves then BOOM- shit hits the fan. This is the kind of shit that school doesn’t prepare you for. I’ve already went through one of those stages during university but most of my friends are just now going through that. During my shitty 3rd year of Uni, I had the proper support group available to me; my family, friends, university counselors etc. Sadly, some of my friends do not have the proper support they need right now.

Now, how do I help friends in Canada going through depression when I’m in Korea? It is really difficult. I’m adjusting my sleep schedule so I could speak with them more but they need more than a long distant friend to feel better. I know their family situations and some are helpful while others are not. AND it doesn’t help that I don’t truly know how they are coping. All I know is what they tell me and I don’t know how much of that is accurate. This whole situation left me stuck as to what to do next. I don’t know if I should be worried about their safety yet. It’s hard to evaluate the situation via phone only. I asked my sister to meet up with my friends in lieu of me. I really hope she can gather more information as she knows my friends rather well.

My family is different. I am pretty good at communicating with them on the daily. I know that me being abroad is a bit tough on my family mainly because of my mom. She really misses me and I miss her too. I’m her eldest and I guess it is just some sort of empty nest syndrome my mom is experiencing now. That’s why we talk often. I know everything that’s happening with my immediate family but I’m kept in the dark with matters of my extended family. No one wants me to worry here about the health of certain family members and other issues. It’s kind of unfair to me because when I do find out it’s usually too late. Makes me feel useless. But then again, I would be useless even if I knew everything. This feeling of uselessness is the worst feelings to have when living in a foreign country because it is constantly reoccurring with matters at home and abroad.

Don’t get me wrong. I love living abroad and I can handle this expat roller coaster fairly well. I just never really thought of how me being away from home would cause more distress to the ones I care about back home. I can’t help but to feel selfish and guilty. It’s just really difficult to hear my friends and family struggle and not be able to do anything for them due to distance. Now I’m questioning what my next step should be. Should I continue my plans to travel after my contract is up this summer? Should I go back to Canada right after my contract? I love Toronto but there is nothing there for me career wise at this point and time. I love living abroad but I genuinely worried about my friends and family. I’m seriously stuck. I keep delaying my plans to go home but now I just feel like an asshole. I’m struggling with balancing my own happiness and the happiness of those I care about.

Bowling in Incheon

April Fools Prank: Mary Poppins English

A prank from the Mary Poppins textbook

I’m an ESL teacher in South Korea and I decided to pull an April fools prank on my grade 6 students.

I believe teachers are the best at pranks because even if students know it’s a prank they still have to follow their teacher’s instruction. The best time to go on a power trip is for comical reasons. I wrote a post about it earlier this past week if you want to know more details about this prank.

Here’s the video!

April Fools with naive Korean students

*evil laugh*

April 1st is one of my favorite days in the calender. I love April fools because I love playing practical jokes on unsuspecting individuals. Children are always unsuspecting because they trust their teachers very easily. Obviously, I had to take advantage of my power. BWHAHAHA!

I had so many ideas in mind but I’m a teacher first and practical jokes are very different here in Korea. These students are young and need as much time as possible towards studying English. So I incorporated my prank into the lesson. We had a scheduled dictation test for the grade 6 students. Every word or sentence that they spell wrong they would need to write 10x for homework. There was an added incentive that students can get 2 stamps if they get a perfect score. I gave them a fair warning that “anything can be on the test”. I had one student that was so confident that he would get 100% so he didn’t study. We made contract that if he gets perfect, I would give him 3 stamps. But if he spells even one word wrong that he would do all 10 words/ sentences 10x for homework. He’s too young to be so cocky. He was about to get a hefty humble pill.

The test is normal #1-9. Many students are so excited because many of them studied for the test and spelled the words correctly so far. At #9, I reminded them that they get 2 stamps only if they spell all 10 correctly. At this point, my students are hanging off their seats so anxious as I linger on telling them #10.

“#10. supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” 

“WHAT?!”

“supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Write it down. It’s one word. If you spell it wrong, you have to write it 10x for homework.”

Students are flustered. They asked me to spell it slowly so they can try to spell it. I did and students tried to spell it out. Some of them are confidant they spelled it correctly. So I gave them I friendly reminder “You have to spell it in English and write the meaning in Korean just like the others.” Queue yelling. After the test, we check the answers. No one spelled #10 correctly and I reinforced my 2 stamp rule. After the students finished checking their answers, we went back to the textbooks to study. At the end of every class, I have the students write down the day’s password in their notebook.

“Students, open your notebooks and write down today’s password: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Queue shock and yelling. They were all complaining how long the word is but they loved it. It became a contest to see who can say the word correctly and the fastest. I went around and checked that everyone had wrote it down in their notebooks. We practiced saying the word all together. At this point, I decided to tell the students that it was April Fools day (which they already knew) and showed them their real password. the students all yelled “teacher~~~~! 왜요?!” Some students threw their notebooks to the floor. Despite their frustration, they loved it. It became the talk of the school and everyone was saying it in the hallways, to their teachers and other grade students in the school. But hey, I taught them a new (nonsensical) English word.

Last year I did the same prank on my grade 4 students. I had 3 grade 4 students that were 1 letter off from the correct spelling. Puts my grade 6 students to shame. I even opened their class speaking in French and caused so much confusion. I taught my Co Teacher basic French and she played along so they thought I was speaking English. hehehe. I love April Fools.

TLDR: I played a prank my Korean students during their dictation test with the last word being “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. It caused quite the reaction.

St. Patrick’s day in Seoul

Hello everyone~

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the end of March! I don’t know about you but I am having difficulty recalling what I’ve done this month. I haven’t had any nights out in Seoul this month except for St Patrick’s day, and I recall everything about that night (i DEFINITELY cannot say the about many others). I thought it’d be nice to share my stories on that amazingly fun night out in Seoul.

First off, we didn’t party on the 17th but rather Saturday March 14th. Many foreigners in Korea are teachers so we don’t have the luxury to party during the week. The Irish Association of Korea organized a festival on the 14th in Seoul to showcase Irish culture and celebrate St Paddy’s the way many westerners know it by: gathering, drinking and dancing. The festival gathered hundreds of foreigners and decent amount of Koreans by Sindorim station. Many Koreans passing by the open venue were probably really confused about event and the sea of green-dressed foreigners. St Patrick’s day is not well known here in Korea. But then again, westerners commercialize this day meant to recognize the Catholic Saint.

The festival had many performers, both Irish and non-Irish. They got the audience dancing and singing for hours. The actual festival itself only ran from 1 PM to 6 PM then moved the party over to Itaewon, the foreigner friendly district in Seoul. This neighborhood has the best western restaurants and bars in Seoul. My friends and I bar hopped all night meeting old and new friends each place we visited. We even spent a little time in Homo Hill, the gay friendly bar district in Itaewon. It was my first time there and I loved it. You can have plenty of fun there if you’re gay or straight. I didn’t take any videos or pictures there because many Koreans that go there are not public about their sexuality. Korea is a really conservative country and homosexuality is openly welcomed. I really wanted to show how fun Homo Hill is but I have to respect the privacy of others.

Like most nights out in Seoul, we ended up in Taco Bell around 4:30 in the morning. We were all partied out. I wish I took footage at each bar we went to but I wanted to enjoy the moment instead. I can honestly say that was the most fun I had out in Itaewon but I credit that to my amazing group of friends. Good company and good music is all I need.

Saying goodbye to the tune of old school Kpop

I can easily say that one of the best things about living abroad is meeting new friends that you instantly connect with. But being an expat usually means that there is an expiry date placed on most friendships. Everyone comes and leaves Korea at different times that there always seems to be a goodbye party to attend. The months of February, March, August and September are packed with goodbyes since those are the main hiring seasons for one year contract teachers here.

This goodbye was no different. I said goodbye to my friend Chloe. She has lived in Korea for 2 years and now she is back in England. So on her last night out with us, we obviously had to celebrate it in true Korean fashion. We started the night off at my friend Adel’s place. We played Cards Against Humanity and pretended to be adults. What was supposed to be a tame night of dinner and drinks escalated to dancing at some random old school Kpop club in Incheon.

Okay, let me tell you a little about the revival of old school Kpop in Korea. There’s a popular Saturday variety program that stars some kpop stars from the 90s. These celebrities have been showcasing their old songs again and old school kpop became a trend again. This club, Top 10 가요, was PACKED with university students welcoming the new school year by partying hard. This club actually doesn’t allow foreigners in there if they are not with someone that can speak Korean (there are many bars that reject foreigners all together and this is actually a problem in Korea that’s getting more attention in recent years). We were with a Korean person so they didn’t give us any problems. Once we were inside, we noticed we were the only foreigners in the club so we received a lot of attention from the patrons. These students were a bit too excited and touchy for me. I was exhausted from teaching early that day so I wasn’t as energetic as the others, but I still had plenty of fun at that club. We were out until almost 5 in the morning! Not sure if I will return there again.

Overall, it was a bittersweet night out in Korea. We all had very memorable time together. It was a sad reminder that my life here in Korea is not forever and that my time to leave this country comes closer everyday.

Spring cleaning, hair talk, and random dancing

Just like the title suggests, this vlog is about me cleaning my apartment, hair talk and random dancing in between. Think about it, have you not started a dance party when you’re supposed to be cleaning? Or maybe you’re a singing cleaner (which is a bit more efficient than dancing). Either way, many people have a Beyonce complex while cleaning.

I talk a bit about hair care here in Korea. I know some people were curious about my magic straight perm I got done last summer. Now you can see how my hair grew out and how I manage it.

I think I’m becoming a little bit too comfortable being in front of the camera… um, yeah…

My Korean Classroom

Hi everyone!

You might not know this but I’m an English teacher here in South Korea. It’s an amazing job and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to teach abroad. But great teaching comes with great responsibilities… like decorating a classroom.

I decorated my classroom last week and I decided to vlog the moment. I spend so much time alone in my school so I thought “hey, why not talk into a camera instead?” True story.

If you have any questions about Korea or teaching English abroad feel free to ask! I hope you enjoy this video!

Vlogging, Hospitals and Yellow Dust in Korea

Hello!

I’ve been a bit busy lately since my vacation back in January with my students’ graduation, goodbye parties, lunar new year, my friend’s surgery and being ill during my vacation. I no longer want to neglect blogging so I decided to do some video blogging. I find it a bit hard to write about my daily life here in Korea. It seems so routine for me that I have little motivation to write about it. I’ve always found my videos entertaining whether it’s my travel videos or my Snapchats. I can tell stories much better through videos. I always wanted to do this but never got around to it. So now I will challenge myself to make one vlog every week.

Initially, this vlog was made as a joke for my friend Janell. She recently got knee surgery here in Korea so we visited her for support. I know she would prefer her family but we’re the next best thing for her here. I decided to film some funny moments to share with her family and friends. For a hospital, we sure were entertained and had plenty of funny moments on video. We caused so much trouble that we got kicked out of the patient room by a bossy ahjummah (older Korean woman).  I realized then that I should make a proper vlog for those two days we spent at the hospital. It was definitely a unique Korean experience I wish to share with everyone.

Stay tuned for future weekly videos of my life here in Korea! I promise they will be much better in the future!