What I noticed about the fashion in Korea was that most of the women wore high heeled shoes. The students, however, wore tennis shoes, preferably some ridiculously expensive brand name such as Le Coque, Adidas, Nike, or puma. I never saw a student wearing high heeled shoes. Also the students uniforms are usually altered. The girls that I lived (중삼) with told me that they gave their skirts to the launderer and asked them to shorten them, because only losers wear their skirts long, according to them. As for the boy's fashion, there was one boy who had one pant-leg shortened and rolled up partway, but when I asked about it, I was told it was just his own fashion. Boys in Korea are also more conscious of how they look, one other foreigner... Show more

Stephanie will be back home in two weeks.  This coming week will be her last week to volunteer in the school, so she got many gifts from the children she's been around. Her favorite foods in Korea are 삼겹살, and 장어 샤브샤브 so far (I'm not really sure what that is but I guess it is popular among the people she is hanging out with). Last week she went to the market place and saw a 아줌마 killing (filleting) a big live fish on the cutting board. That was really was an interesting sight for Stephanie. She said that the fish didn't die until the 아줌마 cut the other parts too.  She sent a video but it was broken so I can only tease you with her description. Sorry. She wanted to buy 상 (table) and 가스레인지 for 삼겹살 요리. She thought it would be cool to sit... Show more

Stephanie says it is raining every day and she feels like she is in a 찜질방 all of the time. I am not sure if she likes the weather in Korea or not but she is not complaining about it. Sometimes she mentions that she would prefer to live in Korea. She is getting better at teaching English and the children like her a lot. They like her so much that someone made off with her shoes the other day. I understand that this is a common problem at this particular school because everyone wears expensive shoes. Hers were Converse. She was happy to get the opportunity to go shopping. She picked up some Adidas shoes to replace her Converse. She admits to having caught 공주병. She says we won't like her when she comes home because she is so spoiled... She... Show more

Last week Stephanie experienced some interesting cultural differences. She has been staying at a house with twin girls about her same age. One day, after breakfast, she was helping to clear and wipe the table and the twins stared at her like she was doing something wrong. It turns out that the twins don't do any sort of housework or chores. They were amazed that she would help (like it wasn't her place).  She has noticed that the school children don't get home until late and then stay up even longer doing homework. But they don't do housework. We have noticed with the children that have stayed in our house too, especially boys, that they don't do chores. Now it may be that chores have disappeared from American society too and I am... Show more

I am going to try to get Stephanie to post about her trip experiences. Here are some of her thoughts about teaching English in Korea:  So, after I got out of the hospital (the surgery went great, actually, the IV hurt more than the surgery itself) I went back to teaching little kids at the elementary school. They all stared at me like I belonged in a zoo and when I spoke korean they looked at me as if I was like a talking zoo exhibit. They all find it rather amazing that I understand anything at all. It's really different how they all go "우와" when i say something in Korean. When our exchange students speak English, no one here (in America) is really that amazed at their "wonderous ability" to say hi and where's the bathroom and I'm... Show more