MyCrazyKimchi | GRRRL TRAVELER

About MyCrazyKimchi

Christine is a Camera Operator & Producer for reality TV in North America. She is currently cutting loose on a hiatus to live & work abroad in Korea & hopes to survive off of Kimchi and tofu, while teaching herself to speak Korean.
Website: http://crazykimchi.blogspot.com/
MyCrazyKimchi has written 18 articles so far, you can find them below.

Being a Vegetarian in Korea (Part I)

Filed under Vegetarian Life by MyCrazyKimchi on March 25, 2010 at 4:25 pm {13 comments}

Updates: 1) Whether I got the Korean Crud or not, I don’t know but I did get a cold vs. a stomach virus and I think it had to do with 2) the onslaught of Yellow Dust season which i’ll be blogging soon, along with 3) the annual Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival and 4) buying a phone/plan when you don’t speak Korean.

Having dinner with an old and dear college friend... & not knowing how to navigate my issues with non-vegetarian, mystery food. On the table: fish, egg, silkworm larvae, snails, mystery sushi.

So how hard is it for a fun-loving vegetarian travel gal to acclimate to Korea? I’ll tell you- friggin hard! …

Being a Chaeshickchu (Vegetarian) in Korea
Chaeshickchu means vegetarian and I don’t want to be a whiny Chaeshickchu who complains about not being able to eat the food here. Korea does have food I can eat; my choices are just narrower and finding new veggie options to live my year by, when I have limited knowledge of the country foods, can feel rough. Well, more than rough…starving!

(more…)

10 shocking facts about Korean schools

Filed under Korea, Teaching English by MyCrazyKimchi on March 21, 2010 at 3:39 pm {10 comments}

10 Shocking Facts about Korean schools:

1- A 16-hour school day?

Just how strongly do Koreans feel about education? It would shock you. The average high school student generally has class from approximately 8A until 9:30P or 10P. With Koreans, the goal is to get into a good college and often, the competition is high. As a result, many students will also attend a private hagwon (afterschool learning program). After school programs (more…)

My Letter Home: EPIK Teacher Orientation

Filed under Teaching English by MyCrazyKimchi on March 21, 2010 at 3:25 pm {4 comments}

Introducing myself to my class using the lessons they'll be learning.

My Experience of the Korean Public School System at Week 3:
I just finished my third week of co-teaching grade 3-6 classes with my native Korean teachers. I call my job co-teaching because my Korean c0-teachers (aka CTs) want to teach primarily from the textbook/CD-ROM’s lesson plans. My CTs are still learning ways to implement a native English speaker in their class, so currently my job is to explain activities, run students through exercise drills in speaking English. Occasionally, I teach and am allowed to contribute my own creative ideas to the staid lesson plan, but this has been a result of my own improvisation. In a way, my CT’s and I are finding our way together. They are all fairly new to co-teaching, working with a native English speaker and one, even new to teaching English (until now she’s been a music teacher!)

My 4th graders introducing themselves

I’ve met all my students at least once or twice now. My first week (like many (more…)

What is The Korean Crud?

Filed under Korea, • EXPAT LIFE by MyCrazyKimchi on March 14, 2010 at 12:49 pm {16 comments}

New Updates: 1) The culture shock of having moved to Korea is really “working” me… 2) Finally found western toilets (in the Grade 1-3 bldg behind our bldg)- it’s a bit of a walk and the toilet paper container is always empty; often you’ll see me – in bundled coat, scarf, Korean sandals- quickly shuffling between classes with a roll of t.p. under my armpit; 3) My CT and I aren’t “best-ies” as some other folk are with theirs; I’ll give it a bit more time before giving up; 4) Being a Vegetarian in Korea is my current formidable obstacle (you will hear from me as soon as I can say “starving”); 4) What is The Korean Crud?…

Beware of The Korean Crud

A while back before I came to Korea and was researching what to prepare for in moving here, I stumbled upon a forum posting that said, “Watch out for the Korean Crud”. First, you can’t really watch out for it. It either gets you or it doesn’t and if you’re a newbie to this country, chances are you’ll be greatly susceptible to it. I had seen this name mentioned in enough postings to get the impression it’s fairly common. What is it? I hate that no one is ever really (more…)

The Secret to Using a Squat Toilet

Filed under Korea, Off-beat, Weird... Reality! by MyCrazyKimchi on March 7, 2010 at 3:59 am {16 comments}

My “Mis”Adventures with the Squat toilet

So the fun just doesn’t stop… While I’m still sorting out my reaction to my new move, luck-draw number two just hit, when on my first day of school, I learned that every peeing portal in my school was a porcelain… hole in the ground. Yes my new workplace – Anil Elementary School in Dong-bu, Daegu- had seemingly no western toilets ! (see My First Day at a Korean Elementary School video) Expectations, hopes?… one ought never have them, even when it comes to assuming your work environments will have standard western conveniences; yet for me, there were obviously still some there…

: The infamous squat toilet in my school (basket for used wipes & flush handle)

Some of you already know of my mis-adventure with the squat toilet in Thailand… not good. I accidentally nailed my shoe and spent the rest of my trip spritzing it with hand sanitizer and paranoid, sniffing it to see if the smell was me or my shoe. It’s make me a bit of a timid (more…)

Written by MyCrazyKimchi Survival Issues

Video: My First Day at a Korean Elementary School

No teaching today- most of the time I spent online in the teacher’s room, but here is a short video I quickly threw together of some of the highlights of my first day.

March 7, 2010 6

Written by MyCrazyKimchi Korea

Korean Cold

The words cold and Korean are synonymous… it’s winter here and the buildings in Korea don’t have central heating. Instead, buildings get “selective heating”…

March 4, 2010 7

Written by MyCrazyKimchi Just Show Me Pictures!

Learning Survival Korean (Part II)

The countdown to my Korea launch date has officially begun so roughly put, I’m trying to speed learn Korean. My learning obstacle?…I’m kinda vacillating between a silent freak out and a scattered panic. A few weeks ago, I started my search for the Cinderella’s glass slipper of grammar books

February 6, 2010 0

Written by MyCrazyKimchi Just Show Me Pictures!

Learning Survival Korean (Part 1)

To learn a word is to chew into it and digest it; and when you’re a vegetarian moving abroad to a foreign country, in order to eat you’ll eventually need to learn to read a restaurant menu, food ingredients or be able to ask the waitress …