Photographer: Im Myeong Yeon (Western Sky) 임명연
So I finally get back to work after getting home way later than I was suppose to and things seemed to be doing well. I got back into my old apartment and worked for a week. My first weekend I went to pick up Bella. I could tell that Bella had thought I had abandoned her because her head whipped around so fast when she heard my voice and she just looked at me like she couldn't believe her eyes that I was actually there standing in Anna's apartment. It was adorable but now she has been clinging to me even worse than normal and trying to follow me out the door every time I leave to go somewhere.
Photographer: Im Myeong Yeon (Western Sky) 임명연
Work was going well till one teacher had to be fired and another left without warning. At this point, there weren't really enough teachers to keep the school going so we decided to merge with the Jukjeon school and had many of our students transfer over with me and two of the supervisors. A teacher from Jukjeon helped teach some classes during the transfer. We also had to make up two Saturday classes before the transfer which was not fun. Worse they wanted us to work midday which was really inconvenient. It got to the point where I was like I have to move into a new apartment and work this day so do something about this. The teachers can't work and transfer in the same day if the middle of the day is taken. Needless to say they understood and were nice enough to change the schedule a bit to be more accommodating.
Photographer: Im Myeong Yeon (Western Sky) 임명연
Photographer: Ghofur Muhamad Abdul (Ghofmoto)
Photographer: Hamid Maulana Yusup Hamid
Photographer: Dowo Sadewo
I was sad to leave my old apartment as it has really become home in the last three years. My new apartment just doesn't feel like home, especially knowing I am only here for a few months. The neighbor girl was also sad to see me leave as she could no longer play with Bella. Though I am not sure Bella minds that the girl can't play with her. Also, one of my wigs came right before the move so I had some fun with my first graders. The boy wouldn't wear it but I did get the girl to try it on. It was a pretty fun class that day. I'm also going to miss my Korean co-workers a lot as they have helped me so much over the last three years.
Photographer: Kim Sang Yeop 김상엽
Transferring over to a new apartment went well though I had a ton of boxes. Due to it still being hot out, I couldn't send my summer stuff home yet and that meant more stuff to carry over. My entire walkway was filled with boxes and furniture. Someone from the school helped me take my stuff over in their car but I had so much stuff that it took two trips. Bella didn't like the new apartment at first and the second move made her even clingier than before. I didn't know my cat could get more clingy but she did. Plus I had a photo shoot the next day, so I was pretty rushed. I am still not 100% unpacked as it is hard to motivate myself to unpack when I know I'm leaving in six months (five months now).
Photographer: Chwi (Kaoru) 쥐
The new job is quite different from my old one and I can't say I'm a fan of it. I think the courses are too hard for the students. For example, the honors fifth graders are studying from a college level book that I barely understand. I am definitely not qualified to be teaching the class. A lot of my students are miserable and keep asking to go back to the old school, which isn't possible because the two merged together. Plus, the classes are really short that the kids don't have any time to read, ask questions, or have a conversation, which I think are some of the most important things they should be doing. Though I will say that I do like their idea of auction day where the kids can win small prizes each month by doing a good job on homework or classwork.
Photographer: Psman
Plus everything is so disorganized and teachers have different schedules than the students so it is hard to answer their questions. Teachers give spelling tests when they aren't the ones who grade them. Monthly tests are saved all over on different computers with no way connecting them. The only monthly test bank that is connected to all the computers can only be saved into by the principal and doesn't have all the books and I have found many mistakes on those tests. Half the time, teachers end up wasting their time and making the same tests as someone else. I miss the organized test bank I had at the old school which was much more efficient. Either way I think there are a lot of things they can improve on.
Photographer: Ju Lee Sul (Jooseul) 주이슬
Now the school has gotten money from a prestigious international education company and is doing construction and will be changing from here on out. Though the construction is inconvenient, I do like that things are being made bigger. My classroom will be getting a smart board which should be interesting, though I have never used one. Our classrooms are crowded with books and things as the construction will last through October, but that isn't too bad. Most of my classes have kids from Suji, except for my kindergarten class. I like most of my kids, though I have a few bratty ones that try my patience but that is true of every set of classes.
My kids did go on a field trip to Cocomong Eco Park which is a small amusement park with lots of activities for kids, though to be honest the activities are only for kids. It was one of the better field trips that I have been on and could see the kids having fun and having an actual interest in the field trip. There were trains, slides, water boats, jungle gyms, moon bounces, etc. They had animals, too, which is always a big hit with kids. A few kids weren't listening and it took a while to get them to return because they were having so much fun.
We also had a Chuseok event where all of the kids wore their hanboks to school. I really should get a hanbok before I leave Korea though I can't say I really know where to buy adult ones as I always see the ones for kids not adults. The kids made seongpyeong, a traditional rice cake with beans or sesame seeds in it. The also played two different traditional Korean folk games. We also had song contest that day and my class won though I honestly though a different class should have won. The older kids did speech contests that day, along with their monthly tests, and I was surprised that many of them didn't memorize their essays.
I have a lot of work with the new job and didn't exactly get any training. The only time I get things done is when I stay late. They also give most of the teacher's the same prep which makes it difficult to get things done with limited computers. I can only hope that after construction things get a little more organized. If not, I am only here for another five months. But I will say things are getting easier after a month of figuring things out. Thankfully one of the teachers who has been there for a while shares a lot of the same classes and was able to help me out and save me a lot of work.
Photographer: Rain Park (Photorain) 포토레인
But enough about school, let's talk about more fun stuff. Though I missed the first day of Seoul Comic World because of doing a Saturday makeup class, I did get to wear my India dress that I brought from home and Anna and I figured out how to make it look nice. I even finally got to use my parasol. The con was hot though so we ended up leaving early as it was making me feel ill. I did wear the India dress one more time to a Cossamo meeting so I still got a lot of pictures in it. Though some of the pictures didn't turn out so well because of the harsh lighting. I really liked how some of the photographers added their own styles to the dress which led to some really fun pictures.
Photographer: Rain Park (Photorain) 포토레인
Cossamo had its tenth year anniversary and gave out really nice photo books and face masks for Chuseok. I was a little sad that I didn't get into the book as I was nominated but I didn't see the message until after the deadline as I was in the middle of the big transfer at work. It really is a pity but the book is still pretty nice. I got some more pictures of my Princess Anna coronation dress for the anniversary event. I met a photographer from New York that day, too, so many he can introduce me to some people when I move there next year. He also says he makes props. ^.^ Fun Fun! Also, while we were leaving, a mom with a little girl wearing a Frozen shirt asked if she could take a picture with me as Princess Anna. It was cute. The little girl held my hand. ^.^
Photographer: (Small Dancing Doll Shiningro) 춤추는작은인형 (This is a username but I couldn't find real name at the time.)
So I've actually started to try to advertise or get my cosplay identity out there and have started promoting myself on various sites such as World Cosplay, Deviant Art, and Facebook. I'm not sure why I have suddenly wanted to promote myself but if I had to guess, it is because I want more opportunities to cosplay in different settings. I have a lot of park photos but I don't have much other than that except for the one time I did a photo shoot at Yongma Land when I did my Fallen Angel costume. I even entered an Easy Cosplay contest though I didn't win. I did get votes though. ^.^ Either way, keep an eye out for me and if you are on any of these sites feel free to like my pictures or follow me. Please be patient with me as I transfer photos to these sites as I have a lot of photos to upload. Thanks! Links are provided after the next set of pictures.
Photographer: Babo Kim
Photographer: Aditya Pratama Yoga
Photographer: Danendra Aryasuta Abhista (Syiffaul Aulad)
Photographer: Tryee Chansan Syeeo
Photographer: Mun Bo Ra (Milky Drops) 문보라
Photographer: Stuntman 스턴트맨
I also did my first normal clothes model photo shoot rather than just cosplay photos. Im Myeong Yeon (Western Sky) 임명연 invited us to do it at Seoul Forest Park, which was a really lovely park. It was fun being myself and posing though I have to admit that modeling, whether normal or cosplay, takes quite a bit of energy and I always end up exhausted afterwards. There were a lot of great locations at the park to take pictures. We also met Western Sky's family and they took us out to dinner afterwards. His son's girlfriend spoke a lot of English so she helped with the translating which I really appreciated. Afterwards, Western Sky made us a cool photo book as a nice memory of the photo shoot and sent us all the pictures. Now my mom can't complain about having no normal photos of me. ^.^
Photographer: Im Myeong Yeon (Western Sky) 임명연
Over Chuseok, Nathaniel came with me to watch The Accidental Detective, which is the Korean detective movie that I was an extra in. I expected to be barely seen and I was correct and I didn't see many of the foreigners who helped out with the movie at all. Both parts of the chase scene that I was in had been cut out, but you could see a blurry red and white me in the background if you knew what you were looking for. For an entire day of filming, the scene only lasted a little over a minute in the movie. Makes you realize just how hard actors have to work. But the scene went by so fast that I couldn't get a good look to see if I noticed anyone else I knew. I tried to look but it ended too soon. I may have saw two of them but I couldn't say for sure.
Photographer: Im Myeong Yeon (Western Sky) 임명연
What surprised me the most though is the fact that my name was in the credits! All six of the foreigners had their names written in English and, since my name was in English instead of Korean, it really stood out. I will definitely have to try to find the movie again with English subtitles at some point. Though surprisingly the movie was easy to understand even if you didn't speak Korean. I'd watch it for the finer details of the detective's case, but it was pretty funny even without knowing what they were saying. I'd recommend it for people who enjoy comedies. Either way it has been a busy and somewhat stressful two months since I returned from Korea but I'm looking forward to more cosplaying and fun times before I return to America.
Photographer: Im Myeong Yeon (Western Sky) 임명연
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