(instrumental upbeat electronic music)
- Hey, guys, my name is Sam.
I am an alumni from the International TEFL Academy.
I'm here teaching ESL in South Korea,
and this weekend, I'm gonna be taking you
to the Olympics with me.
Are you excited?
To prepare for going to the Olympics,
I am watching curling, of course.
I've got a couple clothes and things packed.
I've got the mascot and some gear
that I got last weekend when I was there,
as well as information stuff.
I have a printout of the Olympic shuttle bus schedules,
my tickets to the Heineken Holland House,
and some info on the other country houses,
which are super, super cool, and of course,
I've got a bag of snacks.
So, tomorrow morning, three friends of mine and I
are gonna be waking up at about 4:30, 4:20 a.m.,
and we're gonna drive all the way to Pyeongchang,
which is where the Olympics are happening,
because I'm gonna go see snowboarding big air finals.
After big air, I have tickets to cross-country skiing,
so we'll also show you that as well as
whatever houses are around that area.
Hopefully, there'll be a lot of cool stuff to show you guys.
I'm really excited.
So, a little bit about me.
I've been in South Korea for about a year and a half now,
teaching at the same school slash hagwon that I work at.
It's an afterschool program,
so I work from about two to eight most days.
And I happen to have a pretty unique situation
where I live right above my school, two floors up,
but still, right above.
So, I'm gonna take you downstairs
and show you my classroom real quick
and then some videos I took earlier in the day
of some of my students.
My hagwon is pretty small.
Our classes are only about six students each,
but each of our classroom names are named after
Ivy League colleges, which I find pretty funny.
My classroom happens to be the only
university name that is misspelled,
which I find funny, but my classroom's pretty simple.
Nice big desk, TV, computer, and a whiteboard.
I mainly teach elementary school students,
but I also have a kindergarten class every day
and a middle school class twice a week,
but we do a lot of fun stuff,
mainly reenacting plays, which is super fun.
I'll show you a short clip.
My students do a reenactment of
this book called Where's My Hat.
Are we ready?
Three, two, one, go!
- Where's my jacket?
Can you see it on the rack?
- Yes.
- So, not all of my students do reenacting plays or books.
My higher-level students, they do a debate class
where we pick a topic from the book that we have,
and we debate whether or not it should happen.
For instance, right now, my students are debating
whether or not we should eat bugs
in place of animals to help save our environment.
Needless to say, they're not too fond of that idea,
but it's interesting to get them thinking
about things in a different way.
It's pretty much the basics of my job.
It's really not super hard,
but I'm gonna go to bed here pretty soon.
Its a little after 10 p.m.,
and I have to get up super early,
but feel free to shoot me any messages
with questions that you guys have.
Hi, guys, it's really early in the morning.
- It's real early. - And we are about to drive
to the Olympics, say hi. (Stephanie vocalizes)
- Olympics, Olympics! - It's gonna be great.
- Olympics! (Sam laughs)
- All right, so we are at our first rest stop.
This is-- - Matt in the hat.
- This is-- - Meg.
- And I'm Sam.
We are on our way to Yong, no, not Yongpyong,
PyeongChang to the Olympics, whoo!
- Olympics!
- And this is Stephanie.
She's finally back from the bathroom.
- Hi. - It is now currently
about, what time?
- Um, eight. - Almost eight.
Our first event at 10, we've got maybe an hour,
hour and a half left of driving,
so, we should make it.
Got my ticket to snowboarding big air
and walking to the venue now.
I am here at the big air competition with my friend, Tony!
Tony, say hi, ah! - Whoo, hi!
- There's a lot of people here,
and we are waiting for another run.
I missed the first three, but we're gonna get some more.
US Olympians coming on next, what what!
Chris Corning, here he comes. (audience cheers)
Whoo-hoo, nice!
(audience groans) Oh no!
- [Commentator] Ladies and gentlemen,
please make some noise! - Whoo, whoo!
- Chris Corning! - Chris Corning!
(audience cheers)
- Hey, guys, so big air is over.
I'm not gonna tell you who won in case you
want to watch it yourself, but US did medal.
Not gonna tell you which one, but US did medal.
Cross-country skiing for a little bit,
and then, maybe I'll check out some country houses.
Catch me soon.
Hey, guys, so I am back at my car.
I put on another hat with Soohorang on it,
another scarf, and I am currently eating snacks
because I'm hungry, but big air was super awesome.
I'm glad you guys could join.
Next up is cross-country skiing,
and it's got about an hour and a half before that starts,
so I'm gonna stay warm and fill my belly.
Shoot me any questions if you guys have it.
Almost made it to the cross-country skiing venue.
(Sam and audience cheer)
Pretty good, number 48.
- [Max] I think they have more
than one person from each country.
- [Sam] Yeah, you're right, especially from Czechoslovakia.
So, while cross-country skiing is going on,
they're not at the stadium right now.
I want to introduce you guys to my friend, Max.
Say hi!
Max is super awesome.
She is also a teacher here.
- Hi, I'm Max.
I also teach in Korea.
I write about chocolate and travel.
You can follow me @damecacao.
- [Sam] Here they come again.
(audience cheers)
- [Max] That's who that is?
That looks like France, though.
- [Sam] So, it looks like the Olympians can come in
and change out their skis partway through.
I'm not sure if that's what he's doing.
(Commentator speaks in foreign language)
But a couple of them have done it.
It's like a pit stop for NASCAR, but with skis, whoo!
- [Commentator] And also Bolshunov,
so we have three Olympic athletes from Russia there.
- [Sam] So, Max, what do you love
most about teaching in Korea?
- Well, I love meeting so many people
who are so willing to help someone
who's unfamiliar, let's say, with their culture,
and, especially in a place where it's so different,
that is invaluable.
(audience cheers)
How many more?
(Commentator speaks in a foreign language)
- Look at all the pretty flags!
Which one's your favorite?
Stopping at the Medal House for some lunch.
It's a nice atmosphere.
Okay, guys, so we are about to head
to the bus stop that my friends need
to get back to Seoul, and the weather
is not looking super great.
Hopefully, it's good to drive in.
Here, we have the United States Olympic team house.
Unfortunately, it is not open for public viewing,
only for the athletes.
So, I am at the Yongpyong ski hill right now.
I'm gonna go check out a couple other country houses.
It has been a lot of fun showing you guys around.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
Feel free to follow me @veritasbtold here on Instagram,
and I will show you what I'm up to
tomorrow on my personal feed.
I'm gonna see if I can show you guys the Swiss House
and the, uh, there's one other house here I don't know,
but hopefully, I can show you guys that
before I sign off for the night.
So, this is the House of Switzerland I'm walking up on.
This is another house, I'm not sure what it is yet.
We'll see when I get to the front of it.
But there's supposed to be a big party
at the Swiss House tonight because
a number of their athletes won medals today,
but yeah, here's the Swiss House, very cool.
Lots of ski lifts.
And then this, here,
oh, I don't know what house this is, let's check.
So, this looks to be the Sweden House, sponsored by P&G.
I'm gonna go inside and see what's happening there
before hitting up the Swiss House.
So, here is the Sweden House.
They are currently having a sale on some stuff.
The P&G house was actually the one
for Olympic athletes from the US,
and I couldn't get in, boo hoo!
But gonna check this one out.
They've got nice fur on their chairs.
Course, Sweden.
Just a little bit of stuff, big TVs,
some lounging areas, not too, too much.
("Instrumental Swiss Psalm" by Alberich Zwyssig)
Not really sure, but they've got a campfire, I'm happy.
I might just stay here for a bit and watch this competition.
Pretty cool setup they got here.
So, here's the front view of the US American house.
A lot of the athletes and their families
are in there watching the medal-ing
and eating dinner, I guess.
I see a buffet thing.
I'm not invited, but oh well.
All right, guys, well, those are the country houses
out here at Yongpyong.
I am gonna head over to the Gangneung Olympic Park area
to see if I can get into the Canada House.
There's supposed to be a nice concert there happening.
I really hope you guys have enjoyed me showing you
the Olympics here in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Please follow me @veritasbtold,
and I hope to see you guys there tomorrow.
Hey, guys, I'm here at the Canada House.
This is gonna be my last post of the night.
I am watching the men's hockey bronze game.
It's Canada versus the Czech Republic.
I hope you guys had fun today,
and definitely follow me tomorrow on my Insta.
(instrumental upbeat electronic music)