Wow, where has December gone? Time has been flying here in the SK and suddenly I find myself on the precipice of 2009. I must say I am happy that Christmas is over. I had these grand plans for Christmas. My entire Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were filled with great plans with my friends. Instead, I came down with the stomach flu on Christmas Eve and was forced to spend my entire Christmas holed up in my apartment. It didn't even feel like Christmas, which I'm kind of okay with because it prevented me from being homesick.
On Saturday my sister arrived in South Korea. She will be staying until January 8th. We promptly moved from the airport, to my apartment, to a late dinner with a bunch of my friends who were quite excited to meet her (ah, I love my friends here). Yesterday we headed to Insadong in Seoul, a large shopping area with lots of shops selling traditional Korean items. After, we returned to Bupyeong to eat at my favorite bulgogi place with a bunch of my friends. In true Kate form, she was the first person I've met who did not enjoy the Korean pancakes they make at the restaurant. I think Korean food has been a bit of a disappointment to her thus far. Tonight we're going to try a new Indian restaurant and then see Twilight with Chrissy.
I apologize for the brief post, but I'm rather busy at the moment. I'm hoping to feature Kate as a guest blogger while she's here. Stay tuned.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Buddhist Boot Camp
This past weekend I attended a temple stay at a Buddhist temple for one night. Now it should have been a relaxing, spiritual experience where I learned more about Buddhism and myself. Well, I did happen to learn a little about Buddhism and myself, but it was far from relaxing. Allow me to share with you my findings:
1. I NEVER want to be a Buddhist monk.
2. I have horrible posture.
3. Three o'clock in the morning should be a time reserved solely for going to bed, never for waking up.
4. I enjoy arts and crafts.
5. Buddhist monks smile a lot.
We started our temple stay with new uniforms that we had to wear the whole time we were there. As you can see in this picture, they were low on the sex appeal meter, but ranked high in comfort.
I kind of look like the ballooned version of Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After we changed out of our normal clothes, we had an "orientation" where they explained a bit about the schedule and the temple. I soon realized something that would plague me for the rest of the trip. I hate listening to translators. The man who led the weekend spoke Korean while another man translated for him. I couldn't focus long enough on someone speaking between translations to understand what was going on. The translator also spoke incredibly softly and was not adept at using a microphone properly. Holding it five feet from your face will not create the desired voice magnification that one expects when using a microphone. During orientation we also practiced our bowing. The bowing reminded me a bit of getting into yoga's child's pose from a standing position. I found it rather pleasant. Little did I know how painful it could be.
Our next event was a meditation walk where we walked for about a quarter mile through the forest. We were supposed to concentrate on our feet and walk at a snail's pace. I instead admired the beautiful scenery around me (we were in a gorgeous mountainous area of Korea) while trying not to focus on how cold my hands were. I could only fixate on about three of my steps before my mind wandered again. When we reached our destination we released all of our negative energy by yelling "Yah" at the mountains. It was very cathartic.
My favorite part of the Buddhist lifestyle may be their diet. They are vegetarians and so dinner was pretty amazing for me. I didn't have to pick out any meat unlike my school lunches. The only downfall with dinner was that we were expected to eat everything that we took from the buffet line. Normally I'm not a picky eater, but when faced with the rule that I must eat eveything, suddenly every spoonful of rice became very hard to swallow. I mistook a rice cake bean thing for a chocolatey dessert (what was I thinking? I'm in Korea after all, there is no chocolatey dessert) and I just could not bring myself to finish it. So I tucked that away in my pocket, but I did finish the rest of my food.
After dinner, we did some chanting, spoke with a monk (really, he just spoke to us and barely answered any questions), had tea, and made a dream pouch. They then told us we would put our things in our sleeping area and proceed to the temple to do our bows. It seemed rather innocuous until we began our trek up a steep hill in the cold loaded down with all of our stuff. I did not see that one coming.
Once we put our things in the sleeping area, we proceeded up another hill and some steps to the temple. This was a really neat area with lighted lamps all over, and an altar with a Buddha. Here we had to perform 108 bows. The number is somehow derived from the six senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, and consciousness. Then that number is multiplied by six. Then that is multiplied by three for the past, present, and future. So they ended up at 108. We began our bowing which did not seem so bad at first. They told us we would all do 50 together and after that, if we wanted to stop we could. By 50, my legs were burning a bit, but I decided to carry on. For some reason I felt the need to bow the full 108 times. That was a mistake. By the last twenty, I was struggling to push myself up from the ground. A lot of people were smarter than me and stopped long before 108.
At 10:30 pm, we all went to sleep in our sleeping quarters. We slept on the floor, which I've gotten very accustomed to while traveling in Korea, so that was not a problem at all. Actually, since the heaters are located in the floors here in Korea, it's actually kind of nice.
Our wake-up call was at 3:00 am. Even as I write this I am starting to feel physically ill just thinking about waking up that early. It's just not right. That hour should be reserved only for stumbling home from a night out with friends. As my bff Chrissy put it so eloquently at 3:10 am, "We're paying money to wake up at 3:00 am." Yeah, I think we're a little crazy. After we woke up, we had to trek back up the hill and stairs to the temple again. We did some bowing and chanting. I was severely regretting those 108 bows because I could barely pick myself up from a kneeling position. I'm telling you, if you want some thighs of steel, I will teach you these bows.
We then walked back down the stairs to another temple where we had meditation for about a half hour. I always imagined meditation to be calming. This was not the case. We sat on the floor in a cross-legged position with our backs straight. During meditation, all I could meditate on was how my whole right leg was asleep and how my back hurt from sitting up straight. Unfortunately I did not come across any enlightenment. After meditation we had a 45 minute break and everyone used that time to fall back asleep.
We then trekked back down the hill to have a traditional Buddhist breakfast. It requires a lot of precise bowl using and cleaning. Once we were finished with the meal, we were supposed to wash our bowls with water and then drink that water. It was supposed to change our perspective. In theory, we had just eaten from the bowls, so drinking the water shouldn't be that bad because it was the stuff that we just ate. But it is food remains filled with water, not exactly appetizing. I somehow got out of doing it because drinking cloudy water with rice and kimchi bits in it did not appeal to me at six in the morning.
After breakfast, we had free time. Many of us laid on the floor and slept for another hour. We then had arts and crafts time, which may have been my other favorite part of the stay. We made lotus lanterns out of tissue paper and glue. Here is a picture of my lantern:
I will proudly display it in my apartment.
We then trekked back up the hill to the temple where we had to do 108 bows while we strung 108 beads on string to make a necklace. They felt sorry for us lazy foreigners who are not in top bowing form, so if we wanted to bow for every two or three beads we could. As it were, my thighs were burning just from sitting on the ground, so I bowed for about every five to ten beads I strung. We then chanted and walked around the temple and hung our dream pouches. After that we took a picture with the monk. He told us to yell "Tom Choo" as the pictures were being taken. I thought this was some Buddhist tradition that they engaged in while taking photos. Instead, he was actually saying "Come True", as in our dreams in our dream pouches would come true. So I was yelling "Tom Choo" not realizing that I was supposed to be speaking English.
Next we had lunch. Again, can I just say that I love the Buddhist diet? That is the one thing that I could get used to as a Buddhist monk. (Well, I guess I am already used to it since I am a vegetarian, but whatever, I'm trying to focus on the positive.) After lunch, we changed back into our clothes and headed home.
Now I may be painting the experience in a bit of a negative light. And I kind of mean to. Most of the time I was looking forward to it being over. But I must say that it was an "Only in Korea" experience and I will never get to (or choose to) do something like this again, so I look back on it with the idea that I'm glad I did it, but I'm even happier that it's over.
I give the monks a lot of credit for having that kind of discipline, for shaving their heads (I mean, if Britney Spears can't pull off a shaved head, I certainly couldn't), for giving up most of their possessions to be so devoted to a religion. I do think there are a lot of great aspects to Buddhism, like meditation (although I prefer the walk to the sitting up straight), and getting rid of negative energy and gaining positive energy. And I appreciate those aspects, but I will appreciate them from afar.
By the way, you can see pictures of my weekend here:
Temple Stay
I borrowed some of these pictures from my friends and some are mine that I took. Check back often because I will be posting more once I steal them from my other friends (which is very un-Buddha-like of me... sorry).
1. I NEVER want to be a Buddhist monk.
2. I have horrible posture.
3. Three o'clock in the morning should be a time reserved solely for going to bed, never for waking up.
4. I enjoy arts and crafts.
5. Buddhist monks smile a lot.
We started our temple stay with new uniforms that we had to wear the whole time we were there. As you can see in this picture, they were low on the sex appeal meter, but ranked high in comfort.
I kind of look like the ballooned version of Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After we changed out of our normal clothes, we had an "orientation" where they explained a bit about the schedule and the temple. I soon realized something that would plague me for the rest of the trip. I hate listening to translators. The man who led the weekend spoke Korean while another man translated for him. I couldn't focus long enough on someone speaking between translations to understand what was going on. The translator also spoke incredibly softly and was not adept at using a microphone properly. Holding it five feet from your face will not create the desired voice magnification that one expects when using a microphone. During orientation we also practiced our bowing. The bowing reminded me a bit of getting into yoga's child's pose from a standing position. I found it rather pleasant. Little did I know how painful it could be.
Our next event was a meditation walk where we walked for about a quarter mile through the forest. We were supposed to concentrate on our feet and walk at a snail's pace. I instead admired the beautiful scenery around me (we were in a gorgeous mountainous area of Korea) while trying not to focus on how cold my hands were. I could only fixate on about three of my steps before my mind wandered again. When we reached our destination we released all of our negative energy by yelling "Yah" at the mountains. It was very cathartic.
My favorite part of the Buddhist lifestyle may be their diet. They are vegetarians and so dinner was pretty amazing for me. I didn't have to pick out any meat unlike my school lunches. The only downfall with dinner was that we were expected to eat everything that we took from the buffet line. Normally I'm not a picky eater, but when faced with the rule that I must eat eveything, suddenly every spoonful of rice became very hard to swallow. I mistook a rice cake bean thing for a chocolatey dessert (what was I thinking? I'm in Korea after all, there is no chocolatey dessert) and I just could not bring myself to finish it. So I tucked that away in my pocket, but I did finish the rest of my food.
After dinner, we did some chanting, spoke with a monk (really, he just spoke to us and barely answered any questions), had tea, and made a dream pouch. They then told us we would put our things in our sleeping area and proceed to the temple to do our bows. It seemed rather innocuous until we began our trek up a steep hill in the cold loaded down with all of our stuff. I did not see that one coming.
Once we put our things in the sleeping area, we proceeded up another hill and some steps to the temple. This was a really neat area with lighted lamps all over, and an altar with a Buddha. Here we had to perform 108 bows. The number is somehow derived from the six senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, and consciousness. Then that number is multiplied by six. Then that is multiplied by three for the past, present, and future. So they ended up at 108. We began our bowing which did not seem so bad at first. They told us we would all do 50 together and after that, if we wanted to stop we could. By 50, my legs were burning a bit, but I decided to carry on. For some reason I felt the need to bow the full 108 times. That was a mistake. By the last twenty, I was struggling to push myself up from the ground. A lot of people were smarter than me and stopped long before 108.
At 10:30 pm, we all went to sleep in our sleeping quarters. We slept on the floor, which I've gotten very accustomed to while traveling in Korea, so that was not a problem at all. Actually, since the heaters are located in the floors here in Korea, it's actually kind of nice.
Our wake-up call was at 3:00 am. Even as I write this I am starting to feel physically ill just thinking about waking up that early. It's just not right. That hour should be reserved only for stumbling home from a night out with friends. As my bff Chrissy put it so eloquently at 3:10 am, "We're paying money to wake up at 3:00 am." Yeah, I think we're a little crazy. After we woke up, we had to trek back up the hill and stairs to the temple again. We did some bowing and chanting. I was severely regretting those 108 bows because I could barely pick myself up from a kneeling position. I'm telling you, if you want some thighs of steel, I will teach you these bows.
We then walked back down the stairs to another temple where we had meditation for about a half hour. I always imagined meditation to be calming. This was not the case. We sat on the floor in a cross-legged position with our backs straight. During meditation, all I could meditate on was how my whole right leg was asleep and how my back hurt from sitting up straight. Unfortunately I did not come across any enlightenment. After meditation we had a 45 minute break and everyone used that time to fall back asleep.
We then trekked back down the hill to have a traditional Buddhist breakfast. It requires a lot of precise bowl using and cleaning. Once we were finished with the meal, we were supposed to wash our bowls with water and then drink that water. It was supposed to change our perspective. In theory, we had just eaten from the bowls, so drinking the water shouldn't be that bad because it was the stuff that we just ate. But it is food remains filled with water, not exactly appetizing. I somehow got out of doing it because drinking cloudy water with rice and kimchi bits in it did not appeal to me at six in the morning.
After breakfast, we had free time. Many of us laid on the floor and slept for another hour. We then had arts and crafts time, which may have been my other favorite part of the stay. We made lotus lanterns out of tissue paper and glue. Here is a picture of my lantern:
I will proudly display it in my apartment.
We then trekked back up the hill to the temple where we had to do 108 bows while we strung 108 beads on string to make a necklace. They felt sorry for us lazy foreigners who are not in top bowing form, so if we wanted to bow for every two or three beads we could. As it were, my thighs were burning just from sitting on the ground, so I bowed for about every five to ten beads I strung. We then chanted and walked around the temple and hung our dream pouches. After that we took a picture with the monk. He told us to yell "Tom Choo" as the pictures were being taken. I thought this was some Buddhist tradition that they engaged in while taking photos. Instead, he was actually saying "Come True", as in our dreams in our dream pouches would come true. So I was yelling "Tom Choo" not realizing that I was supposed to be speaking English.
Next we had lunch. Again, can I just say that I love the Buddhist diet? That is the one thing that I could get used to as a Buddhist monk. (Well, I guess I am already used to it since I am a vegetarian, but whatever, I'm trying to focus on the positive.) After lunch, we changed back into our clothes and headed home.
Now I may be painting the experience in a bit of a negative light. And I kind of mean to. Most of the time I was looking forward to it being over. But I must say that it was an "Only in Korea" experience and I will never get to (or choose to) do something like this again, so I look back on it with the idea that I'm glad I did it, but I'm even happier that it's over.
I give the monks a lot of credit for having that kind of discipline, for shaving their heads (I mean, if Britney Spears can't pull off a shaved head, I certainly couldn't), for giving up most of their possessions to be so devoted to a religion. I do think there are a lot of great aspects to Buddhism, like meditation (although I prefer the walk to the sitting up straight), and getting rid of negative energy and gaining positive energy. And I appreciate those aspects, but I will appreciate them from afar.
By the way, you can see pictures of my weekend here:
Temple Stay
I borrowed some of these pictures from my friends and some are mine that I took. Check back often because I will be posting more once I steal them from my other friends (which is very un-Buddha-like of me... sorry).
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
TKD!
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at our tae kwon do exhibition, but I did pilfer other people's pictures. You can see them here:
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I broke a board with my foot.
It's true. I am now an official board-breaker. The tae kwon do exhibition went very well on Friday. It was held at the same hotel where we had orientation three months ago (can you believe it's been three months already?! I can't) which made me a bit nostalgic. It seems like just yesterday we were there, but I know so much more than I did then. We had a delicious free buffet followed by some quality (ha ha) entertainment from a Korean Beatles cover band.
I was able to break the board on my first try and it did not hurt at all. The boards are incredibly flimsy and fairly easy to break, but I will continue to brag about my feat. A good portion of the ceremony was devoted to handing out door prizes. If I haven't mentioned it yet, I will say it now, Koreans love giving gifts. They are of the philosophy that "it's the thought that counts". Case in point: I won a door prize and this was my prize:
Yes, that would be a year's supply of toothpaste. Lucky me! It even comes in a handy carrying case. But the best part of the toothpaste, and really, what you should expect out of any toothpaste is this:
I am really not a fan of math and I expect nothing less from my toothpaste as well. I will be enjoying this toothpaste for the next year. And since my toothpaste feels so strongly about it, we will not be doing any math together. I like my toothpaste to be strong in its convictions.
Yes, that would be a year's supply of toothpaste. Lucky me! It even comes in a handy carrying case. But the best part of the toothpaste, and really, what you should expect out of any toothpaste is this:
I am really not a fan of math and I expect nothing less from my toothpaste as well. I will be enjoying this toothpaste for the next year. And since my toothpaste feels so strongly about it, we will not be doing any math together. I like my toothpaste to be strong in its convictions.
The rest of the weekend was quite fun. After the tae kwon do ceremony, I went to a bar to watch some of our friends who have joined a band play their set. There was lots of dancing and singing.
On Saturday, we celebrated my good friend Ryan's birthday. A few of us went out to our favorite bulgogi restaurant in Bupyeong for his birthday dinner. We then hit up Bupyeong to continue the celebration. If I deem it appropriate, I may post some videos I took of the festivities Saturday night.
Today I had a few people over to begin our winter vacation planning. Six of us are planning on going to Thailand. Yes, I know Thailand has had some issues as of late with the government and protestors, but I'm hoping that in two months time most of that will be resolved. We have yet to book a flight, but hopefully that will happen tomorrow. Our plan is to stay in Bangkok for a couple days, then spend the rest of our time on a beach somewhere. We're planning on going for ten days. I am really looking forward to the trip and I hope that everything comes together in the next few days and that Thailand gets its act together.
Anna Rickert Minnesota
Anna Rickert Minnesota
Inquiring minds want to know
Alright, after many questions by multiple parties, I have finally taken a video of my apartment. You can view it here:
Monday, November 24, 2008
Hi-ya!
I am now a yellow belt in tae kwon do. Yeah! I passed my test tonight and will receive my belt on Friday at our performance. I'm moving on up in the world. Only seven more belts until I'm a black belt in tae kwon do. Ha!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Hardcore
At tae kwon do today I found out that I have to break a board at the exhibition on Friday. Have we practiced this? No. Am I nervous? Very. I was chosen to break the board with an axe kick. For those who don't know, the axe kick is probably the most ridiculous kick ever. Basically you lift your leg straight up as high as it will go without bending it. Supposedly I will break the board with the ball of my foot. Most likely I will just injure my foot. Needless to say, my week will now be devoted to axe kicking.
I love these guys.
I posted the other EV Boyz video here. They have a new song out now. It's not as good as "Kickin' it in Gumcheon" but it's still pretty funny. I think this is how a lot of relationships are here. A lot of guys come over here with the intent of dating a Korean woman.
Weekend Wrap-up
The weekend is coming to a close here in Incheon. I thought I would take the time to recap my not too exciting, but not half bad weekend. On Friday night it was a friend's birthday, so about 40-50 of us descended upon a bar in Incheon that has become one of our many favorite hangouts. For some reason, whenever I see my tae kwon do buddies, we always feel the need to practice our moves, so I did a lot of kicking and punching at the bar.
Yesterday Chrissy and I laid low and did some shopping and saw a movie. There are three large department stores near me. The stores are broken down into smaller sections and one of them, an outlet department store, has many individual stores all in this giant department store. It's a bit confusing, but they tend to have some good deals. It's a shopper's paradise here in Korea. We also went out for sushi at this great sushi buffet nearby. It has become a favorite for us because they not only have great sushi, but also salad, soup, spring rolls, and ice cream. I have been there far too often in the last few weeks. As we left, a waitress waved goodbye and said, "see you again soon."
In many ways it's so easy being an American in a foreign country. There are constant reminders of home all over. After sushi, we spent about an hour in Starbucks. Besides the constant stream of Koreans walking in the door, I felt like I was sitting at a Starbucks on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. There were even multiple tables filled with waygooks (foreigners). If I really want a taste of home, I intend to spend my time in Starbucks. Another thing that reminds me of home is getting fountain Diet Coke at the movies. I had a bit of an addiction to diet soda in the U.S. Fountain soda is the best, followed by cans, and bottles are my least favorite way to drink diet soda. It is rare to find fountain soda here (unless I frequent McDonald's--which I refuse to do) but they have it at the movie theater. Not only do they have it, but I can buy a tub of Diet Coke here just like I can at theaters in the states. I think this may be my favorite part about going to the movies here in Korea.
We saw the movie Blindness. It was incredibly disturbing, but also very interesting. There was kind of a Lord of the Flies, Plato's Cave, Holocaust feel about it. Apparently the book is really good and probably better than the movie. It makes me wonder, has there ever been a movie that is better than a book? I know I've never seen a movie that was better than the book. Speaking of movies and books... I'm so jealous of everyone in the states who saw Twilight. It was supposed to show in South Korea before the U.S. but somehow it doesn't come out until December now. Early reports from my friends at home are that it's good. I was in love with this series until the fourth book. I bought it to read on the plane ride over here and am still only halfway through it. I cannot bring myself to finish it, I just hate it so much. I hate the plot, I hate the voice of Jacob, I hate that Stephenie Meyer is trying to push her morals onto her readers. My goal is to finish the book before I see Twilight, but it's not looking promising.
Anyway, back to my weekend. Today I have tae kwon do practice for three hours. Tomorrow I have my test to get my first belt. Apparently we're tested on kicks, tying our belt, and our routine. I think I've got everything down except how to tie my belt. I need to figure that out today. On Friday we have an exhibition of our tae kwon do skills. We have a routine we've been working on and we will show it off on Friday. I guess it's kind of a big deal because about 140 people are coming to watch. I think I am going to continue on with tae kwon do (as long as I get my belt tomorrow). My tkd skills are severely lacking, but it's a lot of fun and a good workout. It's more fun than going to the gym.
I hope the weekend finds you well-rested and renewed for the coming week and Thanksgiving festivities.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
When in doubt, make up words.
Yesterday I was teaching students about describing physical characteristics. During part of the lesson, I showed students pictures of celebrities and had them write down and share descriptions of the celebrities. I tried to include a variety of celebrity photos. I showed my students a photo of Dame Judi Dench. One student raised his hand and said, "She has big nose holes." (Obviously he meant nostrils.)
The weather is a-changin.
I wouldn't be a true Minnesotan if I didn't discuss the weather in at least one post. We got our first "snowfall" here in Incheon today. There were a few flakes that fell on my way home from school today. The weather has decidedly shifted. It is now cold (nothing like Minnesota of course) and windy. According to Peter, it hardly snows in Incheon. I can't say I'm going to miss digging my car out of the road, or moving it for snow emergencies. I do enjoy a good white Christmas, but that's about all I'll miss about Minnesota winters.
Because Koreans don't celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time as we do, there is no set date to begin decorating for Christmas. Many stores have Christmas trees up already. A large department store by my apartment has giant neon snowflakes lit up. I think I won't get homesick until I start hearing Christmas music.
I celebrated the change in weather by purchasing my first Starbucks latte since I've been in Korea. For those who know me, it's quite a feat that I've lasted this long without Starbucks. They have the same holiday cups as they do at home. I was disappointed to note that they don't seem to have peppermint mochas here in Korea. That's a December staple for me in Minnesota. This toffee latte wasn't half bad though.
Beauty is only skin deep... or some other such cheesy notion.
My best friend here is 5'5" and weighs 105 pounds. The other day teachers at her school called her "curvy". This is what I'm up against living here in Korea.
In many ways Koreans are very superficial. When I first started here, Namyi, one of my co-teachers, told me about a former American teacher she taught with. She told me that they didn't have a lot in common because he was in his 50s and a man. On the other hand, she said we would get along well because I am "young and pretty". Now I have no idea what being pretty has to do with getting along with someone, but apparently it makes a difference.
On Friday night I went out for dinner and drinks with some friends. Before I caught a cab home, I bought some delicious walnut baked good things (I like to call them "walnut balls") from a street vendor. While I was waiting for the food, a group of college-aged Korean boys started talking to me. A couple of them spoke English so I spoke with them for a little while. They then asked me to choose who was the handsomest in the group. This is not the first time I've been asked to do that. Sometimes when my co-teachers ask me to choose a student to speak in class, they will tell me to pick the handsomest boy in class. Now in the U.S. I might get a severe talking to from a parent or principal if we decided to call on students this way.
Koreans are not afraid to comment on weight here either. Although the teachers at my school don't think I eat enough, they also make sure that I get enough exercise. They love that I'm in tae kwon do, probably because they hope I will shed a few pounds. Yesterday I was teaching my students about describing people using physical characteristics. We were going over body sizes and I was explaining to my students that we don't call people fat. Peter then tried to interject that we use a nicer word like "plump" to describe someone. I tried explaining that if they called an American that, it would still be offensive. Once again I was trying to hold back my laughter during class, because "plump" is just a funny word, and not commonly used in the U.S.
My friend Chrissy also told me about a comment made at her school. For one of her Korean English teacher classes, she reads books with them and then they discuss them. She recently read The Great Gatsby with the teachers. They were discussing the book and the fact that Tom cheats on Daisy. Chrissy asked the teachers if they would forgive their husbands if they had an affair. A 24-year-old teacher said that she would have to see the woman and if she was prettier than her she would forgive her husband.
Yes, living in Korea can often be the ego boost. Yesterday a student told me I looked like Angelina Jolie, on Saturday I was walking down the street and two girls stopped me and asked if they could take pictures with me, and a lot of my students and the other teachers tell me I'm pretty. But it also has its downfalls. Koreans aren't afraid to tell me when I look tired and sick or hint that I need more exercise. Also, I don't always feel like they're genuine to me. I think many of the teachers and students only like me because I'm American, I have blue eyes, and I'm a novelty.
In many ways Koreans are very superficial. When I first started here, Namyi, one of my co-teachers, told me about a former American teacher she taught with. She told me that they didn't have a lot in common because he was in his 50s and a man. On the other hand, she said we would get along well because I am "young and pretty". Now I have no idea what being pretty has to do with getting along with someone, but apparently it makes a difference.
On Friday night I went out for dinner and drinks with some friends. Before I caught a cab home, I bought some delicious walnut baked good things (I like to call them "walnut balls") from a street vendor. While I was waiting for the food, a group of college-aged Korean boys started talking to me. A couple of them spoke English so I spoke with them for a little while. They then asked me to choose who was the handsomest in the group. This is not the first time I've been asked to do that. Sometimes when my co-teachers ask me to choose a student to speak in class, they will tell me to pick the handsomest boy in class. Now in the U.S. I might get a severe talking to from a parent or principal if we decided to call on students this way.
Koreans are not afraid to comment on weight here either. Although the teachers at my school don't think I eat enough, they also make sure that I get enough exercise. They love that I'm in tae kwon do, probably because they hope I will shed a few pounds. Yesterday I was teaching my students about describing people using physical characteristics. We were going over body sizes and I was explaining to my students that we don't call people fat. Peter then tried to interject that we use a nicer word like "plump" to describe someone. I tried explaining that if they called an American that, it would still be offensive. Once again I was trying to hold back my laughter during class, because "plump" is just a funny word, and not commonly used in the U.S.
My friend Chrissy also told me about a comment made at her school. For one of her Korean English teacher classes, she reads books with them and then they discuss them. She recently read The Great Gatsby with the teachers. They were discussing the book and the fact that Tom cheats on Daisy. Chrissy asked the teachers if they would forgive their husbands if they had an affair. A 24-year-old teacher said that she would have to see the woman and if she was prettier than her she would forgive her husband.
Yes, living in Korea can often be the ego boost. Yesterday a student told me I looked like Angelina Jolie, on Saturday I was walking down the street and two girls stopped me and asked if they could take pictures with me, and a lot of my students and the other teachers tell me I'm pretty. But it also has its downfalls. Koreans aren't afraid to tell me when I look tired and sick or hint that I need more exercise. Also, I don't always feel like they're genuine to me. I think many of the teachers and students only like me because I'm American, I have blue eyes, and I'm a novelty.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Allow me to step on my soapbox for a moment.
I read this article written by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times recently, and I am very disappointed in Obama if he indeed is putting education on the backburner. I understand that he will have a lot on his plate as a new president, but I agree with Kristof that a lot of the problems America faces is a result of poor education in certain areas of the United States.
Having taught in the U.S. for three years, and now in South Korea for over two months, I feel like I've gained new perspectives on education. Both education systems boast some great qualities, but there are some aspects that need to be improved in both systems.
The U.S. is culturally and historically different from other Asian countries, so when comparing the U.S. to Asian countries regarding education, we do Americans a disservice. Yes, Asian countries are excelling at great speeds in math and science, but at what cost? My students come to school at 8:00 am. They have classes from 8:00 am-5:00 pm. They then have independent study at school until 9:00 pm. After school, many of them attend private academies (called hagwons) for English or other subjects. Many of them do not get home until at least midnight. Sometimes they then must study at home too. It is no wonder that so many of my students are falling asleep in my classes (and trust me, my classes aren't boring--I'm the fun class because we play games). The students are wonderful at memorizing information that they can then regurgitate for standardized tests. But their creativity and critical thinking skills are severely lacking. In English, they probably have a similar vocabulary to my ninth graders I taught in the U.S. but most of them cannot form a sentence and speak it to save their lives.
Also, in Asian countries, as I've mentioned before, everything is based around respect. The students are expected to do what they're told. They are to respect their elders. Teachers are respected (although still underpaid and overworked) in Korea. There are still discipline problems, but they do not compare to issues in the U.S. In Asian countries, most parents take an active role in their childrens' lives. They pay for high school, they pay for extra hagwon classes, and they push their children to work to the best of their abilities.
Korea values education and puts the highest premium on good test scores and getting into a good college. In the U.S. although many people might say they value education, it is not a priority for most people. When I taught in the U.S. students were constantly yanked out of school for family vacations, sports activities, dentist appointments, choir and band trips, etc. I understand students should be well-rounded, but this would not happen in Korea. Students DO NOT miss school in Korea. Parents and activities schedule around school, not vice versa. We only have to look at our current president to see that education is not a priority. He has tangled up the system with No Child Left Behind. Also, our most powerful leader in the U.S. in no way comes across as an intellectual. He barely slipped by two elections with his folksy, every-man charm. "Intelligent" is not one of the first adjectives I would use to describe Bush.
It is no surprise we are lagging behind Asian countries. Unless the U.S. does a 180 on its culture and values, we probably always will. From what I've witnessed from teaching in Korea, the two countries are barely even comparable when it comes to educaiton. Historically the United States has always been rebellious. This has often worked to our advantage and we wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for our rebellious nature. However, in education this rebelliousness works against us. From an early age, students see teachers vilified in movies, on television, and even by parents. If parents didn't excel in school they often project that mentality onto their children. Also, absent parents are ubiquitous in the U.S. and thus American children do not receive that added educational support at home.
I do think the U.S. is much better at fostering creativity and critical thinking skills, however, if we use Asian countries as a model for our own educational system, and continue to use standardized testing, these crucial skills will be put on the backburner.
I really hope Obama sees the need for some educational funding. No Child Left Behind is ridiculous and needs to be completely modified or scrapped altogether. I have heard Obama speak fondly of charter schools. In theory, I think they are a great alternative for some students. However, I think we need to focus on the root of the problem which is public schools, instead of just transferring students (and in turn, problems) from one school to another. I do agree with Kristof that good teachers should be better compensated for teaching in difficult public schools. I agree that some bad teachers need to be weeded out of schools, however, I don't think tenure should be abolished. It protects far too many teachers from arbitrary firings. Politics is a tricky tricky business in education and many quality teachers would be wrongfully fired if they were not tenured. As a non-tenured teacher there were many times when I would have liked to speak up during faculty meetings, or brought new or different ideas to the table, but until I held that magical tenure title, I was not going to speak up for fear of consequences. I simply allowed other quality tenured teachers to speak their minds instead of me. Also, tenure protects older teachers who may be fired to hire a new, inexpensive teacher.
As teachers, it's often so easy to blame poor parenting on all the education woes in America. But ultimately, those poor parents are not going to go away, so we have to find better means to cope and compensate for the poor parenting plague in the U.S. I think it's important to enroll children in early childhood programs as soon as possible, because education truly begins at brith. I know Obama has talked about increasing funding to these types of programs. I hope he follows through on that. Also, he has admonished parents for not taking responsibilty for their children. I am glad that he realizes education begins at home.
I know everyone has high hopes for the Obama administration. I hope he chooses his priorities wisely and considers education to be one of them.
Having taught in the U.S. for three years, and now in South Korea for over two months, I feel like I've gained new perspectives on education. Both education systems boast some great qualities, but there are some aspects that need to be improved in both systems.
The U.S. is culturally and historically different from other Asian countries, so when comparing the U.S. to Asian countries regarding education, we do Americans a disservice. Yes, Asian countries are excelling at great speeds in math and science, but at what cost? My students come to school at 8:00 am. They have classes from 8:00 am-5:00 pm. They then have independent study at school until 9:00 pm. After school, many of them attend private academies (called hagwons) for English or other subjects. Many of them do not get home until at least midnight. Sometimes they then must study at home too. It is no wonder that so many of my students are falling asleep in my classes (and trust me, my classes aren't boring--I'm the fun class because we play games). The students are wonderful at memorizing information that they can then regurgitate for standardized tests. But their creativity and critical thinking skills are severely lacking. In English, they probably have a similar vocabulary to my ninth graders I taught in the U.S. but most of them cannot form a sentence and speak it to save their lives.
Also, in Asian countries, as I've mentioned before, everything is based around respect. The students are expected to do what they're told. They are to respect their elders. Teachers are respected (although still underpaid and overworked) in Korea. There are still discipline problems, but they do not compare to issues in the U.S. In Asian countries, most parents take an active role in their childrens' lives. They pay for high school, they pay for extra hagwon classes, and they push their children to work to the best of their abilities.
Korea values education and puts the highest premium on good test scores and getting into a good college. In the U.S. although many people might say they value education, it is not a priority for most people. When I taught in the U.S. students were constantly yanked out of school for family vacations, sports activities, dentist appointments, choir and band trips, etc. I understand students should be well-rounded, but this would not happen in Korea. Students DO NOT miss school in Korea. Parents and activities schedule around school, not vice versa. We only have to look at our current president to see that education is not a priority. He has tangled up the system with No Child Left Behind. Also, our most powerful leader in the U.S. in no way comes across as an intellectual. He barely slipped by two elections with his folksy, every-man charm. "Intelligent" is not one of the first adjectives I would use to describe Bush.
It is no surprise we are lagging behind Asian countries. Unless the U.S. does a 180 on its culture and values, we probably always will. From what I've witnessed from teaching in Korea, the two countries are barely even comparable when it comes to educaiton. Historically the United States has always been rebellious. This has often worked to our advantage and we wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for our rebellious nature. However, in education this rebelliousness works against us. From an early age, students see teachers vilified in movies, on television, and even by parents. If parents didn't excel in school they often project that mentality onto their children. Also, absent parents are ubiquitous in the U.S. and thus American children do not receive that added educational support at home.
I do think the U.S. is much better at fostering creativity and critical thinking skills, however, if we use Asian countries as a model for our own educational system, and continue to use standardized testing, these crucial skills will be put on the backburner.
I really hope Obama sees the need for some educational funding. No Child Left Behind is ridiculous and needs to be completely modified or scrapped altogether. I have heard Obama speak fondly of charter schools. In theory, I think they are a great alternative for some students. However, I think we need to focus on the root of the problem which is public schools, instead of just transferring students (and in turn, problems) from one school to another. I do agree with Kristof that good teachers should be better compensated for teaching in difficult public schools. I agree that some bad teachers need to be weeded out of schools, however, I don't think tenure should be abolished. It protects far too many teachers from arbitrary firings. Politics is a tricky tricky business in education and many quality teachers would be wrongfully fired if they were not tenured. As a non-tenured teacher there were many times when I would have liked to speak up during faculty meetings, or brought new or different ideas to the table, but until I held that magical tenure title, I was not going to speak up for fear of consequences. I simply allowed other quality tenured teachers to speak their minds instead of me. Also, tenure protects older teachers who may be fired to hire a new, inexpensive teacher.
As teachers, it's often so easy to blame poor parenting on all the education woes in America. But ultimately, those poor parents are not going to go away, so we have to find better means to cope and compensate for the poor parenting plague in the U.S. I think it's important to enroll children in early childhood programs as soon as possible, because education truly begins at brith. I know Obama has talked about increasing funding to these types of programs. I hope he follows through on that. Also, he has admonished parents for not taking responsibilty for their children. I am glad that he realizes education begins at home.
I know everyone has high hopes for the Obama administration. I hope he chooses his priorities wisely and considers education to be one of them.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Nothing to do at school today. Weird.
Once again I am sitting in my office without classes for the day. Today is nationwide testing for seniors. It is a big deal for them because this makes or breaks their college career, something they and their parents have been preparing for since they started kindergarten. I don't have any seniors at my school, so my students just have a day off. But lucky me, I still have to come in to school even though there are only four of us here. So with the extra time on my hands I thought I would update my blog.
This may be a long post, so grab a cup of coffee and carry on my wayward reader.
I've written a bit about school, but let me share a bit more about my daily classes. I technically teach seven different classes each week. My classes consist of: a regular English class for advanced students, a regular English class for beginning-level students, an optional culture and activity class, English conversation club, Korean English teachers class, English class for non-English Korean teachers, and an English class for parents. I end up seeing each student one to two times per week.
I try to focus on speaking in my regular English classes. In the beginning-level classes my students can barely form sentences when speaking. Instead they shout out random words that I can hardly understand because their accents are so thick. You would never know they have had nine years of English training.
In my optional culture and activity class I choose a theme each week and we usually do activities centered around that theme. I end up changing lessons once every two weeks. So when I prepare these lessons, I make sure that I am as interested in the topic as the students are because I have to teach the lesson for two weeks.
My English conversation club is the light of my life here at Incheon Mansu High School. I meet with 8-10 students twice a week. There are two different classes, so I see the same students once per week. The club is made up of the best English speakers in the high school. I usually let them choose the subject each week and then I prepare an activity about the topic. Most of these students can actually carry on a conversation so I feel like I've actually established a relationship with most of these students. This past week I taught them the card game "Bullshit" (excuse my language) but told them it was called "I doubt it". I've never seen students so excited. They LOVED the game and it forced them to speak English most of the time. You can see pictures of me and one of my conversation classes in my photo album on the sidebar. Also, I don't have a co-teacher watching over me during this class so I have more freedom. I think that
is one of the reasons I enjoy the class so much.
Usually the other English teachers are so busy so I rarely meet with them for their class. Sometimes I will correct their teaching materials or they will ask me random questions about the English language. The other day I had a 20 minute conversation with Peter about the passive voice in English. Another time he asked me about the expression "wearing the pants in the family". Once he read me a bunch of jokes and asked me why exactly they were meant to be funny. Today he asked me about the phrase "beginner's luck". He really likes to throw random idioms into his speech and then ask me about them. He loves to refer to a student who "sleeps like a log" in every class of mine. Today he asked me if playing the piano was my "cup of tea".
I have only taught the English class for Korean teachers once. I am supposed to have the class every Friday and it seems like something comes up every Friday and they can't attend. I'm disappointed because the one time I had it I realized their English is much better than they let on and most of them can carry on a conversation with me. I was not aware of this because most of them do not speak to me during the day.
I have five mothers that attend my parents' English class. They are so cute. Their English pronunciation is horrible but they try so hard. Their English is very limited. I don't have a co-teacher with me during this class either, so sometimes it is difficult for me to communicate with them. They bring me presents almost every time we have class so I enjoy them a lot also.
I have three English co-teachers. Peter is my main co-teacher and is kind of in charge of me. I've described him before. He is incredibly helpful and a nice man, but sometimes I get annoyed with the way men over the age of 40 act in Korea. It is still a male dominated society and respect is a big deal here. Peter often tells me what to do and I am expected to do it. Namyi is one of my other co-teachers. She is 28 and not married. I have hung out with her outside of school once. We keep meaning to get together again but teachers work insane hours here so we can't always find a time. I enjoy teaching with her the most because we have similar teaching styles, probably because we're both young. My other co-teacher is Ms. Ok (I don't know her first name...ooops). Her office is upstairs so I rarely see her except when I teach with her. She is in her thirties and married with two children. She is very nice, but her English is definitely the
worst of my three co-teachers. Sometimes I have a difficult time understanding her.
It is now time for me to head home for the day. Overall this has been a rather productive day. I just performed my tae kwon do routine for a few teachers who are here. I am horrible at tae kwon do, but they all had good things to say. One teacher said I looked very powerful, another told me it was perfect, and they all said I excel at tae kwon do. I ate some delicious black noodles for lunch (a "Chinese" dish), Peter and I went to the bank to transfer money home, I sat on Facebook for hours, I listened to Korean pop music, I wrote three blog posts, I discussed the merits of evaluating teachers in the U.S. with Peter and another teacher, I had real coffee (a rarity in this office), I ate a sweet potato "for dessert", I talked about the lottery with my vice principal, and I didn't do any lesson planning. Good job me!
This may be a long post, so grab a cup of coffee and carry on my wayward reader.
I've written a bit about school, but let me share a bit more about my daily classes. I technically teach seven different classes each week. My classes consist of: a regular English class for advanced students, a regular English class for beginning-level students, an optional culture and activity class, English conversation club, Korean English teachers class, English class for non-English Korean teachers, and an English class for parents. I end up seeing each student one to two times per week.
I try to focus on speaking in my regular English classes. In the beginning-level classes my students can barely form sentences when speaking. Instead they shout out random words that I can hardly understand because their accents are so thick. You would never know they have had nine years of English training.
In my optional culture and activity class I choose a theme each week and we usually do activities centered around that theme. I end up changing lessons once every two weeks. So when I prepare these lessons, I make sure that I am as interested in the topic as the students are because I have to teach the lesson for two weeks.
My English conversation club is the light of my life here at Incheon Mansu High School. I meet with 8-10 students twice a week. There are two different classes, so I see the same students once per week. The club is made up of the best English speakers in the high school. I usually let them choose the subject each week and then I prepare an activity about the topic. Most of these students can actually carry on a conversation so I feel like I've actually established a relationship with most of these students. This past week I taught them the card game "Bullshit" (excuse my language) but told them it was called "I doubt it". I've never seen students so excited. They LOVED the game and it forced them to speak English most of the time. You can see pictures of me and one of my conversation classes in my photo album on the sidebar. Also, I don't have a co-teacher watching over me during this class so I have more freedom. I think that
is one of the reasons I enjoy the class so much.
Usually the other English teachers are so busy so I rarely meet with them for their class. Sometimes I will correct their teaching materials or they will ask me random questions about the English language. The other day I had a 20 minute conversation with Peter about the passive voice in English. Another time he asked me about the expression "wearing the pants in the family". Once he read me a bunch of jokes and asked me why exactly they were meant to be funny. Today he asked me about the phrase "beginner's luck". He really likes to throw random idioms into his speech and then ask me about them. He loves to refer to a student who "sleeps like a log" in every class of mine. Today he asked me if playing the piano was my "cup of tea".
I have only taught the English class for Korean teachers once. I am supposed to have the class every Friday and it seems like something comes up every Friday and they can't attend. I'm disappointed because the one time I had it I realized their English is much better than they let on and most of them can carry on a conversation with me. I was not aware of this because most of them do not speak to me during the day.
I have five mothers that attend my parents' English class. They are so cute. Their English pronunciation is horrible but they try so hard. Their English is very limited. I don't have a co-teacher with me during this class either, so sometimes it is difficult for me to communicate with them. They bring me presents almost every time we have class so I enjoy them a lot also.
I have three English co-teachers. Peter is my main co-teacher and is kind of in charge of me. I've described him before. He is incredibly helpful and a nice man, but sometimes I get annoyed with the way men over the age of 40 act in Korea. It is still a male dominated society and respect is a big deal here. Peter often tells me what to do and I am expected to do it. Namyi is one of my other co-teachers. She is 28 and not married. I have hung out with her outside of school once. We keep meaning to get together again but teachers work insane hours here so we can't always find a time. I enjoy teaching with her the most because we have similar teaching styles, probably because we're both young. My other co-teacher is Ms. Ok (I don't know her first name...ooops). Her office is upstairs so I rarely see her except when I teach with her. She is in her thirties and married with two children. She is very nice, but her English is definitely the
worst of my three co-teachers. Sometimes I have a difficult time understanding her.
It is now time for me to head home for the day. Overall this has been a rather productive day. I just performed my tae kwon do routine for a few teachers who are here. I am horrible at tae kwon do, but they all had good things to say. One teacher said I looked very powerful, another told me it was perfect, and they all said I excel at tae kwon do. I ate some delicious black noodles for lunch (a "Chinese" dish), Peter and I went to the bank to transfer money home, I sat on Facebook for hours, I listened to Korean pop music, I wrote three blog posts, I discussed the merits of evaluating teachers in the U.S. with Peter and another teacher, I had real coffee (a rarity in this office), I ate a sweet potato "for dessert", I talked about the lottery with my vice principal, and I didn't do any lesson planning. Good job me!
K-Pop
Now that I've been here a couple months, I've come to appreciate Korean pop music. We listen to it a lot during tae kwon do. Also, one of the teachers downloaded a bunch of Korean music for me. The Wonder Girls' "Nobody" is everywhere. I was shopping the other night, and heard it in three different stores. Here are a few of my favorites K-Pop songs:
Wonder Girls: "Nobody"
(This is just a great video in general.)
Wonder Girls: "So Hot"
Outsider (A Korean rapper--my students really like him.)
Epik High: "One"
Wonder Girls: "Nobody"
(This is just a great video in general.)
Wonder Girls: "So Hot"
Outsider (A Korean rapper--my students really like him.)
Epik High: "One"
Koreans have not heard about the War on Drugs in the U.S.
The other day as a warm-up activity to our lesson, I had my students list as many American foods as they could. One group wrote down "drugs". I tell you I break out into hysterical laughter at least three times a week in my classes.
Monday, November 10, 2008
I love Konglish
One of my favorite things about living in Korea is reading the random English phrases written on clothing. Koreans love to wear shirts with English phrases. I have read so many great phrases that escape me at the moment. But I saw a quality one today that I actually remembered. A ten year old girl on my bus this afternoon was wearing a shirt that said: "College Life: The most fun you'll never remember."
Saturday, November 8, 2008
My life span was cut in half
Shortly after I wrote my last blog post there were some loud noises outside of my office. The other teacher in the office checked to see what the noise was. She came back and told me that there was some work being done on the school. We both went back to work. A little while later it started to smell in the office. The teacher again went to check to see what was going on. She came back and said that they were disinfecting the school. Her English is not very good so I didn't ask much further and she went back to work so I did too. After about another half hour another teacher came in and told us we should leave the building because the fumes were poisonous. I looked up and all around the office it looked like a smoky barroom. There was a haze and the smell was strong. I ran out of the building with my scarf around my face and the principal was outside laughing at me.
I am incredibly worried that I will now develop lung cancer next week. I know there's a language barrier and a lot gets lost in translation, but I feel that we should have been warned about these toxic fumes. I was able to leave school an hour early but that's a small price to pay for the cancer that I am surely to develop from this incident.
Weekend Ramblings
It is almost time for me to head home for the weekend. Once again I have wasted away the whole day doing nothing. The entire school went to Everland, an amusement park in Seoul, today and I am stuck in the office with the vice principal and one other teacher. I don't entirely mind because my other option was to go to an English conference with Peter which I wanted to do less than sit in the office all day. I went out to lunch with the teachers who were here. We had rice and vegetables wrapped in pig intestines. "No meat!" my vice principal told me. She still doesn't quite understand the concept that pigs are animals and therefore are meat. I picked around the intestines and ate some broth of meat soup. I feel bad because my vice principal is afraid I am going to "become malnourished". I assured her that I eat normally at home. On the plus side, one of the teachers told me I look like Mariah Carey.
This weekend should prove to be an interesting one. We are having a battle of the sexes type competition tonight. I won't get into the details right now, but the guys are quite cocky and there has been a lot of trash talk exchanged all week. I am confident I will dominate in the competition and I'm just hoping the rest of my team does too.
Saying the election turned out nicely is an understatement. I am so happy with the results. It was great to see the excitement unfold at home via the internet. I received many emails and messages from people at home. Also, many of the teachers at school were very excited for me as well. My mom told me my grandpa voted for Obama. I love that my 88 year old grandpa voted for change too. Now Minnesotans await the results of the senate election. My dislike for Norm Coleman runs deep so I'm really hoping Franken pulled it off, but it's not looking good.
I hope you all have a good weekend!
This weekend should prove to be an interesting one. We are having a battle of the sexes type competition tonight. I won't get into the details right now, but the guys are quite cocky and there has been a lot of trash talk exchanged all week. I am confident I will dominate in the competition and I'm just hoping the rest of my team does too.
Saying the election turned out nicely is an understatement. I am so happy with the results. It was great to see the excitement unfold at home via the internet. I received many emails and messages from people at home. Also, many of the teachers at school were very excited for me as well. My mom told me my grandpa voted for Obama. I love that my 88 year old grandpa voted for change too. Now Minnesotans await the results of the senate election. My dislike for Norm Coleman runs deep so I'm really hoping Franken pulled it off, but it's not looking good.
I hope you all have a good weekend!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Seoraksan, Halloween, the election and other various ramblings
Before my mom harasses me any more about the lack of blog posts, I will attempt to spit one out. I don't know where the time goes, but it goes somewhere, and in that time I have neglected my posting. I've been here over two months. It's now officially my life and at times I feel the honeymoon has worn off, but I'm still enjoying myself.
I also have some more pictures you can see here.
Two weekends ago I went to Seoraksan National Park on the east coast of South Korea. Saying the area was beautiful is not doing it justice in any way. So I'll let my pictures speak for themselves:
I also have some more pictures you can see here.We started off the trip in a stressful state because we missed our bus to Sokcho. We gave it a good try by running through the subway stations Home Alone style, but we missed the bus by ten minutes. Luckily we got tickets for a bus departing an hour later.
On Saturday we hiked to the top of Ulsanbawi, a mountain in Seoraksan. With my fear of heights and no experience climbing that high before, it was a bit unnerving, but I am glad to say I accomplished the hike. It was incredibly crowded at the park and the hike up was more dangerous because of Koreans shoving than anything else. At the top of the mountain it was windy, cold, and anticlimactic. The hike up had much more beautiful views.
While in Korea, I've realized how much I love Halloween. The past two weeks were devoted to Halloween lesson plans in the classroom whether my students liked it or not. I showed videos from A Nightmare Before Christmas, Michael Jackson's Thriller and the like. Koreans do not celebrate Halloween, so we received many funny looks on Friday night when we walked to the bar. I went the easy route and dressed up in a toga (my bed sheet). I was impressed with many of the costumes people pulled together because there aren't many options here in Korea.
Today is a very exciting day as everyone knows--election day! I will not hear about results until tomorrow afternoon, but I am looking forward to it nevertheless. Many of the Korean teachers were asking me about the election today. No matter how much I travel, it still amazes me how much more everyone knows about the United States' political system than Americans know about any other country. It seems like many Koreans want Obama to win, or at least expect him to. Peter, my co-teacher, supports McCain. That does not surprise me because he seems rather conservative. He wondered how Americans could think Obama could run a country when he is so young. I said the opposite could and is being said about McCain. Peter also likes McCain's Vietnam War stories. One of the teachers who can barely say five words in English spoke to me for a good ten minutes about Obama's ideas for change. Also many of my students have asked me (or had teachers translate for them) whether I voted. Overall there's a great sense of anticipation even over here. I can only imagine what it's like at home. I'm streaming the Current right now (seriously, streaming online radio is one of the best inventions ever) and all of their songs have to do with the election. Good stuff.
Don't underestimate Adam Sandler
Okay, this was written about a week or two ago, but like the procrastinator I am, I'm just posting it now.
Homesickness has finally hit me in two separate incidents. It's definitely not bad enough to send me home or anything, but it was unexpected. A group of us have established a game/movie night. A week and a half ago we got together and ended up watching the movie Click with Adam Sandler. I didn't really have a desire to see the movie but majority vote won out. Little did I know I was about to see an incredibly sad, touching, albeit cheesy movie. It is kind of along the lines of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. Anyway, it really highlighted the importance of family and not missing out on family events, important life milestones, etc.
I teared up a bit at the end of the movie. Never would I have thought an Adam Sandler movie could make me become a weepy mess. Ironically, I skipped out on a Skype date with my mom to go to movie night. The movie made me realize that I'm forfeiting a year with my friends and family to be in South Korea. With Grandma Jo having a stroke while I'm over here, it's really been difficult at times being gone.
So this is how I was feeling after watching the movie. After thinking about it a bit more, I gained a new perspective. As I posted in a previous entry, I spent some time with my grandparents before I left for Korea. We went gambling and had a nice time at the casino and also on the bus ride there. If I hadn't been leaving for Korea I probably would've foregone the casino outing because it wouldn't have seemed as important to go with them because I could see them any time. Who knows if I would have even seen Grandma Jo again before she had the stroke. The same thing applies with my friends. Before I left for Korea I got together with almost all of my friends, some I hadn't even seen in months. If I hadn't left for Korea, I probably wouldn't have gotten together with all of those people, especially the ones I hadn't seen in awhile.
Another bout of homesickness hit me at school last week. I was having a meeting with my English co-teachers and one of them asked me what has been difficult about teaching in Korea or what I miss about teaching in the U.S. I started tearing up as I explained that I missed having a relationship with my students. While teaching in the U.S. I prided myself on the positive relationships I fostered with the students at my school. Here in Korea, the students love me but only because I am the token American and we play games in my class. I love them dearly, but I can't have a real relationship with most of them because their English is so limited. Also, I've stayed in touch with a lot of my former students and I received a lot of emails from them last week and that just added to the homesick feeling.
Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it here and know that I made the right decision in coming. This past weekend in Seoraksan cemented that decision. (You'll see in my next post--especially if you look at my pictures.)
So moral of the story: Appreciate what you have while you have it, and don't underestimate Adam Sandler and his ability to tug at the heart strings. Could I be any cheesier right now? Probably not.
Homesickness has finally hit me in two separate incidents. It's definitely not bad enough to send me home or anything, but it was unexpected. A group of us have established a game/movie night. A week and a half ago we got together and ended up watching the movie Click with Adam Sandler. I didn't really have a desire to see the movie but majority vote won out. Little did I know I was about to see an incredibly sad, touching, albeit cheesy movie. It is kind of along the lines of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. Anyway, it really highlighted the importance of family and not missing out on family events, important life milestones, etc.
I teared up a bit at the end of the movie. Never would I have thought an Adam Sandler movie could make me become a weepy mess. Ironically, I skipped out on a Skype date with my mom to go to movie night. The movie made me realize that I'm forfeiting a year with my friends and family to be in South Korea. With Grandma Jo having a stroke while I'm over here, it's really been difficult at times being gone.
So this is how I was feeling after watching the movie. After thinking about it a bit more, I gained a new perspective. As I posted in a previous entry, I spent some time with my grandparents before I left for Korea. We went gambling and had a nice time at the casino and also on the bus ride there. If I hadn't been leaving for Korea I probably would've foregone the casino outing because it wouldn't have seemed as important to go with them because I could see them any time. Who knows if I would have even seen Grandma Jo again before she had the stroke. The same thing applies with my friends. Before I left for Korea I got together with almost all of my friends, some I hadn't even seen in months. If I hadn't left for Korea, I probably wouldn't have gotten together with all of those people, especially the ones I hadn't seen in awhile.
Another bout of homesickness hit me at school last week. I was having a meeting with my English co-teachers and one of them asked me what has been difficult about teaching in Korea or what I miss about teaching in the U.S. I started tearing up as I explained that I missed having a relationship with my students. While teaching in the U.S. I prided myself on the positive relationships I fostered with the students at my school. Here in Korea, the students love me but only because I am the token American and we play games in my class. I love them dearly, but I can't have a real relationship with most of them because their English is so limited. Also, I've stayed in touch with a lot of my former students and I received a lot of emails from them last week and that just added to the homesick feeling.
Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it here and know that I made the right decision in coming. This past weekend in Seoraksan cemented that decision. (You'll see in my next post--especially if you look at my pictures.)
So moral of the story: Appreciate what you have while you have it, and don't underestimate Adam Sandler and his ability to tug at the heart strings. Could I be any cheesier right now? Probably not.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
DMZ
On Sunday I visited the de-militarized zone between North and South Korea. It was interesting and definitely worth seeing. It is pathetic how little I know about Korea's history. I knew next to nothing about the Korean War until one of my friends here gave me a mini history lesson. Koreans here often ask me what Americans think of Korea. I tell them they think of North Korea's hatred for the U.S. and that they think Koreans eat dog. I knew a bit more than that about South Korea before coming here, but as far as history is concerned, I am ignorant.
The trip consisted of a stop at a ginseng festival with some quality photo ops, a traditional Korean lunch, visiting a tunnel, seeing into North Korea, and visiting the train station that runs into North Korea. The tunnel and museum was probably the most interesting part, but sadly cameras were not allowed in the tunnel. After the Korean War, North Korea built many tunnels into South Korea with the intention to invade Seoul. These tunnels have only been discovered within the last 30 years. The most recent and fourth tunnel was found in the 1990s. It is thought that there are many more tunnels in existance that have yet to be found. The tunnel was quite a hike, we walked down 500 meters into the ground. The walk down was not so bad, but the walk back up 500 meters at a 45 degree angle was a workout.
At the observation tower, we could see into North Korea. Unfortunately we could only take pictures behind a certain line, so I don't have any quality photos of North Korea. Also, it was kind of hazy so it was difficult to see the propaganda town North Korea has set up for tourists to see from the observation tower.
I have pictures which you can see here: DMZ pictures Just a note, my cousin Stacey sent me her daughter Lilli's flat Stanley. That is what I am holding up in most of the pictures. Our tour guide thought that I had an imaginary friend I was bringing with me on the trip.
The trip consisted of a stop at a ginseng festival with some quality photo ops, a traditional Korean lunch, visiting a tunnel, seeing into North Korea, and visiting the train station that runs into North Korea. The tunnel and museum was probably the most interesting part, but sadly cameras were not allowed in the tunnel. After the Korean War, North Korea built many tunnels into South Korea with the intention to invade Seoul. These tunnels have only been discovered within the last 30 years. The most recent and fourth tunnel was found in the 1990s. It is thought that there are many more tunnels in existance that have yet to be found. The tunnel was quite a hike, we walked down 500 meters into the ground. The walk down was not so bad, but the walk back up 500 meters at a 45 degree angle was a workout.
At the observation tower, we could see into North Korea. Unfortunately we could only take pictures behind a certain line, so I don't have any quality photos of North Korea. Also, it was kind of hazy so it was difficult to see the propaganda town North Korea has set up for tourists to see from the observation tower.
I have pictures which you can see here: DMZ pictures Just a note, my cousin Stacey sent me her daughter Lilli's flat Stanley. That is what I am holding up in most of the pictures. Our tour guide thought that I had an imaginary friend I was bringing with me on the trip.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sorry
Sorry friends. I had all these ideas of grandeur for new blog posts. But then I went to tae kwon do and now I'm just too tired. Tae kwon do was kind of brutal tonight but still awesome. It's such a good workout and I had no idea. I actually have to start practicing outside of class because it's getting tougher. Ah well, it keeps me off the streets.
Blog updates and new pictures will be up soonish. A little preview for you: I went to the DMZ, the de-militarized border between North and South Korea, on Sunday. So most likely I will write about that. Also, Adam Sandler and homesickness might be another blog post. You'll just have to wait and see. (I know you're on the edge of your seats right now.) Good night.
Blog updates and new pictures will be up soonish. A little preview for you: I went to the DMZ, the de-militarized border between North and South Korea, on Sunday. So most likely I will write about that. Also, Adam Sandler and homesickness might be another blog post. You'll just have to wait and see. (I know you're on the edge of your seats right now.) Good night.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
This is my life
I don't live in Geumchon, but otherwise this pretty much sums up my life in South Korea from the kimchi, the insane sun visors, the random spellings of cities, to the fruit loop balls in bars. And what's funny too is the chorus, "kamsa hamnida and annyong haseyo" (thank you and hello) are the only Korean words I know. I love it.
Monday, October 13, 2008
School Stories
Teaching here is such a crazy thing. This past week has provided me with some interesting anecdotes that I think make for good blog fodder. Here they are.
On Friday one of the teachers gave me the book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. The book is in English but the description, summary, etc. is all in Korean. I don't really know what to make of this gift. Apparently I seem like a worrier to him? Which is ironic because I am really quite the opposite. And I kind of thought my trip to South Korea was my chance to "start living". But I guess it's the thought that counts. This teacher seems like a nice guy. He's fairly young and speaks almost no English. He and the gym teacher want to take me out for drinks and I will gladly go but it could prove very interesting as neither of them speak English.
Last week I unveiled this "brilliant" lesson plan (well, all the teachers thought it was brilliant anyway, it was actually incredibly easy). I cut up the lyrics to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" into strips. I went over all of the vocabulary in the song with the students. We then watched the music video in class. I then gave the strips of lyrics to the students and they had to put them in order while we listened to the song a few more times. We then talked about what the song means and then we sang it as a class. Ok, there is really nothing better than a class of 10th grade Korean boys singing "Uptown Girl". So anyway, my students loved the lesson and the song. It's catchy, easy to sing to, and fairly easy to understand. My co-teachers liked the lesson plan too. Everyone wanted to jump on the song bandwagon. Peter, my co-teacher, asked if I would do the lesson for his class but do Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" instead because it's his favorite song. You can see the video in all its eighties glory here:
Oh it was possibly the most brutal class period I've ever experienced. The students were able to put the lyrics in order right away because it was so slow. They weren't interested in the song. The high point (and embarrassing point) of the lesson was when we sang together and my students told me I had a good voice. They even made me sing the song alone so they could listen to me sing. At least Peter was loving the lesson. He explained the background of the song to the kids and the meaning of each line.
Today I went out to lunch with the principal, vice principal and a couple of the teachers. My vp informed me as we were leaving that we were going to a seafood restaurant. She told me we respect the principal's wishes and dine where he wants to dine. Not so fortunate for me. Luckily Peter went ahead and told the restaurant to make me bimibap (he may be the nicest man ever). However, when they brought out the bimibap, there were tuna eggs on top (basically caviar). What part of no seafood do they not understand? My vp asked if that was okay, I just kind of stared at it, she got the hint and had it sent back. Apparently my principal made some jokes about me being a picky eater (he doesn't speak English) and I probably looked like an incredibly rude, foolish American. I'm just glad that everyone at school is starting to understand my vegetarianism. I think they've finally realized that ham is indeed meat, seafood is also meat, and that I don't eat meat, will not eat meat, and to not offer me meat. Ah, I'm training them well. :)
Seoul Searching
I finally made it to Seoul this weekend. Twice actually. Even though Incheon is very close to Seoul, there is a great difference between Seoul and Incheon. There are over 30,000 American troops stationed in South Korea. Because of this, Seoul looks almost like any city in America with just a few more Asian people thrown in the mix. I felt like I was back in the U.S. as soon as we stepped out of the cab.
On Friday night we started out at a Canadian bar in Itaewon. The bar was filled with foreigners. It felt like a standard night out in the states. We went to a few different bars. At one place, I embraced my inner 21-year-old and danced on the bar. All the foreigners were doing it, when in Korea, and all that. Overall it was a good time even though our night was riddled with cab drivers who took us to the wrong destinations.
Saturday we ventured back to Itaewon during the day to do a bit of shopping. There were some decent stores and I bought myself a brightly colored Korean shirt. Again, when in Korea... We also grabbed some froyo at Coldstone. See? Just like America. Shopping in Seoul seems much easier because everyone seems to speak at least some English. In Incheon it's rare to come across anyone who will speak English.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Photo Shoot at School and Tae Kwon Do
Today I had conversation club with about eight of my students, as I do every Monday. Just as we were getting started, two of the teachers came in and said they needed to take pictures of the class. My school will be celebrating its first year anniversary at the end of October and they want pictures of me (the first native English teacher at the school) with the students. So instead of taking pictures of a normal class inside, they felt the need to shuffle us outside to take pictures in front of the school. I was cracking up the entire time because we had to pretend we were talking and gesturing as if we were having a normal conversation. Some of my students were very good at posing. I was not so great (Tyra Banks would not be proud), but here are the pictures. I think they are hilarious:
I started free tae kwon do lessons tonight. We even get a free uniform which is pretty sweet. I didn't really know what to expect except maybe some kicking and punching. It was fairly intense and actually quite a workout. We started off running around the studio for ten minutes while jumping over sticks that one of the instructors held out. We then had to jump over people's legs which proved incredibly difficult for me. I was once again reminded how incredibly unflexible I am. Once we are done with the class in two months we will be yellow belts. I don't really know what that means, but it sounds impressive. Tae kwon do lessons will be every Monday and Wednesday for the next two months. The kicking and yelling combined is very cathartic.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Deok Jeok Do It
This past weekend was by far the best weekend I've had in Korea, possibly one of the best ever. Well, that might be stretching it, but it was insanely fun. We went to Deok Jeok Do for the weekend, because we had a three day weekend. Deok Jeok Do is about a two hour ferry ride from Incheon. There was a bit of drama at the start because a Korean official told Chrissy she couldn't board the ferry because she had a different ticket from everyone else. We tried to reason with him but he just kept yelling at us and then pulled her away. Finally we realized he was looking at her return ticket. I don't know if it's the Korean language or what, but often it seems as if Korean men seem to yell a lot. Luckily we figured that out because otherwise she wouldn't have made it to the island. The ferry ride was smooth sailing, there were many beautiful islands we passed along the way. There were food and drinks on the ferry which kept many entertained. There were about 23 of us in our group, and another group of migooks went too, which probably made the group total close to 40 people. A bunch of us newbies tagged along with some of the teachers who have been here for a few months. It was nice of them to invite us.
The weather was beautiful, probably in the upper 70s, low 80s, so we spent most of the weekend on the beach. The beach had a very low tide during the day and to get to the water we had to walk through sand littered with crabs. The beach was sandy with nice views of islands around Deok Jeok Do. We spent most of Friday chilling on the beach. Friday night we played some cards and had a bonfire on the beach. Chrissy, Julie and I also did some night swimming in the sea.
Saturday was even better weather than Friday. Jen, Chrissy, Ryan, Julie and I attempted to hike up one of the mountains (hills) on the island. Our plans were quickly thwarted when we saw a large snake on the way to the hiking path. Ryan counted himself out of the hiking expedition after that, and the four of us continued on. We tried unsuccessfully to find the hiking paths. An old woman who sounded like she was speaking out of a voicebox warned us about going up the mountain in shorts, and then tried to direct us to the path. We then ran into some other Koreans who tried to tell us the path was the way we just came from. We finally gave up and headed to the beach instead. The weather was warm so Julie and I did a bit of swimming. The tide was so low that we waded out forever and the water never reached past our legs. The waster was cooler than Friday but still very nice. Saturday night we again had a bonfire on the beach. A bunch of us went night swimming and when we came back to the beach, someone had stolen Julie's pants. Trying to solve the mystery of the disappearing pants took up the rest of my night. We finally found them thanks to Chrissy and Ryan's bright idea to buy a flashlight.
We stayed in a pension for two nights. Basically it was a room with no furniture, a bathroom, and a balcony. We slept on the floor with just blankets for cushion. But for $10 a night, I'm not complaining. I roomed with Jen, Julie, Chrissy, and Ryan. We had a good time. There was a small kitchen in the room which was helpful. We brought our own food and with two meat-eaters, two seafood-eaters, and one vegetarian (me) it was helpful to have a kitchen. Everyone was nice enough to cook for me and I basically ate eggs, fruit, and veggies for every meal. Other rooms had gone to Costco (like Sam's Club) to get food so they had incredible amounts of food. Our next door neighbors brought a five pound container of mayo, tuna, and bread and that's what they ate the whole weekend. The mayo jokes lasted the whole weekend. We fared much better with our food.
On Sunday we had to catch a 12:30 pm ferry so we basically made breakfast and packed. It was a great weekend (and inexpensive--only $100!). Also, the group we went with was a lot of fun. It was nice to get away from the city for awhile too. Here are some pictures of the weekend:
I finally talked to my parents on Friday morning via Skype. Have I mentioned that they are the greatest people in the world? My dad didn't want to be on camera, so he kept scooting away. My mom was dressed in Hawaiian jammies. The dogs were barking in the background. Typical. My mom held Nelly up to say hello. Sophie also made an appearance. My mom was about to show me the Halloween decorations they put up but unfortunately I had to leave to catch the ferry to Deok Jeok Do.
On a sad note, I came back from the island and received an email from my parents. My grandma Jo had a stroke on Thursday. Apparently she is now blind in one eye and is a bit confused and suffering from dementia. This was my biggest fear coming over here, that something would happen and I wouldn't be there. Grandma Jo is one of my favorite people ever. She is the matriarch of my dad's family. I've always loved her for her sense of humor, her love for her family, her great personality and her quiet humility. Before I left I went gambling with her and my grandpas. On the bus ride she entertained me with stories of the family and people she gambles with. She always has had a sense of style and at barely five feet tall I've always thought she was the cutest person ever. If you're at all a praying type of person, please keep her in your prayers, or send good thoughts my family's way. I know this is very difficult for them and I'm sad I can't be there.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Top 5 of the Week
Alright, let's keep a good thing going with the lists I've been doing in previous blog posts. Once again I've been neglecting my blogging duties and for that I apologize. Here are the top five most interesting things that happened this week in no particular order:
1. I was felt up by a Korean woman. Chrissy and I went shopping on Saturday and in order for a Korean saleswoman to illustrate the differences between Chrissy's and my bodies (like anyone needs to point it out because it's insanely obvious) she grabbed my chest.
2. After two hours of sitting in a cell phone store in Bupyeoung, revisiting the store because I thought the charger didn't work, then thinking the store screwed us over, I now have a cell phone that makes and receives calls and texts.
3. I taught an English class to the Korean teachers for the first time on Friday. Six women showed up and they may be the cutest people ever. At the end of class they asked what homework they should do. I hadn't really planned anything, so they somehow assigned themselves 20 power point slides on places they've traveled for next week. This may be my favorite class ever.
4. The weather is beginning to feel more fallish. I'm excited for this because it is much better than the nearly unbearable, immediate sweat-inducing heat that was prevalent when we first arrived.
5. I have now been here for over a month. I'm feeling pretty good about this. In some respects this year is going to fly by considering a month just went by in a blink of an eye. I've missed some important things at home already (Tammy's wedding--congratulations!) but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I talked to my sis on skype the other day and it was the first time I've talked to anyone from home. I've realized that not a lot changes at home in a year, so I have to remember that it will still be there when I get back.
Right now I am suffering from a killer cold. It seems like most of the native teachers I know have been sick in the last week or so. I'm hoping it clears up soon (like tomorrow) because this weekend I am heading to Deok Jeok Do, an island off of Incheon. We have Friday off of school for another Korean holiday (the creation of Korea). There are about 20 of us going. We're staying in pensions, five to a room. In my room will be Chrissy, Jen, Julie, myself, and Ryan. Poor Ryan has to live with four women all weekend. I'm looking forward to some grilling, beaching, hiking and chilling. It will be nice to get away from Incheon because I have not ventured outside of the city yet.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Triumphs
Everyday is an adventure here in the land of the morning calm. Let me share some of my mini triumphs in the last week.
1. Tonight Chrissy and I went out to dinner and we only had to walk into one restaurant to find vegetarian food, instead of walking out of four.
2. I have a mentally disabled boy who visits me between every class period. He doesn't speak English and I don't speak Korean. The other day we actually had a conversation where we both understood each other. Lots of pointing and gesturing was involved.
3. I got paid today (I am now a millionaire!... in Korean won).
4. One of my co-teachers who I feel is annoyed with me most of the time invited me to go to an amusement park with her and her family this weekend.
5. There was an actual normal vegetable (steamed broccoli) at lunch today.
6. I am pretty good at the chopsticks (even with rice).
7. I've figured out how to stop the incessant staring from Koreans. I stare back. They don't like when the tables are turned.
8. I've found a store that sells books in English and another that sells magazines in English (both within walking distance of my apartment!).
9. I am now completely sure of my bus stops both to and from school.
10. I can jaywalk without getting hit by cars.
Gender studies and students in Korea
I think I love my job here. Today I made fortune tellers with two of my classes. Yes, those little paper fortune tellers that you made in second grade with colors, numbers, and fortunes on the inside. It was one of my co-teacher's ideas because it works in with something they're doing with superstitions, colors and numbers. Plus, it gets the students saying and spelling colors, counting, and creating future tense sentences. Now one might think, "Really, high school boys? You made fortune tellers with high school boys?" In actuality, it's right up their alley. They get to play with markers, paper, and talk to their friends.
This phenomenon doesn't end in high school. This is in Bupyeoung, a big city center in Incheon. This man is trying to get people to go to a big night in Bupyeoung.
I know I showed this picture in an earlier post, but I just had to illustrate again my students' t-shirts at Sports Day. The back of their shirts had a string bikini tie and a butterfly tattoo on the back.
A lot of my students were sitting like this boy in the hat during Sports Day.
High school boys here are very different from high school boys in the states. People don't really believe in homosexuality here so boys are much more touchy-feely here than in the states. It is common to see my Korean students with their arms around each other, rubbing each others' backs, or grabbing each others' hands. Also, many of my students have pink sandals, socks, pencil cases, notebooks, and many of them will tell you their favorite color is pink. At first it was a bit unnerving, because I'm so used to the hyped-up masculinity in the U.S. where two men must sit a seat away from each other and no high school boy would ever be caught dead with his arm around another dude. Now I find it incredibly refreshing. My students here seem so much more innocent and unaware of social norms around them. A couple examples of this phenomenon:
This phenomenon doesn't end in high school. This is in Bupyeoung, a big city center in Incheon. This man is trying to get people to go to a big night in Bupyeoung.
I know I showed this picture in an earlier post, but I just had to illustrate again my students' t-shirts at Sports Day. The back of their shirts had a string bikini tie and a butterfly tattoo on the back. 
A lot of my students were sitting like this boy in the hat during Sports Day.Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Three Weeks
I have been here three weeks. In some ways I feel like it's been so much longer but it also feels like I just got here. Some completely random impressions of my time here thus far:
1. I love the people I've gotten to know through orientation. I'm very fortunate to have made some close friends. And everyone from orientation is a lot of fun to go out with.
2. Korean people are extremely friendly, hospitable, and nice. Every teacher at my school tries so hard to make me feel welcome, whether they speak English or not.
3. No one speaks English here. It's very odd because many Koreans know English but are too afraid to speak it.
4. I love my students. They are funny, well-behaved, respectful, and so nice. If only they could speak better English. (Wait...that's why I'm here...)
5. People stare. Kids yell "hi". Young children look at me strangely because I'm probably the first white person they've seen. Everyone tells me I'm beautiful. If you're looking for an ego boost and attention, head to Korea.
6. I really enjoy soju (it's like vodka but weaker) and it's incredibly cheap here. Beer is tolerable but weak.
7. When we go out to bars we have to order anju or basically appetizers. Fruit is popular to eat while drinking. I'm learning not to crave fried food.
8. Groceries are not as cheap as I had thought they would be.
9. I really enjoy noraebangs. Basically you and your friends rent a room and sing karaoke. They provide you with tambourines and morrocas.
10. People try to speak Korean to me all the time, even though I think it's quite obvious I don't understand.
11. I don't miss foods from home as much as I thought I would.
12. The U.S. has definitely influenced Korean culture with McDonald's, KFC, Bennigans, TGI Fridays, Outback Steakhouse, Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, 7 Eleven.
13. I can't believe it's been three weeks since I've talked to my parents.
14. I'm not homesick yet, but I'm sure that will come.
Sports Day!
This week was probably the easiest in my teaching career thus far. We had Monday and Tuesday off for Chuseok. I taught classes on Wednesday. On Thursday the students had a testing day and on Friday was sports day so I didn't have to teach. Sports day is basically a day for the students to compete in athletic events. As always, I'm the last to know about anything, so I didn't know that I was expected to participate in sports day. When I arrived at school on Friday Peter asked me if I was ready to play soccer. I was wearing black pants and a sweater. Now normally I'm not above embarrassing myself in front of the whole school, I did it many times at Red Wing High School, but I just like a little forewarning so I can dress for the occasion. Luckily I talked my way out of soccer and only had to do the tug of war and a hackey sack-like game that is native to Korea. I took a lot of pictures of sports day because I'm going to use them in my lesson tomorrow. Here are a few of them:
That's one of the home ec. teachers on the left and that is my co-teacher Peter on the right.
One of my students wanted a picture with me. They're very big on the peace signs in pictures.
Namyi and me. She is another one of my English co-teachers.
Students cheering on their teammates.
Some of my students. I love their team t-shirts.
Wrestling, kind of like sumo wrestling without the excessive weight.
That's one of the home ec. teachers on the left and that is my co-teacher Peter on the right.
One of my students wanted a picture with me. They're very big on the peace signs in pictures.
Namyi and me. She is another one of my English co-teachers.
Students cheering on their teammates.
Some of my students. I love their team t-shirts.
Wrestling, kind of like sumo wrestling without the excessive weight.
Meat eaters abound
South Korea is not so vegetarian-friendly. I was aware of this coming over here, but I didn't quite realize how vegetarian unfriendly it was. Last weekend was Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, so I had a four day weekend. On Sunday (the actual day of Chuseok), my friends Chrissy, Ryan and I attempted to go out to dinner. A lot of places were closed because of the holiday, but some were starting to open up as it got later. We walked out of five restaurants because they didn't have any vegetarian dishes. At the restaurant we did go to, I ended up just eating rice and kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage that is served at every meal). On Wednesday Ryan and I went out to dinner and we walked out of one restaurant before we gave up and got cheese nachos at an American style bar. I feel a little bad for people who hang out with me because it's difficult to find food.
At school I eat lunch in the cafeteria. All of the teachers think I am on a diet because they don't think I eat enough. Peter (my co-teacher) keeps telling me I need energy to teach the students. I've tried explaining to him the rationale behind my vegetarianism, but I guess it doesn't translate. Overall the food is very good at school (what I do eat), so I'm not ready to start brown-bagging it yet.
There is one ray of hope for me in the Korean cuisine: bimibap. It is a vegetarian dish made of rice, seaweed, vegetables, egg, and hot sauce. It is delicious. But I have to pace myself, because I don't want to be sick of it in a month. Here's a picture of the gloriousness:
Disturbing animal stories
Unfortunate animal incidents seemed to haunt me this week. Allow me to illustrate two of them. One incident is tragic and the other is creepy.
Anna Rickert MN
Last Sunday I went for a walk around my neighborhood. As I was walking, I saw a puppy tied up on a leash. It looked like someone had tied it up and then gone into a nearby store quickly. As I walked closer, I realized that the puppy was dead. It was still on its leash and it looked like it was trying to escape the heat in the shade. But it obviously didn't escape the heat. It was one of the more horrific things I've seen in my life.
A lot of restaurants in Korea have fish tanks at their entrances or sitting outside. On Thursday as I was walking home from school I passed a restaurant with a fish tank outside. All of a sudden I heard splashing coming from the fish tank. I looked over and a giant squid was trying to jump out of the water. All of a sudden it jumped out of the fish tank and landed on the sidewalk by me. It then started crawling towards me. I was going to take a picture of it, but giant squids creep me out, so I ran away instead.
Anna Rickert MN
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Welcome to my neighborhood
This is the entrance to my apartment on the right (next to the random baby stroller). I am on the fourth floor which is unlucky in Korea. Good for me. The bottom floor is a restaurant which you can see here. 
Some random signs and lights on the street near my apartment.
Gil Hospital which is less than a block from my apartment. Makes for a convenient drop off point for taxis, a convenient meeting point, and I guess a convenient emergency point too (hope I don't need it for that).
Second day at school.
Today I found where the party teachers hang out. Sadly they don't speak English. There are two offices for teachers at my school, one on the first floor and one on the second. My desk is on the first floor, along with two of my Korean English co-teachers and various other teachers. My vice-principal has her desk in the office also. The teachers and vice-principal are very nice but most keep to themselves because most don't speak English and they all seem very busy.
The other Korean English teacher has her office on the second floor. Today I went into her office and all of the teachers on the second floor gathered around me. They got me coffee, had me sit down, attempted to speak what little English they knew (I could tell they were trying so hard), told me I had beautiful eyes, and then offered me beer. Yes, they offered me beer. One teacher asked, "You like beer?" I said yes and he ran to the refrigerator and pulled some out. I told him oh no, not now, thank you. The Korean English teacher said they are much more laid back because they don't have the vice president (she meant vice principal) in their office.
Overall the hospitality in this country is amazing. All of the teachers and staff at my school bend over backwards to make sure that I have everything I need. The few who speak English attempt to speak to me. At lunch today one teacher tried to talk to me about seaweed although I had no idea what he was saying and I don't think he did either. Yesterday another teacher kept bringing grapes over to my desk. I've been shown how to make coffee in the office at least five times since Friday. At stores people are patient while I gesture or attempt to speak poor Korean. It's quite comforting.
I miss these two.
I meant to post these earlier. Melvin and Nelly helped me pack for South Korea by laying all over my stuff. As you can tell by the piles of crap around them, packing was kind of a whirlwind.
Nelly
Melvin
Nelly
Melvin
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