Impressions of Korea

These are the impressions of Korea coming from my father's view. (Note:  He's been to an Asian country before where he didn't know any of the language.)

1. It's a lot easier to get around once you figure out how things work which is actually pretty easy because it's so logical.

2. I appreciate that numbers are in Arabic instead of being in characters, like in China. This makes it so much easier because at least you can get around - you can read the bus numbers, you can read phone numbers, you can read how much things cost.

3. I'm surprised at the how big and extensive the underground shopping is. "It's a whole new city down there!" Also, how do all these shops stay in business when they're all selling the same thing and located so close together?!?

4. The food is a lot less varied than I expected in ingredients, tastes, and textures... Most things are rice-based, and nothing's baked.

5. People are extremely friendly and always try to be helpful.

6. The open markets are terrific. It's like farmers' markets but ALL THE TIME, even during winter!

7. There are lots of people *but* nobody's rude to each other. Everyone goes out of their way to be polite, (but then it's built into their system whereas it's not in the U.S.).

8. Love the warm floors in homes! I'm very surprised at the lack of heat everywhere else when it's cold - the stores, the restrooms... This is not a detriment; just a surprise.

9. I'm amazed at all the restaurants. There are soooooo many; all they [Koreans] do is eat out! As for street food:  rating - very good!

Teaching - A Constant Experiment

Yes, there have been times when I've felt frustrated by the language barrier. 

Regarding my students, my frustration occurs usually when they are trying to tell me something good as opposed to bad. It's not when they've gotten hurt and I'm trying to discern the scene that led up to their injury that frustrates me the most.
 
It's the times when they are really excited because I've somehow made a connection with them or they've made a connection and they want to communicate to me what they mean. 

"Teacher! Teacher!" she cries out with a face aglow with recognition. This is when I need my patience most. 

Unfortunately, it often happens at times when there are a billion things happening around us and other students coming at me with questions or students getting off-task and it is then I have to make a call. 

Do I tell everyone to sit down and be quiet, or do I ignore everyone just to try to connect with that one student to understand what she's trying so desperately to communicate to me?... Or do I stop her, turning off the light-bulb that's just turned on in her mind...

I try out one way to see if it works. Maybe it does; maybe it doesn't. I try out something different the next time; sometimes I have success, sometimes, not.

So goes teaching; it's a constant experiment. This particular time, the moment was lost.

However, when there is success, ahhh- it's golden!

Gangnam Style!

Everyone is singing "Gangnam Style" (pronounced 'gah' like the 'go' in "got" + 'ng' + 'num' like in "number"), even little kids! This is Korean singer Psy's latest hit in which he mocks the rich who live in the Gangnam district, and maybe too he's bragging... Since I don't know what the Korean words mean, I'm just guessing.

According to Chosun online news, "Psy Becomes 1st Korean Singer to Rank No. 1 on U.K. Chart" with this song. (More info at http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/10/02/2012100200436.html.) 

Regardless, everyone is singing and dancing to this song here, and around the world apparently. When I was in Busan for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving- see separate post for info and pics), I even saw a little 3 or 4 year old boy, in full Korean "hanbok" or traditional clothing (shiny yellow top, shiny redish-pink pants), singing this song! Obviously he knows not what he sings...

장미 = jangmi = rose

So I went to Kosa Mart to buy some pepero to give my students on Monday. (Sunday was Pepero Day here.)

The owners' cute daughter came out in her pink pj's with roses on them. I said 'hi' to her in Korean, and then I said, "Pink!" because I'd seen her earlier and she had repeated pink to me a few times. She repeated back to me, "Pink!" 

She touched one of the roses on her pj's and said, "jangmi." She then pointed to a rose picture that also appeared on the side of the ice cream cooler in their shop. She said, "jangmi," again. I realized she was telling me the Korean word, either for flower or rose. How cool!

Once I got home, I looked up the word for rose. Indeed; 장미 (jangmi) means "rose." Thank you to my little teacher!

11-22 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Even though I have a ton of work to do for tomorrow, I'll take this moment to GIVE THANKS over my tuperware of heated-up leftovers...

I'm thankful for:
- these leftovers of rice "dok" with quail eggs and soy sauce (from dinner last night at the principal's house for which his wife cooked ALL DAY!)
- Principal Lim and his wife
- Anne, who helped make the dinner last night possible
- this spoon
- this laptop
- internet
- this light by which to type
- my soft warm clothes
- my heated floor (which is one thing I'll miss for sure in the U.S.!)
- my wonderful students with all their funny quirks
- my excellent Korean Teacher Partner who is so flexible
- my awesome grade 4 foreign teacher team who is so patient with me
- my fairly good health
- the wonderful couple who run the corner Kosa Mart
- these legs and feet that get me around, and these hands and arms that come in so handy too!
- for my 5 (6?) senses
- for the breathe of life!
...and the list goes on...

My students wrote these kinds of things on the "I'm thankful for..." hand-traced turkeys we made yesterday:  family, friends, good health, good food, pets, teacher, Jesus (we are in an SDA school after all)...

Hope you have a lot to be thankful for too!

11-11: Happy Pepero Day!

On Friday morning, one of my students gave me a fake red rose. Why would you give someone a fake rose? The gift wasn't really the rose but the pepero inside. Actually, many of us teachers received pepero from students because Sunday, 11-11, is Pepero Day!

They're everywhere right now. Paris Baguette - a popular coffee shop and sweets chain - has a whole table dedicated to Pepero Day. The convenience store has an entire multi-leveled display with huge sign outside. You can buy stuffed pepero toys (soft and comfy looking like teddy bears). 

What is it? Pepero is a dessert treat that is a stick made of cracker-like ingredients but sweet. The pepero comes dipped in just chocolate, or chocolate and nuts, or strawberry flavoring. 

Pepero Day was created by the makers of pepero to be observed on 11-11 because the number '1' looks like a pepero stick. This holiday is mostly celebrated by young people and couples who give each other pepero to say, "I like you!" Teachers too often receive pepero from students, as we did.

Learning like a baby

I've been realizing that I'm learning Korean like a baby learns a new language - just by picking up bits and pieces from hearing it all the time. 

Randomly a word will pop in my head. Sometimes I find myself repeating it over and over to myself, even out loud. Usually I don't know what the word means. I may have an idea but not always. "Borragi..." is one example. I hear it all the time used by people of all ages when they seem to be stuck as to what a word means... So this would be perhaps a good time for me to use it...

Borragi?...

Side-Effect of Education Being #1

As you may know, Koreans put education first. This is awesome for many reasons.

However, there are some side-effects as well. Education is so important that kids come to school even when they are sick. Teachers come to school even when they are so sick they practically cannot breathe or speak. It is rare for a child, or teacher especially, to not come to school.

More reason to eat persimmons!

Gift of the Tawn-gam (persimmon)

One evening, I went for a hike. The setting sun highlighted beautifully the autumn leaves... After a short stop to take a breather, I headed back towards my apartment because I knew it'd be dark soon. 

On my way, two ladies, sporting new-looking perfectly-fitting hiking gear, motioned me over to their bench. One held out a ziploc baggy with pieces of orange-peachy-colored fruit in it. "Tawn-gam," she said. I took a piece, figuring it was persimmon, which I happen to LOVE. Indeed it was - it was delicious! 

They then asked me a question and again I felt silly because I didn't know what they were asking. Dangit - I've been here now 9 months! So I answered with whatever hangul (Korean) I know - I said the one word I know for "American," I said the few words I know for "elementary school teacher," and I motioned with my figures and said words for 10 (this month being the 10th) and indicated I arrived in th 2nd month.

Beneath a very bright white rabbit moon I happily dance-walked back down the mountain, eating the gifted 'tawn-gam' and admiring the sparkly city lights decorating the already-pretty-picture view of the city at dusk. I gave thanks for all the blessings I experience each day and in short moments such as these!

Recent "Firsts"

Recent Firsts:

- old men playing croquet under the train tracks

- 50-60 year old men playing some sort of stick game in the dirt next to the market

- brown squirrel with white belly when hiking up the mountain nearby (It's VERY rare to see wild animals of any sort here!)

- '119' ambulance truck went zooming by with sirens and lights blaring and flaring

- ate a fig off the tree on the school grounds (given to me by a student)

- received a bag of natural medicine for free from the acupuncture doctor

- a tree with leaves a bunch of different colors - fall must be coming


- when walking down a very familiar side alleyway this morning, I felt for a moment that I was in the U.S.... (Indeed, this feels like home in many ways!)


- empty shops with no one in sight, as if we were on an empty movie set (on Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving, one of the most important holidays here)


- visited Buddhist temple in Busan, South Korea


- picked up seashells and "sea glass" in Busan, South Korea

Blasted Language Barrier!

Times when the blasted language barrier becomes a bear:

- when wanting to know whether there's corn starch in the ingredients
- when trying to schedule, cancel, or change doctor's appointment
- when trying to get somewhere in a rush
- when trying to determine for the vegetarians or vegans in the house if there's any meat in anything (In most cases, "meat" seems to not mean here what it means in the U.S....)

Therefore, if you're a vegan, you'll find it VERY difficult to stay vegan in Korea!

PHOTOS: Temple in Busan, South Korea

Holiday: Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)

Chuseok is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in Korea. On this day, one can see many girls and women of all ages wearing the traditional "hanbok" (Korean traditional garb), such as this one. We saw women and girls wearing this even on the train!

The dates on which Chuseok occurs depends on the lunar calendar. This year it was Sept 29th-Oct 1st. It celebrates nature's bounty; it's a harvest festival of sorts. What happens on this holiday? People travel to wherever their relatives live, specifically their grandparents, to spend the time with them, eating, playing, making and eating rice cakes, and generally not working. It's like a mass exodus. Seriously! 

A few months ago, when my friends and I were planning ahead as to what to do on this holiday, we decided to go to Busan (southern coast, second largest city in S. Korea). Well, when we looked at train tickets in the morning, we had a number of choices. About an hour later, our choices were down to half of what there had been. We knew we had to act fast! 

There seem to be few other times in Korea when Koreans don't work and when they all hit the streets and tracks to drive and/or take the train or bus to get to their relatives. There are news pieces about how bad the Chuseok traffic is. In fact, it's called "war" traffic. 

Indeed the roads were congested and we were super glad we'd bought tickets early, and weren't driving (not that any of us have cars or international driving licenses). 

Also, when my friend and I went to the market yesterday evening to buy veggies for the week, there were hardly any vendors. It was dead quiet which is unusual for us because we're used to seeing it busy, flooded with vendors and buyers from at least 9am-8pm every day of the week including Saturday and Sunday.

When I asked my students what their favorite holiday is, many of them answered, "Chuseok" because it's when they see their relatives, and get gifts or money from them too!

Saved by a translating bystander

Today I went to E-MART to buy a lamp so that I can see in my bedroom/office. (The light bulb in my room burnt out, and although I was able to get the curious cover off of it, I wasn't able to figure out how to get the light bulb out of the socket so as to take it to a store to buy one exactly like it.) 

I found a great versatile desk lamp but wanted to know what size light bulb to buy for it. So, as we usually do, my friend and I took the boxed lamp and the boxed light bulb to the nearest sales associate (in uniform, just like at a Walmart or Target) who happened to be in the freezer section of the store. We said the few words we figured she would understand. "Size ok?" The sales associate smiled and said something that seemed to indicate she wasn't the correct person for the lamp/light bulb section of the store, and went hurrying off to get someone else. 

A short while later, a male sales associate in similar uniform came and asked another man- who seemed to be with him- a question in Korean. I caught the word "miguk" meaning "American" and figured he was asking the man if he'd seen an American with a question about a lamp. So I jumped in and said, "Ahnyounghaseyo" (hello). 

The sales associate started to talk to me in Korean, and I tried to interpret what he was saying, and tried to ask my question by gesturing. 

I'm sure we could've figured it out eventually but instead, the Korean-looking man who was standing there saved us the time and effort. He so swiftly and gracefully acted as translator for us that it wasn't until the end of the conversation that I realized he hadn't come with the sales associate; he wasn't an employee. He was just a bystander, just a customer, like me. It was my lucky day!

Actually, every day here is a lucky day! People constantly come out of the woodwork to help.

Taxi drivers watch tv

Yep, many taxi/cab drivers here have a small tv attached to the dash so that they can watch tv while driving around. Well, I guess they're watching tv only when they're sitting at one location waiting for riders, presumably. (Here you can kind of see the one to the right of the driver.)

Another curiosity about cabs/taxis here is the unspoken rule that one must not speak when riding in the front passenger's seat. Makes sense actually.

The Process: Episode 2

I know this is way late but I thought I'd post this info in case someone needs/wants it. Let me know if you have questions.

In the process of getting a teaching job in Korea:
Step 9. Prepare documents. Here are the documents on the list I received from the recruiter. (I think it's complete; I can't find the original list.)

- College Diploma notarized and apostilled

- scanned my passport page

- 4 passport-sized photos (better to get 8 so you can keep some with you in case)

- Medical Statement

- two letter of reference,
- two official sealed university transcript

- the FBI Background check (sealed, signed, and apostilled) - Call (304) 625-2000 to ask the status 

**There is a very important note about FBI Background Check and Apostille to be made that I will outline in a separate post so that those who need it can read it and those who don't need it don't have to wade through it here!**

Yes, this process was long but worth it!

VERY Important: FBI Background Check and Apostille

On December 1, 2011, I sent my two sets of fingerprints, mail order made payable to the U.S. Treasury Department for $18.00, my FBI Background Check application, and self-addressed prepaid FedEx airbill return envelope, to Washington DC via FedEx express. I *also* included the VERY IMPORTANT (hand-written is fine) note specifically stating, "Please provide an FBI seal and signature from a Division Officer for the purpose of obtaining a Federal Apostille." I thought this was the end of the process but no!!!!! I then needed to get an apostille, which the Korean job recruiters tried to explain to me but I still didn't understand.

On January 18th, I received here in Colorado in a FedEx envelope from the CJIS Correspondence office of the FBI (at 1000 Custer Hollow Rd, Clarksburg, WV 26306) two pieces of paper. The first piece of paper was the official FBI background check results, also called, "U.S. Department of Justice Order 000-00 [numbers different of course] fingerprint search results." It had a blue ink stamped signature at the bottom of a Division Officer, and had a 3D notarized stamp on it. The second piece of paper stated that if I needed the document apostilled, to mail it to the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office (at 518 23^rd Street, NW SA-1; Columbia Plaza; Washington, DC 20520) and it gave a phone number to call. I called the number listed on the first piece of paper, and was directed to call the "FedInfo" number of 1-800-333-4636. The helpful gentleman at this FedInfo number instructed me to mail the FBI background check results *with* a cover letter REQUIRING SPECIFIC INFORMATION along with a $8.00 check or money order made payable to the U.S. Department of State to the Authentications Office (address above). The cover letter had to include:  my full name, phone number, mailing address (NOT post office box number), email address - yes, *required*- and country where the background check results will be used. I also had to include a self-addressed prepaid return envelope if I was going to have them mail it back to me. *Luckily,* my dad remembered my mom has wonderful world-traveling friends who live in Maryland, not far from DC. My mom called them up, asked if they would be willing and able to have us FedEx to them my precious signed notarized "U.S. Dpt of Justice Order blah-dee-blah fingerprint search results" [to be said in a very official-sounding voice], so that they could walk this nugget of gold document in person to the Authentications Office to get apostilled, and then FedEx it back to us, saving me at least 5 days of time. They graciously said, "Yes." [Elaine and Jim ~ Thank you! 감사합니다!]

My parents' friends, who luckily live in Maryland, kindly took my precious one sheet of paper (FBI background check results), that I had FedExed to them, to the Authentications Office in DC to get apostilled. What a life and time saver! It probably would've taken me at least one more week to do this via mail if I had mailed it directly to the Authentications Office. Instead, they drove an hour (or two?) into DC, spent 45-60 minutes waiting at the office, then walked out with the document apostilled, and FedExed it to me. Wow! Quick turn-around! It should arrive tomorrow in the mail.

양말 = yaw-ng-mal = SOCKS

Koreans LOVE their 양말, that is 'socks'! They have so many adorable and cool kinds! Some are meant for adults, at least that's my assumption because they have swear words in *English* or pictures of a character flipping someone off- whoah! Others are for kids, such as some of these. 

They're short socks too which is curious; perfect for summer! Why would you wear socks in summer you might ask? Well, I haven't figured out when yet but some places and times it seems more appropriate to wear these ankle-hugging socks than to be barefoot... At school, for example, we're not allowed to show our toes, hence the need for these awesome/cute socks!

Another thing - they're pretty cheap, usually $1 or less (for one pair)!

English Summer Camp

Last week and this week we foreign teachers have been teaching English Summer Camp which has been fun!

Wow; what a day today! 

Along with the "regular" classes involving making crowns and castles with kids, talking like a Britt and playing darts, croquet, and the "London Bridge is falling down" game, and serving students English cucumber-butter sandwiches with tea, we teachers played a hide and seek game with the kids. I couldn't believe I was actually running around the school from hiding spot to hiding spot, trying not to be found; hilarious good fun!

Approximate Timeline

Wow; it's weird to look back at the process of how I got here...

Here's my approximate timeline.

June 2011  in-person Oxford Seminars (OS) class in Boulder, Colorado
July 2011  finished online component, received TEFL certificate (100 hrs)
Aug 2011 started "Graduate Placement Services" through my account with OS online
Sept 2011  emailed OS that I was interested in Korea (somewhat randomly chose it over China)
Sept or Oct 2011  heard from recruiters in Korea within wk of OS sending them my resume
end of Oct - first interviews with recruiters in Korea
Nov 2011   filmed my Introduction video; emailed it to recruiting company in ROK called "HandS Korea"
Dec 20th  - received job contract from HandS Korea
Jan 5, 2012 - emailed HandS Korea my signed contract
Continued to work on getting together long list of necessary documents

Feb 18, 2012  Flew U.S. to Korea to start work 3 days later...

Corea!

Why is it sometimes spelled with a 'C'?

One of my very smart and tender-hearted 4th graders explained this to me, while on the one-hour bus ride to the Water Park the second to last day of school (first semester).

Korea used to be spelled, "Corea." Same for "Koreans" which used to be "Coreans."

Then Japan CHANGED THE SPELLING from a 'K' to a 'C' because 'K' is AFTER 'J' in the alphabet, whereas of course 'C' is before 'J' in the alphabet. What?!? I thought maybe it was just a wild myth that my fourth grader had heard.

No, it was not a wild myth. My Corean friend who is in his 20's gave me the same reason when I asked him about stickers I'd seen showing 'Corea.'

This is partly why a lot of Koreans, excuse me - Coreans, do not like the Japanese. Or, as he appropriately put it, this is why a lot of Coreans do not like their history with Japan, although he recognizes that this doesn't mean all Japanese are such dominating monsters.

선풍기 = sun-poong-gi = ELECTRIC FAN

Everything's better with blue bonnet on it! Even a fan! 

Yes, the fan I saw at my doctor's office had a lacy blue... er... what would you call it?... dressing on it. At first I wondered why? Is it to make it look nicer? Or more sophisticated? 

Well, when I finally had to break down and drag mine out, I discovered it was full of hard-to-clean-out cobwebby-like dirt and grime. Maybe this is why, so as to decrease the amount of grossness inside the fan from being blown around one's apartment or office?

너무 = Nomu = VERY

What fun! I just had a splendid cab ride home!

Side note:  Yes, I tried the bus thing. I was really determined to take the bus, and NOT the cab, *to* and *from* the bus station to get an express bus ticket for tomorrow but it took me two hours just to get there! As you can imagine, I wasn't liking the idea of it taking another possible two hours to get back to my apartment, given that I don't know my way around well, I can't easily read the signs since they're all in Corean, I was tired, hungry, cranky, and yeah - I guess spoiled (in that I had enough money for a cab ride)... Besides, another couple hours would mean I wouldn't eat dinner until much later, and I was already ravishingly hungry, at 6pm.

The cab driver, in typical Corean fashion of down-playing his English abilities, had me repeat after him, "Hanguel mal nomu nomu oryowah-yo!" This is how I learned how to say, "Corean (language) is very very difficult!"

To say very beautiful:

nomu yep-o-yo

To say very spicy:

nomu maeb-da

To say very hot:

nomu tteu-geo-wo-yo

부채 = boo-chay = FAN

I'm slowly learning what are a must for a woman when stepping foot outside the house in such heat and humidity. 

One such necessity is a 부채, or a hand fan. There are, of course, sooooooo many cute ones. Here's an example of one I bought at a stationary store for $0.89, or 1,000 won.

(This hand fan is not to be confused with an electric fan which has an entirely different word.)

Today I used the 1995 Lonely Planet Korean phrase book (borrowed from Arden and Betsy - thank you!) as my fan before this purchase.

On break: Vietnam

Whew! Last week was a blast! I haven't posted anything in a while because there were two crazy last weeks of school, then the day after the last day of school, two teacher friends and I flew to Vietnam for a week's vacation!

What a wonderful time! (They stayed longer but I returned because of other previously-made plans, including my mother visiting - yay!)

Here's a shot I took at night near our hostel in the old section of Hanoi.

It seems to capture an accurate picture of Hanoi - the sugar-cane juice dispenser, the signs in Vietnamese (with tons of accents going every which way looking more like letters with confetti than marks denoting pronunciation rules), motorbikes of course, a tiny narrow shop visible with a skinny person in it, and of course the ever-present electric fan, a God-send in such heat and humidity! 

What do you think of the Vietnamese language? I'm guessing Vietnamese must be one of the most-difficult languages to pronounce; it's based on THREE different writing systems!

Korean Zoo Pictures

Somehow I got away from posting pictures. 

Therefore, here are some from last weekend's trip to "O World!" What is O World? It's a zoo, amusement park, and garden stuff, all in one. The other two foreign teachers/coworkers/friends I went with, and I, paid about $8 each for the adult ticket to see the zoo and Flowerland (the garden stuff).

"It was a very funny day," to quote my students' English diaries. [They mix up 'funny' and 'fun'.]

Hand-washing station, signs in Korean, man with balloon and child in stroller... Yes, similar to what you might see at a zoo in the United States...

Trash recepticals, sign for location of the nearest toilets, and kids sitting eating ice cream or something cold... Yes, very similar to what you might see in the U.S....

Jangma = Rainy Season

Rainy season, also called tsahng-ma or jangma (장마 ), started last week. Wow - I haven't seen lots of rain like this ever except for when it flooded in Alexandria, VA! But it's not raining now thank goodness.

Apparently I need to learn how to store food in such weather. I also discovered yesterday morning, Friday school day morning, that I was NOT well-equipped to walk in the river of a street to school. I had on my outdoor shoes and cutsey socks (which are plentiful here) and of course got soaking wet feet because there wasn't any way to avoid it.

I laughed at myself as I watched the two jnr or high school kids ahead of me, in uniform, carrying their outdoor tennis shoes in their hands, and wearing rubber sandals on their feet. Ah - so that's how some do it here! As I passed the corner barbershop, the man there looked at my feet and looked up with a slight smile/laugh on his face. I don't blame him for laughing! I say 'slight' because Koreans don't show lots of expression on their faces. (Maybe this is partly why they don't get as many laughter and wrinkle lines on their faces?)

So I stopped at the cornerstore on my way to school and bought some rubber sandals for $2 (that say "made in Korea") on them, and asked for a plastic bag in which I carefully placed my soaking wet outdoor shoes and drenched socks. The owner chuckled with me about my situation. He of course was already wearing his rubber sandals. He'd been putting out the recycling when I arrived. 

As for my outdoor shoes, they are still wet.

I bought the pink "hippo" boxes. (They have hippos on them. Picture soon.) They're used to cut down on humidity inside. I'll use them when I go on vacation (in two weeks!) so that my apartment doesn't get crazy moldy while I'm gone...

Now to read this:

Humidity and Mould: How to Survive the Korean Rainy Season

A first: Dinner at Korean family's house

A few weekends ago was a first! One of my co-teachers and I were invited to dinner at a Koeran family's house. We had a home-cooked Korean meal at a Korean family's apartment - it was delicious! Their apt was surprisingly American-like. It had a big screen tv, a family/living room with big couch, ottoman, and shelves around the TV with pictures on it, a rack of CDs, and even two piggy banks- one for each child. There were curtains in the windows, and the bathroom had a bath tub like ones in the U.S. 

The student's bedroom had a bed like most American kids wants (kind of like a loft with wooden edge), and lots of books in her room, and a few stuffed animal toys. The parents' bedroom was also very "normal" to what one expects in the U.S. at first glance. (I didn't want to extend my stay in their bedroom to make note of what is different...) 

We dined at a normal dining table in the dining room, just off of the kitchen, in which there was a regular fridge and freezer. One major difference though was the "kimchi" fridge out on the veranda. Kimchi is so strong-smelling that they keep it in a separate fridge!

All for now.  :)

Culture: Korean Memorial Day

Wednesday, June 6th, was a national holiday:  Korean Memorial Day (현충일  Hyeonchung-il). Therefore, we didn't have school. I asked my students what they would do on Memorial Day. 

One student told me that she and her family would be going to a special place and wipe clean the gravestones of those who died for Korea. Like our Memorial Day, on this day people commemorate the men and women who died while serving their country. Also, flags were seen flown everywhere at half-mast.

Grateful

Ahhh, part of what I love about being in an uncomfortable situation is the process of letting go and trusting that things will work out, because they usually do once you let go...

Recently I went to Chungnam National University Hospital for a doctor's appointment. I had just spent an hour or so in one building trying to get answers as to what blood tests they were running on me, and trying to get reimbursed for an appointment I had apparently paid for without knowing it. (Our amazing Korean translator as school is the one who informed me about this; thank you!) I was tired and felt frustrated at not knowing the language. All I knew was that the nurse had led me outside, and pointed across the parking lot, indicating for me to go into another building (of the same hospital), and to show the paper she'd given me to whomever if I needed help. The paper of course was all in Korean

So I did. The first Korean I showed the paper to put me in the right direction. The second, a staff person, walked me to the correct registration desk. The third staff member said "6" in English so the next desk was easy to find. Finally, I saw a doctor who actually took time to LISTEN to me, and ask me questions! 

When it came time to make a follow-up appointment, the nurse found an interpreter. She- the nurse- indicated for me to wait, that an interpreter was coming, by showing me the English for the Korean word she'd just looked up on her smart phone. I'm grateful for smart phones! 

The interpreter was very helpful; she was the one who helped me the last time I was there! However, the interpreter had to leave before I was done gathering information. "Dangit! Now what?!?" I thought.

What do you know but a T'ai Chi class was taking place right there in the middle of the empty hospital floor (empty because it was now after 6pm). A woman helping out with the class came over to meet and the receptionists and nurse who were speaking Korean to me. The T'ai Chi woman spoke English- yay! She acted as my last interpreter, and even gave me her name and number should I have future problems! Wow! Koreans never cease to help or amaze me!

Short hike nearby

I went for a short hike recently. As with all mountains here, it was steep!

To get there, I simply walked to the school's entrance, then kept going up the steep paved street, past the pinkish stone apartment building where the majority of the foreign teachers live, and past a couple small corner stores and luscious healthy gardens to the main street. I waited near the bus stop, at the crosswalk, for the light to change. Once it did, I walked quickly across the highway, across the sidewalk, and onto the immediately-vertical trail.

Here's a tiny flower I saw!

Doctors in Korea

Here is a huge cultural difference between Korean and the United States. Koreans trust their doctors. They do NOT question their doctors! This is very important to know if you plan on coming to Korea for any length of time during which you may have to see a doctor.

For example, my friend Lindsay fell and hurt her knee badly but didn't break anything. She was taken to the doctor and soon after had a full-leg cast on just because she had sprained her knee!

I understand Koreans do not question authority and/or elders. This respect can be really nice but when it comes to my not receiving information about my own body, it doesn't make sense...

what I'm listening to...

Awesome song by k-pop group "2AM"

Classroom picture

my Korean teacher partner's (and my) 4th grade classroom

I have a good job!

             I am very lucky to have a job at this school for a number of reasons.

First of all, we have fewer students per class, and we see our students more often than public school teachers. For example, one of the teachers I know who teaches English at a public school nearby has 40 students in each class and she teaches about 10+ classes each week, so she has 400 different students each week and she sees them only once a week! The majority of the time we teach, it’s to 15 students at a time, and we teach approximately 50-60 different students per week; we see the same students at least 4 times a week! The number of students we have and the amount of time we have with them is much better than other teachers of English.

Secondly, we have a pretty sweet job because communication isn’t as huge a problem as for other English teachers. We have lots of support due to the large number (16 currently) of other English-speaking foreign teachers at our school. Also, many of the Korean staff members speak enough English for us to be able to communicate more than just basics.

Overall, our experience as foreign teachers teaching English is a lot better than English teachers at public schools or hogwans (private after-school for-profit “cram” schools).