Fashionista!

So I've been jotting notes in my blog draft because I didn't have time to write a full post, and now I've got all these random things I wanted to talk about. Therefore I'm going to do this in list form to make things easier.

1. Orange nails
So I get along really well with the two Seokyang kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Lim and Mrs. Chung. Sometimes I forget that we don't ever actually have conversations because neither of them speak any English! I sometimes go visit the kindergarten room after lunch because Mrs. Lim is teaching me how to count and write the numbers in Korean, and I am teaching her how to count and write in English. Mrs. Chung always makes me coffee, which is nice. Anyway, so as a part of our bonding, I thought Mrs. Lim asked if I wanted to cut flowers with her (I deduced this because she pointed to her fingers, the nails and tips of which had been dyed a deep orange color, then pointed at a bush and said, "Flower.") Sure, I'll cut some flowers with you. Don't know where or when, but why not? So this is how I accidentally roped myself into getting my fingernails dyed. Turns out that she didn't mean cut flowers, she meant she had ALREADY cut these flowers and made this paste out of them. Koreans put the paste on their nails, cover them with cellophane and tie the bundles, then leave them on their fingers for anywhere from 4-8 hours. Then you take them off and your fingertips/nails are dyed orange. So she started doing my nails and I was like, Okay - there is absolutely no tactful way to politely say I don't want orange fingertips for months (because did I mention it doesn't come off until your nails grow out?!). So she did my ring and pinky fingers and gave me the rest to take home and do myself. This is how I ended up spending my Wednesday night trying to tie little dye bundles on my fingers. I'll take a picture and post it... I only wore them for like an hour and a half (in the hopes of minimizing the damage), so they're just this pumpkin color.

2. Sickness
So I caught a cough over Chuseok, and all the teachers seem kind of concerned, which is nice. I'm getting much better, and I don't even feel sick, it's just the cough. Mrs. Chung gave me a mason jar of plum juice that says it's good for your health. I guess she made it herself, which was really nice. My Seokseong vice-principal (henceforth referred to merely as VP) gave me a small container of ginseng candy, which he says will make me strong. ("Yes, strong! Next week, volleyball, *pretends to spike a ball*.")

Joo, on the other hand, seems awfully sick. He said there's something wrong with his stomach, and I gave him a bunch of my cough drops because he keeps coughing. If I had Mrs. Chung's plum juice with me I might have given it to him because he looks like he needs it.

3. Swimming
I went swimming with Kevin at the Buyeo girls' middle school on Monday. It's a really nice facility, but I'm not crazy about swimming in 50 meter pools. The highlight of the outing was when I had to get my picture taken because it was my first time at the pool. You have to crouch down to get on eye level with the webcam that takes your picture, and Kevin thought it would be hilarious to jump in with me, so now every time I go swimming a picture of me laughing with my eyes closed and Kevin grinning with the Korean peace signs will pop up. Every. Single. Time. I really wish I had a copy because this picture is hysterical.

4. Native teachers dinner
Tuesday I had the special principal's volleyball like I said. It turned out to just be a team of Seokyang teachers vs. the principals. I was hitting the ball around with some principals and of course the first question was, "How old are you? Husband? Husband?"

As I've said before, because I am tall the Koreans think I am really good at spiking/blocking, which is sadly not true. I can't jump. The whole game all I hear is, "Theresa, more jump-ee! More spike! Block-uh! Spike-uh!" Every time someone on the other team would go to spike my principal would yell, "Block-uh!" So I'd attempt to block. I blocked one, maybe two. The thing is, if I'm going to spike the ball, I need a running start (because of the whole bad at jumping thing), so it's hard to play the net and block and simultaneously be ready to spike.

That evening there was a Buyeo native English teachers dinner, which was good. A Korean buffet.

5. Soccer
Wednesday I had regular volleyball then native teachers' soccer. Kevin is really good so he was coaching us on some drills, and I can actually get the ball off the ground! I still remember being little and hating how every ball I kicked was a grounder. I still have zero ball-handling skills, but the kicking part is looking better. Kevin told me I had a "demon shot" when we were practicing goal kicks.

6. Fashionista, kids' names
I have learned a few more things in Korean, and they're mostly classroom-related. For example, "Eyes up here! Empty hands!" My sixth graders were impressed ("Teacher, very good!")

One of my sixth grade boys walked up to my desk wearing his sweater around his head and proudly told me, "Fashionista!" This particular boy, Elliott, is good friends with Jake, one of my more advanced students. I actually asked Jake how to say "empty hands" in Korean (bin song), and he was like, "Hands - song, empty - bin." So I tapped Elliott's head and asked, "Bin? Bin?" and they didn't get it at first. Then they thought it was hilarious. I went back to my desk and Elliott and Jake conferred, then Elliott came up and said, "Teacher, I am a genius!" So you are.

I'm working hard on learning the kids' names. I know some, but certainly not all. Some I know their English and Korean names (i.e. Elliott is Lim Byeongchan) but some I only know their English names (i.e. Jake). Some I barely recognize as my students! Mr. Kim says I am learning them fast, but it's not fast enough to suit me because it's hard enough to get their attention when I'm actually saying their names.

7. So instead of dealing with the Thursday bus, I met my friend Piro at the taxi stand this morning. He works at Seokseong Middle and takes a cab there, so I thought I'd split it with him as Seokseong Middle and Elementary are reasonably close. So we dropped him off, then the cab driver proceeds to go 100 feet in the distance to Seokyang! I was like, Why don't cab drivers take me to Seokseong!!!!! He kept pointing to Seokyang and saying, Chodunghakgyo (elementary school) and I kept saying, "Aniyo, aniyo (no, no) Seokyang! Seokseong chodunghakgyo, SEOKSEONG." Finally he rolled down the window and asked this guy, then was like oh sorry and took me to Seokseong. He didn't charge me the full amount because of the mix-up, and so I was happy about that. My VP saw us pull up and was curious why I'd taken a taxi since I usually take the bus, so he quizzed the cabbie. Then he turns to me and says, "Ah, Seokseong Middle school teacher, couple?" I was like, "No no, friend, friend!" So now that Piro and I shared a cab, we are a couple I guess. Oh Korea.

Orientation

So today I got a nasty dose of Korean last-minute-ness... a surprise email from the Chungnam Office of Education (CNOE) saying oh hey by the way, you have teachers' orientation this Friday, Oct. 1st-Sunday Oct. 3rd. Please note that your attendance is mandatory. Well, good thing I didn't have any plans- Oh wait, I totally did. Friday is the Seokseong field trip and this weekend the Buyeo Benders are on tour for our soccer game against the women's military team in Seoul. Not me anymore I guess. I suppose the only good thing is I didn't actually have any non-changeable plans, i.e. a flight or something, like real travel plans. But I am seriously irked that I got about three days notice that I'm required to be somewhere for three days, so I guess I'd better pack a bag because I'm going to Asan (wherever that is) to the Korea Institute of Financial Advising for orientation (you know, the thing you usually do when you first get somewhere, not a month after you've already been here).

My principal has "selected" me to play in the special "principal's volleyball" game tomorrow. Apparently 20 principals are coming and we're all playing volleyball? I don't really get it, all I know is none of the other other teachers are playing, just me and the principal I guess. Perhaps it's Show Off Your Foreigner Day? But hey, it gets me out of teaching my sixth grade after school class. Mr. Kim will be taking over because I'm supposed to report to the gym at 3pm.

Chuseok

Chuseok is winding down and it's back to school tomorrow. I enjoyed my holiday very much and am extremely happy to have a phone and Internet, finally! Long story short: last Saturday the Internet guy showed up (at 10am, not between the hours of 2 and 3 like I was expecting) and hooked up my cable and was supposed to hook up my Internet only to find that my laptop monitor is cracked. Great. So I had the number of a Korean computer guy who spoke English, so I called him and then trekked out to Gyeryong, about an hour bus ride away, only to find that it would be about two weeks before the part would come in. Bless this man though... he gave me a spare monitor that I could hook up to my computer in the meantime, which means I'm able to use my computer. I type on the laptop and look at the extra screen. Rudy (the computer guy) also set up a phone for me. Another disaster... I went to Gyeryong Monday after school to pick up the phone. My friend Celina went with me, and she's been here a week less than me so it was a bit of the blind leading the blind in our attempt to get to Gyeryong. We made it successfully, and Rudy (such a nice man!) came and picked us up from the bus stop. He gave me the phone and explained how everything worked, and then we didn't know when the bus back to Buyeo came so he called the Buyeo terminal to ask. They called back and were like, Ah the next bus is in 10 minutes! So we ran out of his office quickly and genius me forgot my phone because Rudy was charging it for me. Great.



So another day, yet ANOTHER trip to Gyeryong. It was worth it though to have a phone. That night Celina, Sega, Blake, Yoman, and I all went out to a noreybang (spelling?), aka a KARAOKE BAR!! It was amazingly fun. The group pays $15 for an hour of karaoke in a private room. They've got tons of songs and two microphones so you can duet if you want. Then we went out for galbi, aka Korean barbeque, and it was delicious. Places in Korea pretty much don't close... we left the bbq place around 4am I think.



It might be the late nights, but I'm getting a cough. We (Celina, Blake, Yoman and me) went to Seoul on Thursday so those three could go bungee jumping. Sadly, it was closed. Seoul is a very cool place. It's got so much Western stuff too... we went to On the Border for dinner, and it was Celina's first Mexican food experience (she's Hong Kong Chinese born in Scotland raised in Newcastle, England where apparently they don't do Mexican food). While in Seoul we stopped at a pharmacy so I could get some cough medicine, and I think it's working.

Korea: The Prequel, Part IV

August 29, 2010
I finally finished decorating my apartment today. I even used my vacuum! I took a walk around Buyeo to make sure I could find the bus stop tomorrow, and I decided to keep going to see if I could make it back to where the express bus had dropped me off on Friday. I knew that the grocery store Mr. Kim and I had stopped at was near the express bus, and it had been a fairly large store so I thought it would be good to go to. I was very pleased when I did find it, and even more pleased when I found a frying pan, spoon, chopsticks, dish towels, a glass bowl, and a bath rug. I really can’t tell you how much these little things have improved my quality of life. Try cooking pretty much anything with only an old wok, a fork, and a knife. No bowl, no plate, no spoon, no dishes of any kind. I had dish soap so I could wash things, but I couldn’t dry anything because I didn’t have a towel! So for a late lunch I had some rice, tuna, and a fried egg, and I was very pleased to be able to put it all in my bowl.
So on a side note, I have noticed that Korean people do not sweat like I do. At least they don’t appear to be overly affected by the heat. I was out in shorts and short sleeves on my walk, and I was sweating profusely, but two young guys were out in jeans and t-shirts and didn’t appear to be suffering any ill-effects. I have learned that Koreans don’t really do deodorant because I guess they don’t have BO issues like us poor Americans. Therefore if anyone has a hankering to send me anything, deodorant would be great since apparently I won’t be able to find it here.
I’m really glad I cleaned up my apartment because I had surprise visitors… Mr. Kim and his wife! They stopped by around 5:30 just when I had finished my tuna and rice. It was the nicest thing; they had brought me a transformer, some Kleenex, four small glasses, a large flashlight (“a lantern because the stairs are dark,” Mr. Kim explained) and a Tupperware bowl of kimchi. Mr. Kim also interpreted the note left on my door; turns out it was about recording my gas meter. I was relieved that my place was presentable. I figured Mr. Kim wouldn’t judge me too harshly because when he was here on Friday, all my stuff was still in suitcases, not just jumbled everywhere, but Sunday would be pushing it. I even have all my pictures hanging on the wall behind my bed. The kitchen could have been cleaner, but it was mostly just my fried egg pan sitting out. Can you believe how nice these people are? Like I said, they live in Daejeon, so it’s not like a short jaunt, probably more like an hour to an hour and a half.
I felt bad because all I had to offer them was some water (hey, at least I had ice cubes!), and thanks to them I actually had glasses to use. They inspected my pictures and I showed them my family. I also have the picture of me meeting Obama and Mrs. Kim noticed that one. I tried explaining how he had come to my school’s bike race. I managed to properly greet Mrs. Kim and I told her pangapsseumnida, and she grasped both my hands and said, “Pleased to meet you! I am nurse.” I told her yes, Mr. Kim had told me.
I was happy I remembered to pass them their water glasses with both hands… the culture books I’ve read said never to pass things with your left hand, which I have consistently done here but I don’t think anyone’s noticed. I’m pretty sure Mr. Kim passed me something with his left hand too. Anyway, it’s considered good manners to pass with the right hand, and to indicate respect you should pass and receive things with both hands. It seemed a little silly to grab each glass individually, but I noticed Mr. and Mrs. Kim both took the glasses with both hands and a slight bow, so I think it was a good move. They didn’t stay long, but Mr. Kim said he would come back “later” with his kids. I’m assuming he doesn’t mean “later” as in today; rather at some point later in time. Mrs. Kim is impossibly tiny… I feel like a lumbering giant next to her.
It’s unfortunate that the Kims live so far away; they seem like such friendly people that I’m sure I could visit if I wanted to. I think they’re worried about me, and it feels good to have people nearby who speak the language that are concerned about my welfare, especially if I get sick or something. I asked Mr. Kim where the nearest hospital was in case I get seriously ill or something, and he showed me one near Seokyang but I still don’t know about one in Buyeo.
I’ve been busy setting up my apartment and trying to get my bearings in Buyeo, but it’s been a pretty dull weekend. Luckily, as I was writing this, I got another visitor… Bob, one of the native teachers! Hallelujah! Bob is an older guy who has lived here for three years with his wife. He’s Asian-Australian, but has some kind of Asian accent and not an Australian one. He said that he lives in Dongnam (my apartment complex) and is happy to answer any questions I have. He said that if I need Internet or just want to have a cup of coffee and a chat, I’m welcome to visit him and his wife anytime. He had just come from a soccer game and said that I’m welcome to join their soccer team, and that they have native teacher dinners sometimes, and said that in general he thinks there’s a good group of native teachers here. Bob used to be an accountant in Australia before moving to South Korea to become a teacher. Now that’s a bold move. He said he and his wife love Buyeo because it’s small and charming. Also he confirmed that no, it’s not just my principal, all Koreans are obsessed with volleyball.

Korea: The Prequel, Part III

August 28, 2010
Today, Saturday, was my first day without school, EOEC people, or anyone really to interact with. Predictably, as I write this at 5:30pm, it has been very dull. I put away all my suitcase stuff, which fortunately all fits into the office bureau, and then the suitcases themselves went into my storage closet. I broke out my electric fan which I’m trying to use to cut down on AC. I decided to make a list of things I need for my apartment, which turned out to be pretty extensive. For example, I have a can opener but no spoon; dish scrubber but no soap; and no towels. I have been using my extra pillowcase as a towel. It has been surprisingly effective believe it or not.
I made my Korean ramen for lunch. (I bought it at the store with Mr. Kim, and he started to explain how to make it but I told him not to worry, all college students can make ramen). I have a hot water boiler but no spoon or bowl, so I used (what I assume is) my rice cooker bowl and ate it with a fork. I also made some coffee.
Prior to leaving the apartment, I decided to look up all the words for the things I wanted to buy. My dictionary is helpful, but not as extensive as I need. Korean is hard because it doesn’t use the Roman alphabet; rather, it uses hangul, a character alphabet. Each mark represents a sound, and together the marks form symbolic boxes and you have to kind of sound the word out, just like in Hooked on Phonics back in first grade. Once you sound the word out, you can look it up. All the books I’ve read insist hangul is easy to learn, but I disagree. Maybe I just need to work harder. So for each word I had to copy down both the pictures and the pronunciation. I tried to associate the sounds with the pictures, and I was semi-successful. My problem was that it was like some math problems… it seems easy as you go along with the problem and answers, but as soon as you have to come up with the answers on your own it’s way harder than it seemed.
So while I was working on my grocery list, I heard a bell noise and thought it was my doorbell. Turns out there is an intercom in my apartment and some guy was using it! It really freaked me out especially since I had no idea what he was saying, and I also still don’t know if it was just for me (maybe I was playing music too loudly?) or if it was just a general announcement for all the apartment people. Then when I left, there was a notice taped to my door handle with a phone number, but everyone else had one too so I didn’t freak out. I took it back inside and tried deciphering the characters but either I was just wrong or my dictionary didn’t have it. I’ll take it to school on Monday and ask Mr. Kim.
My excursion into Buyeo was partially successful. I found a grocery store literally across the street from my apartment complex and managed to ask for soap (Mianhamnida, puni? Literally, “Excuse me, soap?” Obviously I’m a very smooth conversationalist.). I mimed washing my hands because I wanted hand soap. I got hand soap (they’re obsessed with bar soap here for some reason), dish soap, face wash, and toilet paper. I took it back up the four flights to my apartment so I didn’t have to carry it around. I was determined to find a larger store so I could buy some utensils and bowls and plates and stuff.
Total failure. Being illiterate is awful. All the stores look the same to me unless I can peek in, and most of them were restaurants or places I couldn’t immediately identify. I did manage to find about five beauty shops and a stationery store where I got some tape to hang up my pictures, but nothing very useful. I really need to learn hangul because if I can at least identify a word, then I can look it up. When you don’t even know what a written word sounds like or how it’s spelled, you’re totally unable to look up a translation. But hey I found a bike store! I even went in but felt sort of awkward… I mostly wanted to see how much they cost, but I couldn’t find a price tag and didn’t know how to ask, so I just left.
An elderly man on his moped said hi to me. I thought that was nice, so I smiled back. I didn’t feel at all creeped out walking around Buyeo like sometimes I did in Paris even though here I stand out much more here. I do feel like people are staring, but I feel very safe. There’s lots of kids just hanging out with their friends, so if they can be out so can I.
One thing I’d like to comment on is the proliferation of pay phones here. In my apartment complex alone I’ve already seen two pay phones, and on my walk in town I saw several more. I’m really happy to see them because I have several people’s phone numbers (Sol, Elly, Kevin, my friend Misa who lives in Daejeon, Mr. Kim, and Seokyang school) but I don’t have a landline or cell phone, so without the pay phones these numbers would be totally useless to me. I feel a lot better knowing that if I get stuck somewhere, there will probably be a pay phone and if I call Sol, he’s my liaison to the school in case something is going wrong. I feel confident in his English too.
My Lonely Planet guide informs me that the Chungnam province where I live is “not the most scintillating of provinces,” which is sad. However, I’m certain that it would probably also label Indiana as “not the most scintillating of states” and I like Indiana just fine. Buyeo is actually the last capital of the Baekje dynasty, which is now 1,300 years old. There’s the Baekje elementary school right by me, and the Buyeo National Museum is almost within sight of my apartment. I need to go there sometime soon, maybe tomorrow if I’m bored. There are a lot of places in Korea I really want to go to after reading my guidebook… I just can’t wait to have Internet at my apartment so I can look up stuff and make plans with people. I also really want a phone.

Korea: The Prequel, Part II

August 27, 2010
It was my first day at school, and it was a long day. The jet lag makes me extremely tired around 7-8pm, but it makes me wake up at about 4am. I managed to sleep until 6:30am. I was so relieved that someone from Seokyang was going to pick me up… originally, Suri showed me the bus stop to get on and said it would come at 8:10 and I should take it to the school. I was kind of freaking out because Suri “thought” it was the blue bus but wasn’t sure, I didn’t know how to make it stop, I didn’t know where to buy a ticket (though I assumed I could just pay the driver), I didn’t know how to identify my stop, and assuming I could get off at the right stop, I didn’t know how to walk to the school! I told Dhyana about this dilemma, and she said her co-teacher picked her up the first day and I should ask Suri if mine would. So I asked, and Suri told me someone would pick me up at the apartment main office at 8:30am.
So I woke up at 6:30am and realized I had no food. I ate dinner with Suri and the other guy the day before, but all I had was a little thing of peanuts left over from the 7-11 excursion in Incheon. So I ate the peanuts, took a cold shower because the hot water wasn’t working, got dressed, and packed up my things for school. I left my apartment around 7:30am thinking I would look for a grocery store. I found a little market mom-and-pop type store very close to where I was going to be picked up. I found what looked like Honey Bunches of Oats and a big bottle of water and decided to bring them back to my apartment because I still had about 45 minutes. After breakfast (dry cereal with water), I went back to the main office area. At 8:40am a van pulled up and it was some guy I didn’t recognize, but he knew my name so I got in the van and we drove to Seokyang. He directed me to the principal’s office, and the Black Shirt guy was there (later I figured out he must be the vice-principal). So I’m sitting there and these two are chatting in Korean. Before sitting down, I managed to bow and say Annyeoung haseyo? to the principal, and so he asked me, “Do you speak Korean?” and I was like, “No.”
So here’s where it gets interesting. This is the second question the principal, using his very limited English asks me, “Do you like volleyball?” Yes, volleyball. Nothing about teaching, my own education, how is Korea, etc. etc., but volleyball. So I said, yes, I like volleyball. Well, that’s good because the principal informed me each Wednesday I must play teachers’ volleyball with the rest of the faculty. Well, all right then.
So the next step was for me, Mr. Kim, and the principal to drive to Seokseung, the other school where I’ll be teaching. I like the principal there because he attempted to actually greet me and introduce himself. We all sat down in his office and were actually served some delicious iced coffee. My co-teacher at Seokseung is a young guy who is also named Mr. Kim. This is a recurring theme as there are only about five last names in Korea… Kim, Park, Lee, etc. Young Mr. Kim has very good English. He asked what to call me, and the best the Koreans can do with my name is “Ter-ay-za Krech” so I said Theresa was fine, and he told me I can call him Joo. His full name is Kim Cheong-joo, think. Something like that. It was really good to have Joo around because I had written down a list of questions to ask Mr. Kim, such as, “How do I turn on the hot water? How do I work the gas stove? How will I pay my utilities? Can I drink the tap water? What’s my address? How does the bus work?” etc. I would ask Joo, who would translate for Mr. Kim.
The rest of the day I spent at Seokyang. Mr. Kim is also the music teacher, and Mon-Wed is English lessons and Thurs-Fri is music. The room Mr. Kim and I share is really, really nice. I take back my cow poop comment from the other day… the rooms are very nice and cool and don’t smell. They all have sliding doors to keep out humidity and smells. We work in the “Seokyang English Zone” area and all the signs, instructions, etc are in English. I have my own desk and computer on one side of the classroom, and Mr. Kim has the other. I had some instruction manuals for native English teachers that I read while Mr. Kim conducted his music class. I was kind of surprised at the way he ran his classroom. It’s been a while since I’ve been in an elementary school, but I thought they were pretty disruptive… talking to each other, coloring, just not paying attention in general. However, it was mostly a singing class so there wasn’t a lot of attention that needed to be paid, I guess. It got really, really loud. I forgot how little kids think shouting is singing. Mr. Kim seems like a very calm, patient teacher. He never yelled at the kids.
The kids definitely stare at me. When I visited on Thursday as I was leaving, a whole crowd of them hovered at the top of the stairs watching me. I know they’ve seen white people before (there’s pictures of white people in the English Zone), but I have to wonder if I’m one of the first white people they’ve seen in person. Certainly they all love to say hi or hello to me. A group of them crowded my desk before their music lesson started. They might have been fifth grade or so. They wanted to know if I was their new teacher and where I was from. Luckily there was a world map right by my desk, so I stood up and pointed out Chicago on the map. Immediately a chorus of “Chicago! Chicago!” rang out excitedly, and the girl who asked me where I was from said, “Teacher! I want to go to Chicago!” Another girl said something in Korean and the other girl replied, “Yes, she’s tall!”
I get a huge kick out of them bowing to me, and they get a huge kick out of saying hello to me. A bunch of them sidled past my desk shyly and said, “Hello” or “Hi” and then ran away. They may be the cutest children I have ever seen.
For lunch the teachers and students all eat the same food in the cafeteria. Again, I’m pretty sure Korean food has declared war on me. I made the terrible mistake of biting into what may have been a dried green chili... whatever it was it was super spicy. It seems to me all Korean food is either spicy, hot, or spicy and hot. Rice is the only exception.
Lunchtime is about an hour long, but only half of it is spent eating. The kids here actually clean the school during lunchtime! They have vacuums and mops and brooms and clean the classrooms. They must rotate or something because there were kids playing outside too. They have a big sandy area with a playground and a full-size soccer field.
Classes ended at 3:30 or so, but Mr. Kim worked until five. He showed me around the school, and I met all the other teachers. They’re mostly women except the gym teacher, who turned out to be the guy that had picked me up this morning. The special ed teacher actually speaks some English, which is nice. There’s a woman from Uzbekistan (Alice, I think) who married a Korean man and so she lives here. She just moved to Chungnam and is teaching English at Seokyang too. She helps translate for me sometimes. Everyone asks me about volleyball. The special ed teacher said the principal is obsessed with it. Everyone wants to know what position I play, and I told them I’m not good at serving but can receive the ball, and they all want to know if I can “kill” (spike) it. It’s hard to say exactly, but I think I’m about as tall as all the male teachers.
This whole school is really, really nice, especially the kindergarten room. It even has a ball pit! Mrs. Chung is one of the teachers, and she gave us coffee and told me (through Mr. Kim) that I should come to her if I ever want coffee. I think all these teachers speak more English than they let on because after Mr. Kim translated, she added, “Any time.” The other kindergarten teacher told me I am very beautiful. I don’t know if she really thinks so or if this is some form of Korean politeness.
I’ve exhausted my store of Korean phrases, but the repetitive use makes it easier, and the teachers look really pleased and a little surprised when I greet them with a bow and Annyeoung haseyo? And then Pangapsseumnida (pleased to meet you). Also Kamsahamnida (thank you). I think it encourages them to talk to me. Mrs. Chung directed all her questions at me even though I had to look to Mr. Kim each time because I had no idea what she was saying. She’s worried about me living alone here, which I think is nice.
At five Mr.Kim and I walked to the bus because he was going to come with me to my apartment to show me how to use the hot water, stove, etc. Now I know how to take the express bus, but it drops me off pretty far from home and I don’t know how to use the regular bus. This will take time, I think. Honestly, bless Mr. Kim. He tries so hard and is so helpful. When we got off the bus, he took me to an electronics store to try and buy a converter because mine doesn’t work, and we even stopped by the grocery store so I could get some real groceries. He helped me pick out some good stuff because I had no idea what most of these things were. He would also point out the lowest price.
The word we most commonly use is “okay.” I think Mr. Kim thinks “okay” and “yes” are interchangeable. This makes it hard to tell when he’s saying yes and when he’s just saying okay as in he doesn’t understand. For example:
Me: Thank you so much for taking me grocery shopping, Mr. Kim. I really appreciate it.
Mr. Kim: It is not a problem. I do much shopping because my wife does not. (Laughs)
Me: (Laughs) Do you cook, too?
Mr. Kim: Okay.
See what I mean? Is he saying, yes I cook a lot, or is this his way of saying he doesn’t know how to respond? It’s very tricky. We smile and nod a lot.
So Mr. Kim showed me how to work the microwave, hot water, and stove; went out and bought me a new light bulb and installed it in my room; tried to figure out my TV and phone; warned me leaving the AC on during the day is very expensive; knocked on my neighbor’s door to introduce us and ask her when/where garbage is picked up; and wrote down his phone number and the school’s in case I get lost or something on Monday. I felt pretty bad because he didn’t leave until about 8pm, and he lives in Daejeon, which like I said is about an hour and a half away. Plus he told me he takes the bus because his wife uses the car. She’s a nurse. His son called while he was here, and he told me he has a 19 year old daughter, an 18 year old son, and an 11 year old daughter. However, Alice told me earlier that Mr. Kim told her I was 25, so I’m a bit leery of the information he gives me.

Korea: The Prequel, Part I

Here are the four installations of my blog from when I first got here and didn't have any Internet. Enjoy, they are quite wordy as I was very bored.

August 26, 2010
Yesterday I arrived in Incheon International Airport at 4pm. I was all mixed up about time differences and everything, and even as we were landing I STILL wasn’t sure what the right day/time was. Fortunately the captain gave the time and day, so I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I had told the agency people the right day and time so that they would be at the airport waiting to meet me. The plane ride went smoothly, even if we did have massive turbulence for quite a large portion of it. I got lucky and ended up with a window seat and only one guy next to me; the other windows were three people, but we were the last row so it was narrower. Luckily we weren’t against a bulkhead, so we could lean our seats back. Initially I thought the guy next to me was airsick because he kept getting up or leaning his head against the seat in front of him as though he was sick, but then I asked to get up to use the bathroom and he told me he had some back pain, so it would take him awhile to stand up. It was good for me because it meant he spent a lot of time out of his seat. I flew Korean Air, which meant the dinner was Korean food. I liked it… The guy next to me either was just nice or noticed me surreptitiously watching him prepare his food because he took it upon himself to explain how to eat the meal. It was fruit, seaweed soup, rice, a mix of cucumbers, beef, bean sprouts with beans attached, and something else that I couldn’t identify. Also, Korean pickles! They were a lot like dill pickles for hamburgers, only not sour. The food was good, but seaweed soup tasted exactly like you might imagine. Ever smell seaweed on the ocean? Yeah, just like that, only minus salt – but in hot water. It was okay, but I only had a few bites. There was a mom with a little Korean baby in front of me, and that kid kept poking his head around the seat and staring at me, so I started making faces at him and he thought that was hilarious. I read in Korean culture books that Koreans absolutely love children, and I believe it. First of all, my seatmate would try and catch the baby’s attention by doing jazz hands or something, and the flight attendants kept bringing baby food and offering to hold him when he was crying. They would even take young children to the bathroom. Maybe other airlines do that and I’ve never noticed. I slept about six out of the 12 and a half hour flight and read a Reader’s Digest then watched two movies – Kick-Ass and Clash of the Titans. For those who’ve never seen this version of Clash of the Titans, don’t. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a more mixed-up film. It’s sort of entertaining, but if you take one single second to think about any part of the movie, be it the acting, the writing, the hair, the makeup, the mythology… none if it makes any sense as a whole. Sam Worthington’s buzz cut amidst everyone else’s long hair, the appearance of djinn in what’s supposed to be Greek mythology, the fact that everyone in the movie seems to just be using their own accent so there’s a strange mix of British, Norwegian or Swedish or something, Australian, maybe American… and also, it’s been awhile since I’ve read the legend of Perseus, but I don’t think that’s the way it went. Also I like how Io has supposedly followed Perseus all his life (for reasons unexplained in the film), but let his whole family die? Way to be a subpar guardian angel. Anyway, back to Korea.
Customs and immigration went well, but when I exited the gate, I couldn’t find my contact, a Mr. Hwang Sol (first name Sol, last name Hwang… that’s how they write names in Korean). If no one showed up after an hour, I was supposed to go to the information desk between gates D and E, so I checked the time and thought it had been about an hour since landing, but only about 10 minutes since I got to the gate. I decided to go look for the information desk, and while en route several taxi drivers approached me. So far I would generalize Koreans as very polite people based on the airport personnel, my seatmate, and finally the taxi drives. For what are typically very pushy people, these taxi drivers were very soft-spoken and polite. Also I changed some money just inside the gate, and the woman was very polite… not grouchy like some airport people can be. I just said I was meeting someone and they backed off. After an unsuccessful trip to the information station, I went back to my gate and found Sol. He had a little sign with my name on it and everything! I was pretty relieved that he spoke such good English. As we were walking through the airport, I asked him if there was any way I could get the Internet so I could contact my parents, and there were little terminals available. I only had one coin and it ran out after 10 minutes, so Sol gave me another one and said it was his treat, which was nice. He was charging his phone, and I guess in Korea you can just drop off your phone battery at stores (like 7-11 types) and pay them to charge it. Pretty cool.
Sol had driven to the airport, and he told me that I would be spending the night in a hotel in Incheon because it was too late to go to Buyeo. We drove over the fifth longest bridge in the world (woo!) from the island where the airport is to Incheon. Sol told me he had lived in New Zealand for four years and had just gotten back a few months ago, so that explained why his English was so good. Turns out NZ is a 13 hour flight from Seoul. Apparently NZ is close to absolutely nowhere. Also, Sol tried to teach me some Korean… didn’t work so well. He evenHe dropped me off a little motel cleverly named “Motel” and said someone would be back at 8am to pick me up. He arranged for a wakeup call and then left.
So there I was, all alone in this motel, and I had no idea where I was. Thank goodness there was a 7-11 within sight from my window because I hadn’t had dinner and wasn’t sure I wanted to venture too far away because I didn’t have a map and didn’t want to get lost. I got some peanuts, a sandwich, and a bottle of water and returned to my hotel room. It was a nice enough room, but no AC! I found this thing I thought was an AC unit, but my window was open and the rest of the place had no air, and I couldn’t figure out how to work it. The bed was ridiculously hard, but I figured this was probably a Korean thing. Their bathrooms are also their showers in that the whole thing is usually just open and there’s no shower door, but mine actually did have a door. Koreans also don’t wear their outside shoes indoors, so I had a pair of slippers to wear in the room and a pair of sandals for the shower. After I ate it was almost eight, so I read a little and went to bed.
Talk about not having a good night’s sleep… it was about 85 and humid in the room, and the traffic noises were so loud I finally shut the window. However, there was some irritating high-pitched beeping noise that went off sporadically, so I finally cracked and put in my earplugs. Then I was paranoid about missing my wakeup call and alarm, so I woke up about every three hours. I actually felt okay the next day though.
Downstairs, a new agency person was waiting for me. She told me her name was Suri, but for the longest time I was calling her So Li. Whoops. Suri definitely did not have Sol’s English skills. We got some breakfast and picked up some Korean guy whose name I never learned, but he spoke about as much English as I do Korean (which is to say roughly two phrases). We drove to Buyeo, about two hours from Incheon. I was pretty excited to FINALLY see where I’d be living! It was about what I expected, which is to say a small, kind of backwater town. We went to the education office and met a man and woman who spoke English and seemed to be in charge of the English teachers. They were nice, but the woman was like, You will fit in okay because you are young… you will have communication problems, but because you are young you will be able to adapt. Then the man introduced me to all the workers there. You know how in movies and such the new kid has to go to the front of the room and the teacher introduces them? Yes, it was exactly like that only I stood there like a mute and waved like an idiot when they applauded me. Yes, I said applauded. I felt very, very awkward. I had learned how to say hello (Annyeoung haseyo) and thank you (Kam sa ham ni da), yet managed to use neither one because I kept choking each time it came time for me to try.
Next we visited one of the two elementary schools where I’ll be teaching. Seokyang is my “main” school. It seemd pretty big, maybe a bit smaller than Frank Hammond, but it was hard to tell. It was a nice enough place, clean with a playground, but not air-conditioned and quite frankly, the one place smelled like cow poop. Hopefully this is partially due to the rain that has been coming down incessantly since my arrival. Suri didn’t do a good job of introducing me to anyone, so all I know is that I sort of met one man (who will henceforth be called Black Shirt on account of his attire), who talked to Suri and the other guy for like ten minutes while I sat there and pretended to pay attention to what was essentially just gibberish to me. Then we went upstairs and met the guy I think is the principal, Mr. Park, and also Mr. Kim, my co-teacher. I only know he’s my co-teacher because he shook my hand and said, “Welcome to our school” in English. Suri was less than helpful in explaining who these people were, and Mr. Kim didn’t really say anything else to me.
Suri and the other guy took me to my apartment (finally!) and I was actually pleasantly surprised. The complex is kind of old and run down, but my apartment itself is much cleaner and bigger than I would have thought. When we got there (fourth floor, no elevator, woo!), one of the guys from the school and some woman were there. The woman greeted me with a small bow and Annyeoung haseyo and I drew a deep breath, bowed, and blurted out Annyeoung haseyo! And she laughed and smiled. I finally said it! I was very excited. The apartment has a bedroom off to the right, and it’s got a bed, TV, phone, couch, two dining room chairs, a balcony (that is an absolute sauna, no way I’m going out there any time soon), a dresser, and bed linens and cover. I was happy to see those. It’s got a small kitchen that has a wok, scissors, a cup, and some other kitchen-y type stuff. There’s a bathroom with no separate shower, though they did provide me a roll of toilet paper, thank goodness. I’ve got an office with a bureau for clothes and a hanging rack. The fridge is also in there. There’s a small back room with what appears to be a washer/dryer, or at least a washer. I’m afraid to use it as all the instructions are in Korean and it doesn’t appear to be very simple. I also can’t use the gas range. I tried but can’t figure it out. I should have asked Suri for help but didn’t think about it. On the plus side, I HAVE AIR-CONDITIONING. This has been the single greatest thing to happen to me since arriving in Korea. I’m sitting on my bedroom couch right below it, basking in the glory of cool air. I asked Suri to show me how to use it but the gas stove thing didn’t occur to me. I did have her help me lock and unlock the door. This was inspired by my inability to lock my front door in Paris. I tried leaving for school and had the worst time figuring it out, then being paranoid that someone was going to break in, etc. etc. This time I was prepared to avert potential disaster. Next time, I’ll know to ask how to turn on the stove. I also forgot to ask if I can drink the tap water. It hadn’t even occurred to me, but I was reading my guidebook and it made the water sound sketchy, so I’m a little concerned. I meant to ask but completely forgot, so I’ll have to ask my co-teacher tomorrow.
Next we went to Daejeon, which is about an hour and a half away and is the fifth largest city in South Korea. I had to get a physical to make sure I’m healthy and don’t have to be deported. We picked up a Canadian girl named Dhyana, and I was exceedingly happy to have someone to talk to. This is her second time in Korea, so she was able to answer a lot of questions I had that Suri couldn’t help me with because she didn’t speak enough English. Dhyana is moving to a small town whose name I can’t remember, but she gave me her email so we can meet up sometime. She said she knows this place in Seoul where all the foreigners shop because we’re all too fat to fit into Korean clothes.
On the way back to Buyeo, Suri asked if I was hungry, which I was because I couldn’t eat anything after breakfast because of the physical. We stopped at a little restaurant, and Suri ordered for everyone. This was it, the moment of truth… real Korean food! She got spicy beef soup for all of us. When the waitress brought it, it was literally bubbling because it was so hot. We also got kimchi and some tan cubes of something flecked with red (which turned out to be radishes). I used stainless steel chopsticks for the first time. Suri got me a fork, but I decided to use the chopsticks because hey, I would have to eventually. I successfully got a cube on the chopsticks and popped it in my mouth. WHAM! Absolute explosion of spiciness directly on my unsuspecting tastebuds. Now I knew Korean food was spicy, but nothing could have prepared me for this. My eyes started watering and my nose started running ,and Suri asked me if I was okay. I moved on to the kimchi, which is pickled cabbage. It has the crunchy consistency of coleslaw, only no mayonnaise. It was good; that is, it was bland enough to eat. Then I moved onto the soup. Ohhhhh the soup. It was perhaps even spicier than the radishes, mainly because temperature-wise it was steaming hot. So, so hot. It was good, but I couldn’t actually finish all of it because it was so hot and spicy it was literally painful to eat. Luckily I had a side dish of plain old rice. My meal went something like this: spoonful of soup, cool down with rice, chopstick-full of kimchi, and repeat. By the end of the meal I was almost crying because my eyes were watering so much and my nose was running like crazy. Korean food – 1, Theresa – 0.
Every time I had a question Suri couldn’t answer, she would call Elly or Sol and hand me the phone. Elly is the woman I’ve been in contact with all summer, and she speaks very good English. At one point I asked her about other foreign teachers living near me, and she gave me one British guy’s number, so I called him on Suri’s phone. He told me he lives in my apartment complex, but is on vacation until Sunday. He sounded very friendly and pleased to hear there’s a “new foreigner” here. He said Korea is fantastic; Buyeo not so much, but he and the other teachers have a good time. He said they’ve even got a soccer league! They’re apparently not very good, but they have fun playing a game and then go get drinks afterwards. I told him I was from Chicago, and he said there were other teachers from there that live here too.
I don’t think I can describe how incredibly relieved I was to know that there are other English-speaking people nearby. Not having a phone, Internet, or roommate makes it quite hard to be in contact with other people. I told Kevin (the British guy) my apartment block and number and he said they’re having a soccer game on Sunday so he will stop by. I can’t wait to meet the other teachers; I think they’ll be very helpful. For example, Kevin already warned me to avoid this one guy. “If you run into a foreigner named Chris, try and avoid him. He’s absolutely mad! But this is young Chris. Old Chris is okay, but watch out for young Chris.” These are the things I need to know!

추석 (at least, I think this says Chuseok)

Chuseok is in full swing! Naturally now that I have Internet at my apartment, I've been too busy to update my blog. Between multiple trips to Gyeryong, the Great Baekje World Festival of 2010, and my first karaoke excursion I've been neglecting the blog, sorry. I'm off to Seoul today and won't be back until tomorrow or Saturday, but when I am back, I'll fill you in on all the happenings!

Internet!

I finally have Internet!! It was a dramatic turn of events, though... I will fill you in later, but I want to post some of the pictures I took before I have to leave for school, so the Internet saga will have to wait.
Jiseon/Lindsay, one of my Seokseong third graders.

Yuna/Victoria (3rd grade) and Lindsay. Victoria is pretty obsessed with me, and these two followed me to my bus stop on Friday. They're best friends.

My third graders. Alice (pink), Sydney, and Jaeyoung/Jake.

3rd grade again. Ruby, Victoria, Lindsay, Alice, Sydney, and Jake. They were using the microphone to say their names while goofing off before class.

The fourth grade at Seokseong along with a shot of my classroom. We're playing the number slapping game. If you look closely, Evan and Scarlett are wearing the same polo (so is Owen but you can't really see him). Also, Noah and Celeste are both wearing the exact same orange t-shirt (Noah is up by the dry erase board and Celeste is second on the right).

What's this? A! What's this? a! What's this? Apple!

Not to point fingers, but I officially blame the Thursday bus. Something's rotten there because my Friday bus (the same one I catch Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) showed up right on time. Another teacher in my apartment complex is at Seokseong Middle, and he takes cabs to work every day and he said we can share one if I want, so I think I'm going to take him up on that offer on Thursdays. One day a week won't kill me, but the stress of missing that bus every week might.

Joo gave me typed list of date reminders yesterday, and here's my favorite part:

4. All students have a school outing all day long to Gyerongdae where a military festival is held 1st October. Two options; to go to Seokyang if not joining the trip, or to go with us and have a great time.

Hmm... biased much? Hahaha. I told Joo I was definitely in for a good time on the field trip, and he's going to pick me up and take me to school so that there aren't any time issues with potential bus-missing.

Joo warned me yesterday that he wouldn't be in today because he's going to take care of his sick mother. So when I went into the teachers' lounge the VP told me to pull up a seat and told me Joo (Mr. Kim, Kim Cheongju seonsongnim) wasn't in today. So the VP and I proceeded to have about a 15 minute conversation about nothing in particular. Turns out he is 59... these Koreans age unbelieveably well. I thought he was like 40-45! Turns out when he said "45" he meant that he hadn't studied English for 45 years so he had forgotten most of it. I told him if he ever had any questions he could come ask me. He's a very nice man.

The Great Baekje Festival of 2010 is starting in Buyeo. Buyeo is the last capital of the Baekje Dynasty and I guess this festival is held annually, but I'm not actually sure. Either way I'm going to check it out tomorrow with some friends.

I played the number games with the fourth graders today and took a picture of them. I felt a little creepy though. I also got some pictures of my third graders. They were hanging out in my room before 3rd/4th English club started, and they were goofing around with the microphone. My Internet should be hooked up tomorrow, so if so I'll post some pictures!

The 4th graders were about ten minutes late to English club today, and when your class is only 40 minutes 10 minutes is kind of a lot. Seokseong doesn't always run on time, but this was the first time I was kind of frustrated because the 3rd graders were just hanging around for ten minutes... I didn't want to start and have the fourth graders miss anything, but I didn't want the third graders to just mess around either. I ended up waiting for the fourth grade. These third and fourth graders repeat pretty much everything I say, which I actually think is good even if it's not really on purpose. Even random sounds I make, like when I walked out of my shoe and said something like "Ah!" they all repeated "Ah!" When I pass out scissors they repeat when I say, "Here you go, here you are, these are for you, etc." Also when I make clucking, tutting, and shushing noises.

For example:
Me: Okay, listen and repeat.
Class: Okay, listen and repeat.
Me: I have two siblings.
Class: I have two sibling.
Me: No, I have two siblingsssssss.
Class: No, I have two siblingsssssss.
Me: (looking sternly at two whisperers) Uhn uh, sh!
Class: Uhn uh, sh!
Me: (attempting to change the topic) So now..
Class: So now...

The title of this post refers to my first/second grade class. I didn't give anyone below grade 3 an English nickname because I thought it might be too complicated, so I've had to learn all their Korean names, which I've done for the most part. I can't say Daeun for the life of me, and Seongmin and Seungmin aren't the same person. Each week we learn three new letters of the alphabet, and today we did G, H, and I so I thought we could start learning the alphabet song (A-I seemed sufficiently long). The kids actually kind of know the song already, but I want them to relearn it with me to make sure their pronounciation is good. So for like forty minutes this is what we do:

Me (points to A on the screen): What's this?
Class: A!
Me: (points to the word "bat") What's this?
Class: Bat!
Me: (points to G) What's this?
Class: Z!
Me: No, what's this?
Class: (cross between "g,""z," and "ch")
Me: No *shakes head vehemently.* Juh. Juh. *mimes getting punched in the solar plexus* JUH!
Class: Guh! Guh!
Me: JUH!
Class: Juh!
Me: Eeee! Eee! *physically pulls the corners of mouth toward ears, exaggerating the "eee" sound, strains neck tendons*
Class: *makes strange faces* Eeeee! Eeee!
Me: Juh-eee! Juh-EEEE.
Class: Juh-eee! Juh-EEE!
Me: Good! Very good! Jee! Jee!
Class: Zee! Zee!

The deeply ironic part is that when presented with "g," I get a sound kind of like "z," but when presented with "z," the zzzzzz doesn't sound quite like it should.

When they do get it right though, it's absolutely adorable.

Highs and lows of foreign life

Yesterday's volleyball tournament was off to an inauspicious start... Mr. Kim told me volleyball was at 3:30, so I went to the gym at about 3:10 thinking maybe I'd stretch and warm up, and when I walked in the Seokyang teachers were already preparing to face off against the Seokseong crew. I was directed to sit on the sidelines of Seokyang, and I was disappointed that apparently I was late and maybe wouldn't get to play. About two-thirds of the way into the game, the principal subbed with me so I got in for maybe ten minutes. We beat Seokseong, but it was a close game. Joo is a pretty awesome spiker, but they didn't really have any setters, so he was their main setter which meant he didn't get a lot of spiking in. Then we all took a snack break which for some reason included both beer and water. Yes, there's nothing more refreshing than a nice Dixie cup of cold beer during a Korean volleyball tournament at an elementary school.


Next the Seokseong middle school and Tonton (spelling?) elementary school faced off. Seokseong middle was an all-male team (with the female teachers spectating), but Mrs. Jee told me middle school teachers are all about badminton whereas elementary school teachers are all about volleyball, so Tonton ended up winning. While we were watching, my Seokyang principal turns to me and says, "Theresa... spike!" Every single "conversation" I've had with my Seokyang principal involves volleyball. I did notice that I am actually the tallest person on the Seokyang team. However, my vice-principal literally never sets me up, so my spiking opportunities are pretty limited.


The finals were Seokyang vs. Tonton for the glory of the tournament. We huddled in the middle of the court and did a little one-two-three-team cheer! moment (the Korean team cheer? "Fighting!" This is not a joke.). I was in front facing off against the Tonton principal, who was probably 6'2" and therefore a veritable giant in Korea. I managed to get in the swing of blocking when he'd spike it over the net, and I actually did block one and left-handed spiked another. We ended up winning, thank goodness, because I didn't want to let down my Seokyang principal.


Post-volleyball I was invited to a teachers' dinner at one of the student's parents' restaurant nearby, so I had to miss the English teachers' soccer. It was a traditional Korean meal, which meant low tables so we sat on the floor. They served us strips of pork that we cooked on the center stove thing, and there were tons of little bowls with side dishes. Koreans use their chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat, put it on a lettuce leaf, add side dishes (i.e. green onion salad, some delicious red paste of beans and something else), wrap it up, and eat it. Drinks were beer, Pepsi, water, and soju (Korea's answer to vodka/Japanese sake). The vice-principal sat next to me and told me through Mrs. Jee that I must learn Korean so we can have conversations. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one... it's going to be a while before I can possibly have any conversation beyond "Hello, nice to meet you, thank you." We also had a little soju cheers. Korean manners include passing drinks, so the principal gave me a shot glass and poured me some soju, so I had to drink it. Then I gave it back to him and poured him a glass. Mrs. Jee tried to explain exactly how this passing ritual went, but I'm still not quite sure... I know it's impolite to fill your own soju glass for yourself, so you have to fill up others', but I don't quite get it yet. Either way the food was sooo good, except for when I bit down on a big piece of bone in my pork, which was not cool. Also when the other teachers insisted I eat a piece of garlic all by itself. I thought, how bad could it be? So I started chewing and it was fine until the garlic juice hit me, then it was super hot and well, extremely garlicky.


The principal drove me home because he lives in Buyeo. It was a very quiet car ride, the silence broken only when he asked me if I liked volleyball (see what I mean??). One issue: Korean names are written opposite of Western ones, so Mr. Kim's Korean name is actually Kim Yongchan, with Yongchan being his first name. Therefore I introduce myself as Theresa Kretz, and I thought they knew my first name was Theresa because that's usually what everyone calls me, but in the car the principal addressed me simply as "Kretch" (this is the closest the Koreans can get to Kretz). I did notice in volleyball they sometimes referred to each other only by last name, so maybe this is just Korean stuff I don't understand.

Now for the eponymous "lows" of foreign life. I swear there's something wrong with the Thursday bus. Each week I've managed to catch the same bus every day but Thursday, and today was no exception. I sat at the bus stop from about 8:15-8:40 (my bus is supposed to come at 8:20 but it usually shows up at 8:30). I was pretty frustrated because I knew I hadn't missed it because I can actually read the symbols now and didn't see any buses going to Ganggyeong. I was also stressed out because some older Korean man was bothering me and there wasn't even any bus I could escape to. He didn't really speak any English but kept trying to talk to me and touch my hand, which I didn't appreciate at all, and every time I stood up he'd tell me to sit down. The worst part was he showed up at 8:20 or so and I didn't want to potentionally miss my bus (which never came anyway), so I couldn't leave the bus stop. Finally I was totally fed up and just told him I was going to be late, so I was going to catch a taxi, which I did.

I might have mentioned this already, but Koreans see personal questions as a good way to get to know people... it's polite, it's how they build relationships, so don't be surprised if people you have just met want to know your name, your age, your marital status, where you're from, how much money you make, etc. I wasn't in a great mood already, though, and the taxi driver was not making it any better by asking me these questions. How old are you, are you married, where are you from, you're very beautiful... I really didn't feel like making small talk (and when I say "small talk" I mean disclosing private information to a total stranger), and then he took me to Seokseong Middle School instead of Seokseong Elementary, so we had to sort that out. So I strolled into the school and quite frankly, I was pretty upset. The bus thing was stressful, then being semi-harassed by some old (and I think drunk) guy, then trying to calm down while in this taxi ride to the wrong place with some total stranger telling me I'm beautiful and asking me if I'm married just wasn't a great start to my morning. I could have handled at least one of those events but all three before 9am was a bit much.

So anyway I go into the teachers' lounge and Joo and Mrs. Lim (head teacher) are in there, and I said to Joo, "I think there's something wrong with the bus on Thursdays because I couldn't find it again" then to my total embarrassment I kind of teared up and said that I'd be right back and scurried into my classroom. Then he followed me and said, "So I think you are a little upset" and I almost started crying and just kind of mumbled that some guy was bothering me at the bus stop and that I was stressed out from missing the bus and all. So we just talked about classes for the day and volleyball yesterday, etc. and he reminded me the fifth and sixth graders were on a field trip so I wouldn't have those classes today, so "Just take a rest, and have some coffee, and I will see you third period."

So I calmed down and later Joo came back to discuss the after-school classes, and we had a little heart-to-heart about Korean culture and stuff, and he said people just want to talk to me because I'm obviously a foreigner and they're curious. I said that I knew that, but was wondering if it was common for strangers to ask me personal questions... I said I expected it from teachers, acquaintances, etc. but taxi drivers seemed to be pushing it. He agreed and said he had never been asked his age by a taxi driver. I hope he doesn't think I was overreacting because now it seems like I lost my composure a little excessively but at the time it was just kind of a lot.

Anyway, due to the field trip I only had three classes today. I had the third graders for their after-school class, and we worked on numbers. Joo told me their writing is pretty bad... they can listen and recognize numbers but can't write them, so I made up a game where I wrote zero-ten on pieces of paper and laid them on a desk. I divided the class into two teams of five and had them come up and face off with the flashcards. I'd say a number ("six!") and whoever slapped the card with "six" written on it got a point. Holy cow but those kids were freaking out! I think the slapping thing was very exciting for them. Joo has them play lots of learning games, but I kind of forgot how much kids FREAKING LOVE games. Even very, very basic games.

Joo always has them choose team names, and these names ALWAYS seem to feature animals and/or the word "golden." For example, the teams today were "Golden tigers," "Golden cats," and "Golden dolphins." I have no idea why there is this fixation on the word "golden" but "sharks" is also a very popular team name.

Next we graduated to writing numbers on the board. One kid from each team got a dry erase marker and the first to write and spell the number correctly won. This presented kind of a challenge, which I think was good. If it was too hard I'd give them hints. The final game progression was when I started just writing numbers, (1, 4, 10 etc) on the board and they had to look at the number and write the English word (one, four, ten, etc).

At lunch Joo and I were discussing music. His favorite Western band is U2. He asked who my favorite pop artist was and I said Lady Gaga. He didn't recognize the name, so I assured him I'd play him some Lady Gaga sometime.

I don't remember if I already said this, but Joo lives in Nonsan, which is like 30 minutes away, and so he invited me to Nonsan on Friday October the 8th to get drinks with him and his family. He definitely said "family" but his sons are like 7 and 3 so I'm thinking maybe just him and his wife. I told him about the soju at the teachers' dinner, and he asked if I liked soju, and I said it was okay but didn't taste good by itself, so I thought it tasted better mixed with something, and Joo nearly fell out of his chair. I thought maybe that was some Korean faux pas to mix soju, but it turns out when I said "mix" Joo thought I meant like mix it with beer or whiskey! Hahaha he was pretty surprised that I would put those two together, but I explained I meant like juice or pop or something, and he calmed down ("Oh, you mean a cocktail.").

If you like to plan ahead, don't teach in Korea

I had been warned about this, and it's completely true... Koreans do everything last minute. And when I say "last minute," I really mean it. This is true for nearly everything, even things Westerners consider very important. For example, my classes. They're constantly being rearranged/moved and no one tells me until about two minutes beforehand. Today Mr. Kim came up to me at 11:45 when the sixth grade was supposed to come to class from 11:50-12:30 and told me that they're moving the class to this afternoon at 13:00. Okay, sure. There was no explanation given.

On Wednesdays I teach the "extracurricular activity" class from 14:20-:15:00, but yesterday Mr. Kim said it was cancelled (for no reason I knew of). Then today at 13:45 he came up to me (this is immediately following the sixth grade class) and said that the extracurricular class would be at 14:25 (instead of the usual 14:20, but okay). So I was sitting at my desk, wondering why the kids were all in the classroom seated at 13:50 when (supposedly) they had half an hour before the class started. At 13:55 Mr. Kim came over and was like, Class is starting at 13:50. And I was like, You just told me 14:25! Unfortunately, Mr. Kim's English isn't so great so it wasn't worth it to argue, whatever I was eady and just killing time before class started anyway so I taught the lesson. So if you ever come here to work or socialize with Koreans, be prepared for last-minute everything.

I think things are going more smoothly with my classes. The third grade was rough today, but overall I think maybe they're starting to pay more attention. I know it must be hard for them because I tell them to do things and they can't understand me. I've noticed that the kids in school here are allowed to get away with being pretty aggressive. I know at St. Tom's that you would have gotten in serious trouble for hitting someone on the back with your book, knocking someone's chair over, or wrestling another kid. The kids run around school a lot too. Christopher (Lee Boyeong), one of my sixth graders, is always getting beat up by the other kids, including the girls. I have no idea why as he's not a particularly small boy. His friends are always telling me that he's "crazy, Teacher!" Christopher and Elliott (Lim Byeongchan) came up to my desk today to ask me if I liked Michael Jackson. I said sure and asked them if they could moonwalk. They didn't understand, so I demonstrated my own. Elliott seemed impressed.

With the help of Google translate and Mr. Kim, I finally translated some key phrases for my class. For example: No talking. Pencils down. Listen up. You have to stay with me after class. The efficacy of these rules will be tested tomorrow. I have my Seokyang sixth graders five times in three days: three regular classes and two after-school classes Mon/Tues. They're the first group I'm testing the new rules out on. I know they know what I'm saying now, but whether or not they choose to listen is a different story. I kicked a kid out today and sent him to his homeroom teacher's room. Mr. Kim told me the students fear the principal and VP, so next time I'll send him there (I think the principal might be gone though). We'll see.

Every day the mornings are a little cooler, but it still gets hot eventually. The past few mornings have been extremely foggy - I can't believe how damp it is here all the time.

I'm slowly learning all the kids' (English) names. Once I get those down I'm going to try and learn their Korean names as well. Since my Seokseoung classes are so small (10-12 students), I know a lot of theirs already. The kids like and remember their English names, which is great for me. I'm actually a little surprised they answer to them because I think I'd have a hard time remembering my foreign nickname... if my teacher said Jinyeoung or Jaelin or Youjin, I don't think I'd remember it was me.

So far the trickiest thing to teach has been primarily pronounciation. There's no Korean "f" sound, and they don't really distinguish between "b," "p," and I don't think there's a Korean "v." Also "g" and "k" as well as "l" and "r." The Romanization of Buyeo, my town, used to be Puyo, and another town, Busan, used to be Pusan. If you say it out loud, the B and P do sound awfully alike. The town of Ganggyeoung, for example, sounds more like Kangkyeoung to me when the Koreans say it. Therefore making these distinctions is pretty hard for my students and the teachers. I spent about ten minutes during lunch trying to explain the difference between "Luby" and "Ruby" to two third graders. I remember how frustrating learning the French "r" was, so I tell the kids they just need to practice.

I don't know the linguistical reason behind this, but Koreans like to add "y" to the end of a lot of words that don't need it, i.e. "lunch = lunchy" "dash = dashy" "slash = slashy" "finish = finishy." This habit is proving to be very hard to break. The kids are forever raising their hands and saying, "Finishy!" when they're done with their worksheets.

Today after my last class was over, Mr. Kim told me Mrs. Jee, the special ed teacher, was making songpyeon (rice cakes) with her class and I was invited. We went downstairs and she showed me how to make songpyeon, which looks a lot like green clay. It's rice and pa (which is some vegetable Mrs. Jee didn't know the name of in English). It reminded me a lot of pierogi... little circle of dough, put some sesame seeds and sugar or beans in the center, and fold into a half moon. Then you steam it. I ate some, and it didn't really taste like anything except for the sesame seeds/sugar or beans. Mrs. Jee's class is five students, but only two were around for the after-school class. She has one girl with Down's syndrome who really likes me. Mrs. Jee told me she's very smart even though she has Down's, and I'd have to agree. She always says hello and goodbye to me in the hallways and waves.

Well, it finally happened. I took the wrong bus on Thursday. I'm convinced mine just didn't show up though because I waited about 10 minutes after it was supposed to be there, then finally just got on one that the bus driver said was going to Seokseong, which it did not. I got off at my main school, and then got on another one headed to Seokseong. I was only about 10 minutes late, and Joo said it was no big deal. It was a hassle, but not a huge deal.

Wednesday we played teachers' volleyball for an hour and a half. I showed up a little early because everyone else had a teachers' meeting, but I'm (thankfully) exempt from those seeing as how I don't speak Korean. I showed up at the gym and this older guy was there, so we started practicing and man he kept spiking it at me! I was relieved when the other teachers showed up so we could start the game and I could get a break.

My vice-principal was on my team, and before the game started he and that other guy kept trying to get me to spike the ball over the net. I was semi-successful. My team was me, the VP, some guy I don't know, and Mrs. Jee (special ed teacher), Mrs. Chung (2nd grade), Mrs. Lim (kindergarten), and three other women teachers I don't remember. They put me in the front row, and the VP was the setter and the other guy was the third front row person. They played all nine players at a time, so it was a fairly crowded court. It was a pretty tight game the whole time, though I was a little confused because it was definitely rally scoring, but I think we went to 30? Maybe 27? I'm not sure. When I was serving in the first game Mrs. Chung told me, "One more!" and then we won that point, yet kept playing, so I don't know.

Once they figured out I wasn't very good at spiking, the VP stopped setting me up. Like most recreational volleyball games, everyone was lifting and slapping the ball like crazy. Almost every serve was underhand, and most of the teachers didn't bump the ball, but would "set" everything, even serves. It made the game a little challenging because I'm not used to setting serves, so every time a ball came at my face I would move aside so the person behind me could get it, but since setting serves was so common, they weren't always expecting it.

After volleyball ended at five, I went home, got a water bottle, and headed to soccer. We played five-on-four because there wasn't another team to play against. I think we played for about an hour and a half, then went home, showered, and off to a farewell dinner for two of the Canadian teachers. We ate at this duck restaurant and it was delicious. I think my problems with Korean food stem primarily from the fact that I've mostly been eating school lunches, and if your only exposure to American food was the elementary school lunch, then you probably wouldn't like it either.

I think I overdid it with the volleyball and soccer because I was really sore for the next few days. My forearms especially felt like they'd been beaten with a meat tenderizer. I've got volleyball and soccer again tomorrow. Joo told me on Friday that there will be four schools at volleyball tomorrow for some reason, and so he wanted to know if I'll play for Seokyang or Seokseong. Uh oh... my Seokyang principal is crazy about volleyball, but Joo said the Seokseong teachers need me. I said maybe one week I'd play for Seokyang and the next for Seokseong. We'll see.

So more on the arm petting front... from talking to the other native teachers, it seems Koreans are totally fascinated/repulsed by us hairy Westerners. Ben, one of the English teachers, said that he was trying to explain body hair to his middle school boys and so he rolled up his pant leg and showed them his calf, and they completed freaked out and thought it was so gross.

Friday at Seokseong we had donuts in the teachers' lounge. Krispy Kremes! They were quite good. I had no idea you could get Krispy Kremes here.

Saturday Kevin and I went to a native teachers' barbeque in Majeon (spelling? no idea). We got a ride with Ray to Daejeon then hoofed it to a bus stop and took a bus to Majeon. We stopped for some KFC because Daejeon is big enough to actually have Western restaurants, like TGI Friday's and KFC and McDonald's. They've still got that special Korean twist though because I ordered what I thought was a chicken sandwich only to have it be the spiciest chicken sandwich known to man. In retrospect ordering the "Zinger" may have been a mistake. My mouth and lips were burning for like ten minutes post-sandwich.

I had my second teachers' training on Monday. It seems like we're putting the brakes on in a big way... last week we were doing things like, "He drank hot chocolate. She flew a kite." etc. but I think it was too fast for some teachers, so now we're doing the alphabet and numbers. There's some real discrepancies in the English levels of the teachers, so it's hard to balance that.

Next week is Chuseok, the Korean harvest moon holiday. I'll have Tues-Fri off plus the weekend as usual. Lots of people are going places, but I don't know if I can because apparently everything is booked. Not having Internet at my apartment makes it really hard to plan a vacation of any kind. I sent a copy of my alien registration card (ARC) and bank account to the agency people, and I swear Mr. Kim said my Internet should be working soon, but it wasn't yesterday, so I'll have to investigate this further.

My Seokyang classes are anywhere from 25-31 students, and it's kind of a lot. It's hard to discipline the kids when they don't know what I'm saying. Things like, "If you don't stop talking, you're going to have to stay late" mean nothing to them. "Listen up, pay attention, be quiet, no talking when I'm talking," etc. are to them what these commands in Korean would be to me, i.e. just noise. I finally taught them, "Pencils down, stop talking" but during class I always walk around and get right up by their desks to make sure I have their attention. I mime a lot, "Listen up" *touches ear*, "Listen and repeat" *touches ear, touches mouth* help. Though by now they should really know "listen and repeat," it's more of if they choose to ignore it. They all have notebooks with the exaggerated lines to practice writing, but a decent number always forget and then think that means they don't have to write anything. Wrong. Use the worksheet I just gave you. I'm constantly walking around the classroom to make sure they're actually writing like they're supposed to and not just goofing off. It's a learning process.

It's only been 11 days?

I can't believe I've only been here for like eleven days. Second weekend in Buyeo is in the books. On Saturday Bob and Yuan and I went to Nonsan and did some shopping in the HomePlus department store. I gave them my leftover kimchi because I'll never eat it, there's just too much.


Sunday I played soccer with the other native teachers. We faced off against this Korean high school boys team and they massacred us. They're so fast! Afterwards Ray, Jasmine, Kevin and I went out for sushi. Ray's actually got a car here, and Kevin is always pestering him to "do laps of town;" that is, roll the windows down, crank the K-pop, and headbob (Kevin says Ray hates to do this). K-pop is Korean pop (you may have figured this out). It's good! Kind of crazy techno, but very catchy stuff. Kevin has a lot on his iPod so he demands to be called DJ Kevin whilst riding in Ray's car.

On Monday I had my first full day of teaching at Seokyang. Mr. Kim and I teach together, grades 3-6. It was also the first day I taught "teacher training," which is just an after-school conversation class for the teachers. I pretty much had no idea what I was supposed to do since I had no materials and no idea of the skill level I'd be dealing with. Mr. Kim is actually in this class, but he was absent because he had to go to the Buyeo Education Office.

Joo wasn't there, but he sent over a worksheet that I could use with the teachers. It was mostly about dates and things like, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, etc. One of the teachers asked me why dates are always "the," such as "the first, the twenty-third," etc. and I had no real answer besides, "That's just the way it is." I googled it and still don't know. I said because it's a specific day? Maybe. If you know and want to let me know so I can tell the teachers, feel free to email me or whatever.

It was kind of hard to teach the teachers because they're adults, so I don't want to treat them like I do the students, but I also know that if anyone was teaching me Korean, it would have to be very, very basic. For next week I'll be better prepared so I think it will be a better session. I only have teacher trainings once a week on Mondays.

Yesterday I got my alien registration card! This is like the golden ticket to life in Korea. Now I can open a bank account, get Internet, and cable. I need help getting all these things though, so it's still going to be a few days.

At lunch yesterday the vice-principal told me (via Mr. Kim) that I fit in well here (i.e. can use chopsticks, eat Korean food, etc.) and he thinks I should marry a Korean man. He said he'll find me a husband and introduce us. Most of the Koreans I meet are pretty fascinated by my eyes since there aren't many blue-eyed people here (besides some foreigners). The VP told me that my eyes are like a lake, clear and bright. The first day I got here my principal told me I was very beautiful. I think it's kind of interesting that looking different is seen as desirable rather than bizarre. I wouldn't have been surprised if people thought I was ugly because I don't look like them. Either that or compliments are perhaps Korean politeness.

I have teachers' volleyball at 3:30 (I think) today, and then soccer with the native English teachers at six, then a farewell dinner for two of the Canadian teachers that are leaving. Wish me luck at my sporty adventures!

Today, Wednesday, I gave all the kids English nicknames. I've realized I will never learn all their names, and other native teachers told me that it's pretty common to give the kids nicknames. I got a big list of names and let all the kids choose their own, and I also told them they weren't limited to the list, and there couldn't be name repeats in a class (this was settled by a quick rock-paper-scissors for the win). Out of maybe 115 names (per gender), the top choices are:

Victoria, Sophia, Olivia, Lucy, Anna, Jackson, Grayson, Emily, Cole, Hunter, and Alexander

I also have two boys named Ice and one each named Texan, Too Cool, and Thunderer. I have absolutely no idea where they came up with these "names," but hey, you want to learn to spell "Thunderer" be my guest. They're all in third grade, so this is probably the height of cool.

It helps tremendously to know them by name. Now every time Elliott and Alexander are chatting it up, I can actually call them out on it. Before when I didn't know their names, I couldn't even say, "You in the blue shirt!" because they didn't know what that meant. I had to go to their desk, which was a big time waster. They also don't laugh at me as much because I don't try and pronounce their names anymore.

The selective English here probably will never fail to amuse me. The kids can't say, "I want to go to the movies," but they can tell me their seatmate is "crazy" or that "those two are *makes heart with hands*" (Teacher, no! Not true! *vehemently shakes head*). Or if I split up the sixth-grade talkers in the after-school class ("Teacher, this is...uh... free! Free time!" No, kiddo, it's not. Not if I'm up there talking to you.)

They still ask me tons of questions. Their earnest little faces pop up around my desk, jabbering away. Maybe soon it will sink in that I can't understand or answer them. It really does force them to use whatever English they know. ("Hi!" "Hi, Ice. How are you?" "Uhmmm... what's this?" "A desk." "Ahmm... what's this?" "A whiteboard." "Ahmm... bye!").

They are also fascinated by my arm hair. When I was using their desks to write their English names on the roster, multiple kids were stroking my forearms. The third graders also were draping themselves all over me when I sat down to write, and I finally had to stand up and push them away sort of because all that body heat was making me sweat like crazy.

Lunch today was SO GOOD. We had bulgogi, which is like thinly sliced pork (or beef, but hey, this is a school lunch) and vegetables. It was delicious. Mr. Kim says most foreigners like bulgogi, and I had heard of it before as something good to try.

I actually made it all the way to the bus stop without sweating this morning. Maybe the weather is finally cooling off? Perhaps all the typhoons are causing temperature drops.

The many bizarre foods Koreans love

Today was my second day at Seokseung. I caught the bus and everything on my own. Joo said he had been a little worried that I'd get lost or something, and yesterday he reassured me if I messed up and got to school at like 11 or 12 I shouldn't be upset... he said they understand I'm not from here and everything is more difficult for me. I was glad to catch the bus though because then I don't have to worry about calling someone to come get me or whatever.


I taught the first/second grade class (it's combined for English because total there's only like 12 of them anyway), and the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades essentially by myself today. The teachers were in the room, but mostly to kind of be the intermediary. I think that eventually I'll be totally by myself.


Lunch today was particularly difficult. I think instead of learning to like Korean food the more I eat it, it's more like the more I have the less I like it, which is pretty unfortunate. I can no longer bring myself to eat more than a few bites of kimchi. We had some very dodgy-looking soup with tofu, kimchi, something green that wasn't seaweed but Joo didn't know the name of, rice with some kind of beans or something, and this delicious potato-and-chicken with some kind of sauce. One of the worst parts about not having anything to drink with your meal is that if something tastes bad, there's no water to wash it down. So pretty much I ate the rice, potato-and-chicken thing, a couple spoonfuls of soup and some kimchi and then just left the cafeteria. Joo came into my room after lunch and asked if I like pizza, and I said of course, so we went into the teachers' room and for some reason there was pizza! I think maybe it was for the kids? I'm really not sure. Joo said to me that he thought maybe lunch was no good for me today, so he must have noticed I didn't really eat it, so I didn't want to ask if they got pizza for me. I don't really think so, but either way it was a good deal. The pizza was pretty good even if they did put corn on it. It also came with a side of pickles in what looked kind of like the dipping sauce containers in the States. I love pickles, so I thought it was great. "Pickle" is "pickle" in Korean. Seriously.


On the plus side, Koreans love coffee. Everywhere I go I'm offered coffee. They have premixed coffee packets that look like giant pixie stix, and they've got instant coffee, creamer, and sugar. Perhaps they have these in the States and I've just never seen them, but they're awesome and very handy. Just use one of the electric kettles that are everywhere and bam! delicious coffee in like a minute.


Joo and I taught the 3/4th and 5/6th "study group" classes. Joo explained to me that he asked for volunteers to be in this supplementary English class, and I guess all the 3rd and 4th graders volunteered but he and the vice-principal thought 12 was a good number (I am so thankful they capped the class). Only two 6th graders volunteered though! So my 5/6th class is only eight kids. I still don't understand the Korean schoolday because Joo told me that these were extra classes beyond the normal school time, but maybe there's other optional classes because there are kids running around here still.



The other teachers invited me to the teachers' room to eat some mini sweet potatoes. They were actually pretty good... it was just different to eat baked sweet potatoes by themselves at like 3:30pm.

First day of school, take two

Today was my first day at my other school. Seokseung is smaller than Seokyang, only 64 students total. I think I'm really going to like it here though... I actually get my own classroom, which is pretty cool. The other Mr. Kim is my co-teacher. His full name is Kim Jeongju but says I can call him Joo. He speaks really good English. We actually carry on full-blown conversations! He was really prepared, too... He had a class schedule printed (and laminated) along with the bus schedule, a map of the bus route (which would have been handy before I had to learn to take the bus, but no matter), attendance sheets, etc. Joo picked me up this morning and pointed out the orphanage on our way to school. He said he heard the Seokyang kids can be kind of rowdy.

Joo also informed me there is currently a typhoon passing through/over Korea. That would explain the insane amounts of rain! The sky looks pretty typhoon-y too. Ju didn't seem concerned, so I guess this must be normal.

Last night I finally met more native teachers. I missed the soccer practice because of the immigration office thing, but Kevin came over to my apartment and we went out for drinks with more of the teachers. I met six altogether... Ramon is from New Zealand, Ben and Kevin are from England, Jasmine and Dan are Canadian, and Blake is from Knoxville, Tennessee. Kevin said there's more. He also told me I've arrived in the changeover time, which makes sense, and so some people will be leaving and others will be arriving. Ben just turned 30, and for his birthday he climbed Mt. Everest. Seriously. Okay, I guess he only went up to base camp and not the top, but he said climbing to the top is outrageously expensive. He went into this long story about how he got altitude sickness, and it sounded awful; massive headaches and nonstop vomiting. Really makes you want to climb a mountain, huh? He said the next one's going to be Kilimanjaro.

Seokseung is really different from Seokyang. It's more what I had expected, that is, the teachers bring their students into my classroom and they're primarily in charge of the lesson. My role is more of an assistant when it comes to pronouncing words and knowing what's correct. The Korean teachers speak some English, but not really... mostly just the stuff in the lesson.

The class size at Seokseung is really small, maybe 10-12 kids per class. I assist with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes on Thursday, and then I teach the "after-school" class for third graders and kindergartners. I don't know exactly why it's called "after-school" because it's not like school's over; these classes only go until 3:50. I don't really understand their school day. Joo is the third grade teacher, and he helped me with the third graders' after-school program today. He gave me a class roster and we played this name bingo game, and the kids thought it was great to hear me try and say their names. I daresay I might actually learn the 10 Seokseung third grade kids' names! I'm not really sure how this is going to go once Joo isn't around to help because I'm supposed to be in charge of the after-school programs on my own.

I was really nervous for the kindergarten after-school program. Seriously, kindergarten! What am I supposed to teach five-year-olds? I had three coloring sheets with A, B, and C on them and an ant, bat, and cat respectively. I have to say that may be the most well-behaved kindergarten class I have ever seen. There's only nine of them, and my heart completely melted when they all bowed to me. They all sat down and I showed them the coloring sheets and had them repeat the letters and words after me. The kindergarten teacher stayed with me, and that was good, but honestly, these kids were so quiet and polite and just demurely colored their pictures. When they were done, I'd take the finished pictures and go over the letter/word with the artist, then see if the kid could identify the letter. Maybe 50% of them could. So, so, so cute.

In Korea I'm 24 years old. They start counting your age when you're still a fetus because the reasoning is that you're growing, so you're born one year old. I don't know why you're not nine months old, but whatever.

Lunch was a real eye-opener today. It was some strange ham soup, kimchi, white rice, eggplant, and fish. But the fish was the real kicker... I'm talking a whole fish. They put two little fish on my tray, eyes, bones, scales, everything included. I had to get creative with my chopsticks to peel off the scales and eat around the bones. I'm not going to lie, it was really gross, but the fish was pretty good. The vice-principal told me I was doing a good job with the chopsticks, but the principal thought I was a very slow eater. That's because I'm dissecting two fish with chopsticks! I think I was the last person to leave the cafeteria. Ju kept me company, and he had three fish so he wanted to know if I wanted one. I said I doubted there was time.

Joo told me a story about how he traveled to the Philippines for six months. I said that sounded like fun, and he said it was except for one bad experience. I asked what happened, and he said he almost died! Turns out he was robbed at knifepoint, and when I say at knifepoint, I mean the guy held a knife to his throat and demanded his money. Apparently it was in a taxi and Ju managed to run away.

Joo asked me if I always smile all the time. I said I guess so, and I felt a little silly like I walk around smiling like a buffoon, but Ju said it makes the other teachers feel more comfortable and that it's a good thing, so all right then.

My schedule appears to say that I have the fourth, sixth, first/second, and fifth grades all to myself tomorrow. I hope this is a mistake or something because I haven't got a clue what to do with them. Must ask Joo for clarification.

I finished my furniture rearranging yesterday post-immigration office. I think it's a much better setup, but my garbage-picked furniture smells pretty musty, so I'm going to have to do something about that. Kevin was of the opinion that it looked pretty "homely" and was quick to reassure me that in England, "homely" is a good thing. Also the deathtrap balcony has been neutralized! It's now safe to walk out there; they put down new wood or flooring or something.