I'm fine

If you've heard about North Korea firing on South Korea in the news, don't worry, I'm fine. From what I've seen online on CNN, etc. it looks like the North shot artillery of some kind into a South Korean island on the northwest coast. I don't really have anything else to say about it besides that I checked the US travel website and nothing's up yet. If I learn anything else I will let you know.

A great story, plus a few random details

I've been meaning to mention this but keep forgetting, so here it is: the toilet seats at Seokyang are heated. Yes, heated. During the hot months I was absolutely repulsed by this because it was already super hot and then you go into the bathroom and sit down on ugh, a warm seat. However. Now that it's winter, it's an amazing luxury! No cold porcelain or plastic! Also on a bathroom note, the Seokseong bathroom has motion sensors that turn on the lights AND cue music. Pomp and Circumstance is often on, which makes for an amusing trip to the bathroom.

Now for the story. Last Friday I ran into Kevin in Dongnam. Here is the conversation.

Kevin: Celina texted me today. *pulls out phone* She was mostly just confirming what I already knew.
Me: *reads text message* "the other teachers say kevin teacher is most handsome native teacher. haha."
Kevin: I don't know if they just mean Buyeo, but I'm going to go ahead and assume they mean all of Korea.

Cue dinner with Celina later.

Me: I read that text you sent Kevin about him being the most handsome teacher.
Celina: Yeah, it was hilarious. All the female teachers were talking about something in the teachers' lounge in the morning, and they were like, "Celina, we talk to you at lunch." So I go to lunch and they're like, "Celina, you Hong Kong, right?"
Celina: "Yes."
Teachers: "But you England, right?"
Celina: "Yes."
Teachers: "Ooooh, there's very handsome English teacher from England here!"
Celina: "What's his name?"
Teachers: "We don't know."
Celina: "What's he look like?"
Teachers: "Handsome!"
Celina: "Uh, is his name Kevin?"
Teachers: "Yes! Kevin Teacher, very handsome!"
Male teacher: "Yes, handsome!"

Apparently Kevin's co-teacher told everyone else he is very handsome. I told him from now on I'm going to call him Handsome Kev, or just Handsome for short.

The jimjilbang

I've gotten really used to not understanding anything that happens around me. I don't even notice that I can't understand the students, teachers, etc. It's really easy to tune out what to me is essentially just gibberish, and I think it's going to be weird to go back home and suddenly hear and understand everything. For example, I just zone out when people are talking on their phones or whatever, but it will be harder once I get back home.

However, it will be nice when everyday things aren't so hard anymore. For example, last Friday. Celina and I went out to dinner, and we realized that we can only go to places we've already been, or places with pictures. Sometimes even pictures aren't good enough because you can't always tell if it's chicken or pork, spicy or not, etc. We ventured to an unknown restaurant and ended up with some delicious chicken, but it wasn't without a lot of second-guessing and blind jumping.

Then on Saturday I went to Daejeon to meet up with Kevin. Celina and I were supposed to go there in the day to do some shopping, but she wasn't feeling well so I hung around my apartment until 4:30 when I hopped the bus to Daejeon. It was definitely one of my worse bus rides... Korean drivers have that awful step on gas pedal, get up to speed, then release gas pedal approach. Also there was insane traffic, so the usual 1hr30min ride took two hours. When I got to the bus station, Kevin and his friend Carl still weren't there because they took a bus from Hongseong (where Carl lives) and apparently it was the bus ride from hell and took them 2hrs30mins. So anyway, I had about 40 minutes to kill before they showed up, so I decided to head downtown. I got in a cab and told the cabbie Timeworld Galleria, a big shopping center. He said okay, and then for some reason kept peppering me with questions in Korean no matter how many times I'd say, "Sorry, I don't understand. I don't speak Korean." It got kind of annoying, actually. This was what the "conversation" looked like:

Cabbie: blahblahblahstuffIcan'tunderstandblahblah chingu Galleria? (chingu is friend)
Me: Aniyo chingu. (trying to communicate that no, I am not meeting a friend at the Galleria)
Cabbie: blahblahblahblahblahblah.....
Me: Sorry, I don't speak Korean.
Cabbie: blabhblabhlabhalbhlablhbalbha
Me: .................
Cabbie: Chingu? Galleria?
Me: ANIYO CHINGU.
Cabbie: Home? Buyeo?
Me: Ne. (Yes.)
Cabbie: blahblahblahblah home Galleria blahblahblah.
Me: ?????
Cabbie: blahblahblah house Galleria?
Me: No, I don't have a home at the Galleria. I live in Buyeo.

Then he finally ceased and desisted with the questions. I just don't get it sometimes - I clearly can't answer you!

So finally I met up with Kevin and his friends, and we went to drop our stuff off at the jimjilbang. Now here's some real Korean culture for you. A jimjilbang is like a spa, and you pay like 6,000 won for 24 hours, and you get this change of clothes and a locker, and pretty much it's a giant bathhouse. Tons of hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, massage chairs, etc. Very Asian. You can also spend the night at a jimjilbang, which is what our plan was because it's so cheap. However, you have to sleep on the floor in this giant community room. So the real kicker is that at the jimjilbang, everyone is completely naked. Now obviously they're gender-segregated, but still - this is a milestone in cultural immersion, in my opinion. I knew this going in, but I was still not fully prepared for the jimjilbang experience... by myself. Yes, I braved this experience solo because everyone I was with was a guy, which meant that we had to split up. We all checked in together and got our jimjilbang outfits (for when you're in the locker room), and then it was all, Okay we'll see you in 15 minutes for dinner! And bam, they were gone before I could ask any questions.

(For purposes of walking you through this point in my life, I'm going to switch to present tense. Makes you feel more like you're in the story.
Also, as you read this story, please remember that every time I am in the locker room area, I am surrounded by naked Korean women of all ages. So already I'm in a strange place where I can't communicate, am unsure of the social norms, and have no idea what proper procedure is. Now add lots of naked women to this situation.)

Let me lay down the setup of this situation.

So the jimjilbang is on the fourth floor of this huge shopping center building. There's the main desk where we paid, then there are two separate entrances for men and women to lead into the actual jimjilbang. When you walk through the entrance, there's small lockers with keys for you to put your shoes in. Then you walk around the corner and there's the actual clothes locker area and spa part. So there's a key for the shoes locker and then one for the clothes locker.

So I walk through the entrance, take off my shoes, put them in a locker, take the shoe locker key with me, then go up to the front desk. I have no idea what to do - drop my things off in a locker? Sure, sounds good. Do I just claim any clothes locker? Is this permanent? I get a clothes locker key from the lady at the desk and give her my receipt and the shoe locker key in exchange. I put my backpack in a clothes locker, then go back to the desk and questioningly look at the woman for help. She gives me the shoe locker key in exchange for my clothes locker key, I go and get my shoes, then as I'm trying to leave some old lady takes my shoe locker key and puts it back in the locker.

Hmm, how do I get back in? Now I've got no key of any kind and no receipt. This can't be good. I decided to walk outside and ask Chris and Jake what I'm supposed to do. Of course, I go out and no one's there. I decide to go back in and see what I'm supposed to do upon reentry while my face was still fresh in the lady's mind. I walk in and whoops, different woman working at the desk. She gives me a nasty look when I give her my shoe locker key in exchange for the clothes locker key and demands my ticket. "Uh, I already gave that other lady my ticket." This does not go over well as this woman's English is maxed out with the word "ticket." I go to my clothes locker, get out some mascara and put it on, then replace my belongings. I go back yet again to the woman to exchange my keys. Again, she gives me an awful look and throws the key at me.

I walk outside and Jake and Chris are there.
Me: So... how do I get back in?
Jake: Don't you have a key? *Shows shoe key.*
Me: Uh, no, some old lady made me put it back.
Jake: Oh, go get it. Or else how will you know which locker is yours?

This makes sense to me. I dart inside and grab the shoe key, then dash out before any more old ladies try and make me put it back. The jimjilbang is inside a huge mall area, so we walk around looking for food (Kevin and Carl were showering at the jimjilbang). We decide to leave and get food elsewhere, and I decide to put my coat away because I don't want to carry it all night. Uh oh - have to deal with the rude woman at the desk.

I go back, take off my boots, put them away, and attempt a shoe key/clothes locker key exchange. Massive fail. The woman looks super pissed off that I keep coming and going, and I realize she thinks I haven't paid because I never gave her a ticket. She makes me go outside to the main front desk whereupon the women working there confirm that yes, I have paid. They want to know if I lost my ticket. No, I gave a different lady my ticket. Where's my key? That rude woman has my key! She took it and didn't give me the locker key. Did you lose your key? NO, THAT WOMAN HAS IT.

Finally, the rude woman gestures for me to follow her back inside and finally gives me my locker key. I put my coat away and for the millionth time go back for another swap to reclaim my shoes. The lady totally loses it and starts hassling me in exasperated Korean, saying Why? Why? gesturing to my locker then the door, obviously wanting to know why I keep coming in and out but not actually using the jimjilbang. You know what, lady? If I want to use this place like a glorified locker, I will. Pipe down because I don't understand what you're saying and you're being ridiculous.

Then I just left and went for dinner.

(I now realize that old lady in the beginning of the story must have thought I was leaving the jimjilbang for good, not realizing that I was planning to come back later and sleep there, so that's why she wanted me to leave my key in the shoe locker. She was pretty nice about it, just trying to help the foreigner out.)

However, the jimjilbang experience is still not over. I ask the guys what to do about sleeping arrangements, and they said that you just grab a mat and pillow and sleep on the floor. Okay. Sleeping on the floor is not new to me in Korea. So we get back, I go into the women's side, search for a mat and pillow. Unsuccessful. Confused and tired, I decide to simply find a spot in the corner and go to sleep. The next day Kevin confronts me.

Kevin: Tree, where were you last night?
Me: Uh, sleeping?
Kevin: But you never made it to the sleeping room.
Me:.........
Kevin: I texted you!
Me: *checks phone, sees text* "in sleeping room"
Me: I just assumed you meant you had gotten to your side of the jimjilbang.
Kevin: No, Tree. There's a big room separate from the locker/spa area meant for sleeping. There's like a hundred people there! That's where the mats and pillows are.
Me:...........
Kevin: Did you just sleep in the locker room area?
Me: Um... yes?
Kevin: *Dies laughing*
Me: Not gonna lie, I was super confused as to why there weren't any mats, pillows, other people, etc! Chris and Jake told me you just grab a mat/pillow, no one said anything about a separate room...

So now I can never return to that jimjilbang as I am the crazy foreigner who didn't pay, treats it like a locker, and apparently sleeps on the floor like a homeless person.

Another day, another adventure.

Seokyang recital

My main school, Seokyang, had a school-wide recital last Friday. Because I'm at Seokseong on Thursdays and Fridays, I missed the actual performance but I did see the dress rehearsal on Wednesday. It was absolutely adorable! Here are some pictures.

Hannah and Chuck, the sixth grade emcees. Hannah is not actually a midget - Chuck is almost my height, and she does happen to be pretty short.

4th grade Korean mask dancing

3rd grade. Left to right: Kylie, Aaron, Sarah, Ian. Every day Aaron comes up to my desk and says, "Hello, Miss Kretch. How's the weather today?" I reply, "Hi, Aaron. It's cold/sunny/cloudy/foggy etc." Then I ask him how's the weather, and he parrots back whatever I just said. It's adorable because I think he's trying to talk to me, but this is kind of the only English he knows.

6th grade sign language. The kid in the back left is Elliott, my student who likes to eat paper. ("Teacher, paper, delicious!")

5th grade taekwondo

6th grade drum performance

4th grade rhythmic jump rope

3rd grade dance. The little boy in the front right is Thunderer. I learned from another native teacher that he has a Thunderer and several Ices as well, apparently the names are from a comic.

5th grade. Don't these skirts/shorts make you think of St. Tom's uniforms?

1st grade

Kindergarten

1st grade emcees

Apartment crawl! My friend from Paris study abroad, Misa.

Apartment crawl: Celina, me, Gena, Elise, and Misa

I was the most impressed with this performance by the third grade.

One of the sign language numbers the sixth grade did. The best part is Isaac, front and center. He appears to be the only one really making any kind of effort.

Pepero Day!

Happy Pepero Day! Actually, I don't know that's what you're supposed to say. So here's the lowdown: there is a Korean holiday called Pepero Day every year on November 11th. It's sort of like Sweetest Day for many reasons.



1. A Pepero stick is pretty much a long, skinny biscuit dipped in chocolate. Looks sort of like a very thin pencil. They're made by this company called Lotte.

2. On Pepero Day, you give people boxes of Pepero sticks. The boxes are usually red, and boys are expected to give their girlfriends boxes of Pepero. Kids also get them, and so do friends. In this aspect it's sort of like Valentine's Day.

3. However, I'm comparing it to Sweetest Day because this is a glaring example of a manufactured holiday. Lotte denies creating Pepero Day... it seems they claim sales just go up in November, so they "encouraged" the holiday. Yeah right, Lotte, I'm sure every November people must just get a hankering for some Pepero. No way you had a hand in this.

4. Pepero Day is Nov. 11th because the 11/11 looks like four Pepero sticks. Seriously.

Regardless, I gave Pepero boxes to all the teachers in my schools, and they were really excited. I think they were mostly impressed that I actually knew what Pepero Day was.

Yearbook photo?

My 5th/6th grade after-school English club at Seokseong. This was before class started... "Teacher, English game!"

My 1st/2nd grade class' Halloween artwork.

I was invited to be a part of the Seokseong 6th grade graduation photo. Naturally I was informed 5 minutes before the picture was taken, and this picture will be framed and put up on the walls at Seokseong for the next who knows how many years. Can you spot me?

One of my Seokyang 6th graders. Nice sweater, am I right?

Out to dinner with Joo, my coteacher, his family, and Kevin. All that food was for us.

With my friends in Busan post-fireworks festival. It looks sort of like we're in a slum somewhere, but I was shocked at how quickly they cleaned everything up.

Busan fireworks festival. Probably the most crowded place I've ever been.

Kevin dressed up as a zombie for Halloween and sent me this picture of him with his kindergarten class.

Much ado about nothing

While walking to the bus stop yesterday I was flagged down by three of my 석성 Seokseong students: Sienna, Lucy, and Victoria. It was really cute - they were out of breath from chasing me down because I was listening to my iPod so I couldn't hear them calling me. Apparently they were at some computer class after school, which is why they were at 석양 Seokyang.

So there are really no updates since yesterday, but since Mr. Kim just gave me this news three minutes ago - "The extracurricular class is not," I have until 2:30 to do nothing really until we leave for the teachers' bonding/hiking/picnic/dinner. We just ate a giant lunch, so once again I don't know why we're going on a picnic then dinner. Classes have even been rearranged so that we can leave at 2:30 instead of 3:30.

Speaking of lunch, the Korean food is really growing on me. I think the main problem can really be linked to the smell, which usually ranges from inoffensive (rice, bibimbap) to tolerable (seaweed soup) to completely horrendous (tofu soup). Often the cafeteria simply REEKS, and this was what was really turning me off during the summer. But now I can usually eat/tolerate most of the cafeteria food. There's always rice, soup, kimchi, and two side dishes, and typically I can eat three or four of these things. Recently we've been eating a lot of what I privately refer to as "garbage soup"... that is, they've just taken everything they have in the kitchen and thrown it into a bowl and added water. This means tofu, bean sprouts, Spam/some meat, mushrooms, egg... you name it, they've got it. It's not too bad. Yesterday we even had a potato-type soup with vegetables. Sometimes when I'm out to eat I get this as a side dish: 물 국 (mul gook) aka... water soup. Yep, it translates directly to "water soup." Yummy, right? It's just broth, really, but the name cracks me up.

Yesterday the sixth grade was absolutely awful. Some days they're okay, some days they're really good, and some days they just don't want to do anything. Monday they irritated me by not paying attention, so they had to sit and do kkamji (writing) until the end of class, then I assigned them homework of writing a sentence for each vocabulary word. I specifically said to make REAL sentences, not "This is chalk. This is a pencil." etc. So yesterday I made a seating chart for their after-school classes because by now I know who talks, who knows a lot of English, who never says anything, who's friends with whom, etc. This went over like a ton of bricks. I've never heard sixth graders whine about anything so much. So then I look at their homework, and typically a bunch made sentences like, "My pencil. My eraser." I was like, "I told you this isn't good."

Then after I checked their homework, a bunch of them packed up their stuff and just left! I asked Mr. Kim what was going on, and apparently since this is an after-school class, participation is voluntary and they didn't feel like participating (likely because of the assigned seats). Great. So the rest of the class kept working, and maybe half of them were still being obnoxious. I went around and picked out the handful of kids that were actually working, and then I told everyone else to just get out. They looked really confused, and I pointed at the door and said, "If you don't want to pay attention and work, then get out. Leave. The students who want to learn can stay." Well then they're all, "Sorry, Teacher, I want to stay!" Then they shaped up. But this one girl and boy were playing on her cell phone two minutes later, so I kicked them both out.

I had really had it up to here, and since this class wasn't mandatory, then I didn't feel they were missing out on important curriculum learning that they would have to make up at some point. If they don't want to learn, then they can get out. I know some teachers use a reward system in their after-school classes because that gives the kids an incentive to learn, but I don't really know how I feel about that. I don't want to bribe them to learn since they have already chosen to be in this class. I don't mind rewarding them for hard work, but I also want them to realize being in class is a privilege and they're not doing me a favor by coming and being disruptive. I think I'll introduce a system they can understand. They all really like soccer, so I think I'll start red- and yellow-carding them. Yellow for warnings, and red means they're ejected from the class. The sixth grade teacher is very helpful - she's previously told me I can send noisy students to her. Today Mr. Kim told me she said she was sorry her students were so poorly behaved and that she was punishing them by making them sit in the back of the classroom writing English kkamji for a week. It's nice that she backs me up. I think I just need to do a better job managing the classroom though.

The thing is, the kids really are great. They are just noisy and don't listen in class. They're so great outside class though (some even while in class). One of my third graders, Aaron, comes up to me every day now and says, "Hello, Miss Kretch. How is the weather today?" I think this is the only English he really knows. And in class he's always demonstrating the "be quiet" index finger on the mouth. They (try and) ask me how my weekend was. They applaud me and are impressed when I can write anything in Korean. They give me orange slices and follow me around. In short, they are just kids with attention span problems - in other words, just kids. Actually, my affection for them is a problem sometimes because I can't really get angry at them! I'll put on my teacher glare and it will crack because they do something cute or funny. Though I haven't had a lot of trouble with this in the sixth grade lately.

The kids at Seokyang refer to me as Miss Kretch, Miss Kretchy, or just Teacher. The kids at Seokseong refer to me as Theresa Teacher or just Teacher. Mr. Kim introduced me as Miss Kretch, but it's pretty standard here to be known by your first name + teacher. In Korean people are addressed by their titles rather than just Mr. or Mrs. For example, Principal Oh, Head Teacher Chung, Teacher Kim, etc. Additionally, in Korean these words are reversed, so you get Oh Principal, Chung Head Teacher, Kim Teacher - this is what's responsible for "Theresa Teacher" instead of "Teacher Theresa." Literally - Theresa 선성님 (seonseongnim).

Teacher Kim = Kim Teacher = 김선성님

It's very exciting that I'm learning to read Korean. Granted, I have no idea what it means, but I can read some of it! I actually recognize symbols and sounds - it's not all gibberish anymore. My newest goal is to learn Korean money. This will make my life five times better because as of now, I still rely on reading the cashier's computer or whatever is available.

At the moment I've gotten Mr. Kim to translate, "Thank you for your help," so I can thank the sixth grade homeroom teacher. This will probably occupy my time until we leave for the bonding.

당신의 도움여 감사합니다 = dangsin-ui doum-yo kam-sa-hab-nida

Yes, definitely going to take me a while.

So, where did I leave off?

Sorry again folks... even though it's been business as usual around here, I've managed to not find time to write in the blog. Now where was I? Okay.

Oct. 22-24th was my trip to Busan. Even though it was a very cool place, I don't think I'll be going back for a while. It's just so hard to get to. Here's a rundown of the itinerary to get there:

5:15 Bus from school to Buyeo - 15 minutes
5:50 Bus from Buyeo to Daejeon - 1 hr 40 minutes
7:32 Taxi from Seobu Bus Terminal to Daejeon Station - 15 minutes
8:01 Train from Daejeon to Busan - 2 hrs
10:01 Taxi from Busan Station to hostel - 20 minutes

Catching the 8:01 train out of Daejeon just put my life under a lot of stress. Don't think I'll do that again any time soon.

Luckily the trouble getting to Busan was worth it. It's a gorgeous coastal city. We went to the aquarium and the Busan International Fireworks Festival. It was nothing short of insanely crowded - the kind of crowded where you could literally be picked up off your feet and swept away. The fireworks were good, but I wouldn't go again. For all the hype I was expecting a lot more. Maybe Koreans just don't know how seriously Americans take their explosives because 4th of July fireworks are just as good in my opinion. Either way I'm still glad I went for the experience. I got back Sunday evening.

The following weekend was Halloween! Or as the Koreans insist on calling it no matter how many times I correct my students, Halloween Day. They don't really celebrate it, but some kids dress up (I don't know about trick or treating though). I bought fairy wings at Homeplus and was a fairy. I went to Cheonan with some people from Buyeo - there was a big group of foreigners (waygooks - Korean for foreigners) congregating at a bar for Halloween.

I did Halloween lessons Thursday afternoon and all day Friday at Seokseong. I think the kids enjoyed it. I showed my older kids one of those goof YouTube videos where you stare at this peaceful-looking car commercial and all of a sudden this monster jumps out screaming. So many of them freaked out! Then all day long it was, "One more time! Teacher, one more time!" The 1st/2nd grade class made jack o lanterns, and 3-6th played a Halloween game. Kevin dressed up like a zombie, face paint and bloody shirt and everything, and he said one of his 3rd graders cried because he was "so scary."

Tomorrow the Seokyang teachers are going on a picnic, then we're going to a dinner. I don't know why we're going on a picnic and then dinner. Last Wednesday Mr. Kim told me we were going hiking instead of volleyball, and now we're going on a picnic instead of hiking. Oh Korea. If I had 1,000 won for every time Mr. Kim said, "The ______ is not," I would be able to buy a kimchi refrigerator. Today, "The 3rd grade class, is not." Sure thing. I'll just hang out for the 40 minutes when I'm usually teaching 3rd grade.

Then Thursday I have a teachers' dinner with Seokseong. I think it will be good... the last teachers' dinner I attended with Seokyang was fine. However, I am glad I don't work at Celina's school. The way they do things there is both baffling and appalling. For example: she went hiking with her fellow teachers. They weren't done until like 6, I think, and then they went out to a restaurant, and she didn't even leave to return to Buyeo until 11:30! This was a Wednesday night! It's also the second time she got roped into staying out with the other teachers an insanely long amount of time. Don't the other teachers want to get home to their families? Also - she doesn't speak Korean! That is a long, long time to socialize when you can't communicate. Based on my previous teachers' dinner experience, I don't think this will happen to me, but I'm a little concerned. Two teachers' dinners in a row can be a lot.