I know I kept longing for “real” Korea, but now I am thinking I was not ready for it at all. I don’t even speak the language!!! Now that I am here, I am feeling very out of place. Very welcomed, but awkward for sure. I found out today that not only did my family buy the air conditioner in preparation for my arrival, but they also bought the sofa in the front room and an entire bedroom set for my room. I almost wish they hadn’t gone to so much trouble. I really didn’t mind having my stuff on the floor. I did sleep much better in a bed, but I’m sure I would have adjusted to the floor. Oh, well...it was very nice of them, anyway. I just feel obligated to be this great guest now and I am not sure how to go about that. I will have to study my Korean on my own so I can at least talk to them.
My co-teacher helped me set up my bank account and buy a cell phone yesterday. My new bank is actually an agricultural cooperative. Guess I am in a small town! I don’t have any money in it yet, but I will put some in soon. When I stopped by the school yesterday after going to the bank, they gave me a paycheck for the rest of the month of August, which I was not expecting. Holding 600,000+ won in 10,000 increments is quite a wad of cash. I was definitely feeling rich! I met with the principal and vice principal as well and the principal told me quite sternly that I need to study my Korean very hard so I can have conversations with the other teachers and the students. I think maybe they were expecting more from 6 weeks of study and I am a disappointment to them in that regard. While it’s true that I don’t know much Korean, the little I do know flies straight out of my head when I’m confronted with a real-life situation because I get so nervous! Also, I feel so badly when I mangle their language. I will have to work on this. In a basic conversation, they will know what I am trying to say, anyway. I met a couple of the teachers yesterday, too. Both with the last name of Kim, which will be confusing for me. I have met a lot of people so far and I cannot remember anyone’s name, except that of my co-teacher! I hope that doesn’t come back to bite me.
We had to go to Buyeo to buy a cell phone and it was SOOOO expensive!! I got the cheapest one, and it was 275,000!! Good thing the school gives me 100,000 per month for my phone. It is the nicest phone I’ve ever had by far, with mp3, camera, and video capabilities. I guess that’s standard here. I think I will fall in love with it as soon as I download a rockin’ ringtone.
My co-teacher also took me to the school where the other elementary ETA, Erin, works. She is apparently in China right now, so we couldn’t pick up the 1st and 2nd grade lesson plans we were hoping to acquire, but I guess we will get them sometime next week. Her co-teacher seems really nice and offered to help me in whatever I need.
While we were driving around, we had some good chats, which I think was a real breakthrough in our relationship. I learned that this region produces a lot of cherry tomatoes and strawberries, and since I absolutely love both, it looks like I am in a good place to enjoy them. He says I will get my fill of both while I am here. I also learned that he loves Michael Jackson and even knows some of his dances, though unfortunately not the “Thriller” dance. He loves all pop music, so I guess we have that in common.
The bus stop was our last stop of the day. Choi Hyun Moon showed me the bus schedule and told me how long everything takes. Too long, it seems, but that’s okay. As long as I can still get places...
Last night, my bed, dresser, and desk arrived. Now my room looks so small and so American! Not Korean at all. It’s nice, but maybe I should be adjusting myself more to the Korean way of life. Oh, well...there is everything else to consider. My host mother’s sister and her family (they have a girl who must be about 14, a boy I would guess is 12, and a girl around 10) came over last night, too, for what I thought was dinner. I was very confused, because we ended up going out to dinner even though my host mother had been cooking for hours and it smelled delicious. I happened to mention earlier that day that I loved dukobi (I think that’s what it’s called...it’s fat, short, chewy rice noodles) and she made me a special plate when I got home! All this pampering really makes me uncomfortable, but I guess I should be glad it’s not negative attention.
Anyway, dinner was good. EVERYONE in the restaurant stared at me when I walked in, but it’s cool. That’s more of the reaction I’ve been expecting. I don’t suppose they see many Americans here, for obvious reasons. The food was really good. They fried some kind of beef and pork on two grills, both of which smelled really good, but I stuck to the side dishes and the soup. I received an unpleasant shock, however, when stirring the soup turned up some kind of shelled creature! I guess I have now demonstrated that I am willing to pick around meat, what with eating the dukobi even though it was mixed with fish cakes and now this. Oh, well...I really don’t mind that much. I don’t like being overly picky. My host mother also introduced me to some man—I think maybe he owns the pool we are going to today, but I am not sure. His English was pretty good, but I still have trouble picking out people’s words, even in my native tongue. He seemed very happy to meet me and introduced me to his family, too.
Later that night, I finally figured out that the cousins were staying over when everyone fell asleep on the main floor. They must live far away, or just like sleeping here for some reason. It was strange to see 7 or 8 people passed out on a hardwood floor. You’d never see that in America, unless maybe you were at a homeless shelter!