Today I still felt really terrible, but I knew there was no avoiding work. I always hope that my constant sniffles and coughs will invoke some sympathy and outright pity, but to no avail. The best-case scenario is that I’m forced to drink a foully sweet and utterly useless vitamin drink and strong-armed to the hospital.
But even on the verge of a snot-induced death, today turned out okay. I had the usual kindergarten disaster—they never ever ever listen to me or do what they’re supposed to—but at least that ended with the usual dose of hugs, which sustains me until the next week. They actually hugged me as I came in today, too. The hugs were a little out of control today—for a minute there, I think I was being embraced by ten little children simultaneously, and no one was about to let go. Not good for a claustrophobic teacher. And then I literally had to make a running escape to rid myself of their clever claws. Oh, but I like it. Can’t complain about love and appreciation, now can I?
And everything else today was at least as good as usual. I got rice and two kinds of kimchi for lunch (I often only get one), the other lessons are at least over, and I only have eight more to teach this week! Yayer. I also found out that there are 21 Fulbright recipients this year from Pomona, simply shattering our record last year of 15, and four of those will be teaching in South Korea again. I was a little disappointed I didn’t know any of the Korea people, but then again, how could I expect to, when I hardly knew who the Fulbrighters from my own year were? That makes six of us Pomona kids in Korea next year, which is not too shabby at all.
Tonight I got to take a long walk (I skipped it this morning in observation of my sickness) and on the way back, I ran into two of my students, brothers, in their father’s truck. There had been a birthday party for one of my second-grade students there and I think the younger brother was being picked up from that. As two of my more outgoing students, they naturally opened the door and we had a rather lengthy conversation: “Hi Jen! How are you? Do you like…..chicken? Pizza? Cola? Ok, goodbye!” Meanwhile, the adult conversation next to the truck ceased. I’m sure they were all listening in and were highly amused at hearing me communicate with the little tykes. This is why parents love me.
Back to the hugging question. I really wish these kids didn’t grow out of hugs so quickly. I don’t know if it’s the formal school atmosphere or just a stage of growing up, but once my kids hit first grade, they don’t touch me unless it’s to hit my hand black and blue, poke at my stomach, or stroke my seemingly numerous hairs (Koreans, for the most part, are nearly hairless. Last week, one of my second-graders was stroking my arm, apparently fascinated, and whispered, “Wonsungi” (monkey). Then he remembered my presence, looked up, smiled, and shouted “Monkey!” and then ran away.). I don’t get nearly enough hugs a day. I blame my illness on this emotional lacking in my life. I need more near-death suffocation experiences. Far more.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sickie
I’m sick again and it’s miserable. My body evidently has an aversion to Korean spring, which is unfortunate since it’s wonderful out and there’s so much to do. Like today…I was going to take a long hike with some friends in Jirisan, but this cold hit me hard last night and since I didn’t really get to sleep at all, I was in bad shape by this morning. I don’t really think of myself as sickly anymore, but I guess I have been ill a good portion of the past year. Especially when I happen to see other ETAs—first all throughout Orientation, then Jeju, and now this. I hate being sick so much. It’s amazing how quickly I forget exactly how miserable it is, then it comes back and hits me in the face.At any rate, I’m too tired to write more about my weekend away right now. We just got back from a delicious ssambap dinner in Buyeo and it’s about my bedtime (after I finish watching the latest episode of Goong, that is J). Suffice to say it was terrific, even with my health as its price.
Jirisan
I took off for Jirisan at 8:10am Friday morning. My host mother was horrified I would leave without breakfast, and I was more than a little sad, too, to be missing out on one of her meals, but I didn’t want her to wake up early and make me something special, so I never told her when I was leaving. Turned out I only missed breakfast by a matter of minutes, but there are plenty more of those to be had in the next year, anyway. I had to make the 8:30 bus to Buyeo to meet everyone else at the bus station there.
On the way, I heard a horn beep and there was the vice principal and his wife. They were going the opposite way and literally pulled into the MIDDLE of the road to pick me up. He is the worst driver. He did turn on his hazard lights for this maneuver, and proceeded to leave them on for the next 5 miles. I didn’t say anything out of sheer curiosity—how long would it take him to discover his ineptitude? I forgot to check up on him, though, because I was distracted by the kilos upon kilos of food tossed my way. The vice principal’s wife handed me four bananas, a container of ddok, and a packet of tissues. I was instantaneously glad I hadn’t eaten yet. Combined with the milk my harried host mom threw my way as I left, it was the perfect breakfast!
I was glad again for my relatively empty stomach when we stopped an hour later for the world’s largest snack. In Buyeo, the vice principal and I had met up with the principal and one of the cafeteria ladies. The VP pulled another of his questionable driving maneuvers here, too: Again, we pulled into the MIDDLE of the road, turned the hazards on, and slowly got our things together. Either Koreans are more tolerant of bad drivers or the attitude is more relaxed in the countryside, but we weren’t subjected to a single honk! I couldn’t believe it. A few minutes later, the big van pulled up and we piled in with the two third grade teachers and the old man special needs teacher. We picked up two more in Nonsan—the P.E. teacher and one of the kindergarten teachers—and then we were off! For twenty minutes, that is…until we hit the first rest stop. Then it was chicken and kimchi and soju break time. I hardly say no to food nowadays, so I ate, but it was a bit ridiculous. The kindergarten teacher insisted on buying a dessert, so I was eating some of that when the young third grade teacher asked me, “Jenipah, do you like cookie?” I said yes. He replied, “I don’t like cookie. I like soju!” I didn’t realize the two were mutually exclusive.
We finally reached Jirisan around lunchtime on Friday. We drove through the park quite a ways and had some spectacular views of steep gorges, rushing mountain rivers, velvety green mountainsides, and jagged rocks and peaks, all clouded in a slight and mysterious mist. It was pretty phenomenal. I don’t know if it just took me a long time to appreciate the beauty there is in Korean scenery, or if it’s just because everything seems so amazing in comparison to my current home, but my breath is taken away every time I travel.
We stopped at a lookout point to stretch our legs, check out the view, and eat, of course! We had pajeon, makoli (a traditional Korean rice wine), and an acorn jelly salad. Delicious, all. And the ladies were even getting into the drinking, to my surprise. They drank just as much makoli as the men, and more than me!
We were at the trailhead around 1:30, along with hordes of other Koreans. I was getting together my hiking clothes for a quick change in the bathroom when I was told that it was lunchtime. My fourth meal of the day. I’ve never been subject to so many Korean-style meals, ever. It was nice, but I was beginning to feel like a stuffed duck. This time, at least, it was just Japanese-style noodles.
We finally started hiking around two—if you can even call it hiking. The “trail” was really a road most of the way, set with stones perfect for tripping over. The “ascent” was gradual and it was perhaps three kilometers to the top, by my reckoning. Nonetheless, we were gone until a little after 5. Why, you ask? Eating, of course! On the way up, we stopped twice—once for cucumbers, and once for soju. “Fresh water for energy!” I was told. It was pretty awesome at the top—shrouds of mist clinging to the pervasive greenery of the mountainsides. Windy, though. We just barely made it through—the ranger closed the gate right as we came back down! On the way back, we stopped for another snack, and this was a major one featuring the remains of the chicken, ddok, and more soju. No wonder I’ve gained weight in Korea. All this eating can’t possibly be healthy.
After this, we finally drove to Songwon Resort, where we would be spending the night. It was pretty fancy—basically an apartment featuring a kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms, complete with a killer view of the mountains. We ladies got the room with the view, of course. Thank goodness for chivalry. On the way in, we actually ran into one of my students, a third-grader. I’ve never ran into a student outside of Buyeo, so it was quite the remarkable coincidence, considering how far we were from home. I saw her on Monday and asked her about her trip, but I think maybe she didn’t understand me. Usually she’s so outgoing and friendly with me, but with all the other teachers and her father there, she was so shy…it was funny to see.
That night, we went out to dinner, fully equipped with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. The men all asked me if I liked it, and I had to answer truthfully that I’d never had it. I mean, I was always much more of a Black Velvet girl, Jim Beam for special occasions. I hardly ever stepped up to Johnnie! They were highly amused when I said it was expensive. Predictably, there was heavy drinking at the restaurant and constant toasts being made, so we all were at least a little tipsy, I think, even though we must have eaten five pounds of food each. I shared a mountain vegetable “well-being” platter with the other two women and it was amazing. I forgot how common vegetable dishes are near mountains, especially those containing mushrooms. We must have had twenty side dishes, soup, and rice, and it was all delicious.
After dinner, we were approached by perhaps the trampiest, most unattractive Korean girl I have ever encountered to come to her norebang. To my surprise, we did indeed end up following her and thereafter ensued more drinking (this time beer) and more eating (this time fruit), but now to musical accompaniment. This period’s a little fuzzy in my mind and I’m still not completely sure if I avoided making an ass of myself. At any rate, I remember refusing to sing on multiple occasions and being a wonderful hostess by constantly filling glasses (including my own).
The next thing I knew, it was morning, my head was in a vice, my ankle hurt, I’d skinned my knee mildly, and they were yelling at me to get up. Not a good start to the day. I needed someone to share my amusement (mingled with pain), so of course I called Bianca. She sounded weird when I picked up, so I thought I had woken her up (it was only 8 or 8:30 at this time), but no. She’d apparently pulled a virtual all-nighter with the host fam, first making a post-midnight run to Seoul and then shopping the night Dongdaemun Market with her host sister, mom, and grandma. Stop number one, and the only one I really heard about, was the dog clothes seller. So I wasn’t the only one having wild Korean nights. When I finally merged from the bedroom, it was to the sight of my principal and the older third grade teacher (they must both be in their late fifties) finishing off a bottle of soju. I was revolted. They must have cast iron stomachs. I wouldn’t have done that, even back in my heaviest days of drinking! Luckily, the rest were more sane and we all ate ramen lovingly cooked by the P.E. teacher instead.
Since they were all heading back home that day, I had decided to meet my friends Nika, Jonah, and Kiehl for more Jirisan hiking. Unfortunately, we were far from where I was supposed to meet them, so I had to take a bus. I am pretty sure I was still drunk and it was a bit of a delirious trip. I don’t know how I managed to avoid puking on myself. But luckily, we arrived almost at the same time, ate a quick lunch, bought 8 rolls of kimbap, and were off to the mountains lickity-split! Well, almost. It took a while to figure out where we needed to be and then we experienced some lodging obstacles. Namely, we wanted to stay at one of the many mountain huts nearby, but it turns out that you need to reserve them 15 days in advance. Booo. So we had to stay at a minbak, which is like a bed and breakfast, I guess, but ours was about the most ghetto of all time. At least it was cheap. We started hiking, again, around 2. I wasn’t feeling that great and it didn’t really go away, but it was good to be out with friends, taking in the lush riverside scenery and catching up. I hated being the weak female, but it was unavoidable since I am out of shape and was hurting in other ways, too. I actually think I was already sick by now, but it was masked by the developing hangover.
So we hiked upstream about 8.5 kilometers and then had to turn around because of the light. We had a quick snack (Jonah’s host mom packed him a feast!) and then headed back. On the way down, Nika and I schemed all the things we would do next year, with another 52 weeks in Korea. A weekend hiking across Jirisan is high on that list. Apparently, you can get across it in three days, staying in mountain huts and packing in food. It’ll be sweet. It did get dark on us and we had no light and one cripple (Kiehl had twisted his ankle), but luckily, all of us are tough and we made it out all right…just hungry and tired.
We had another feast of mountain vegetables that night, then Nika and I went to bed. My cold had hit me really hard at dinner—I was hot and flushed and could hardly speak—and I did not feel up to starting illegal fires and drinking by the river. As it turns out, though, none of us got the sleep we longed for, because the INSANE minbak owner started cleaning, noisily, around 3am!!! I can put up with a lot of ridiculousness, but this was just beyond the bounds of reasonable behavior. Who opens their house up to paying guests and then ensures they cannot sleep?!? Either her moral compass is completely off kilter, or she’s waging the war against imperialism’s soldiers. On top of that, the bedding was extremely uncomfortable. I probably got one hour of sleep in all. Perfect for another day of hiking!!!
…or not. I decided to just give up and go home. I know, I know. Less than a year ago I’d have kept on plugging away. Mere sickness could not stop me from doing anything. But now…I guess I’m getting old. Gotta take care of the old health. As it turns out, it was just as well because it took me SEVEN hours to get home. Granted, I did miss a train by a matter of minutes and had to take the next one two hours later, but still…why is it so hard for me to get home???? It’s almost enough to make me want to leave!
Even though I have this bit of a cold now and I didn’t get in nearly as much hiking as I would have liked or intended, it was still a good weekend. Just makes me all the more anxious to hit up Jirisan again!
On the way, I heard a horn beep and there was the vice principal and his wife. They were going the opposite way and literally pulled into the MIDDLE of the road to pick me up. He is the worst driver. He did turn on his hazard lights for this maneuver, and proceeded to leave them on for the next 5 miles. I didn’t say anything out of sheer curiosity—how long would it take him to discover his ineptitude? I forgot to check up on him, though, because I was distracted by the kilos upon kilos of food tossed my way. The vice principal’s wife handed me four bananas, a container of ddok, and a packet of tissues. I was instantaneously glad I hadn’t eaten yet. Combined with the milk my harried host mom threw my way as I left, it was the perfect breakfast!
I was glad again for my relatively empty stomach when we stopped an hour later for the world’s largest snack. In Buyeo, the vice principal and I had met up with the principal and one of the cafeteria ladies. The VP pulled another of his questionable driving maneuvers here, too: Again, we pulled into the MIDDLE of the road, turned the hazards on, and slowly got our things together. Either Koreans are more tolerant of bad drivers or the attitude is more relaxed in the countryside, but we weren’t subjected to a single honk! I couldn’t believe it. A few minutes later, the big van pulled up and we piled in with the two third grade teachers and the old man special needs teacher. We picked up two more in Nonsan—the P.E. teacher and one of the kindergarten teachers—and then we were off! For twenty minutes, that is…until we hit the first rest stop. Then it was chicken and kimchi and soju break time. I hardly say no to food nowadays, so I ate, but it was a bit ridiculous. The kindergarten teacher insisted on buying a dessert, so I was eating some of that when the young third grade teacher asked me, “Jenipah, do you like cookie?” I said yes. He replied, “I don’t like cookie. I like soju!” I didn’t realize the two were mutually exclusive.
We finally reached Jirisan around lunchtime on Friday. We drove through the park quite a ways and had some spectacular views of steep gorges, rushing mountain rivers, velvety green mountainsides, and jagged rocks and peaks, all clouded in a slight and mysterious mist. It was pretty phenomenal. I don’t know if it just took me a long time to appreciate the beauty there is in Korean scenery, or if it’s just because everything seems so amazing in comparison to my current home, but my breath is taken away every time I travel.
We stopped at a lookout point to stretch our legs, check out the view, and eat, of course! We had pajeon, makoli (a traditional Korean rice wine), and an acorn jelly salad. Delicious, all. And the ladies were even getting into the drinking, to my surprise. They drank just as much makoli as the men, and more than me!
We were at the trailhead around 1:30, along with hordes of other Koreans. I was getting together my hiking clothes for a quick change in the bathroom when I was told that it was lunchtime. My fourth meal of the day. I’ve never been subject to so many Korean-style meals, ever. It was nice, but I was beginning to feel like a stuffed duck. This time, at least, it was just Japanese-style noodles.
We finally started hiking around two—if you can even call it hiking. The “trail” was really a road most of the way, set with stones perfect for tripping over. The “ascent” was gradual and it was perhaps three kilometers to the top, by my reckoning. Nonetheless, we were gone until a little after 5. Why, you ask? Eating, of course! On the way up, we stopped twice—once for cucumbers, and once for soju. “Fresh water for energy!” I was told. It was pretty awesome at the top—shrouds of mist clinging to the pervasive greenery of the mountainsides. Windy, though. We just barely made it through—the ranger closed the gate right as we came back down! On the way back, we stopped for another snack, and this was a major one featuring the remains of the chicken, ddok, and more soju. No wonder I’ve gained weight in Korea. All this eating can’t possibly be healthy.
After this, we finally drove to Songwon Resort, where we would be spending the night. It was pretty fancy—basically an apartment featuring a kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms, complete with a killer view of the mountains. We ladies got the room with the view, of course. Thank goodness for chivalry. On the way in, we actually ran into one of my students, a third-grader. I’ve never ran into a student outside of Buyeo, so it was quite the remarkable coincidence, considering how far we were from home. I saw her on Monday and asked her about her trip, but I think maybe she didn’t understand me. Usually she’s so outgoing and friendly with me, but with all the other teachers and her father there, she was so shy…it was funny to see.
That night, we went out to dinner, fully equipped with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. The men all asked me if I liked it, and I had to answer truthfully that I’d never had it. I mean, I was always much more of a Black Velvet girl, Jim Beam for special occasions. I hardly ever stepped up to Johnnie! They were highly amused when I said it was expensive. Predictably, there was heavy drinking at the restaurant and constant toasts being made, so we all were at least a little tipsy, I think, even though we must have eaten five pounds of food each. I shared a mountain vegetable “well-being” platter with the other two women and it was amazing. I forgot how common vegetable dishes are near mountains, especially those containing mushrooms. We must have had twenty side dishes, soup, and rice, and it was all delicious.
After dinner, we were approached by perhaps the trampiest, most unattractive Korean girl I have ever encountered to come to her norebang. To my surprise, we did indeed end up following her and thereafter ensued more drinking (this time beer) and more eating (this time fruit), but now to musical accompaniment. This period’s a little fuzzy in my mind and I’m still not completely sure if I avoided making an ass of myself. At any rate, I remember refusing to sing on multiple occasions and being a wonderful hostess by constantly filling glasses (including my own).
The next thing I knew, it was morning, my head was in a vice, my ankle hurt, I’d skinned my knee mildly, and they were yelling at me to get up. Not a good start to the day. I needed someone to share my amusement (mingled with pain), so of course I called Bianca. She sounded weird when I picked up, so I thought I had woken her up (it was only 8 or 8:30 at this time), but no. She’d apparently pulled a virtual all-nighter with the host fam, first making a post-midnight run to Seoul and then shopping the night Dongdaemun Market with her host sister, mom, and grandma. Stop number one, and the only one I really heard about, was the dog clothes seller. So I wasn’t the only one having wild Korean nights. When I finally merged from the bedroom, it was to the sight of my principal and the older third grade teacher (they must both be in their late fifties) finishing off a bottle of soju. I was revolted. They must have cast iron stomachs. I wouldn’t have done that, even back in my heaviest days of drinking! Luckily, the rest were more sane and we all ate ramen lovingly cooked by the P.E. teacher instead.
Since they were all heading back home that day, I had decided to meet my friends Nika, Jonah, and Kiehl for more Jirisan hiking. Unfortunately, we were far from where I was supposed to meet them, so I had to take a bus. I am pretty sure I was still drunk and it was a bit of a delirious trip. I don’t know how I managed to avoid puking on myself. But luckily, we arrived almost at the same time, ate a quick lunch, bought 8 rolls of kimbap, and were off to the mountains lickity-split! Well, almost. It took a while to figure out where we needed to be and then we experienced some lodging obstacles. Namely, we wanted to stay at one of the many mountain huts nearby, but it turns out that you need to reserve them 15 days in advance. Booo. So we had to stay at a minbak, which is like a bed and breakfast, I guess, but ours was about the most ghetto of all time. At least it was cheap. We started hiking, again, around 2. I wasn’t feeling that great and it didn’t really go away, but it was good to be out with friends, taking in the lush riverside scenery and catching up. I hated being the weak female, but it was unavoidable since I am out of shape and was hurting in other ways, too. I actually think I was already sick by now, but it was masked by the developing hangover.
So we hiked upstream about 8.5 kilometers and then had to turn around because of the light. We had a quick snack (Jonah’s host mom packed him a feast!) and then headed back. On the way down, Nika and I schemed all the things we would do next year, with another 52 weeks in Korea. A weekend hiking across Jirisan is high on that list. Apparently, you can get across it in three days, staying in mountain huts and packing in food. It’ll be sweet. It did get dark on us and we had no light and one cripple (Kiehl had twisted his ankle), but luckily, all of us are tough and we made it out all right…just hungry and tired.
We had another feast of mountain vegetables that night, then Nika and I went to bed. My cold had hit me really hard at dinner—I was hot and flushed and could hardly speak—and I did not feel up to starting illegal fires and drinking by the river. As it turns out, though, none of us got the sleep we longed for, because the INSANE minbak owner started cleaning, noisily, around 3am!!! I can put up with a lot of ridiculousness, but this was just beyond the bounds of reasonable behavior. Who opens their house up to paying guests and then ensures they cannot sleep?!? Either her moral compass is completely off kilter, or she’s waging the war against imperialism’s soldiers. On top of that, the bedding was extremely uncomfortable. I probably got one hour of sleep in all. Perfect for another day of hiking!!!
…or not. I decided to just give up and go home. I know, I know. Less than a year ago I’d have kept on plugging away. Mere sickness could not stop me from doing anything. But now…I guess I’m getting old. Gotta take care of the old health. As it turns out, it was just as well because it took me SEVEN hours to get home. Granted, I did miss a train by a matter of minutes and had to take the next one two hours later, but still…why is it so hard for me to get home???? It’s almost enough to make me want to leave!
Even though I have this bit of a cold now and I didn’t get in nearly as much hiking as I would have liked or intended, it was still a good weekend. Just makes me all the more anxious to hit up Jirisan again!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Happy Birthday, Mr. Buddha!
Today I went to Muryangsa Temple in Oesan to check out the festivities for the Buddha’s birthday and to get in a little hiking. I found out last December there was a Recreational Forest here, but I hadn’t gotten around to seeing it yet. Too lazy, too rainy, and too little time. So today was the day. I actually visited the temple once before with all of the teachers, when they took my Dad on the field trip, but I had never made it there myself and I’d never hiked.
The mission today met with some obstacles. First, I wasn’t feeling all that well this morning. I slept in a couple hours later than I normally do and I felt off all day. My enthusiasm to find my way to an unknown place was thus dampened considerably. But I asked my host mom for help and she gave me some directions which I halfway understood. Then, when I finally got to the Hongsan bus stop at 10:30, the ticket guy said I needed to go to Buyeo. I still don’t know if this is right or not—my host mom told me I should get off at a little village midway and then catch another bus from there—but I decided at the time that he probably knew more, as a bus stop employee. So I backtracked to Buyeo, where I had to wait another hour for the bus to Oesan (the town where the temple is). I finally arrived around 12:30. What a long trip! I could almost have made it to Seoul in that time!
There were TONS of people at the temple today. I guess it’s the major one in the area. The people I tagged along with—well, they don’t know that I did, but I overheard them say they were going to Oesan in Buyeo and I followed them to make sure I wouldn’t miss the bus) were actually from Seoul. I have no idea why they trekked this far for a temple, when there are so many much closer, I’m sure. Anyway, I was a little hesitant to go because I figured it would be a major religious celebration and I’m not Buddhist, but it was nothing of the sort. It was more like a huge picnic with a fantastically colorful backdrop. The temple served lunch (bibimbap, soup, and ddok) and everyone was scattered across the grounds eating when I arrived. There were some people poking around the temple buildings, too, and some praying, but most were eating or waiting in line to eat. The entire grounds were strung with lanterns of all bright colors. I’m not a huge fan of these lanterns on their own (they’re pretty tacky), but seeing hundreds or even thousands all in one place is pretty spectacular.
Just as I got my food, it began to rain. And I didn’t get any ddok! It didn’t bode well for the afternoon. But then, two girls gave me their ddok. They followed me to the bathroom, shoved it in my hand, and said, “It’s delicious!” It’s moments like these that I love Korea. I heard them telling their mother about it later. It was funny to come upon them relating a story about me.
It was still raining as I started wandering around to find the trail, but it was only a drizzle. I hoped it would be like the day I hiked in Gwangju, when it was misty and sprinkled all day but never really rained, but it was not so. It came down fairly regularly for the two hours I hiked and though the trees blocked much of the moisture, all the vegetation was wet, and since the trail was narrow, my shorts got soaked. It was still nice, though. I actually really liked the trail. It looks like it never gets used, which makes me like it even more. I was thinking today, after reading some Edward Abbey and his thoughts on Industrial Tourism and the development of parks, that I have really only experienced hiking in developed national parks here in Korea. I haven’t ventured into the smaller recreational forests and other similar things very much. I forgot that at home, I never hike in national parks! I’m always in the small areas, with mostly hardcore hikers. I miss that and I’m glad I can find it in Korea. If I can find a better way to get to Oesan, I think I’m going to start going there on my weekly afternoon off.
I inadvertently hitchhiked back. I was walking along the road back to downtown Oesan (it’s hardly bigger than Hongsan, but I was a couple kilometers out) when a van slowed and a middle-aged lady poked her head out to ask where I was going. Turned out they actually knew who I was, though I didn’t figure out who they were until the end of the ride. He said my name, and I was like yeah, that’s me, and wondering how he could possibly know who I was. He made a picture-taking motion and I figured he’d seen my picture or something. I mean, I did make it into the provincial newspaper and the big city news. But no. When we pulled into their driveway in downtown Hongsan, I remembered that he was the guy who took my picture for my Vietnamese visa. I was glad I hadn’t talked more on the return trip—I would have totally betrayed my ignorance. Of course, it took us 18 minutes on the return trip. It was still pouring, so he gave me his umbrella to take home. Yet another reason to love Korea, man.
The mission today met with some obstacles. First, I wasn’t feeling all that well this morning. I slept in a couple hours later than I normally do and I felt off all day. My enthusiasm to find my way to an unknown place was thus dampened considerably. But I asked my host mom for help and she gave me some directions which I halfway understood. Then, when I finally got to the Hongsan bus stop at 10:30, the ticket guy said I needed to go to Buyeo. I still don’t know if this is right or not—my host mom told me I should get off at a little village midway and then catch another bus from there—but I decided at the time that he probably knew more, as a bus stop employee. So I backtracked to Buyeo, where I had to wait another hour for the bus to Oesan (the town where the temple is). I finally arrived around 12:30. What a long trip! I could almost have made it to Seoul in that time!
There were TONS of people at the temple today. I guess it’s the major one in the area. The people I tagged along with—well, they don’t know that I did, but I overheard them say they were going to Oesan in Buyeo and I followed them to make sure I wouldn’t miss the bus) were actually from Seoul. I have no idea why they trekked this far for a temple, when there are so many much closer, I’m sure. Anyway, I was a little hesitant to go because I figured it would be a major religious celebration and I’m not Buddhist, but it was nothing of the sort. It was more like a huge picnic with a fantastically colorful backdrop. The temple served lunch (bibimbap, soup, and ddok) and everyone was scattered across the grounds eating when I arrived. There were some people poking around the temple buildings, too, and some praying, but most were eating or waiting in line to eat. The entire grounds were strung with lanterns of all bright colors. I’m not a huge fan of these lanterns on their own (they’re pretty tacky), but seeing hundreds or even thousands all in one place is pretty spectacular.
Just as I got my food, it began to rain. And I didn’t get any ddok! It didn’t bode well for the afternoon. But then, two girls gave me their ddok. They followed me to the bathroom, shoved it in my hand, and said, “It’s delicious!” It’s moments like these that I love Korea. I heard them telling their mother about it later. It was funny to come upon them relating a story about me.
It was still raining as I started wandering around to find the trail, but it was only a drizzle. I hoped it would be like the day I hiked in Gwangju, when it was misty and sprinkled all day but never really rained, but it was not so. It came down fairly regularly for the two hours I hiked and though the trees blocked much of the moisture, all the vegetation was wet, and since the trail was narrow, my shorts got soaked. It was still nice, though. I actually really liked the trail. It looks like it never gets used, which makes me like it even more. I was thinking today, after reading some Edward Abbey and his thoughts on Industrial Tourism and the development of parks, that I have really only experienced hiking in developed national parks here in Korea. I haven’t ventured into the smaller recreational forests and other similar things very much. I forgot that at home, I never hike in national parks! I’m always in the small areas, with mostly hardcore hikers. I miss that and I’m glad I can find it in Korea. If I can find a better way to get to Oesan, I think I’m going to start going there on my weekly afternoon off.
I inadvertently hitchhiked back. I was walking along the road back to downtown Oesan (it’s hardly bigger than Hongsan, but I was a couple kilometers out) when a van slowed and a middle-aged lady poked her head out to ask where I was going. Turned out they actually knew who I was, though I didn’t figure out who they were until the end of the ride. He said my name, and I was like yeah, that’s me, and wondering how he could possibly know who I was. He made a picture-taking motion and I figured he’d seen my picture or something. I mean, I did make it into the provincial newspaper and the big city news. But no. When we pulled into their driveway in downtown Hongsan, I remembered that he was the guy who took my picture for my Vietnamese visa. I was glad I hadn’t talked more on the return trip—I would have totally betrayed my ignorance. Of course, it took us 18 minutes on the return trip. It was still pouring, so he gave me his umbrella to take home. Yet another reason to love Korea, man.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Half-days are the best days!
It’s Wednesday and I’m done for the week—hooray! Tomorrow is the good ol Buddha’s birthday, so everyone has a day off from school. And for the same reason, I suppose, at my school we have Friday off, too. After finding out I haven’t been to Jirisan yet, the teachers planned a short trip there on Friday and Saturday. I think it will be a nice trip and I’m looking forward to it, but I wish they’d scheduled it so that it didn’t fall into the middle of my break! It means that I can’t really go anywhere, because I have to meet them in Buyeo Friday morning. But I suppose there are worse things…like teachers who don’t plan all-expenses paid trips for their foreign performers. I think I’m going to stay around Jirisan after they all leave and get some real hiking in, since I suspect ours will not be strenuous, if it even occurs.
Today has been a pretty good week for me. I only had to teach 10 hours of class, which is always nice. They didn’t necessarily go that well, but I feel better about them. It seemed like I was really connecting with my students—class was more of a dialogue between us, rather than the usual monologue. But then again, I always feel good about my fourth and fifth grade classes. We get along pretty well. I did have some difficulties today with my second graders. Their usually mild-mannered teacher even chewed them out at the end of class! I was so frustrated by the time class was over. It’s always on and off with them. I suppose I have a 3:1 boy:girl ratio to blame. Those darn mischievous boys! I felt like I was taking the easy way out today in that my lessons weren’t particularly difficult or involving, but they all learned something, I hope, and necessary things, too! And my curriculum plans are coming together nicely. I’ve always had the vision of what I want to accomplish here—teach my students English!—but the means to reach this end have been slow to develop. It really just falls to inexperience. I am not sure what to teach first, how to teach it, and what my students are capable of at different levels. After almost a year of teaching, I have a much better idea. I just wish I were teaching two full years instead of starting in the middle of one and ending in the middle of another. I feel I could improve a lot more this way, but alas, I highly doubt they’ll change the school system for me.
I came home early today to celebrate freedom and whiled away most of the afternoon in my room. It was nice. Man, it’s days like today I’m so glad I quit TKD! Tonight at dinner haelmoni (host dad’s mom) came over bearing gifts of crab, ddok, and watermelon. I can’t speak for the quality of the crab, but everything else was delicious. I could understand some of the things she said about me to the kids, too! Luckily none of it was bad…
Today has been a pretty good week for me. I only had to teach 10 hours of class, which is always nice. They didn’t necessarily go that well, but I feel better about them. It seemed like I was really connecting with my students—class was more of a dialogue between us, rather than the usual monologue. But then again, I always feel good about my fourth and fifth grade classes. We get along pretty well. I did have some difficulties today with my second graders. Their usually mild-mannered teacher even chewed them out at the end of class! I was so frustrated by the time class was over. It’s always on and off with them. I suppose I have a 3:1 boy:girl ratio to blame. Those darn mischievous boys! I felt like I was taking the easy way out today in that my lessons weren’t particularly difficult or involving, but they all learned something, I hope, and necessary things, too! And my curriculum plans are coming together nicely. I’ve always had the vision of what I want to accomplish here—teach my students English!—but the means to reach this end have been slow to develop. It really just falls to inexperience. I am not sure what to teach first, how to teach it, and what my students are capable of at different levels. After almost a year of teaching, I have a much better idea. I just wish I were teaching two full years instead of starting in the middle of one and ending in the middle of another. I feel I could improve a lot more this way, but alas, I highly doubt they’ll change the school system for me.
I came home early today to celebrate freedom and whiled away most of the afternoon in my room. It was nice. Man, it’s days like today I’m so glad I quit TKD! Tonight at dinner haelmoni (host dad’s mom) came over bearing gifts of crab, ddok, and watermelon. I can’t speak for the quality of the crab, but everything else was delicious. I could understand some of the things she said about me to the kids, too! Luckily none of it was bad…
My School Report
So here’s what I was working on all day; what kept me from writing a REAL entry. I have to go to this English teachers’ conference next Thursday (the 31st) and I had to prepare a report for it. It’s for all the ETAs and their schools. There was a similar one last semester, which accomplished nothing because we never managed to get beyond instructions. I don’t have high hopes for this one, either, but I do what I’m told. Here were my instructions, as given by my earnest but slightly insane vice-principal (he’s an incessant self-mutterer):
jenipah, jenipah, jenipah, jenipah, jenipah.
oh-wal samshibil-il....(writes it down)...oh-wal shamshibil-il...five thirty...oh-wal samshibil...
eta wokshop cheonan. eta. Cheonan
report...
hana, dul, set (flips through pages). one two three. hana dul set.
english korean. english korean.
free speak.
RIGHT.
So here’s what I created:
My name is Jennifer Reinsel and I teach at Hongsan Elementary School. I am originally from Bozeman, Montana, where my family still resides. I majored in Environmental Analysis at Pomona College in Claremont, California and graduated last May. I have not been formally trained as a teacher, but I did have some teaching experience before coming to Korea: I worked at a day care center for two summers, I volunteered to teach environmental education to South African teenagers, and I was an assistant teacher in a second-grade classroom in California. These and my teaching experiences over the last year have cemented my decision to one day become a certified elementary school teacher.
School Life
I teach 180 students a total of twenty hours per week. I see my kindergarteners once a week and first through sixth grades twice a week. I also teach two club classes that each meet once a week—one for third and fourth grade students, and one for fifth and sixth grade students. Additionally, I teach an English class for the teachers at my school once a week.
I have one main co-teacher who is my main liaison with the school. She informs me of the school schedule and upcoming events and also helps me with any questions I have about the school or Korea in general. However, I teach with ten different teachers—one for each class. They are generally very helpful with keeping the students under control and explaining difficult concepts and instructions in Korean, but I am the main teacher in the classroom.
My main teaching goal is to assist my students in developing confidence with the English language. We spend a lot of time on each topic, until I am sure most of the students have completely mastered it. I believe it is far more important to really know a few words and phrases and concepts and use them correctly than to be exposed to a smattering of knowledge that never enters into long-term memory. Our pace may be slow, but my students can reliably produce the words and phrases we have covered together, even months later, and I take this as a measure of success.
It has also been helpful to have an English speaker around, for this provides a practical application of their foreign language learning. My students are very enthusiastic learners and I am always amazed by their determined efforts to communicate with me, both in and out of the classroom. I am sure this attitude has spurred much learning for both me and the students as we try to understand each other better.
I use the Elementary School English textbook series for curriculum ideas and core vocabulary, but I make my own lessons based on this material. I found the book and CD combination made for very passive learning and at least half of the students never picked up anything at all because the teaching style simply did not require them to do so. Since I am in a position to provide a more active learning environment for my students because I know English very well, I have tried to provide them with this in hopes of spurring greater and more relevant learning. To this end, we play a lot of games and engage in many activities that require quick thinking and comprehension of material we cover. They have responded quite well to this system.
I supplement this material with my own system for teaching reading and writing, which I am slowly implementing. It is my hope that by the time they leave Hongsan Elementary School, they will be confident readers and thus will possess a strong core of English language knowledge to fall back on in later years.
I have been lucky to have a school as supportive as mine is. I have learned so much about teaching in the last year, and though it has been a difficult process, I am grateful for the opportunity to step into the classroom as a real teacher. It has been so rewarding to see the progress many of them have made under my direction, and I am sure it will only get better as I become more experienced.
Homestay
My homestay has been one of the best parts of my Korean experience. I was initially terrified at the thought of living with a strange family who does not speak my language, especially since I am a vegetarian. My family has hosted exchange students before, so I know from experience how difficult it can be to have a stranger in your house, no matter how nice they are. After four years of college, I was used to living on my own, too, and it was difficult enough to live with my own family! However, the homestay arrangement has worked out surprisingly well for me.
I live in Hongsan, which is a very small town near Buyeo, with a family on a farm that is about a fifteen minute walk from the school. There are three children, two of whom are my students. Though they speak almost no English, we have managed to communicate well enough via gestures and my rudimentary Korean. It has certainly provided me with an impetus to learn more of the language!
When I speak to other English teachers in Korea, I realize how the homestay experience has truly enriched my time in Korea. It is an almost complete immersion for me, in a small town with no nearby English speakers—I am surrounded by Korean people and customs wherever I go. I pick up more of the language, I pick up more of the customs. I feel I am really being exposed to the core of what it means to be Korean in a way that few other foreigners are and I feel very fortunate in this respect.
Cultural Experiences
Every day in Korea is a “cultural experience” for me. I have become so accustomed to life in Korea, however, that I had nearly forgotten how drastically different America is until my father visited last month and was constantly commenting on the surface differences between Korea and America: rice at all meals, students cleaning the schools, the helpfulness exhibited by strangers, the extreme formality of relationships.
It is certainly true that there are many such surface distinctions to be made between American and Korean cultures and in the beginning, adjustment can be difficult. But at the core, I do not think they are that different. It is all about respecting those around you so everyone can exist within a framework of social harmony. The exact mechanisms for each system may be different, but the purposes are the same. It is most helpful to view cultural practices and ultimately differences with an open, undiscriminating mind, recognizing that they are alternatives to our own worldview with their own unique merits and failings. All too often, we see differences and compare them harshly. It is easy to pick out the flaws of a foreign system; it is much more difficult to pinpoint the failings of your own culture, since culture forms the lens from which you view the world.
Personally, I have found that there are certainly some elements of Korean culture I find to be more in tune with how I think and view the world—communal eating and living, for example, as well as the extreme respect shown to superiors and elders—but there are still some things I prefer about living in America. Still, I have extreme respect for Korea and its culture and am so grateful for all the cultural experiences that have made this part of my life such a colorful one.
Suggestions
For ETAs
1. More frequent meetings
I think it would be nice to organize more frequent meetings—perhaps monthly—among ETAs, if possible. This has been a challenging job for all of us, inexperienced as we are, and the support provided by people going through similar experiences would greatly assist ongoing cultural adjustment and the acquisition of teaching skills.
2. More contact between meetings
Even if face-to-face meetings are not possible, it would be beneficial to stay in better contact with each other, exchanging teaching tips and ideas and general hints for living in Korea. There is a forum already established to this end, but I propose we renew our commitment to promote communication among ourselves. We can be a very valuable resource for each other.
For Co-Teachers
1. Korean teachers in the classroom
I think it is helpful to have a native speaker in the classroom for discipline control and mother-tongue clarification at times. If a teacher would like to be more involved in teaching and lesson-planning, that would be wonderful, but at a minimum, it is nice to have someone else there for support when students absolutely do not understand or behavior becomes unmanageable.
2. Constructive criticism for the ETA
I would like to hear more feedback from the school about my teaching. I do not hear anything beyond “Good job!” and since all of the teachers at my school are more experienced than me, I am certain they could be a valuable resource for me to improve my teaching.
For Schools
1. Establish clear expectations for ETAs
At the onset, it was very unclear what my school expected me to do. I have gradually figured this out for myself, but in the future, I think it would be tremendously helpful to set forth clear expectations for what the ETA is expected to do and achieve in both the short and long term.
2. Maintain an open dialogue with the ETA
Again, I would like to hear constructive criticism from the administration about my teaching.
jenipah, jenipah, jenipah, jenipah, jenipah.
oh-wal samshibil-il....(writes it down)...oh-wal shamshibil-il...five thirty...oh-wal samshibil...
eta wokshop cheonan. eta. Cheonan
report...
hana, dul, set (flips through pages). one two three. hana dul set.
english korean. english korean.
free speak.
RIGHT.
So here’s what I created:
My name is Jennifer Reinsel and I teach at Hongsan Elementary School. I am originally from Bozeman, Montana, where my family still resides. I majored in Environmental Analysis at Pomona College in Claremont, California and graduated last May. I have not been formally trained as a teacher, but I did have some teaching experience before coming to Korea: I worked at a day care center for two summers, I volunteered to teach environmental education to South African teenagers, and I was an assistant teacher in a second-grade classroom in California. These and my teaching experiences over the last year have cemented my decision to one day become a certified elementary school teacher.
School Life
I teach 180 students a total of twenty hours per week. I see my kindergarteners once a week and first through sixth grades twice a week. I also teach two club classes that each meet once a week—one for third and fourth grade students, and one for fifth and sixth grade students. Additionally, I teach an English class for the teachers at my school once a week.
I have one main co-teacher who is my main liaison with the school. She informs me of the school schedule and upcoming events and also helps me with any questions I have about the school or Korea in general. However, I teach with ten different teachers—one for each class. They are generally very helpful with keeping the students under control and explaining difficult concepts and instructions in Korean, but I am the main teacher in the classroom.
My main teaching goal is to assist my students in developing confidence with the English language. We spend a lot of time on each topic, until I am sure most of the students have completely mastered it. I believe it is far more important to really know a few words and phrases and concepts and use them correctly than to be exposed to a smattering of knowledge that never enters into long-term memory. Our pace may be slow, but my students can reliably produce the words and phrases we have covered together, even months later, and I take this as a measure of success.
It has also been helpful to have an English speaker around, for this provides a practical application of their foreign language learning. My students are very enthusiastic learners and I am always amazed by their determined efforts to communicate with me, both in and out of the classroom. I am sure this attitude has spurred much learning for both me and the students as we try to understand each other better.
I use the Elementary School English textbook series for curriculum ideas and core vocabulary, but I make my own lessons based on this material. I found the book and CD combination made for very passive learning and at least half of the students never picked up anything at all because the teaching style simply did not require them to do so. Since I am in a position to provide a more active learning environment for my students because I know English very well, I have tried to provide them with this in hopes of spurring greater and more relevant learning. To this end, we play a lot of games and engage in many activities that require quick thinking and comprehension of material we cover. They have responded quite well to this system.
I supplement this material with my own system for teaching reading and writing, which I am slowly implementing. It is my hope that by the time they leave Hongsan Elementary School, they will be confident readers and thus will possess a strong core of English language knowledge to fall back on in later years.
I have been lucky to have a school as supportive as mine is. I have learned so much about teaching in the last year, and though it has been a difficult process, I am grateful for the opportunity to step into the classroom as a real teacher. It has been so rewarding to see the progress many of them have made under my direction, and I am sure it will only get better as I become more experienced.
Homestay
My homestay has been one of the best parts of my Korean experience. I was initially terrified at the thought of living with a strange family who does not speak my language, especially since I am a vegetarian. My family has hosted exchange students before, so I know from experience how difficult it can be to have a stranger in your house, no matter how nice they are. After four years of college, I was used to living on my own, too, and it was difficult enough to live with my own family! However, the homestay arrangement has worked out surprisingly well for me.
I live in Hongsan, which is a very small town near Buyeo, with a family on a farm that is about a fifteen minute walk from the school. There are three children, two of whom are my students. Though they speak almost no English, we have managed to communicate well enough via gestures and my rudimentary Korean. It has certainly provided me with an impetus to learn more of the language!
When I speak to other English teachers in Korea, I realize how the homestay experience has truly enriched my time in Korea. It is an almost complete immersion for me, in a small town with no nearby English speakers—I am surrounded by Korean people and customs wherever I go. I pick up more of the language, I pick up more of the customs. I feel I am really being exposed to the core of what it means to be Korean in a way that few other foreigners are and I feel very fortunate in this respect.
Cultural Experiences
Every day in Korea is a “cultural experience” for me. I have become so accustomed to life in Korea, however, that I had nearly forgotten how drastically different America is until my father visited last month and was constantly commenting on the surface differences between Korea and America: rice at all meals, students cleaning the schools, the helpfulness exhibited by strangers, the extreme formality of relationships.
It is certainly true that there are many such surface distinctions to be made between American and Korean cultures and in the beginning, adjustment can be difficult. But at the core, I do not think they are that different. It is all about respecting those around you so everyone can exist within a framework of social harmony. The exact mechanisms for each system may be different, but the purposes are the same. It is most helpful to view cultural practices and ultimately differences with an open, undiscriminating mind, recognizing that they are alternatives to our own worldview with their own unique merits and failings. All too often, we see differences and compare them harshly. It is easy to pick out the flaws of a foreign system; it is much more difficult to pinpoint the failings of your own culture, since culture forms the lens from which you view the world.
Personally, I have found that there are certainly some elements of Korean culture I find to be more in tune with how I think and view the world—communal eating and living, for example, as well as the extreme respect shown to superiors and elders—but there are still some things I prefer about living in America. Still, I have extreme respect for Korea and its culture and am so grateful for all the cultural experiences that have made this part of my life such a colorful one.
Suggestions
For ETAs
1. More frequent meetings
I think it would be nice to organize more frequent meetings—perhaps monthly—among ETAs, if possible. This has been a challenging job for all of us, inexperienced as we are, and the support provided by people going through similar experiences would greatly assist ongoing cultural adjustment and the acquisition of teaching skills.
2. More contact between meetings
Even if face-to-face meetings are not possible, it would be beneficial to stay in better contact with each other, exchanging teaching tips and ideas and general hints for living in Korea. There is a forum already established to this end, but I propose we renew our commitment to promote communication among ourselves. We can be a very valuable resource for each other.
For Co-Teachers
1. Korean teachers in the classroom
I think it is helpful to have a native speaker in the classroom for discipline control and mother-tongue clarification at times. If a teacher would like to be more involved in teaching and lesson-planning, that would be wonderful, but at a minimum, it is nice to have someone else there for support when students absolutely do not understand or behavior becomes unmanageable.
2. Constructive criticism for the ETA
I would like to hear more feedback from the school about my teaching. I do not hear anything beyond “Good job!” and since all of the teachers at my school are more experienced than me, I am certain they could be a valuable resource for me to improve my teaching.
For Schools
1. Establish clear expectations for ETAs
At the onset, it was very unclear what my school expected me to do. I have gradually figured this out for myself, but in the future, I think it would be tremendously helpful to set forth clear expectations for what the ETA is expected to do and achieve in both the short and long term.
2. Maintain an open dialogue with the ETA
Again, I would like to hear constructive criticism from the administration about my teaching.
Monday, May 21, 2007
School Dayz(e)
I was struck with stage fright today. From the moment I awoke in the morning, I was dreading teaching my classes. I was convinced all of my lessons would fail completely and this though terrified me. I would have thought I’d be beyond performance anxiety by now, but I still get it all too often. I think it’s especially bad when I haven’t been teaching much, because I fall out of the routine and become so flustered and unsure of myself. But I didn’t need to worry—the lessons were not terrific by any means, but I got through them intact and I’m ready to attack them again tomorrow!
Tonight we all went out to dinner again, making this our fourth meal out together in the last week. I enjoy it, but it does get tiresome to sit at those little tables for two hours at a stretch, especially when the vegetarian fare is sparse. They all had raw fish, while I feasted on peanuts (ddangkong), eggs, some leafy vegetable, black beans in soy sauce (kongchapan), and another brown plant of sorts (mowi). This dinner was to celebrate the recent marriage of the daughter of one of the other teachers. The old man who works at my school must not be as old as I assumed if his daughter is just getting married! He gave us all 24 carat gold bookmarks in addition to taking us out to dinner. It was pretty nice, especially for a guy who once told me he was afraid of people!
I am currently cursing this stupid “report” I have to write for the upcoming elementary ETA conference in Cheonan. I said I’d have it done by tomorrow, and I currently have three sentences instead of three pages. Grrrr.
Tonight we all went out to dinner again, making this our fourth meal out together in the last week. I enjoy it, but it does get tiresome to sit at those little tables for two hours at a stretch, especially when the vegetarian fare is sparse. They all had raw fish, while I feasted on peanuts (ddangkong), eggs, some leafy vegetable, black beans in soy sauce (kongchapan), and another brown plant of sorts (mowi). This dinner was to celebrate the recent marriage of the daughter of one of the other teachers. The old man who works at my school must not be as old as I assumed if his daughter is just getting married! He gave us all 24 carat gold bookmarks in addition to taking us out to dinner. It was pretty nice, especially for a guy who once told me he was afraid of people!
I am currently cursing this stupid “report” I have to write for the upcoming elementary ETA conference in Cheonan. I said I’d have it done by tomorrow, and I currently have three sentences instead of three pages. Grrrr.
Lotus Lantern Festival, Etc.
This weekend was my monthly Seoul stint. I haven’t been planning it that way—it’s just how it’s happened. Seoul is such a happenin’ place and it’s so close (relatively) to me, that I end up there more than I intend. It’s all right, though…I really do love the city. Sure, the pollution is horrendous and there are people up the wazoo, but there’s nature within spitting distance (though I usually don’t take advantage of this), there are wonderful restaurants everywhere, there are historical sites and museums on every corner, there are movies and festivals and English bookstores…and to top it off, I’m totally on top of the public transportation system! Every time I go back I learn something else about the city—a little neighborhood to visit, an amazing sight, a cute little shop—and I just fall in love with it more. It’s currently my favorite city, but there’s really not much competition. Cape Town is much more beautiful, but there are the problems of safety and transportation…it receives negative marks for both.
So anyway, there I was, in my city. Bianca and I had made plans to visit a house where former comfort women live. We went with this organization called Sharing House that arranged bimonthly English tours. It was definitely an interesting experience. I didn’t realize how widespread the system was. I forget the exact number, but there were perhaps 100,000 such women on or near various Japanese bases scattered throughout their East Asian empire, from Indonesia to Burma to northern China to Korea. The were recruited to replace local prostitutes, who often harbored STDS. I was told that at one time, 1/7 of the entire Japanese force was out with a venereal disease; thus, the government moved quickly to find and implement a new system to “meet their needs.” Many of these women were Korean. They were abducted from their homes, often via Korean middlemen (traitors), and sent abroad to service soldiers, sometimes up to thirty per day, and usually for no pay. I cannot even imagine what that would be like. The math is not pretty. And then, with the end of the war, most of them didn’t have the resources to get home, and those who did were shunned by a society deeply ashamed of what happened to their women. The women we met were now in their 80s and looked like typical Korean grandmothers. I absolutely cannot imagine something this grotesque is part of their makeup.
At any rate, the big concern with these so-called “comfort women” is that Japan absolutely refuses to admit it had any part in this dirty affair. For a long time, they denied anything of the sort even happened. Now, they insist that all the women were willing participants, which most sources dispute. For Japan, it is a matter of honor to not admit they instigated something so shameful, and I don’t believe they will ever make a public admonition of guilt. There’s simply not the international pressure to force them to do so.
I also don’t understand how this is a problem unique to Japan’s military empire. It seems to me that given similar circumstances—fighting for prolonged periods far from home—the same thing would have happened to any nation. I suppose it is perhaps unique in that it was apparently organized from high up, but still…were there not any problems of this nature in, say, Europe? And also, why do men apparently need sex so badly? Is it something to do with confronting death daily? Because otherwise, I can’t understand their lack of control. I mean, I’m far from home, too, and I haven’t been frequenting brothels!
There were a lot of other foreigners on the tour—perhaps twenty—and being around them reminded me why I sometimes hate other Western tourists. We easily knew the most about Korea among them—even more than our two guides, who maintained, even under my questioning, that Korea existed as a country from 1945 to 1950! I mean, it was because it was not a country, because it was divided into American and Russian spheres of influence, that Korea is split today. They seemed to have conveniently forgotten the meddling roles other countries played in the ultimate fate of the peninsula. I was irritated by their lack of even basic knowledge and it led me to question some of the other claims they made, but it was still an interesting tour. The other tourists, though…man oh man! They’re the typical ESL teachers, I suppose, though I’ve met so few I’m not really sure if I could generalize into a type. They work in or around Seoul, they live with other foreigners, and they know next to nothing about the country in which they reside, even when they’ve been here for years. It’s embarrassing to be grouped together with such people. At least it made me feel good about what I’ve managed to learn so far. My host mother mentioned today that I study a lot…I guess it’s not going unnoticed, either!
That night, the two of us met up with Nika in Insadong and watched the welcoming parade. She had spent the day at Jogyesa, Seoul’s most important temple and the host of the Lotus Lantern Festival. We saw all sorts of lanterns, dances, traditional outfits, traditional music, a huge paper dragon that ran around all over the road, and even some baby monks! Seriously…they were nearly infants. Sooo cute.
Then we went out for tea and drinks. The three of us are all really into tea, fortunately, and Insadong is THE place for tea in Seoul. We wandered around until we saw a welcoming place, which is my new favorite drinking place of all time. First of all, the ambiance was unbelievable—warm browns everywhere, fancy decorations, good lighting, cleanliness…you couldn’t ask for more. It had atmosphere that immediately struck me favorably. Second, it had an entire page in the menu dedicated to teas, and they were all delicious. At least, the six we tried among the three of us were. They all came in different fancy ceramic mugs depending on the type of tea, which definitely added to the charm.
My friend Paul met us there about the time we switched over to bamboo liquor, which is my new favorite drink. It’s so delicious and even comes in a big bamboo-shaped glass! Unfortunately, they don’t serve it in every drinking establishment, so it was certainly an added bonus to find it here, too. We also had some tofu kimchi, which is one of my favorite snacks. It consists of a centerpiece of grilled kimchi and blocks of tofu surrounding it. You eat a piece of kimchi and tofu together and it’s orgasmic. We actually ordered a platter of plain kimchi, which is usually free, when we were still drinking tea and I’m convinced the waiter thought we were insane—foreigners who REQUEST kimchi, and on top of that, weirdly eat it with tea!!! We ended up having more than a few bottles of soju, too, which fueled the Bianca show. I really wish I’d gotten her on tape…she was in elaborate story-telling mode and absolutely everything that came out of her mouth was poetic, evocative, and knee-slapping funny. I don’t know when I last laughed so hard. In the end, this place tops even the Ninja in Sincheon and I am sure we will have to hit up this bar at least once more before the end. I’m sure Bianca would be game—she was already planning her future with our waiter, who she would win over with promises of a green card and a future in T-shirt modeling.
I cannot believe Bianca is leaving me. I will really miss her terribly. She is one of my favorite people of all time, and even more—I feel that she brings out the best in me. I am more intelligent, more witty, more thoughtful, more sensitive, more fun around her. I am most like the person I wish I were around her. So I suppose I am lamenting her departure for selfish reasons, too, but I will of course miss the unique Bianca sparkle next year. Who else is going to exchange unending witticisms with me? Who else is going to be excited about cultural hotspots like the Kitchen Utensil Museum? There will definitely be a B-shaped void in my heart come July.
On with the narration. On Sunday, we wandered over to Insadong again (only a few blocks from our love nest) and took in the actual Lotus Lantern Festival, which was perhaps the most incredible public event I’ve ever seen. First of all, it was huge, cramming hundreds of booth in perhaps ten blocks or so. Second, there were free crafts everywhere. You could make lotus lanterns of various sizes. You could color Buddhist pictures. You could color Buddhist puzzles. You could make rosary bracelets. You could make stamp paintings. You could have your face painted. Luckily, since we arrived early (before they even officially started), we had our choice of events for a while. Third, there was also free food galore. Booths were giving out so much free food, and it was all delicious vegetarian fare! I had several varieties of ddok (of course!), absolutely fabulous fake meat, various teas, all kinds of vegetables…and more food I can’t remember now. We hardly needed to buy food, but I did, anyway, because it was so good, and I was not disappointed with that, either! Finally, there was a section of the festival dedicated to NGOs and it was interesting to see what’s going on in Korea in this sector. Since I am not in touch with the news here and there are obviously few organizations at work in my part of Korea, I forget they do exist here and they do some pretty amazing work. One of them was organizing a letter exchange for students in Laos and Cambodia, and there I wrote to a ten-year-old Lao girl. One of them was campaigning for zero food waste, just like I would have done in the States. And on top of all the fabulous free food and crafts and the general hustle and bustle and excitement, there were performances going on all the time. The sun was shining and my heart was happy. I can’t remember the last time I had such a good day.
And to top it all off, it only took me 2.5 hours from the Seoul bus station to my house, a record time! (It usually takes 3-3.5) BLISS.
So anyway, there I was, in my city. Bianca and I had made plans to visit a house where former comfort women live. We went with this organization called Sharing House that arranged bimonthly English tours. It was definitely an interesting experience. I didn’t realize how widespread the system was. I forget the exact number, but there were perhaps 100,000 such women on or near various Japanese bases scattered throughout their East Asian empire, from Indonesia to Burma to northern China to Korea. The were recruited to replace local prostitutes, who often harbored STDS. I was told that at one time, 1/7 of the entire Japanese force was out with a venereal disease; thus, the government moved quickly to find and implement a new system to “meet their needs.” Many of these women were Korean. They were abducted from their homes, often via Korean middlemen (traitors), and sent abroad to service soldiers, sometimes up to thirty per day, and usually for no pay. I cannot even imagine what that would be like. The math is not pretty. And then, with the end of the war, most of them didn’t have the resources to get home, and those who did were shunned by a society deeply ashamed of what happened to their women. The women we met were now in their 80s and looked like typical Korean grandmothers. I absolutely cannot imagine something this grotesque is part of their makeup.
At any rate, the big concern with these so-called “comfort women” is that Japan absolutely refuses to admit it had any part in this dirty affair. For a long time, they denied anything of the sort even happened. Now, they insist that all the women were willing participants, which most sources dispute. For Japan, it is a matter of honor to not admit they instigated something so shameful, and I don’t believe they will ever make a public admonition of guilt. There’s simply not the international pressure to force them to do so.
I also don’t understand how this is a problem unique to Japan’s military empire. It seems to me that given similar circumstances—fighting for prolonged periods far from home—the same thing would have happened to any nation. I suppose it is perhaps unique in that it was apparently organized from high up, but still…were there not any problems of this nature in, say, Europe? And also, why do men apparently need sex so badly? Is it something to do with confronting death daily? Because otherwise, I can’t understand their lack of control. I mean, I’m far from home, too, and I haven’t been frequenting brothels!
There were a lot of other foreigners on the tour—perhaps twenty—and being around them reminded me why I sometimes hate other Western tourists. We easily knew the most about Korea among them—even more than our two guides, who maintained, even under my questioning, that Korea existed as a country from 1945 to 1950! I mean, it was because it was not a country, because it was divided into American and Russian spheres of influence, that Korea is split today. They seemed to have conveniently forgotten the meddling roles other countries played in the ultimate fate of the peninsula. I was irritated by their lack of even basic knowledge and it led me to question some of the other claims they made, but it was still an interesting tour. The other tourists, though…man oh man! They’re the typical ESL teachers, I suppose, though I’ve met so few I’m not really sure if I could generalize into a type. They work in or around Seoul, they live with other foreigners, and they know next to nothing about the country in which they reside, even when they’ve been here for years. It’s embarrassing to be grouped together with such people. At least it made me feel good about what I’ve managed to learn so far. My host mother mentioned today that I study a lot…I guess it’s not going unnoticed, either!
That night, the two of us met up with Nika in Insadong and watched the welcoming parade. She had spent the day at Jogyesa, Seoul’s most important temple and the host of the Lotus Lantern Festival. We saw all sorts of lanterns, dances, traditional outfits, traditional music, a huge paper dragon that ran around all over the road, and even some baby monks! Seriously…they were nearly infants. Sooo cute.
Then we went out for tea and drinks. The three of us are all really into tea, fortunately, and Insadong is THE place for tea in Seoul. We wandered around until we saw a welcoming place, which is my new favorite drinking place of all time. First of all, the ambiance was unbelievable—warm browns everywhere, fancy decorations, good lighting, cleanliness…you couldn’t ask for more. It had atmosphere that immediately struck me favorably. Second, it had an entire page in the menu dedicated to teas, and they were all delicious. At least, the six we tried among the three of us were. They all came in different fancy ceramic mugs depending on the type of tea, which definitely added to the charm.
My friend Paul met us there about the time we switched over to bamboo liquor, which is my new favorite drink. It’s so delicious and even comes in a big bamboo-shaped glass! Unfortunately, they don’t serve it in every drinking establishment, so it was certainly an added bonus to find it here, too. We also had some tofu kimchi, which is one of my favorite snacks. It consists of a centerpiece of grilled kimchi and blocks of tofu surrounding it. You eat a piece of kimchi and tofu together and it’s orgasmic. We actually ordered a platter of plain kimchi, which is usually free, when we were still drinking tea and I’m convinced the waiter thought we were insane—foreigners who REQUEST kimchi, and on top of that, weirdly eat it with tea!!! We ended up having more than a few bottles of soju, too, which fueled the Bianca show. I really wish I’d gotten her on tape…she was in elaborate story-telling mode and absolutely everything that came out of her mouth was poetic, evocative, and knee-slapping funny. I don’t know when I last laughed so hard. In the end, this place tops even the Ninja in Sincheon and I am sure we will have to hit up this bar at least once more before the end. I’m sure Bianca would be game—she was already planning her future with our waiter, who she would win over with promises of a green card and a future in T-shirt modeling.
I cannot believe Bianca is leaving me. I will really miss her terribly. She is one of my favorite people of all time, and even more—I feel that she brings out the best in me. I am more intelligent, more witty, more thoughtful, more sensitive, more fun around her. I am most like the person I wish I were around her. So I suppose I am lamenting her departure for selfish reasons, too, but I will of course miss the unique Bianca sparkle next year. Who else is going to exchange unending witticisms with me? Who else is going to be excited about cultural hotspots like the Kitchen Utensil Museum? There will definitely be a B-shaped void in my heart come July.
On with the narration. On Sunday, we wandered over to Insadong again (only a few blocks from our love nest) and took in the actual Lotus Lantern Festival, which was perhaps the most incredible public event I’ve ever seen. First of all, it was huge, cramming hundreds of booth in perhaps ten blocks or so. Second, there were free crafts everywhere. You could make lotus lanterns of various sizes. You could color Buddhist pictures. You could color Buddhist puzzles. You could make rosary bracelets. You could make stamp paintings. You could have your face painted. Luckily, since we arrived early (before they even officially started), we had our choice of events for a while. Third, there was also free food galore. Booths were giving out so much free food, and it was all delicious vegetarian fare! I had several varieties of ddok (of course!), absolutely fabulous fake meat, various teas, all kinds of vegetables…and more food I can’t remember now. We hardly needed to buy food, but I did, anyway, because it was so good, and I was not disappointed with that, either! Finally, there was a section of the festival dedicated to NGOs and it was interesting to see what’s going on in Korea in this sector. Since I am not in touch with the news here and there are obviously few organizations at work in my part of Korea, I forget they do exist here and they do some pretty amazing work. One of them was organizing a letter exchange for students in Laos and Cambodia, and there I wrote to a ten-year-old Lao girl. One of them was campaigning for zero food waste, just like I would have done in the States. And on top of all the fabulous free food and crafts and the general hustle and bustle and excitement, there were performances going on all the time. The sun was shining and my heart was happy. I can’t remember the last time I had such a good day.
And to top it all off, it only took me 2.5 hours from the Seoul bus station to my house, a record time! (It usually takes 3-3.5) BLISS.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Surprises
A rather uneventful day ended with a couple surprises. Lessons went okay today, for once…just what I needed to carry me through the weekend! I taught my first and second graders the word horse and when I went around the room quizzing them on it, I realized it is a word prone to amusing mispronunciation problems. At least half of my students would proudly point to their deformed creature and say, “Whore.” I was dying of laughter in the inside, but there was no one with whom to share my mirth, unfortunately.
Later, I was preparing to go home for the day after my last class ended at four when I was spotted walking past the break room and the teachers called me in for a snack of ddok and homemade tomato juice. It was unbelievably delicious. They were evidently in the middle of a meeting—they’d already finished their snacks and proceeded to get back to discussing the three-page document in their hands. Luckily, I was excused from this tedium and went into the teachers’ room to await them and get a ride to Buyeo, from where I would catch the bus to Seoul to meet Bianca and Nika. It wasn’t until 4:30 that I was told we were having a special dinner out with some old Hongsan alums, making this our third meal out together this week. I love eating out with everyone—we usually eat such extravagant meals, and even though I can’t eat much of it, they take care of me and make sure I have more than enough food. However, this presented a glitch in my carefully thought out plan, for I’d be unable to get to Seoul by bus now. I was now looking forward to a long night of solitary travel, equipped only with Love in the Time of Cholera. The meal was as uneventful as I expected, especially at the female table where I was. My co-teacher kept napping beside me and everyone else just carried on quiet conversation I couldn’t follow. At the men’s table, they were loudly and quickly kicking back soju bottles, of course, but that’s nothing unusual or notable. With the speeches and multiple courses served, we didn’t get out of there until 6:30 or so. I did get a lacy pink parasol out of the deal—a gift from the graduates to each of the female teachers—which will be exceedingly helpful in my constant struggle against skin pigment darkening. Goodness knows I don’t want to get TAN, of all things!
In the end, I finally got a fancy KTX train to downtown Seoul and arrived around 10 after two hours of mesmerizing prose. It might have been expensive, but boy, it’s great to start a weekend wrapped in the casual elegance of train travel, as opposed to oppressive bus fumes!
Later, I was preparing to go home for the day after my last class ended at four when I was spotted walking past the break room and the teachers called me in for a snack of ddok and homemade tomato juice. It was unbelievably delicious. They were evidently in the middle of a meeting—they’d already finished their snacks and proceeded to get back to discussing the three-page document in their hands. Luckily, I was excused from this tedium and went into the teachers’ room to await them and get a ride to Buyeo, from where I would catch the bus to Seoul to meet Bianca and Nika. It wasn’t until 4:30 that I was told we were having a special dinner out with some old Hongsan alums, making this our third meal out together this week. I love eating out with everyone—we usually eat such extravagant meals, and even though I can’t eat much of it, they take care of me and make sure I have more than enough food. However, this presented a glitch in my carefully thought out plan, for I’d be unable to get to Seoul by bus now. I was now looking forward to a long night of solitary travel, equipped only with Love in the Time of Cholera. The meal was as uneventful as I expected, especially at the female table where I was. My co-teacher kept napping beside me and everyone else just carried on quiet conversation I couldn’t follow. At the men’s table, they were loudly and quickly kicking back soju bottles, of course, but that’s nothing unusual or notable. With the speeches and multiple courses served, we didn’t get out of there until 6:30 or so. I did get a lacy pink parasol out of the deal—a gift from the graduates to each of the female teachers—which will be exceedingly helpful in my constant struggle against skin pigment darkening. Goodness knows I don’t want to get TAN, of all things!
In the end, I finally got a fancy KTX train to downtown Seoul and arrived around 10 after two hours of mesmerizing prose. It might have been expensive, but boy, it’s great to start a weekend wrapped in the casual elegance of train travel, as opposed to oppressive bus fumes!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
A Few of My Favorite Things
A full moon bathing the countryside with light
Crisp night air
Heated floors
Understanding people when they speak to me in Korean (rare)
Being able to respond back to people in Korean (even more rare)
Candy from my students
Teasing my students
Waking up early and going to bed late
Gallons upon gallons of green tea
Choco Digets
Korean dramas
Solitude
The warm glow of accomplishment
Organization
Travel via train
Surprises involving food
Walking to and from work
Walking anywhere
Night rain
Intellectual orgasms induced by beautiful writing
Afternoon winter sunlight accompanied by a good book and a hot drink
Public transportation
Crisp night air
Heated floors
Understanding people when they speak to me in Korean (rare)
Being able to respond back to people in Korean (even more rare)
Candy from my students
Teasing my students
Waking up early and going to bed late
Gallons upon gallons of green tea
Choco Digets
Korean dramas
Solitude
The warm glow of accomplishment
Organization
Travel via train
Surprises involving food
Walking to and from work
Walking anywhere
Night rain
Intellectual orgasms induced by beautiful writing
Afternoon winter sunlight accompanied by a good book and a hot drink
Public transportation
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Can't Nobody Hold Me Down
I’ve decided that spring is not my favorite of the Korean seasons. It’s too rainy! It will be gorgeous for a day or two, and then rain falls again. I think it’s rained three times in the last week! It’s too much for me. Fall is the best of all, in my opinion—it’s warm and CLEAR.
The threat of rain hung in the air from my first waking moment, casting a grey hue on everything (including my soul). After the magnificence of yesterday, I was hoping for another day of brilliant sunshine, but I knew it was not to be. However, even though the stormy skies quickly made good on their promise, the day quickly improved. Two of my classes were canceled (SCORE!) and even though the other two went terribly, I was happy to have the extra time to plan and prepare. I’m such an organization freak—it really gives me pleasure to straighten files out and organize my lesson plans in a coherent manner. Inspiration struck me repeatedly today in regards to teaching methods, which makes me ecstatic. I may finally have figured out how I’m gonna teach these kids, nine months in. It’s a little late, but now with my extension, I have a whole year to implement these new plans. This is actually exciting news. What kind of freak feels a delightful shiver of anticipation at that prospect? Anyone besides me? At any rate, things were going so well this afternoon that I didn’t even make it to samulnori. I really hate to give up at work when it’s coming along nicely, which often leads to me keeping long hours since the work is really unceasing. I was thinking this morning, though, that I really make it into more work than it should be with all my efforts toward organization and overarching goals and plans. I have a vision—helping my kids develop the basic skills of communicating in English—and right now I’m immersed in piecing together the practical side of it—that is, how do I go about doing this? What should I teach first, and how? It’s definitely a trial-and-error process and unfortunately these kids are the unfortunate recipients. Hopefully all this work will pan out someday and I will finally put together a coherent vision and a step-by-step way to achieve it. Perhaps I’ll even be able to write a book. It’s like my thesis all over again, only I actually know what I’m talking about now. More or less…I still would like to learn more about how children learn, especially in the realm of foreign language. I’d like to take a class while I’m home, but I haven’t been able to find one. Anyway, even though I spent my free afternoon at school, I feel very accomplished. The pouring rain couldn’t touch me. The vice-principal’s announcement that I have to prepare a “free speak” three page report in both English and Korean in a week for a mysterious conference in two weeks didn’t even faze me. I rock the teaching world.
When I got home, I studied my Korean for a while. At first I was unmolested, but then my host father and his friends came in. Now, my host father basically has nothing to do with me, but there’s this one friend of his who always tries to talk to me—mostly to invite me out to drink, but still…it’s nice of him, even if these efforts almost always end in frustration at both ends. Anyway, this time my vocabulary list was out, so we had a topic of conversation out and ready for both of us to use. Unfortunately, it dealt with various aches and pains, so after a while, he pointed out the ugly scabs I have on my face from absentmindedly picking at it throughout the day in nervousness and stated that I needed yak (medicine). Thus ensued a ten minutes of the entire family scrutinizing my face. It was all good, though…with the help of my vocab list, we had real interaction with each other, for once. I ended up working on my Korean for over an hour, but it was cool—I got some help in pronunciation and usage, and I was able to put my new phrases into use. So I’m feeling really good about my Korean, too.
Now I just have to hope that the rain ceases by tomorrow morning for my daily regimen of largely unsuccessful fat prevention activities. (But the truth is, I won’t be heartbroken if it doesn’t!)
The threat of rain hung in the air from my first waking moment, casting a grey hue on everything (including my soul). After the magnificence of yesterday, I was hoping for another day of brilliant sunshine, but I knew it was not to be. However, even though the stormy skies quickly made good on their promise, the day quickly improved. Two of my classes were canceled (SCORE!) and even though the other two went terribly, I was happy to have the extra time to plan and prepare. I’m such an organization freak—it really gives me pleasure to straighten files out and organize my lesson plans in a coherent manner. Inspiration struck me repeatedly today in regards to teaching methods, which makes me ecstatic. I may finally have figured out how I’m gonna teach these kids, nine months in. It’s a little late, but now with my extension, I have a whole year to implement these new plans. This is actually exciting news. What kind of freak feels a delightful shiver of anticipation at that prospect? Anyone besides me? At any rate, things were going so well this afternoon that I didn’t even make it to samulnori. I really hate to give up at work when it’s coming along nicely, which often leads to me keeping long hours since the work is really unceasing. I was thinking this morning, though, that I really make it into more work than it should be with all my efforts toward organization and overarching goals and plans. I have a vision—helping my kids develop the basic skills of communicating in English—and right now I’m immersed in piecing together the practical side of it—that is, how do I go about doing this? What should I teach first, and how? It’s definitely a trial-and-error process and unfortunately these kids are the unfortunate recipients. Hopefully all this work will pan out someday and I will finally put together a coherent vision and a step-by-step way to achieve it. Perhaps I’ll even be able to write a book. It’s like my thesis all over again, only I actually know what I’m talking about now. More or less…I still would like to learn more about how children learn, especially in the realm of foreign language. I’d like to take a class while I’m home, but I haven’t been able to find one. Anyway, even though I spent my free afternoon at school, I feel very accomplished. The pouring rain couldn’t touch me. The vice-principal’s announcement that I have to prepare a “free speak” three page report in both English and Korean in a week for a mysterious conference in two weeks didn’t even faze me. I rock the teaching world.
When I got home, I studied my Korean for a while. At first I was unmolested, but then my host father and his friends came in. Now, my host father basically has nothing to do with me, but there’s this one friend of his who always tries to talk to me—mostly to invite me out to drink, but still…it’s nice of him, even if these efforts almost always end in frustration at both ends. Anyway, this time my vocabulary list was out, so we had a topic of conversation out and ready for both of us to use. Unfortunately, it dealt with various aches and pains, so after a while, he pointed out the ugly scabs I have on my face from absentmindedly picking at it throughout the day in nervousness and stated that I needed yak (medicine). Thus ensued a ten minutes of the entire family scrutinizing my face. It was all good, though…with the help of my vocab list, we had real interaction with each other, for once. I ended up working on my Korean for over an hour, but it was cool—I got some help in pronunciation and usage, and I was able to put my new phrases into use. So I’m feeling really good about my Korean, too.
Now I just have to hope that the rain ceases by tomorrow morning for my daily regimen of largely unsuccessful fat prevention activities. (But the truth is, I won’t be heartbroken if it doesn’t!)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Teachers' Day
Today is Korea’s Teachers’ Day, which for me, meant a day off. Sort of. I had to go to this gathering of all the elementary school teachers in Buyeo County this morning in Buyeo and it was boring beyond belief—an hour of speeches followed by an hour of ferocious volleyball in which our team came off the loser—but at least I was compensated with a fabulous lunch at Baekje Traditional Food House. It was delish to the max. And at least I got some time to hang out, read, and get my life together. Unfortunately, I STILL have to teach four classes tomorrow, and five the day after that, and five the day after that. I’m not looking forward to it. I’ve been getting major cases of teachers’ jitters lately. Maybe it’s because I am not feeling as confident about my teaching. Maybe it’s because there’s been so comparatively little of it that I have too much time to think about it. Maybe it’s because I feel constantly unprepared, disorganized, and flighty. In any case, it’s a relief to get through my mornings and finally reach the sanctuary of my classroom in the afternoon, to quietly prepare for the next day between sips of tea. Well, only 7.5 weeks left now…
Thursday, May 10, 2007
E v. W: Some thoughts--Thursday, May 10
I decided to quit taekwondo today. I realized today that I don’t really enjoy it that much anymore—I’ve just been going because I feel obligated to do so, for some reason. I’m not a quitter by nature. It’s become so much of a pain to arrange when to go and it ends up sucking away so much of my evenings that I’ve come to dread it and have been skipping close to half the sessions, anyway. Might as well make it official and save some money. Too bad I already paid for this month…
I didn’t have school today. It’s the school’s birthday, so everyone had the day off. It was nice to be home and laze about—it’s been over a month since I’ve last done that—but I really wish the school had the sense to have a Friday birthday. Honestly…getting a random Thursday off is USELESS. Except it does exempt me from five classes, which is nice. I have Tuesday off, too…another useless mid-week day. I was hoping to secure some extra time off and get a long weekend to go to Ulleongdo Island with my friend Alyssa, but I never asked. I chickened out. I really don’t like to ask people for things. I would probably venture to ask in America, but here, where it’s such an ordeal and I can’t really casually inquire, I just don’t. It’s not worth the trouble and the risk of offending someone. So here I am, getting some R&R instead. I was briefly considering the idea of going hiking or to a museum in Gongju, since I was planning to be home this weekend, too, but then I decided to go on another trip, so a day at home to catch up on things seemed to be very much in order. I really didn’t do much worth mentioning today, except passively quit TKD—I read some Korean, studied a bit, finished reworking some lesson plans to include in this year’s Elementary ETA handbook, added my own rural- and elementary-specific insights to twenty-some pages of the ninety page 2006 handbook, ate a lot, went on a long walk in the sunshine and watched farmers plow their swamps of soon-to-be rice paddies while discovering an entirely new countryside loop and dreaming of the rides I’ll take on my foldable bike here next year, read some of my new book outside…I’m currently reading My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk and I really like it. I must admit I picked it up solely because the cover cried, “2006 NOBEL PRIZE WINNER!!!” and I am a sucker for prestige. It’s good, though…offers interesting insights into East-West conflict in the context of a murder mystery. Namely, the plot revolves around this question of innovation. In the West, we take it for granted—new is always better and we’re always working to improve everything. Well, except general societal conditions…but anyway, in this worldview, in the one in which I primarily operate, innovation is revered. In the East, however, new is not always viewed as better. There is this strong tradition of reverence and respect to ancestors and elders and the overarching attitude is humility before their achievements. In my book, this is embedded in a strongly religious Islamic society, but the comparison can be drawn over much of Asia, I think. I see this attitude somewhat in modern Korea, too. Sometimes their way of going about things seems so cumbersome and inefficient and unnecessary, but most of it stems back to these Confucian ideals of respect to one’s elders. I can see that there are positives and negatives about both worldviews. In the West, our obsession with modernity means both that respect for the accomplishments and contributions of elders are disregarded and that history is quickly washed over. We are always looking to the future. Traditions—at least, as I think of them in Korea—are not so strong here. We’re constantly trying to reinvent ourselves and our world. True, this leads to some positive developments, but we have lost our reverence for old. People and things over thirty, it seems, are so often discarded! In the East, overdue respect to elders can be just as stifling. How can things become better if they never change? But at least everyone is afforded security according to accomplishments. And now in Korea, of course, there’s a marriage of sorts of both. We see the old traditional modes of behavior surviving somewhat among apartment high-rises, cell phones, and changing world attitudes. Both systems are valid, in my opinion. The struggle is co-existence. It’s sometimes hard for me to live in an alien system, but then again, sometimes it seems like it’s not that different after all. And it’s not, really—we’re all just trying to find a way to live with each other in greatest harmony. We take what works.
Tomorrow it’s a regular school day, unfortunately, but then I’m going to meet my friend Janaki down south to visit a famous Korean temple and some equally famous green tea plantations. Too bad I’m backtracking back down to where I just was last weekend, but it’s all good. This time I’ll get the rural experience. I am looking forward to seeing the southern countryside in full bloom and catching up with my friend over some Choco Digets. I can’t be too mad about working when I have this to look forward to!
I didn’t have school today. It’s the school’s birthday, so everyone had the day off. It was nice to be home and laze about—it’s been over a month since I’ve last done that—but I really wish the school had the sense to have a Friday birthday. Honestly…getting a random Thursday off is USELESS. Except it does exempt me from five classes, which is nice. I have Tuesday off, too…another useless mid-week day. I was hoping to secure some extra time off and get a long weekend to go to Ulleongdo Island with my friend Alyssa, but I never asked. I chickened out. I really don’t like to ask people for things. I would probably venture to ask in America, but here, where it’s such an ordeal and I can’t really casually inquire, I just don’t. It’s not worth the trouble and the risk of offending someone. So here I am, getting some R&R instead. I was briefly considering the idea of going hiking or to a museum in Gongju, since I was planning to be home this weekend, too, but then I decided to go on another trip, so a day at home to catch up on things seemed to be very much in order. I really didn’t do much worth mentioning today, except passively quit TKD—I read some Korean, studied a bit, finished reworking some lesson plans to include in this year’s Elementary ETA handbook, added my own rural- and elementary-specific insights to twenty-some pages of the ninety page 2006 handbook, ate a lot, went on a long walk in the sunshine and watched farmers plow their swamps of soon-to-be rice paddies while discovering an entirely new countryside loop and dreaming of the rides I’ll take on my foldable bike here next year, read some of my new book outside…I’m currently reading My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk and I really like it. I must admit I picked it up solely because the cover cried, “2006 NOBEL PRIZE WINNER!!!” and I am a sucker for prestige. It’s good, though…offers interesting insights into East-West conflict in the context of a murder mystery. Namely, the plot revolves around this question of innovation. In the West, we take it for granted—new is always better and we’re always working to improve everything. Well, except general societal conditions…but anyway, in this worldview, in the one in which I primarily operate, innovation is revered. In the East, however, new is not always viewed as better. There is this strong tradition of reverence and respect to ancestors and elders and the overarching attitude is humility before their achievements. In my book, this is embedded in a strongly religious Islamic society, but the comparison can be drawn over much of Asia, I think. I see this attitude somewhat in modern Korea, too. Sometimes their way of going about things seems so cumbersome and inefficient and unnecessary, but most of it stems back to these Confucian ideals of respect to one’s elders. I can see that there are positives and negatives about both worldviews. In the West, our obsession with modernity means both that respect for the accomplishments and contributions of elders are disregarded and that history is quickly washed over. We are always looking to the future. Traditions—at least, as I think of them in Korea—are not so strong here. We’re constantly trying to reinvent ourselves and our world. True, this leads to some positive developments, but we have lost our reverence for old. People and things over thirty, it seems, are so often discarded! In the East, overdue respect to elders can be just as stifling. How can things become better if they never change? But at least everyone is afforded security according to accomplishments. And now in Korea, of course, there’s a marriage of sorts of both. We see the old traditional modes of behavior surviving somewhat among apartment high-rises, cell phones, and changing world attitudes. Both systems are valid, in my opinion. The struggle is co-existence. It’s sometimes hard for me to live in an alien system, but then again, sometimes it seems like it’s not that different after all. And it’s not, really—we’re all just trying to find a way to live with each other in greatest harmony. We take what works.
Tomorrow it’s a regular school day, unfortunately, but then I’m going to meet my friend Janaki down south to visit a famous Korean temple and some equally famous green tea plantations. Too bad I’m backtracking back down to where I just was last weekend, but it’s all good. This time I’ll get the rural experience. I am looking forward to seeing the southern countryside in full bloom and catching up with my friend over some Choco Digets. I can’t be too mad about working when I have this to look forward to!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
"Big Stomach"--Tuesday, May 8
Today my fourth grade girls told me I have a big stomach. They struggled through all the English they know to get that point, and only that, across. I am wondering a) if these girls are blind—they’re not all sticks themselves; b) why it’s so important to inform me of this, to the point that they struggle to say it at all; and c) if I can punch them in the faces. Seriously…I know how personal appearances are so important in Korea and they’re often commented upon, but it hurts. I guess ‘cause I know I have gained quite a bit of weight and my stomach is bigger than it was—it’s a very sore subject. I still think I am fine, though, and for them to single out my stomach for criticism is just misguided and rude. I don’t care if they’re ten years old. It cuts deep just the same. Being the mature adult role model I am, I gave them the silent treatment and didn’t sit with them at lunch, but I don’t think they even noticed.
And later, three of my sixth grade girls demonstrated their English movie knowledge when they reenacted scenes from Titanic for me. Well, supposedly. I don’t remember them. They were trying to tell me how Rose told some guys, “Shut the f*** up!” but I really think they didn’t use that word back then. But that point aside, I was somewhat surprised to hear them use that phrase. They obviously at least had an inkling of what it meant, or at least that it’s a forbidden word, because then they proceeded to spell it out for me. “F-U-C-K-Y-O-U.” Where are they learning this? Why are my demure female students out to shock me today? It’s certainly not endearing or attractive. Today gets a 5 out of 10.
And later, three of my sixth grade girls demonstrated their English movie knowledge when they reenacted scenes from Titanic for me. Well, supposedly. I don’t remember them. They were trying to tell me how Rose told some guys, “Shut the f*** up!” but I really think they didn’t use that word back then. But that point aside, I was somewhat surprised to hear them use that phrase. They obviously at least had an inkling of what it meant, or at least that it’s a forbidden word, because then they proceeded to spell it out for me. “F-U-C-K-Y-O-U.” Where are they learning this? Why are my demure female students out to shock me today? It’s certainly not endearing or attractive. Today gets a 5 out of 10.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Gwangju Weekend Recap and Maniac Monday--Monday, May 7
I finally slipped away from school at “three half.” By looking at the train schedule, I figured out I was only saving about 45 minutes and maybe twenty cents in leaving so early, but I was through with school for the day. I was taking freedom, even if it meant four hours on buses and trains. At least I’d get to read.
I met my friends—Alyssa, Robin, Traci, Rachel, Aimee, Jonah, and Ryan—downtown (I made it there without any difficulties—the cab driver understood me for once!) and we proceeded to chill n chat on the steps of this big, famous democratic bell. Supposedly Gwangju is this hotbed of democracy—or was, back in the day—and so they have this huge bell monument downtown as a symbol of their commitment to democracy. There are many such items around town, most of them in commemoration of the May 18, 1980 student demonstrations in which thousands of citizens, mostly students, died at the hands of the military government. It was pretty nasty stuff and Gwangju has not forgotten it. Perhaps the lap of liberty was an odd place to gossip and catch up, but there we were and it was lovely. The first night I can remember where I didn’t really need a jacket. It’s definitely spring now!
Later that night, we went out to a western-style bar. A couple of them drank, but I just talked to Aimee Kim, mostly, about her experiences in Korea so far. I hadn’t talked to her since Chuncheon (she missed the Gwangju conference and the Thanksgiving dinner, and I missed her in Jeju), and it was nice to catch up and hear about the places she’s been, where she recommends going, how her teaching’s going, and what she’s doing next year. The conversation I have with everyone nowadays, it seems, but I’m genuinely interested in what people are doing, both here and next year. It never fails to amaze me. I got some good travel ideas for next year, at least! Somehow we were out until 2:30 am and then finally dropped off to sleep around 3 or so. I heard the next morning that Aimee and Alyssa were talking ‘til who knows when, but it evidently didn’t disturb me. Surprising, since I’m normally a light sleeper, but I was one tired girl. I’ve been so exhausted these past two weekends…perhaps I do need to quit this 6 am routine. It just doesn’t suit for the regular world.
Anyway, the next day we girls slowly made our way across town and out to the bamboo festival (the boys went hiking). We had a late breakfast, then went out to the 5/18 Memorial Wall. It is an underground wall, much like what I assume the Vietnam Memorial in Washington must be like (but smaller, of course), and it’s situated in a gorgeous park, complete with green grass, budding trees, walking paths, etc. And then we headed to the bus terminal to find a hotel for the night, which was somewhat of an ordeal but luckily we had a Korean speaker (Aimee) with us, so we managed to strike a bargain. The room left many things to be desired, but I’m not picky so as long as I had a pillow and a mat, I was happy. At least this place didn’t have roaches, like the first one did! Some of my friends are a lot pickier about cleanliness than I am and they were less than pleased with our rooms. It amused me to see their reactions. I suppose there is something to be said for hygiene concern, but I am generally not too worried about it. I figure just about everything I run across every day is just as dirty—perhaps less obviously so, but still…I refuse to spend my life paralyzed by germ fears. I will probably die of some Third World hygiene-related disease at the age of 25, but I’ll have lived!
We finally got out to the bamboo festival (at a little town 40 minutes outside Gwangju) around 3:30. We downed some pajeon and then poked around, trying out the various activities—bamboo stilts and a multitude of throwing games. Robin was a stilts expert, but the rest of us were falling all over the place. We watched a traditional sort of peasant performance featuring samulnori and over-the-top comical acting that even I could get into because the actions were so exaggerated and funny, and then we went on a forested bamboo walk cumulating in a “model poetry village” that had apparently just been built, or was in the process of being built. It was a beautiful place, but a bit strange in that it was so clearly artificial and half-way done. After we ventured back into civilization (the “village” was nearly deserted), we ate some Chuncheon-style ddokgalbi (though we did have some trouble with the waitress, who was a little too wily, shall we say…), and then we wandered, waiting for the promised fireworks. They were late and only lasted four minutes, but it was still nice. The whole atmosphere reminded me of the Fourth of July—it was festive, food abounded, the air was still warm, we were surrounded by families…it made me excited to come home for the REAL Fourth of July!
We met up with the boys, plus Ryan’s co-teacher, plus our other friend Jon, his friend from home, Jen, and Aelee, a former ETA who now works at the embassy in Seoul. They were all rarin to go, but the six of us were beat. We made a valiant effort at being social at LA Hof, a bar featuring stage karaoke (which is actually pretty funny…oh, the things these Koreans do, and for a crowd of strangers, too!). In the end, though, it just didn’t work out and Aimee, Robin, and I went home around midnight. It was a strange sensation, being the first to give up on the night. It used to be that I would be the last to leave, last to sleep…savoring every moment of freedom and rebelliousness. I don’t know what I was trying to prove. Perhaps that I wasn’t as lame as everyone assumed I was in college. Perhaps it was all part of my post-high school “No regrets” policy—to live life to the fullest, to be more outgoing, to engage more in society. Too bad it really just gave me license to become an unapologetic drunk, but I guess I have no regrets about that, either. I learned a lot in the process, and now, at the ripe old age of 23, I know already that I’m not missing out. No more time lost to raging blackouts. At any rate, drinking once a month or once every couple months is good enough for me nowadays. I’m too old and feeble to do any more, even if I wanted to (which I generally don’t). I don’t know how I ever used to go out 5-7 times per week. Sheer madness, I tell ya. Perhaps that’s why I look so elderly now. Anyway, not all of my friends are as old and wise (or lame?) as me, so they were out that night with a sole purpose—oblivion. We were at cross-purposes; thus, it was just as well I headed home. I hope.
The next morning, I was groggy and feeling off due to the drastic schedule and diet changes of the past two days. I am such a terrible traveler. Or at least, a group traveler. I need to stay on a strict schedule…my body doesn’t respond well to change. Therefore, every time I go away, I get all sortsa messed up and feel awful the whole time. I really just need to eat better—going away has lately translated into “eat a lot of shit that’s terrible for you and avoid anything that’s good. Or douse it in salt or sugar.” It’s not a good travel policy, let me tell you. Anyway, I roused myself, found some breakfast, and managed to get myself out to Mudeungsan, a nearby national park. It was not the nicest of days (we’d gone to sleep amid a lightening storm and the day was a bit drizzly), but since I am stubborn and stick to plans, I went, anyway. It definitely did rain some more on me, but I’m still glad I went. First, it was excellent exercise. I spent almost five hours scrambling up and down rocky slopes and my butt definitely feels it today. It makes me a little sad when I think that last summer I went on hikes three times as long and felt no body aches, but what can you do? Hike more, I guess! It was also really beautiful in a mysterious, jungle-like way. It was so foggy you could hardly see, but this made everything look vaguely magical. The trees and plants were dripping, the flowers were blooming, all was lush…it was breathtaking in a fairy-tale way. Usually I would prefer sun and visibility, but it was nice not to sweat much, and as I said, the mist lent the hike some unusual atmosphere.
I got off the mountain around 2:30 and then rushed around town, collected my things, got a snack and a new book, and headed to the train station. My timing was perfect…I got there just as the train was boarding, spent a relaxing two hours reading and eating eggs and a bagel, and then caught the train to Hongsan in Nonsan with five minutes to spare. The bus nearly left me (with my stuff on it!) in Buyeo, when I stepped off to go to the bathroom and buy Choco Digets, but I successfully ran it down and all is now well.
I got home almost in time for dinner and then caught up on my reading and writing and 30 Rock watching on Sunday night. A good end to a great weekend.
The only big bummer about the weekend was the little electronics incident of Friday evening. I had my i-pod on as usual and stupidly and over-confidently went to take it off directly over the toilet in Nonsan. Bad call. I knew as I did it that it was a mistake—my reflexes are anything but catlike. Predictably, down went the i-pod, into the toilet. I got it out right away, but it still wasn’t working. Until this afternoon, when I had the brilliant idea of trying to hook it up to my speakers. Lo and behold, it just needed a jolt of electricity! I am pretty excited to have it back, though I was somewhat relieved to have an excuse to get an i-pod upgrade. At least I’ll have it until I get back to the U.S. Then we’ll see, but I think a snazzy new one that’s smaller and does video is probably in order.
Besides the i-pod recovery and the glorious springtime weather, today was a personal disaster. First, I showed up obscenely late to the morning assembly. I don’t know why they started it early today, but I was the only one that didn’t know and therefore the only one who showed up 10 minutes late. Embarrassing. Especially in light of the fact that I’m not sure how my school feels about me right now. I mean, why aren’t they telling the principal I want to stay another year? Do they want me to go now?
Second, I proved beyond a doubt that I am incompatible with electronics when I accidentally tripped over my USB flash drive and broke it in two. There’s no fixing that, I’m afraid, and I stupidly didn’t make any backups. I’ve only had that for a month, too! There goes a month of hard work. I have hard copies, but still…now I don’t have my follow-ups to each lesson. I’ll have to redo it someday and this just creates a lot of unnecessary work. It really put a damper on my day.
That and teaching in the afternoon in a hot hot classroom to wild wild kids. It did not go well, to say the least. The morning sessions were okay, but the afternoon? I don’t know if it was my bad mood or their apparent liveliness, but we did not mesh well today.
And then I sucked at samulnori. I’m blaming the drum…it just didn’t sound right today. Nothing was flowing like it did last Wednesday. So I gave up early and went home to read before TKD.
I also went on a short run, but it was unsuccessful. I accidentally gave both pairs of my athletic socks to my host mom to wash this morning, and they were still wet this afternoon. Since I didn’t want to run in warm wool socks (it was rather hot out), I decided to run in my Chacos. I hike in them—why not run? Oh, perhaps because they give me blisters. And rub my feet raw. And provide no support or flexibility. My feet are shot to shit, because of course, knowing I’d give up on my run otherwise, I made sure to run in the opposite direction first so I’d have to run to make it to TKD on time. It’s a mess.
But to cap off the night and to celebrate both my i-pod recovery and the bliss that is sudden spring, I am currently downloading audio poetry to listen to on my walks to school. I’m looking forward to it more than I probably should.
I met my friends—Alyssa, Robin, Traci, Rachel, Aimee, Jonah, and Ryan—downtown (I made it there without any difficulties—the cab driver understood me for once!) and we proceeded to chill n chat on the steps of this big, famous democratic bell. Supposedly Gwangju is this hotbed of democracy—or was, back in the day—and so they have this huge bell monument downtown as a symbol of their commitment to democracy. There are many such items around town, most of them in commemoration of the May 18, 1980 student demonstrations in which thousands of citizens, mostly students, died at the hands of the military government. It was pretty nasty stuff and Gwangju has not forgotten it. Perhaps the lap of liberty was an odd place to gossip and catch up, but there we were and it was lovely. The first night I can remember where I didn’t really need a jacket. It’s definitely spring now!
Later that night, we went out to a western-style bar. A couple of them drank, but I just talked to Aimee Kim, mostly, about her experiences in Korea so far. I hadn’t talked to her since Chuncheon (she missed the Gwangju conference and the Thanksgiving dinner, and I missed her in Jeju), and it was nice to catch up and hear about the places she’s been, where she recommends going, how her teaching’s going, and what she’s doing next year. The conversation I have with everyone nowadays, it seems, but I’m genuinely interested in what people are doing, both here and next year. It never fails to amaze me. I got some good travel ideas for next year, at least! Somehow we were out until 2:30 am and then finally dropped off to sleep around 3 or so. I heard the next morning that Aimee and Alyssa were talking ‘til who knows when, but it evidently didn’t disturb me. Surprising, since I’m normally a light sleeper, but I was one tired girl. I’ve been so exhausted these past two weekends…perhaps I do need to quit this 6 am routine. It just doesn’t suit for the regular world.
Anyway, the next day we girls slowly made our way across town and out to the bamboo festival (the boys went hiking). We had a late breakfast, then went out to the 5/18 Memorial Wall. It is an underground wall, much like what I assume the Vietnam Memorial in Washington must be like (but smaller, of course), and it’s situated in a gorgeous park, complete with green grass, budding trees, walking paths, etc. And then we headed to the bus terminal to find a hotel for the night, which was somewhat of an ordeal but luckily we had a Korean speaker (Aimee) with us, so we managed to strike a bargain. The room left many things to be desired, but I’m not picky so as long as I had a pillow and a mat, I was happy. At least this place didn’t have roaches, like the first one did! Some of my friends are a lot pickier about cleanliness than I am and they were less than pleased with our rooms. It amused me to see their reactions. I suppose there is something to be said for hygiene concern, but I am generally not too worried about it. I figure just about everything I run across every day is just as dirty—perhaps less obviously so, but still…I refuse to spend my life paralyzed by germ fears. I will probably die of some Third World hygiene-related disease at the age of 25, but I’ll have lived!
We finally got out to the bamboo festival (at a little town 40 minutes outside Gwangju) around 3:30. We downed some pajeon and then poked around, trying out the various activities—bamboo stilts and a multitude of throwing games. Robin was a stilts expert, but the rest of us were falling all over the place. We watched a traditional sort of peasant performance featuring samulnori and over-the-top comical acting that even I could get into because the actions were so exaggerated and funny, and then we went on a forested bamboo walk cumulating in a “model poetry village” that had apparently just been built, or was in the process of being built. It was a beautiful place, but a bit strange in that it was so clearly artificial and half-way done. After we ventured back into civilization (the “village” was nearly deserted), we ate some Chuncheon-style ddokgalbi (though we did have some trouble with the waitress, who was a little too wily, shall we say…), and then we wandered, waiting for the promised fireworks. They were late and only lasted four minutes, but it was still nice. The whole atmosphere reminded me of the Fourth of July—it was festive, food abounded, the air was still warm, we were surrounded by families…it made me excited to come home for the REAL Fourth of July!
We met up with the boys, plus Ryan’s co-teacher, plus our other friend Jon, his friend from home, Jen, and Aelee, a former ETA who now works at the embassy in Seoul. They were all rarin to go, but the six of us were beat. We made a valiant effort at being social at LA Hof, a bar featuring stage karaoke (which is actually pretty funny…oh, the things these Koreans do, and for a crowd of strangers, too!). In the end, though, it just didn’t work out and Aimee, Robin, and I went home around midnight. It was a strange sensation, being the first to give up on the night. It used to be that I would be the last to leave, last to sleep…savoring every moment of freedom and rebelliousness. I don’t know what I was trying to prove. Perhaps that I wasn’t as lame as everyone assumed I was in college. Perhaps it was all part of my post-high school “No regrets” policy—to live life to the fullest, to be more outgoing, to engage more in society. Too bad it really just gave me license to become an unapologetic drunk, but I guess I have no regrets about that, either. I learned a lot in the process, and now, at the ripe old age of 23, I know already that I’m not missing out. No more time lost to raging blackouts. At any rate, drinking once a month or once every couple months is good enough for me nowadays. I’m too old and feeble to do any more, even if I wanted to (which I generally don’t). I don’t know how I ever used to go out 5-7 times per week. Sheer madness, I tell ya. Perhaps that’s why I look so elderly now. Anyway, not all of my friends are as old and wise (or lame?) as me, so they were out that night with a sole purpose—oblivion. We were at cross-purposes; thus, it was just as well I headed home. I hope.
The next morning, I was groggy and feeling off due to the drastic schedule and diet changes of the past two days. I am such a terrible traveler. Or at least, a group traveler. I need to stay on a strict schedule…my body doesn’t respond well to change. Therefore, every time I go away, I get all sortsa messed up and feel awful the whole time. I really just need to eat better—going away has lately translated into “eat a lot of shit that’s terrible for you and avoid anything that’s good. Or douse it in salt or sugar.” It’s not a good travel policy, let me tell you. Anyway, I roused myself, found some breakfast, and managed to get myself out to Mudeungsan, a nearby national park. It was not the nicest of days (we’d gone to sleep amid a lightening storm and the day was a bit drizzly), but since I am stubborn and stick to plans, I went, anyway. It definitely did rain some more on me, but I’m still glad I went. First, it was excellent exercise. I spent almost five hours scrambling up and down rocky slopes and my butt definitely feels it today. It makes me a little sad when I think that last summer I went on hikes three times as long and felt no body aches, but what can you do? Hike more, I guess! It was also really beautiful in a mysterious, jungle-like way. It was so foggy you could hardly see, but this made everything look vaguely magical. The trees and plants were dripping, the flowers were blooming, all was lush…it was breathtaking in a fairy-tale way. Usually I would prefer sun and visibility, but it was nice not to sweat much, and as I said, the mist lent the hike some unusual atmosphere.
I got off the mountain around 2:30 and then rushed around town, collected my things, got a snack and a new book, and headed to the train station. My timing was perfect…I got there just as the train was boarding, spent a relaxing two hours reading and eating eggs and a bagel, and then caught the train to Hongsan in Nonsan with five minutes to spare. The bus nearly left me (with my stuff on it!) in Buyeo, when I stepped off to go to the bathroom and buy Choco Digets, but I successfully ran it down and all is now well.
I got home almost in time for dinner and then caught up on my reading and writing and 30 Rock watching on Sunday night. A good end to a great weekend.
The only big bummer about the weekend was the little electronics incident of Friday evening. I had my i-pod on as usual and stupidly and over-confidently went to take it off directly over the toilet in Nonsan. Bad call. I knew as I did it that it was a mistake—my reflexes are anything but catlike. Predictably, down went the i-pod, into the toilet. I got it out right away, but it still wasn’t working. Until this afternoon, when I had the brilliant idea of trying to hook it up to my speakers. Lo and behold, it just needed a jolt of electricity! I am pretty excited to have it back, though I was somewhat relieved to have an excuse to get an i-pod upgrade. At least I’ll have it until I get back to the U.S. Then we’ll see, but I think a snazzy new one that’s smaller and does video is probably in order.
Besides the i-pod recovery and the glorious springtime weather, today was a personal disaster. First, I showed up obscenely late to the morning assembly. I don’t know why they started it early today, but I was the only one that didn’t know and therefore the only one who showed up 10 minutes late. Embarrassing. Especially in light of the fact that I’m not sure how my school feels about me right now. I mean, why aren’t they telling the principal I want to stay another year? Do they want me to go now?
Second, I proved beyond a doubt that I am incompatible with electronics when I accidentally tripped over my USB flash drive and broke it in two. There’s no fixing that, I’m afraid, and I stupidly didn’t make any backups. I’ve only had that for a month, too! There goes a month of hard work. I have hard copies, but still…now I don’t have my follow-ups to each lesson. I’ll have to redo it someday and this just creates a lot of unnecessary work. It really put a damper on my day.
That and teaching in the afternoon in a hot hot classroom to wild wild kids. It did not go well, to say the least. The morning sessions were okay, but the afternoon? I don’t know if it was my bad mood or their apparent liveliness, but we did not mesh well today.
And then I sucked at samulnori. I’m blaming the drum…it just didn’t sound right today. Nothing was flowing like it did last Wednesday. So I gave up early and went home to read before TKD.
I also went on a short run, but it was unsuccessful. I accidentally gave both pairs of my athletic socks to my host mom to wash this morning, and they were still wet this afternoon. Since I didn’t want to run in warm wool socks (it was rather hot out), I decided to run in my Chacos. I hike in them—why not run? Oh, perhaps because they give me blisters. And rub my feet raw. And provide no support or flexibility. My feet are shot to shit, because of course, knowing I’d give up on my run otherwise, I made sure to run in the opposite direction first so I’d have to run to make it to TKD on time. It’s a mess.
But to cap off the night and to celebrate both my i-pod recovery and the bliss that is sudden spring, I am currently downloading audio poetry to listen to on my walks to school. I’m looking forward to it more than I probably should.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
School "Sports" Day--Friday, March 4
Friday was perhaps the most worthless day of school I have experienced thus far, and perhaps the most obnoxious as well. I was told it was school sports day for Hongsan and three other neighboring schools (Oksan and two others whose names I forget), but it bore little resemblance to any sports day I’ve ever experienced, mostly in that there was very little actual activity. It was so strange. I was expecting a lot of activity and races and cheering and interaction with kids, but instead, I sat on the sidelines and bit my fingernails to shreds in boredom and frustration. So here was the schedule for the day:
8:30-9:30am—Everyone’s scurrying around, setting things up. I’m chillin’ and wondering when I’m going to have a part in the day.
9:30-10:00am—Speeches by principals, our head teacher, and some sort of awards ceremony. I never did figure out what the awards were for…I mean, the day hadn’t even started yet!
10:00-10:45am—Warmups begin when our MC for the day, a tool of a man dressed in a button-up with the collar popped and ridiculous sunglasses, comes out and proceeds to pollute our ears for the next five hours. He led the kids through a warmup of sorts, but they really only did a couple stretches before transitioning to a few ineffective partner stretches and the reigning theme of the day—synchronized butt-wiggling and finger pointing (supposedly a dance, I guess, but I’m obviously not convinced of its merits as far as both coolness and physical activity are concerned). Warmups conclude with two of the stupidest activities perhaps ever conceived. First, the kids form two lines of about 4-5 people across extending across the field. Then they bring out this heavily padded wire, about the girth of a person in the middle. The two lines then race, with a teacher holding each end of the wire and moving it back to the end of the line as kids jump over it. So in 15 minutes, each kid jumps twice. Great exercise technique. Then, they bring out two giant balls. This time, the lines of kids must pass the ball backwards to the back of the line, around a cone, and back to the front, again in a race. So now they move their arms a bit—that is, if the ball doesn’t shoot off wildly across the field, as it often did. At this point, we’ve been there for three hours and almost no physical activity has taken place.
10:45-11:45am—the “races” finally begin. I feel tremendously deceived when they really are not even races at all. First of all, only one grade goes on at a time. Second, they are just stupid. We spend about twenty minutes on each grade. The kindergarteners form two teams, make pairs and run down to a cone holding a friend’s hand and run back, relay-style. I can’t remember what the first graders did, but I’m sure it’s equally stupid. The second graders also form two teams, partner up with a parent, and must direct one of the giant balls down to the cone and back. I actually had to be a surrogate mom for this event, which was utterly humiliating because the obnoxious mc insisted on announcing me and making everyone clap, not once but TWICE. Also, I had to be with this kid from another school who I’d never seen before and it made me nervous. I don’t know why they didn’t put me with my host brother, who also needed a partner…perhaps it’s part of their ploy to alienate me. If so, it’s working.
It was so strange that they had so many events in which the announcer called on the kids to partner with a parent. I mean, it’s nice in a way, but many of them had parents who didn’t come, I think (my host siblings included), and I know for a fact that a good portion of my students are orphans. They may have grandparents, but still…it doesn’t seem particularly sensitive. Perhaps the announcer didn’t realize this, but anyway, it struck me as strangely thoughtless.
11:45-1:00—lunch. We were served a feast in the cafeteria and I ate far too much of everything, especially ddok. I’ve been getting a lot of sugar headaches lately due to my eating habits and I really need to cut back. But I have such trouble realizing moderation—I’m far more comfortable with extremes. So I eat a lot of sugar, or none at all. No middle ground. No grey. It’s a problem.
1:00-1:30—Post-lunch performances include Hongsan samulnori and another school’s dance. They were vaguely interesting, but I felt our samulnori performance was somewhat lackluster compared to previous times. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they have just started up again after losing so many players to middle school. Perhaps it was also the unforgiving surroundings, which seemed to muffle sound. The other performance might have been cute if you’d been a parent of one of the kids, but it was boring for any other spectator. I did find myself wishing I taught at a school at which the entire student body could be in one dance. Lucky teachers!
1:30-eternity—the “races” resume. It’s more of the same old crap—one grade goes on for twenty minutes and everyone runs a maximum of 100 feet while everyone else just waits on the sidelines. I’m bored to tears.
Seeing the school in operation today helped me to synthesize some thoughts and impressions I have of the Korean psyche and school procedures in general. For one thing, they are horribly inefficient. There’s such tight centralized control that it leaves little room for independent ventures. For example, they could have staged several races at once, thus maximizing the children’s exposure to actual physical activity, but instead, they chose to have one event at a time. I guess it gives everyone a chance to be in the spotlight, but really…what is the day supposed to be about, anyway? More than once, it felt like a day in which the focus was adult glorification (as in, why did we need 30 minutes of principals talking? And what was with the tool with the microphone, so apparently in love with his voice and dance moves?). Most of it was spent shepherding the kids from one area of the field to another and trying to keep them relatively quiet and orderly. The day seemed a complete waste to me and I hate that I was forced to even witness it. I would be even angrier if I’d had to be a part of it. Yet I feel the teachers were happy with how it turned out and can’t even conceive of another way of doing it.
That said, there were some interesting parts of the day. I’ve paraphrased some of the key characters in their interactions with me. My life is a parody. Really.
--“Homestay? Yes? No?” This is my vice-principal’s earnest attempt at communication with me. What is this supposed to mean? Is the homestay working out? Do I want a homestay next year? Do I want the same homestay next year? As always, just about everything is lost in communication.
--“Three half.” (combined with three fingers held up). This is my vice-principal’s attempt to keep me hostage, I think. I was walking inside to go to the bathroom sometime after lunch when he scurried after me, repeating this over and over. I can only guess that my co-teacher had told him I needed to leave at 3:30 and he was making sure I wasn’t sneaking out early. I actually did entertain the idea briefly, but that didn’t stop me from being offended he thought I would actually carry through with it. Seriously…when have I ever given you cause to doubt me?
--“Teacher STRONG!” So say my shrimpy sixth grade boys after watching me effortlessly carry THREE folding chairs. At least they’re easy to impress…
--As I finally left for the day, my sixth grade boys asked me where I was going and why, in Korean, and I answered them, in Korean. They were duly impressed with my “mastery” of the language and ooooed and ahhhed. Then, of course, they asked me if I was going to see my boyfriend (I think they think I must have a secret one, since in their experience it’s impossible to be single) and when I said no, laughed, and turned away, I could hear them call, “Girlfriend?” Sometimes they’re so creative.
8:30-9:30am—Everyone’s scurrying around, setting things up. I’m chillin’ and wondering when I’m going to have a part in the day.
9:30-10:00am—Speeches by principals, our head teacher, and some sort of awards ceremony. I never did figure out what the awards were for…I mean, the day hadn’t even started yet!
10:00-10:45am—Warmups begin when our MC for the day, a tool of a man dressed in a button-up with the collar popped and ridiculous sunglasses, comes out and proceeds to pollute our ears for the next five hours. He led the kids through a warmup of sorts, but they really only did a couple stretches before transitioning to a few ineffective partner stretches and the reigning theme of the day—synchronized butt-wiggling and finger pointing (supposedly a dance, I guess, but I’m obviously not convinced of its merits as far as both coolness and physical activity are concerned). Warmups conclude with two of the stupidest activities perhaps ever conceived. First, the kids form two lines of about 4-5 people across extending across the field. Then they bring out this heavily padded wire, about the girth of a person in the middle. The two lines then race, with a teacher holding each end of the wire and moving it back to the end of the line as kids jump over it. So in 15 minutes, each kid jumps twice. Great exercise technique. Then, they bring out two giant balls. This time, the lines of kids must pass the ball backwards to the back of the line, around a cone, and back to the front, again in a race. So now they move their arms a bit—that is, if the ball doesn’t shoot off wildly across the field, as it often did. At this point, we’ve been there for three hours and almost no physical activity has taken place.
10:45-11:45am—the “races” finally begin. I feel tremendously deceived when they really are not even races at all. First of all, only one grade goes on at a time. Second, they are just stupid. We spend about twenty minutes on each grade. The kindergarteners form two teams, make pairs and run down to a cone holding a friend’s hand and run back, relay-style. I can’t remember what the first graders did, but I’m sure it’s equally stupid. The second graders also form two teams, partner up with a parent, and must direct one of the giant balls down to the cone and back. I actually had to be a surrogate mom for this event, which was utterly humiliating because the obnoxious mc insisted on announcing me and making everyone clap, not once but TWICE. Also, I had to be with this kid from another school who I’d never seen before and it made me nervous. I don’t know why they didn’t put me with my host brother, who also needed a partner…perhaps it’s part of their ploy to alienate me. If so, it’s working.
It was so strange that they had so many events in which the announcer called on the kids to partner with a parent. I mean, it’s nice in a way, but many of them had parents who didn’t come, I think (my host siblings included), and I know for a fact that a good portion of my students are orphans. They may have grandparents, but still…it doesn’t seem particularly sensitive. Perhaps the announcer didn’t realize this, but anyway, it struck me as strangely thoughtless.
11:45-1:00—lunch. We were served a feast in the cafeteria and I ate far too much of everything, especially ddok. I’ve been getting a lot of sugar headaches lately due to my eating habits and I really need to cut back. But I have such trouble realizing moderation—I’m far more comfortable with extremes. So I eat a lot of sugar, or none at all. No middle ground. No grey. It’s a problem.
1:00-1:30—Post-lunch performances include Hongsan samulnori and another school’s dance. They were vaguely interesting, but I felt our samulnori performance was somewhat lackluster compared to previous times. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they have just started up again after losing so many players to middle school. Perhaps it was also the unforgiving surroundings, which seemed to muffle sound. The other performance might have been cute if you’d been a parent of one of the kids, but it was boring for any other spectator. I did find myself wishing I taught at a school at which the entire student body could be in one dance. Lucky teachers!
1:30-eternity—the “races” resume. It’s more of the same old crap—one grade goes on for twenty minutes and everyone runs a maximum of 100 feet while everyone else just waits on the sidelines. I’m bored to tears.
Seeing the school in operation today helped me to synthesize some thoughts and impressions I have of the Korean psyche and school procedures in general. For one thing, they are horribly inefficient. There’s such tight centralized control that it leaves little room for independent ventures. For example, they could have staged several races at once, thus maximizing the children’s exposure to actual physical activity, but instead, they chose to have one event at a time. I guess it gives everyone a chance to be in the spotlight, but really…what is the day supposed to be about, anyway? More than once, it felt like a day in which the focus was adult glorification (as in, why did we need 30 minutes of principals talking? And what was with the tool with the microphone, so apparently in love with his voice and dance moves?). Most of it was spent shepherding the kids from one area of the field to another and trying to keep them relatively quiet and orderly. The day seemed a complete waste to me and I hate that I was forced to even witness it. I would be even angrier if I’d had to be a part of it. Yet I feel the teachers were happy with how it turned out and can’t even conceive of another way of doing it.
That said, there were some interesting parts of the day. I’ve paraphrased some of the key characters in their interactions with me. My life is a parody. Really.
--“Homestay? Yes? No?” This is my vice-principal’s earnest attempt at communication with me. What is this supposed to mean? Is the homestay working out? Do I want a homestay next year? Do I want the same homestay next year? As always, just about everything is lost in communication.
--“Three half.” (combined with three fingers held up). This is my vice-principal’s attempt to keep me hostage, I think. I was walking inside to go to the bathroom sometime after lunch when he scurried after me, repeating this over and over. I can only guess that my co-teacher had told him I needed to leave at 3:30 and he was making sure I wasn’t sneaking out early. I actually did entertain the idea briefly, but that didn’t stop me from being offended he thought I would actually carry through with it. Seriously…when have I ever given you cause to doubt me?
--“Teacher STRONG!” So say my shrimpy sixth grade boys after watching me effortlessly carry THREE folding chairs. At least they’re easy to impress…
--As I finally left for the day, my sixth grade boys asked me where I was going and why, in Korean, and I answered them, in Korean. They were duly impressed with my “mastery” of the language and ooooed and ahhhed. Then, of course, they asked me if I was going to see my boyfriend (I think they think I must have a secret one, since in their experience it’s impossible to be single) and when I said no, laughed, and turned away, I could hear them call, “Girlfriend?” Sometimes they’re so creative.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Basking in the Glow--Thursday, May 3
And thus ends my week of teaching. What a joke! I only did 11 of my scheduled 20 hours this week. Not that I’m complaining…if only it were this easy ALL the time. Tomorrow we have a special sports day. I’m not really sure what to expect—all I know is that three other smaller elementary schools are coming, there’s running and samulnori involved, and kimbap and ice cream for sale during lunch. Oh, and I’m supposed to be there, to support the students, I guess. Sigh….J. I think it will actually be fun to watch them go at it, even though it means I’ll be unprepared, as usual, for Monday. Such is life for this girl.
Today was otherwise uneventful, but somehow delightful at the same time. I am really happy with my decision to stay so far…things have been going well and my love for these kids runneth over. For some reason, they are making me enormously happy right now, even though I was ready to pummel them with heavy objects until they screamed less than a month ago. Funny how these things work. I see them now and I can’t help but smile. I was taking a run today after school, before I went to taekwondo at 6, and I saw a bunch of them out playing and slowly making their ways home. They all shouted and me and waved wildly and it made me indescribably happy. And then when I was walking home, a couple students spotted me and leaned out of their cars to yell at me. Bliss. Basically, I’m a sucker for positive attention and enjoy being queen of Hongsan Elementary much more than I’m sure is probably healthy.
I found out today that we’re definitely going to Jirisan May 25-26. It does cut in on the one long weekend I have all semester, during which I planned to either go to North Korea or Ulleongdo, an island off the east coast, but it will be fun, I’m sure, and I really appreciate the gesture on the part of my co-workers. Seriously…how ridiculous is it that an entire school trip is being arranged on my behalf? To a resort, no less. That’s another perk—a FREE vacation! My co-workers have been going all out with regards to me lately (minus the exclusion incidents of last week—I’m sure there were extenuating circumstances) and I truly appreciate it, especially in light of my decision to stick with them for another year. I must admit I was a little afraid it was all a ploy to get me to stay and then they’d drop me like it’s hot. I guess they still could…I’m not sure if my co-teacher has shared the news with everyone.
I talked to my mom and sister last night and it made me really happy to hear their voices. I can’t believe I’ll be home in two months! I’m getting really excited to have another Montana summer, which is perhaps my favorite thing of all time. The dry heat, the long days, the water, the hiking, the sunsets…what’s NOT to love?!?! It seems everything is falling into place. If I were a fatalist, I’d say it was meant to be. Really, I’m just grateful for my incredible luck in finding a job that’s okay and pays well and allows for adventure. And while I am sure there will be times when I deeply regret what I’ve done and wish I were home, I am sure they will be outweighed by times like this, when everything is seemingly cast in a rosy hue. I am at peace.
Today was otherwise uneventful, but somehow delightful at the same time. I am really happy with my decision to stay so far…things have been going well and my love for these kids runneth over. For some reason, they are making me enormously happy right now, even though I was ready to pummel them with heavy objects until they screamed less than a month ago. Funny how these things work. I see them now and I can’t help but smile. I was taking a run today after school, before I went to taekwondo at 6, and I saw a bunch of them out playing and slowly making their ways home. They all shouted and me and waved wildly and it made me indescribably happy. And then when I was walking home, a couple students spotted me and leaned out of their cars to yell at me. Bliss. Basically, I’m a sucker for positive attention and enjoy being queen of Hongsan Elementary much more than I’m sure is probably healthy.
I found out today that we’re definitely going to Jirisan May 25-26. It does cut in on the one long weekend I have all semester, during which I planned to either go to North Korea or Ulleongdo, an island off the east coast, but it will be fun, I’m sure, and I really appreciate the gesture on the part of my co-workers. Seriously…how ridiculous is it that an entire school trip is being arranged on my behalf? To a resort, no less. That’s another perk—a FREE vacation! My co-workers have been going all out with regards to me lately (minus the exclusion incidents of last week—I’m sure there were extenuating circumstances) and I truly appreciate it, especially in light of my decision to stick with them for another year. I must admit I was a little afraid it was all a ploy to get me to stay and then they’d drop me like it’s hot. I guess they still could…I’m not sure if my co-teacher has shared the news with everyone.
I talked to my mom and sister last night and it made me really happy to hear their voices. I can’t believe I’ll be home in two months! I’m getting really excited to have another Montana summer, which is perhaps my favorite thing of all time. The dry heat, the long days, the water, the hiking, the sunsets…what’s NOT to love?!?! It seems everything is falling into place. If I were a fatalist, I’d say it was meant to be. Really, I’m just grateful for my incredible luck in finding a job that’s okay and pays well and allows for adventure. And while I am sure there will be times when I deeply regret what I’ve done and wish I were home, I am sure they will be outweighed by times like this, when everything is seemingly cast in a rosy hue. I am at peace.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Beats--Wednesday, May 2
Last night at dinner I heard Ye Eun and my host father discussing something about MBC and they kept switching the channel. Being the sharp knife I am, I naturally assumed it was about the TV crew that came last week (and filmed me, among other things). However, they never really settled on a station, so I figured it was a) not on after all, or b) host dad just wasn’t really into it. And then I forgot about it until I got to school today and everyone asked me if I’d seen us on TV last night. Somehow they had a clip of it and I saw a really creepy closeup of me singing the alphabet. Evidently, when you catch me at the right angle as I’m quickly looking back and forth between my board and the class, I look very demonic and that was what they chose to highlight in the news segment. I wish I knew what it was even about and what was said—it could have been something making serious fun of me and I’d have no idea! I’ll have to see if I can finagle the video file one of these days.
I was back to my regular schedule again, which was a little frightening but I managed okay, even with the wilduns. They don’t seem to mind learning letters and numbers…who would have thought? It seems boring to me! We played a very simple game in which I passed out alphabet flashcards to each small group, said a letter, and they had to find it and then raise it up in the air for inspection when I said so. The second graders would cheer and clap when I’d reveal the letter and distribute points. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t mutiny on my hands!
This afternoon was samulnori. I am learning so much now that I’m not playing with the regular band. Just as last time, I played with a few of my fourth- and fifth-grade girls, who continued teaching me the basics, very slowly and tediously. Well, for them. I am finally having fun playing, now that I know a little bit better how to do it! It’s so much better than before, when I just sat with everyone else and tried to pick up on what little I could. There’s no way I would ever have learned even as much as I now know, after two sessions—the kids are just too fast. I couldn’t even follow what they were doing! It’s like any other instrument, I suppose…you need a lot of practice with very simple things first. Though it’s probably easier to pick up than, say, the violin. Today I practiced and learned five drumming patterns: Hwiwaro 1, 2, and three, and two others whose names I do not know. I learned four of them last week, but they really started coming together this week. I was rockin out with Mina and So Hyun, two of my fifth graders who were my most enthusiastic teachers, finally feeling pretty good about my playing, when all the sudden these random strangers came up and started correcting my form. I deflated. I mean, I just started, guys! Give me a break! I suppose there’s something to be said for learning form right away as well so you don’t form bad habits, but still…perhaps it’s akin to putting too much emphasis on perfect pronunciation in the language classroom. In the beginning, you applaud efforts to remember the word and don’t dwell on imperfect pronunciation. And in samulnori, you pat me on the head and say, “Good job!” even though it’s not that great, just because I’m already being schooled by midgets. And from what I can tell, their form isn’t much better than mine! This happens to me in TKD, too…I’m held to this high standard on form, which makes it a lot harder for me to do right and a lot more frustrating, too, when I’m constantly being corrected on minor details, while the kids around me are flailing around. I suppose it’s only fair to hold me to a higher standard as an adult, but still…cut me some slack! Regardless, I am satisfied with my samulnori practice. I wish I had a jangja right here to work on some more!
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, I graced big city TV, I successfully taught four classes, I rocked samulnori, and I more or less muddled my way through five forms in TKD…what a great day it was! It’s a good thing indeed that I’m signing up for more Korea…
I was back to my regular schedule again, which was a little frightening but I managed okay, even with the wilduns. They don’t seem to mind learning letters and numbers…who would have thought? It seems boring to me! We played a very simple game in which I passed out alphabet flashcards to each small group, said a letter, and they had to find it and then raise it up in the air for inspection when I said so. The second graders would cheer and clap when I’d reveal the letter and distribute points. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t mutiny on my hands!
This afternoon was samulnori. I am learning so much now that I’m not playing with the regular band. Just as last time, I played with a few of my fourth- and fifth-grade girls, who continued teaching me the basics, very slowly and tediously. Well, for them. I am finally having fun playing, now that I know a little bit better how to do it! It’s so much better than before, when I just sat with everyone else and tried to pick up on what little I could. There’s no way I would ever have learned even as much as I now know, after two sessions—the kids are just too fast. I couldn’t even follow what they were doing! It’s like any other instrument, I suppose…you need a lot of practice with very simple things first. Though it’s probably easier to pick up than, say, the violin. Today I practiced and learned five drumming patterns: Hwiwaro 1, 2, and three, and two others whose names I do not know. I learned four of them last week, but they really started coming together this week. I was rockin out with Mina and So Hyun, two of my fifth graders who were my most enthusiastic teachers, finally feeling pretty good about my playing, when all the sudden these random strangers came up and started correcting my form. I deflated. I mean, I just started, guys! Give me a break! I suppose there’s something to be said for learning form right away as well so you don’t form bad habits, but still…perhaps it’s akin to putting too much emphasis on perfect pronunciation in the language classroom. In the beginning, you applaud efforts to remember the word and don’t dwell on imperfect pronunciation. And in samulnori, you pat me on the head and say, “Good job!” even though it’s not that great, just because I’m already being schooled by midgets. And from what I can tell, their form isn’t much better than mine! This happens to me in TKD, too…I’m held to this high standard on form, which makes it a lot harder for me to do right and a lot more frustrating, too, when I’m constantly being corrected on minor details, while the kids around me are flailing around. I suppose it’s only fair to hold me to a higher standard as an adult, but still…cut me some slack! Regardless, I am satisfied with my samulnori practice. I wish I had a jangja right here to work on some more!
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, I graced big city TV, I successfully taught four classes, I rocked samulnori, and I more or less muddled my way through five forms in TKD…what a great day it was! It’s a good thing indeed that I’m signing up for more Korea…
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Stormy--Tuesday, May 1
It’s 7:38 pm and I’m waiting for dinner. It seems like it’s been getting later and later, which I’m thinking might be due to the season. It’s just now getting dark, translating to dinnertime by my stomach’s clock. I must admit I am a great fan of longer days. When it’s dark early, I get so tired and lethargic! Not to mention the fact that I have to walk home sometimes in the dark. Now, I can meander home from taekwondo in the warm glow of the sunset, marveling at the rapid emergence of spring. It has become so green these past couple weeks. I am certain that it was mostly brown just two weeks ago, and now, suddenly, everything is alive, thriving, blooming, once more. It makes me happy every time I step outside. The winter scenery was beautiful in its own stark way, but I definitely prefer the lushness of spring. The only drawback is sporadic rain showers. It rained all last night and this morning, ruining my hiking plans for my free afternoon. I’m slowly growing to see that rain is just a springtime constant here and I’ll have to get used to it. As much as I detest it, the green landscapes I love could not exist without it.
Besides the dreariness of the skies, today was a pretty good day. The school had some sort of special event—a “recognition of study day,” I was told—and we had all sorts of guests and a busy schedule. That is, for everyone else. I somehow didn’t have any classes today. I did not mind at all. I spent my morning cleaning up my classroom and making some materials. Boring, perhaps, but relaxing in its own way and necessary, too. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s how to cut. And laminate. All my office experience is coming into use, finally (and unexpectedly).
In the afternoon, the skies still looked rainy, so I just went home. I’ve been meaning to hike around this national forest near Hongsan—it’s about 18 km, I think—but today just didn’t seem right. Instead, I just relaxed at home for possibly the first time in over a month. It was really nice. And then I ran to taekwondo, which was less relaxing and successful (I even had to walk up the hill—humiliating!). I ran into all sorts of old people on my run (not literally, of course!). First, these little old ladies asked me where I was going. I just pointed vaguely in a circle and smiled and the one wrinkled lady insisted on giving me peanuts, even though I was clearly running. I could hear her telling the other one who I was as I ran off. It was really cute. Then, in front of school, this old man hailed me. At first I thought he was crippled and/or mentally impaired—he was shuffling and behaving so strangely and I could hardly make out one word he said—but when he started groping at my arms for support (and comfort?) and leaning into my face, I could tell he was highly intoxicated. At 5:50 pm. I feigned misunderstanding, which was not far from the truth, anyway, bowed my goodbyes, and left the crazy old coot mumbling after me in the road. It was so strange. Who gets shitty at that hour?
And also, who’s shitty by 7? So gone that he is hobbling across the road, only making it with substantial support provided by some lady? It was a funny sight when his shoe came untied…she bent down to tie it for him, while he clung to her back and nearly toppled. People in this town are so strange sometimes.
My favorite part of the day: I was standing with Sung Hak, my favorite little second grader. We were practicing kicks together, which was hysterical because we were supposed to take turns leaning on each other for support, and he’s approximately a third of my size. The master was careful to match everyone else up—I’m not sure why he did this. Anyway, he was being crazy as usual, dancing around and such. I Bin looked over, pointed to him, and said, “Stormy.” (We’ve been learning weather terms in my fourth grade class.) Perhaps this was not perfect usage of what we’ve learned, but I have to admit it was rather apt and even poetic. I love hearing my kids use the miscellaneous English words they know to communicate with me—it’s so cute and gives me such a feeling of accomplishment.
Besides the dreariness of the skies, today was a pretty good day. The school had some sort of special event—a “recognition of study day,” I was told—and we had all sorts of guests and a busy schedule. That is, for everyone else. I somehow didn’t have any classes today. I did not mind at all. I spent my morning cleaning up my classroom and making some materials. Boring, perhaps, but relaxing in its own way and necessary, too. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s how to cut. And laminate. All my office experience is coming into use, finally (and unexpectedly).
In the afternoon, the skies still looked rainy, so I just went home. I’ve been meaning to hike around this national forest near Hongsan—it’s about 18 km, I think—but today just didn’t seem right. Instead, I just relaxed at home for possibly the first time in over a month. It was really nice. And then I ran to taekwondo, which was less relaxing and successful (I even had to walk up the hill—humiliating!). I ran into all sorts of old people on my run (not literally, of course!). First, these little old ladies asked me where I was going. I just pointed vaguely in a circle and smiled and the one wrinkled lady insisted on giving me peanuts, even though I was clearly running. I could hear her telling the other one who I was as I ran off. It was really cute. Then, in front of school, this old man hailed me. At first I thought he was crippled and/or mentally impaired—he was shuffling and behaving so strangely and I could hardly make out one word he said—but when he started groping at my arms for support (and comfort?) and leaning into my face, I could tell he was highly intoxicated. At 5:50 pm. I feigned misunderstanding, which was not far from the truth, anyway, bowed my goodbyes, and left the crazy old coot mumbling after me in the road. It was so strange. Who gets shitty at that hour?
And also, who’s shitty by 7? So gone that he is hobbling across the road, only making it with substantial support provided by some lady? It was a funny sight when his shoe came untied…she bent down to tie it for him, while he clung to her back and nearly toppled. People in this town are so strange sometimes.
My favorite part of the day: I was standing with Sung Hak, my favorite little second grader. We were practicing kicks together, which was hysterical because we were supposed to take turns leaning on each other for support, and he’s approximately a third of my size. The master was careful to match everyone else up—I’m not sure why he did this. Anyway, he was being crazy as usual, dancing around and such. I Bin looked over, pointed to him, and said, “Stormy.” (We’ve been learning weather terms in my fourth grade class.) Perhaps this was not perfect usage of what we’ve learned, but I have to admit it was rather apt and even poetic. I love hearing my kids use the miscellaneous English words they know to communicate with me—it’s so cute and gives me such a feeling of accomplishment.
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