We have a week off. An entire week away from school where we get to do whatever we want. Too bad it's only a week. It's the end of our first semester, and the end of the Korean school year. Yesterday I had to say goodbye to the two Vice-Principals at my school because... I won't be seeing them for a month and a half? I'm not sure exactly what the hoopla was about, but apparently the last day of the semester/year is a mildly formal affair. It was the last day of the school year, but I would have expected some sort of graduation ceremony or goodbye to the students event. There was no such thing. I was just taken in to say something kind to the VPs and bow to them. And since they have the final say in affairs related to me (i.e. leaving early or vacation time), I don't have any problems with doing whatever is necessary to keep them happy.
After the formalities they let me leave early. Katie and I had to get to the airport by 5:30 to meet Haley (Katie's younger sister), and it's about a two hour ride on the subway from our apartment. Haley's here to visit for a couple of weeks. We're happy to have some company. The next week should be pretty fun. We don't know what we'll be doing for New Year's Eve, but it doesn't look like we'll be going to Japan like we'd wanted to do. It would end up being too much for Haley to afford. So we'll be sticking around here instead.
It'll be nice to have a break though. We might actually have enough time to relax and reflect and think. Then next week we start our winter camps.
29.12.07
24.12.07
Four Months In
Today marks our fourth month here. That's one-third of our time. And the journey to the half-way mark (six months) is probably going to be fast. Our regular classes end this week, and between now and the beginning of March we'll only have one more week of regular classes. We'll have three weeks of English camps to do in January though, two weeks of which are half-days. Also, we'll be attending a special 10 day camp outside of Seoul at the end of January, for which we'll be getting quite a nice bit of extra cash.
We'll have some time off between now and then to do some traveling too. We're scheming up plans to go to Japan for New Years Eve, and we're planning on going to Thailand and potentially Cambodia too in February.
After that we'll be halfway through, and we'll be thrust into a five month long stretch with practically no holidays, which I've heard described as "the longest five months of your life" by some of the veterans here.
As for the financial front (the impetus for it all) we're four months in and have ~$5,000 saved. Which is on track for the goal of $15,000 by the end. Of course, our travel plans will probably shrink this a bit. But that's the kind of thing we're planning on doing with this money anyway. And the special winter camp will make up for some of that.
Well, I better get back to work here on Christmas Eve. Actually it's not too bad, my lesson for this week is Christmas vocabulary and the "Frosty the Snowman" cartoon.
Happy Holidays,
Richy.
We'll have some time off between now and then to do some traveling too. We're scheming up plans to go to Japan for New Years Eve, and we're planning on going to Thailand and potentially Cambodia too in February.
After that we'll be halfway through, and we'll be thrust into a five month long stretch with practically no holidays, which I've heard described as "the longest five months of your life" by some of the veterans here.
As for the financial front (the impetus for it all) we're four months in and have ~$5,000 saved. Which is on track for the goal of $15,000 by the end. Of course, our travel plans will probably shrink this a bit. But that's the kind of thing we're planning on doing with this money anyway. And the special winter camp will make up for some of that.
Well, I better get back to work here on Christmas Eve. Actually it's not too bad, my lesson for this week is Christmas vocabulary and the "Frosty the Snowman" cartoon.
Happy Holidays,
Richy.
19.12.07
Incheon and the Yellow Sea
On Saturday we planned on going to the Van Gogh exhibit here in Seoul. The exhibit is supposed to be one of the largest assemblages of Van Gogh paintings anywhere in the past decade, and the last showing of Van Goghs in Asia for the next ten years, with two of the largest Museums in the Netherlands loaning paintings from their collections. It started in late November and will continue until March. But our plans were foiled.
None of our friends wanted to get up early enough or weren't interested enough to go. After debating whether or not to go by ourselves to the museum, our friends Tom and Lindsey called us with a somewhat ridiculous suggestion to go to Incheon to see the Yellow Sea. It was already 2:00 in the afternoon and the trip to Incheon is nearly 2 hours from our place. With the sun setting at around 5:00 here we realized that it wouldn't be the most scenic or comfortable outing. Nevertheless, it was an intriguing idea, and I have been wanting to go to Incheon for some time.
Incheon is technically a separate city from Seoul, though you'd be hard pressed to tell where one ends and the other begins. It is one of the busiest ports in the world and is where Seoul's international airport is located. Incheon also has an important role in Korea's recent history. It was in Incheon that Douglas MacArthur and a group of UN soldiers made an amphibious landing to turn the tide in the Korean war. Well, almost turned the tide, as the country is still divided in two. Without a doubt this is one of the most important events of modern Korean history, as the American influence in South Korea has been tremendously influential in every aspect of it's post-war culture, for better or worse. But this isn't the only reason why the Koreans venerate MacArthur, as they also adore him for defeating the Japanese in World War II, which ended the half century Japanese occupation of Korea, one of the most shameful periods of history for the Koreans.
So to illustrate MacArthur's importance they have erected a large statue of MacArthur on top of a hill overlooking Incheon's port. Just how important this statue is can be understood by the simple fact that the statue of Confucius (who can be credited with laying the intellectual and cultural foundations for several east asian cultures) is lower on the hill and quite smaller.
None of our friends wanted to get up early enough or weren't interested enough to go. After debating whether or not to go by ourselves to the museum, our friends Tom and Lindsey called us with a somewhat ridiculous suggestion to go to Incheon to see the Yellow Sea. It was already 2:00 in the afternoon and the trip to Incheon is nearly 2 hours from our place. With the sun setting at around 5:00 here we realized that it wouldn't be the most scenic or comfortable outing. Nevertheless, it was an intriguing idea, and I have been wanting to go to Incheon for some time.
Incheon is technically a separate city from Seoul, though you'd be hard pressed to tell where one ends and the other begins. It is one of the busiest ports in the world and is where Seoul's international airport is located. Incheon also has an important role in Korea's recent history. It was in Incheon that Douglas MacArthur and a group of UN soldiers made an amphibious landing to turn the tide in the Korean war. Well, almost turned the tide, as the country is still divided in two. Without a doubt this is one of the most important events of modern Korean history, as the American influence in South Korea has been tremendously influential in every aspect of it's post-war culture, for better or worse. But this isn't the only reason why the Koreans venerate MacArthur, as they also adore him for defeating the Japanese in World War II, which ended the half century Japanese occupation of Korea, one of the most shameful periods of history for the Koreans.
So to illustrate MacArthur's importance they have erected a large statue of MacArthur on top of a hill overlooking Incheon's port. Just how important this statue is can be understood by the simple fact that the statue of Confucius (who can be credited with laying the intellectual and cultural foundations for several east asian cultures) is lower on the hill and quite smaller.
10.12.07
Sinterklass
We went to our Dutch friend Noor's place yesterday to celebrate the Dutch holiday Sinterklaas. Apparently in the Netherlands they have two holidays when we have one. Sinterklaas means just what it sounds like it means: Santa Claus. So whereas we've smashed together a christian holy day and a more secular day of gift giving into one mega-holiday, the Dutch, as well as many of our other European cousins, have two separate days. One Santa Claus day and a separate jesus birthday.
On Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, you exchange gifts. Children wake up to get gifts from stockings, just like Christmas. And families gather etc. Another interesting tradition that is a bit more unusual is that it is common to write rude poems about everyone in attendance. Normally, each person writes a rude poem for someone else. But since Noor was the only Dutch person at her Sinterklaas party, she took it upon herself to write a short poem for all of the guests that came. She tried to walk a fine line between preserving the Sinterklaas rude poem tradition, and not pissing off all of her rather new friends, in other words, what we received were apparently watered down versions of a real Sinterklaas poem. I think she was pretty successful though. My poem was something along the lines of: your better at playing the Wii than you are at Noraebang.
It was interesting to experience a different culture translated around the world like that. Perhaps back home it would seem strange. But, in Asia, when you meet others from European countries, you realize just how closely related the European cultures are, and America is a European culture. So Sinterklaas feels not at all unfamiliar. Of course, if everyone was speaking Dutch it might have been a bit different. But I don't think any European holiday would feel as weird as a traditional Korean Chuseok festival complete with making an entire meal for your dead ancestors....
- by Richy
So Sinterklaas was nice, but the highlight of the weekend for me was the housewarming party we went to on Saturday.
The day started out less than ideal. Richy and I rolled out of the house in the early afternoon to check our bank statements in Suyu, get some lunch and pick up some gifts to bring to our two weekend parties (because we're such social butterflies). I had a run-in with a curb at the bank, which left me with a sore ankle, dirty knees, and scraped up hands --- then at our fancy McDonald's lunch, I spilled my full soda all over the floor, much to the delight of the depressed-looking cleaning girl. Then we headed off to Dongdaemun Stadium, which is the shopping mecca of Seoul, where I was entranced by the garish displays of Christmas lights and bought the bitterest grapefruit juice drink I have ever tasted (only drinkable after considerable watering down). We went to the 1,000 won store (the Korean version of the dollar store) to get some good white elephant-style gifts for the Sinterklaas party, and I found a glowing pink mushroom lamp and Richy found a "classic" mini globe. Korea is the best place I've found yet for buying cheap, hilarious crap (haven't been to China and Japan yet though).
Then we took the short subway ride to Min-Hwa's tiny apartment housewarming party. Although the place is a small studio, she's done an excellent job decorating it with candles, a pretty rug, some houseplants, and the centerpiece of her entertainment center: two very perky-breasted African woman figures. Her mother (who lives in the southern seaside city of Busan) sent a large styrofoam package of Korean king crabs. Although there was only 5 of us, we had 8 huge crabs to share, plus six bottles of wine (which we didn't finish thankfully). Housewarming seems to be a pretty big deal in Korea, but I am glad Richy and I never had one because A: I don't want all my co-teachers to come to my house (I'm afraid my housekeeping may not be up to Korean standards) B: We don't need all that stuff to get rid of when we leave. We spent our post-crab time playing wii sports until Min-Hwa fell asleep and we took the amazingly short cab ride home (typically early morning cab rides seem to take an hour and cost close to 20,000 won, where as this one only cost 8,000). This was the highlight of my weekend because I love crab. We're going to have to make it out to Busan one of these days.
Then we had Sinterklaas, which Richy already covered. Next weekend we may go see the Van Gogh exhibit...
- by Katie
On Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, you exchange gifts. Children wake up to get gifts from stockings, just like Christmas. And families gather etc. Another interesting tradition that is a bit more unusual is that it is common to write rude poems about everyone in attendance. Normally, each person writes a rude poem for someone else. But since Noor was the only Dutch person at her Sinterklaas party, she took it upon herself to write a short poem for all of the guests that came. She tried to walk a fine line between preserving the Sinterklaas rude poem tradition, and not pissing off all of her rather new friends, in other words, what we received were apparently watered down versions of a real Sinterklaas poem. I think she was pretty successful though. My poem was something along the lines of: your better at playing the Wii than you are at Noraebang.
It was interesting to experience a different culture translated around the world like that. Perhaps back home it would seem strange. But, in Asia, when you meet others from European countries, you realize just how closely related the European cultures are, and America is a European culture. So Sinterklaas feels not at all unfamiliar. Of course, if everyone was speaking Dutch it might have been a bit different. But I don't think any European holiday would feel as weird as a traditional Korean Chuseok festival complete with making an entire meal for your dead ancestors....
- by Richy
So Sinterklaas was nice, but the highlight of the weekend for me was the housewarming party we went to on Saturday.
The day started out less than ideal. Richy and I rolled out of the house in the early afternoon to check our bank statements in Suyu, get some lunch and pick up some gifts to bring to our two weekend parties (because we're such social butterflies). I had a run-in with a curb at the bank, which left me with a sore ankle, dirty knees, and scraped up hands --- then at our fancy McDonald's lunch, I spilled my full soda all over the floor, much to the delight of the depressed-looking cleaning girl. Then we headed off to Dongdaemun Stadium, which is the shopping mecca of Seoul, where I was entranced by the garish displays of Christmas lights and bought the bitterest grapefruit juice drink I have ever tasted (only drinkable after considerable watering down). We went to the 1,000 won store (the Korean version of the dollar store) to get some good white elephant-style gifts for the Sinterklaas party, and I found a glowing pink mushroom lamp and Richy found a "classic" mini globe. Korea is the best place I've found yet for buying cheap, hilarious crap (haven't been to China and Japan yet though).
Then we took the short subway ride to Min-Hwa's tiny apartment housewarming party. Although the place is a small studio, she's done an excellent job decorating it with candles, a pretty rug, some houseplants, and the centerpiece of her entertainment center: two very perky-breasted African woman figures. Her mother (who lives in the southern seaside city of Busan) sent a large styrofoam package of Korean king crabs. Although there was only 5 of us, we had 8 huge crabs to share, plus six bottles of wine (which we didn't finish thankfully). Housewarming seems to be a pretty big deal in Korea, but I am glad Richy and I never had one because A: I don't want all my co-teachers to come to my house (I'm afraid my housekeeping may not be up to Korean standards) B: We don't need all that stuff to get rid of when we leave. We spent our post-crab time playing wii sports until Min-Hwa fell asleep and we took the amazingly short cab ride home (typically early morning cab rides seem to take an hour and cost close to 20,000 won, where as this one only cost 8,000). This was the highlight of my weekend because I love crab. We're going to have to make it out to Busan one of these days.
Then we had Sinterklaas, which Richy already covered. Next weekend we may go see the Van Gogh exhibit...
- by Katie
26.11.07
Thanksgiving
We had a thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. Our friends Tom and Lindsey from back home came, as well as our newer friends Kitho from North Carolina, Min-Hwa from Busan, Korea, and Noor from the Netherlands. It was Min-Hwa and Noor's first time celebrating thanksgiving.
Katie prepared pies and stuffing, Kitho made mashed potatoes, Tom and Lindsey brought some wine, I made sweet potatoes. Unfortunately turkey isn't very easy to get or affordable here, so we had to have a roast chicken instead. But it wasn't too far from a traditional meal.
After dinner and pies, and a few bottles of wine, we played some Wii games.
Then we had a couple of bottles of soju.
And then we we were ready to go to NORAEBANG (고래방). Not exactly traditional, but it was fun anyway.
There's a Noraebang near our place that I've wanted to go to for a while. Noraebangs are very prevalent. You cannot walk down any street without seeing several (Unless, of course, you can't read korean, in which case you'd be oblivious). And so, because of their prevalence, they try to differentiate themselves. This particular Noraebang tries to set itself apart from the rest by having a creepy alien-nest theme. Each of the Noraebang singing rooms is covered in a plaster to look like some sort of alien plant is growing over them. And there are creepy statues everywhere. Inside the nest-rooms, though, is just your typical Noraebang set-up. Several television sets for the Karaoke part, lined with benches, a giant remote control to input the songs, and some tamborines.
All Noraebangs have an English language section, though I'm beginning to realize that they all have the same crappy selection. Still it's a couple of hundred english songs to choose from.
We paid up front for an hour at 15,000 won (about 15 dollars) and sang to our hearts content and until our voices were fading.
It was a strange but satisfying thanksgiving.
Katie prepared pies and stuffing, Kitho made mashed potatoes, Tom and Lindsey brought some wine, I made sweet potatoes. Unfortunately turkey isn't very easy to get or affordable here, so we had to have a roast chicken instead. But it wasn't too far from a traditional meal.
After dinner and pies, and a few bottles of wine, we played some Wii games.
Then we had a couple of bottles of soju.
And then we we were ready to go to NORAEBANG (고래방). Not exactly traditional, but it was fun anyway.
There's a Noraebang near our place that I've wanted to go to for a while. Noraebangs are very prevalent. You cannot walk down any street without seeing several (Unless, of course, you can't read korean, in which case you'd be oblivious). And so, because of their prevalence, they try to differentiate themselves. This particular Noraebang tries to set itself apart from the rest by having a creepy alien-nest theme. Each of the Noraebang singing rooms is covered in a plaster to look like some sort of alien plant is growing over them. And there are creepy statues everywhere. Inside the nest-rooms, though, is just your typical Noraebang set-up. Several television sets for the Karaoke part, lined with benches, a giant remote control to input the songs, and some tamborines.
All Noraebangs have an English language section, though I'm beginning to realize that they all have the same crappy selection. Still it's a couple of hundred english songs to choose from.
We paid up front for an hour at 15,000 won (about 15 dollars) and sang to our hearts content and until our voices were fading.
It was a strange but satisfying thanksgiving.
19.11.07
Korean tastes
Some interesting things I have discovered about food in Korea in the past few weeks:
First, I taught a lesson on recipes to my students last week. The recipes chosen as examples for an activity were chili con carne and pancakes. I expected that these dishes would be popular with students since brown-sugar filled pancakes are a popular street food and the flavor of chili closely resembles several spicy Korean dishes. While showing a cooking video of a chef making chili, the students were fine...they watched intently as she cooked the onions, peppers, and ground meat in a pan. Then came the time to add the beans, and in each class, the pouring of the beans into the pan aroused a sound of protest from the students. This sound of protest turned to utter disgust when she added tomatoes (according to the co-teacher they were saying "dog-food" in Korean), and finally outright indignation when she plopped a dollop of sour cream on top. One student asked me "Do you eat that?!" I realize in hindsight that Koreans really do take seriously the idea that tomatoes are a fruit (as evidenced by their appearance in several sweet cafeteria fruit salads - to my dismay) and beans are typically seen as a sweetened filling for rice cakes or candies. They did like the pancakes though. Second, with the advent of Thanksgiving, I have been trying to find turkey. When talking with my co-teachers about turkey and telling them how much I like it, I was surprised to find that those who had tried turkey before (usually on trips to the US or Canada) absolutely hated it. I don't really understand why. I tried to tell them it's just like chicken, but better, and they give me a weird look. Could all of America really be wrong? Is our most delicious poultry product really that disgusting to the rest of the world? While Koreans eat chicken, I think they are much bigger fans of pork and beef (and various types of disgusting-looking seafood). Maybe they just don't love poultry the way we do in the US. It explains why on my first trip to Costco in Korea I found spicy pork bakes instead of the classically delicious chicken bake. Luckily when we went yesterday the chicken bakes magically appeared and I heartily indulged myself.
While restaurants in Korea are cheap and plentiful, it's just not the same as home.
By Katie
12.11.07
Katie vs. Bukhansan
My co-teacher Faith has for weeks been excited for me to her friend Barbara who teaches at Indian Head International school just north of here. Apparently Barbara is a pretty avid hiker, so my opportunity to meet her came this last weekend when Faith invited me to hike 8 of the 12 fortress gates of Bukhansan. Richy decided that he preferred to spend his Saturday engaged in more leisurely pursuits.
I got up on Saturday at my usual weekday wake up time of 7:00am, dressed, ate breakfast, and took the 15 minute walk to Suyu station. There, I saw a group of older Korean men greeting each other, dressed in typical Korean hiking fashion. I stood there awkwardly as we stared at each other, wondering whether we were in the same hiking party, but too reserved to ask. When Faith showed up it turned out these were the other teachers we were hiking with, from a nearby high school. Here, I'll introduce them by their nicknames: Kenny Rogers (so called because he sings Kenny Rogers songs well at Norebang, and insisted on singing a few as we were hiking), a math teacher who seemed to speak the least English of the group, and made a point to brag about his son who lives and works in the US. When I asked him what his son did for work he replied, "Server. Do you know DQ? He serve ice cream there. And study English." The official leader of our group (although I am not sure why) was a social studies teacher by the nickname of Kisaro (again, a song-related name of some sort) who spoke good English and was very kind to everyone throughout the trip. Finally, the official photographer of our group was Andy who has apparently traveled and hiked extensively throughout the world, including Mt. Rainier and Glacier National Park, so he was very eager to talk to me about hiking in the Pacific Northwest.
I was also soon introduced to Barbara, a woman in her mid to late 60's who has taught all over the world, hikes like a teenager and who seems like an altogether cool person, originally from Colorado. I was also introduced to Annie, a 27-year-old teacher at a nearby private elementary school who lives with her husband (also a teacher) in the dorms at Indian Head school (that's how she knows Barbara).
We all caught a bus from Suyu to the trail head which took about 30 minutes. It also took us through one of the quaintest areas of Seoul that I have seen so far: ornate copper light posts, cute little shops in old traditional buildings, and bright fall colors all around. Right at the trail head was an expensive hotel boasting a "sky view" restaurant which looked like a miniature, boxy version of the space needle.
The first leg of our hike was long, rocky and steep, but as soon as we reached the first gate of the ancient fortress wall (originally built in 132 AD and modified, extended and rebuilt many times since) the hike leveled out a bit and turned into more of a long walk for a few hours. Kisaro soon led us away from the wall and we found ourselves taking "shortcuts" that took us up and over a series of steep granite peaks. At the fifth gate we sat down and ate a lunch of a various types of rice cakes, persimmon, and homemade wine. Then came the most strenuous part of the journey, where we went all the way up and all the way down three separate peaks, and at some points we were hoisting ourselves up cables and poles much like my first Korean hiking experience.
The last three gates passed anticlimactically and we ended our journey surrounded by tour buses near the grand South gate of the fortress, where tourist shops have set themselves up to specialize in food and hiking gear. Also Annie, Barbara and I ended the hike with new nicknames: Ms. Minnesota, Ms. Colorado, and Ms. Washington. I guess we seem like beauty queens in Korean eyes. We were invited to dinner, but since Barbara is a strict vegetarian who avoids eating in Korean restaurants whenever possible, and since I wanted to get home to have dinner with Richy, we ended up getting a ride home with a fourth male Korean teacher who had apparently decided not to come on the hike in order to help his wife make kimchi. He was introduced to me as Magpie and seemed to speak no English whatsoever, but had a good taste in music as evidenced by what was played on his car radio.
While I enjoyed the 7+ hour hike (we started at 9am and finished at 6pm, but took some breaks along the way), the fact that my thighs feel like they're screaming every time I move two days later makes me hesitant to want to go again anytime soon. Maybe climbing Korean mountains once every other month or so is enough...
By Katie
28.10.07
A trip to the circus (aka: 5 hours on several buses for a 2 hour performance)
Our friend Min Hwa invited us to come with her to a traditional Korean circus outside of Seoul. It's the same type of performance (and some of the same performers) as featured in the popular Korean movie: The King and the Clown (which you should be able to find with English subtitles if interested). Min Hwa is not from Seoul, but from the city of Busan in the South, so she's interested in the same kind of touristy stuff we are. We met her at a bus station and when we got there from the subway (a little later than expected) she had already bought our bus tickets for us. So we purchased a few snacks and hopped on the bus, no questions asked.
An hour and thirty minutes later, we show up at the bus station in Ansan. We get off the bus, and immediately Min Hwa looks upset and confused. She says were looking for a local bus number 15, but she doesn't see anything like it. We go inside and ask, she gets a more confused and upset look on her face. Then she tells us to wait outside while she gets more information. So we wait outside and try to enjoy the sunny autumn day and contemplate why Korea lacks a certain charm you usually find in other places while traveling.
Min Hwa takes forever, so we go back inside to find her, now looking very nervous and embarrassed. Turns out we took the bus to Ansan instead of Ansang, which are similar-sounding, but two totally different places. We do a little more wandering around, Min Hwa apologizes profusely for buying us the wrong tickets, and we try to make her feel better by telling her that it's okay; we like a good adventure (not only that, but it did make me feel better that even native speakers of Korean can have a hard time differentiating the sounds). We decide to carry on with our journey instead of taking the bus right back to Seoul, so we buy bus tickets to Ansang this time, accepting the fact that we'll be a little late for the performance.
Another two hours later, we arrive in Ansang, and the bus driver instructs us to find a taxi to where we're going to save time. So we do, the cab driver knows where it is, and takes us there. We're a little late, but easily find a comfortable place to sit among the crowd of mostly parents and children. The show is free, funded by the government in order to promote tourism in the small town. Min Hwa translates some of what the performers are saying to the crowd and we shiver in the cold, clapping along to keep warm while watching the performers jump and dance and twirl and bang instruments. At one point some gymnasts look for foreigners to pick on in the crowd, but luckily we were in the shadows so the guy didn't notice all the Korean kids pointing at us screaming "Yo-gi! Yo-gi!" (Over here! Over here!). Instead he found a skinny, nerdy Japanese guy who spoke no Korean to pick on. It was pretty funny.
When the show was over we called the cab driver to come pick us up and rode another bus for two hours back into Seoul. Then we had another hour on the subway to get back. It was an exhausting day even though we were sitting the whole time. I would like to go back sometime in the spring or summer, when the weather is warmer and we know to pay attention to the "g" sound at the end of Korean place names.
by Katie
An hour and thirty minutes later, we show up at the bus station in Ansan. We get off the bus, and immediately Min Hwa looks upset and confused. She says were looking for a local bus number 15, but she doesn't see anything like it. We go inside and ask, she gets a more confused and upset look on her face. Then she tells us to wait outside while she gets more information. So we wait outside and try to enjoy the sunny autumn day and contemplate why Korea lacks a certain charm you usually find in other places while traveling.
Min Hwa takes forever, so we go back inside to find her, now looking very nervous and embarrassed. Turns out we took the bus to Ansan instead of Ansang, which are similar-sounding, but two totally different places. We do a little more wandering around, Min Hwa apologizes profusely for buying us the wrong tickets, and we try to make her feel better by telling her that it's okay; we like a good adventure (not only that, but it did make me feel better that even native speakers of Korean can have a hard time differentiating the sounds). We decide to carry on with our journey instead of taking the bus right back to Seoul, so we buy bus tickets to Ansang this time, accepting the fact that we'll be a little late for the performance.
Another two hours later, we arrive in Ansang, and the bus driver instructs us to find a taxi to where we're going to save time. So we do, the cab driver knows where it is, and takes us there. We're a little late, but easily find a comfortable place to sit among the crowd of mostly parents and children. The show is free, funded by the government in order to promote tourism in the small town. Min Hwa translates some of what the performers are saying to the crowd and we shiver in the cold, clapping along to keep warm while watching the performers jump and dance and twirl and bang instruments. At one point some gymnasts look for foreigners to pick on in the crowd, but luckily we were in the shadows so the guy didn't notice all the Korean kids pointing at us screaming "Yo-gi! Yo-gi!" (Over here! Over here!). Instead he found a skinny, nerdy Japanese guy who spoke no Korean to pick on. It was pretty funny.
When the show was over we called the cab driver to come pick us up and rode another bus for two hours back into Seoul. Then we had another hour on the subway to get back. It was an exhausting day even though we were sitting the whole time. I would like to go back sometime in the spring or summer, when the weather is warmer and we know to pay attention to the "g" sound at the end of Korean place names.
by Katie
26.10.07
Sports Day
Male Teachers vs. Third Grade (9th graders) boys. The mostly older, out of shape male teachers and I faced off against the much more fit and trained third grade boys soccer players. I dreaded it all day. Waiting to have to play soccer in front of the intently watching eyes of several hundred middle school students, whose eyes automatically affix themselves to my strange features and foreign ways.
I awkwardly walked onto the field, a sandy gravel courtyard between the three buildings of the school, and donned a bright green jersey. I was wearing a brand new pair of the cheapest running shoes I could find, which I purchased the night before in preparation for this event, and I'd changed out of my dress shirt, too. I was still wearing my baggy khakis, which have either gotten bigger on me since we arrived because of the lack of a dryer, or I've gotten smaller from all of the kimchi. (I have been told more than once that my face looks thinner.) Nevertheless, as the token white guy on the team, the other teachers had every intention of me looking nice out there, but of keeping the ball away from me.
It came to me twice. The first time was a tall lob from the other side of the field, and I cowered and nudged the ball with my upper arm as it fell from the sky, tried to kick it, and it was taken away by one of the third graders. They made me take the far side, and intended for me to run up close to the goal. But the ball never came my way. Against younger and more fit opponents, the fit male P.E. teachers were doing more than there fair share keeping up the defense.
The boys team quickly scored a goal. Play resumed. A couple of the male teachers on the opposite side of the field could get the ball close to the net. One of them passed, another shot. The goalie dove effortlessly to catch the ball. One of the male teachers ran up and kicked it out of his hands. Less than honorable, but accepted by the male teacher referee.
It was a tie game. A little back and forth, the boys were going easy on the teachers. I decided it was time to take off my jacket, look a little more serious. I handed it to a student, put my jersey back on and ran up to the opposing teams goal. The teachers were getting closer, but couldn't score. The boys weren't getting the ball to their side either. The male teachers had no intention of losing to their students.
Then it happened. The ball was coming down my side, there was a wide gap, no students were defending against me. Someone passed the ball, it came straight to me. I looked around, I was the farthest forward, there was no one to pass the ball to. I only had one choice, to shoot. I hesitated, and then dribbled the ball forward, shot and, goal!
High fives ensued, the students cheered. The male teachers were glowing with joy, and perhaps frustration that they themselves didn't score the goal. The game was ended immediately, to ensure the male teachers victory.
As I walked back to my office, in front of all the students, they erupted in cheers and called for high fives. I enjoyed a moment of celebrity, the closest I'll ever come to being a sports star.
I awkwardly walked onto the field, a sandy gravel courtyard between the three buildings of the school, and donned a bright green jersey. I was wearing a brand new pair of the cheapest running shoes I could find, which I purchased the night before in preparation for this event, and I'd changed out of my dress shirt, too. I was still wearing my baggy khakis, which have either gotten bigger on me since we arrived because of the lack of a dryer, or I've gotten smaller from all of the kimchi. (I have been told more than once that my face looks thinner.) Nevertheless, as the token white guy on the team, the other teachers had every intention of me looking nice out there, but of keeping the ball away from me.
It came to me twice. The first time was a tall lob from the other side of the field, and I cowered and nudged the ball with my upper arm as it fell from the sky, tried to kick it, and it was taken away by one of the third graders. They made me take the far side, and intended for me to run up close to the goal. But the ball never came my way. Against younger and more fit opponents, the fit male P.E. teachers were doing more than there fair share keeping up the defense.
The boys team quickly scored a goal. Play resumed. A couple of the male teachers on the opposite side of the field could get the ball close to the net. One of them passed, another shot. The goalie dove effortlessly to catch the ball. One of the male teachers ran up and kicked it out of his hands. Less than honorable, but accepted by the male teacher referee.
It was a tie game. A little back and forth, the boys were going easy on the teachers. I decided it was time to take off my jacket, look a little more serious. I handed it to a student, put my jersey back on and ran up to the opposing teams goal. The teachers were getting closer, but couldn't score. The boys weren't getting the ball to their side either. The male teachers had no intention of losing to their students.
Then it happened. The ball was coming down my side, there was a wide gap, no students were defending against me. Someone passed the ball, it came straight to me. I looked around, I was the farthest forward, there was no one to pass the ball to. I only had one choice, to shoot. I hesitated, and then dribbled the ball forward, shot and, goal!
High fives ensued, the students cheered. The male teachers were glowing with joy, and perhaps frustration that they themselves didn't score the goal. The game was ended immediately, to ensure the male teachers victory.
As I walked back to my office, in front of all the students, they erupted in cheers and called for high fives. I enjoyed a moment of celebrity, the closest I'll ever come to being a sports star.
24.10.07
Been A While / Two Months
Not much new to report. Things are getting routine and last week and this week are going by pretty fast. We were put through a torturous night of noraebang (Korean private-room Karaoke) with Katie's co-teachers last night. And this Friday I'm signed up to play soccer on the teachers team against the students team. I fear that they actually think I can play soccer well.
Oh, and today is the 24th, which means it's payday, which also means it's been officially two months! 1/6 of the way.
14.10.07
fireworks and relaxation
We have had a pretty relaxing and altogether chilled-out weekend. We did a lot of walking though. On Friday night, Richy and I went out to dinner at Bennigan's in Nowon, hoping to find a club sandwich. Instead we found what might possibly be the most unhealthy "sandwich" on the face of the planet: deep fried Monte Cristo with processed cheese. Even our combined eating powers couldn't finish it. That was definitely the most calories we've consumed in a meal since being in Korea. The salad bar was good though, and after dinner we serendipitously came across Nowon's International Street Performance Festival and watched an interesting magic show which had a plot much like that of a Korean soap opera.
The next day, Saturday, we met our new friend from the Netherlands, Nora, in Itaewon, so we could show her one of the few English language bookstores in Korea that actually sells used (and thus, affordable) books. She was a bit late though (after taking the wrong bus in the wrong direction) and so we spent sometime in a cafe, on the balcony, sipping drinks and people watching in the absolute most diverse area in all of Korea. It's quite interesting how you can tell the difference between those "Westerners" that are here with the military and those who are here as English teachers. After Nora showed up we spent some time in the book store and bought some books. Then with time to kill, we wandered around Itaewon a little more, parted ways with Nora, and moved toward Mapo Station to see about finding a place to observe the Seoul International Fireworks Festival. After walking several kilometers to find our way to the waterfront, Richy and I decided to split up so he could stake out a position in the rapidly filling riverside park and I could go find some picnic food and meet our friends Tom and Lindsey. Our tentative picnic plan was to get some cheese, baguettes, beverages, and a roasted chicken from a roadside vendor to make some sandwiches. Unfortunately Mapo seems not to be the neighborhood for chicken. After crisscrossing the area for more than an hour, I couldn't even find a fried chicken restaurant, whereas in the rest of the city you can usually find a roast chicken vendor every few blocks. On top of that, Tom and Lindsey were more than 30 minutes late, so I wandered back to find Richy only with rolls, cheese, beverages, and sore legs to show for my efforts. Eventually Tom and Lindsey found us, and although we ended up waiting more than three hours for the fireworks, the show was spectacular, the company was good and the wine Tom and Lindsey brought tasted great with the cheese and bread.
My favorite part was the finale when the fireworks literally filled the sky with gold glitter. It was also amazing how well the sound of the explosions carried over the water, literally shaking us with each burst. After watching each of the three fireworks shows (one for Japan, the US, and Korea), we joined a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands (possibly more than a million) Seoulites returning to various parts of the city. Getting on the subway at that point was out of the question, so we walked toward Tom and Lindsey's place near Sinchon and enjoyed a dinner of chicken and pickled radish at a little hole in the wall restaurant where the waitress oddly refused to give us more than two glasses of water for the four of us to share. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable weekend.
by Katie
The next day, Saturday, we met our new friend from the Netherlands, Nora, in Itaewon, so we could show her one of the few English language bookstores in Korea that actually sells used (and thus, affordable) books. She was a bit late though (after taking the wrong bus in the wrong direction) and so we spent sometime in a cafe, on the balcony, sipping drinks and people watching in the absolute most diverse area in all of Korea. It's quite interesting how you can tell the difference between those "Westerners" that are here with the military and those who are here as English teachers. After Nora showed up we spent some time in the book store and bought some books. Then with time to kill, we wandered around Itaewon a little more, parted ways with Nora, and moved toward Mapo Station to see about finding a place to observe the Seoul International Fireworks Festival. After walking several kilometers to find our way to the waterfront, Richy and I decided to split up so he could stake out a position in the rapidly filling riverside park and I could go find some picnic food and meet our friends Tom and Lindsey. Our tentative picnic plan was to get some cheese, baguettes, beverages, and a roasted chicken from a roadside vendor to make some sandwiches. Unfortunately Mapo seems not to be the neighborhood for chicken. After crisscrossing the area for more than an hour, I couldn't even find a fried chicken restaurant, whereas in the rest of the city you can usually find a roast chicken vendor every few blocks. On top of that, Tom and Lindsey were more than 30 minutes late, so I wandered back to find Richy only with rolls, cheese, beverages, and sore legs to show for my efforts. Eventually Tom and Lindsey found us, and although we ended up waiting more than three hours for the fireworks, the show was spectacular, the company was good and the wine Tom and Lindsey brought tasted great with the cheese and bread.
My favorite part was the finale when the fireworks literally filled the sky with gold glitter. It was also amazing how well the sound of the explosions carried over the water, literally shaking us with each burst. After watching each of the three fireworks shows (one for Japan, the US, and Korea), we joined a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands (possibly more than a million) Seoulites returning to various parts of the city. Getting on the subway at that point was out of the question, so we walked toward Tom and Lindsey's place near Sinchon and enjoyed a dinner of chicken and pickled radish at a little hole in the wall restaurant where the waitress oddly refused to give us more than two glasses of water for the four of us to share. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable weekend.
by Katie
9.10.07
Teachers Sports Day
Today my classes started at 8:40am. Normally they start at 9:00, and I get there at 8:30. Also, the classes were only 40 minutes long instead of the usual 45. All of this was so that classes could end at 2:05, so that by 2:30 teachers sports day could begin.
I was given the choice between teaching my afterschool class or participating in teachers sports day. It was my intention to do the afterschool class. It seemed like the path of least resistance, and the choice that my head teacher wanted me to choose. But my other main co-teacher helper woman suggested that I should do the sports activity to get on the good side of the other teachers at the school. That seemed like a good enough excuse for me to not have to teach the afterschool class which is 90 min. instead of 45 though I get paid for two overtime periods at 30,000 Won per period for 60,000 Won per afterschool class (hmm maybe I should have chosen the afterschool class), so I had them sign me up.
I was signed up for jump-rope and badminton. The jump rope competition was quick, and our team won. I was one of the two rope spinners. Most of my co-teachers were the jumpers. It was quite strange seeing them bobbing up and down in unison in front of me, especially with the knowledge that any mistake on my part would be taken quite seriously. Competition in Korea is intense. They take things very seriously. Anyway, I didn't count, but I think the five or six teachers collectively jumped more than 30 times, which was several more than the second place group. They were all quite pleased. I think I won a prize, but I didn't get it.
Next, badminton. I was assigned randomly to a science teacher (female) whom I had never met before. She, and everyone else, was decked out in their expensive workout clothes (Koreans take everything very seriously, remember, and this means if you are going to work out, you'd better spend a hundred dollars on a specially made workout shirt - it has been said that Koreans are the best dressed hikers in the world for instance - it's quite similar to the REI aesthetic in the northwest, except they take it very seriously). So I was in my Khakis and dress shirt. And I was wearing my school slippers. The surprised look of disappointment on the science teacher's face was unnecessarily conspicuous.
I won't bore you with the match point for point details. I think the final score was 21-10. We had the 10. She was frustrated but friendly. It begs mentioning that they must spend a lot of time playing badminton. I doubt that any comparably fit selection of American teachers could last even as many points as I did. They take everything very seriously here, remember.
-Richy.
I was given the choice between teaching my afterschool class or participating in teachers sports day. It was my intention to do the afterschool class. It seemed like the path of least resistance, and the choice that my head teacher wanted me to choose. But my other main co-teacher helper woman suggested that I should do the sports activity to get on the good side of the other teachers at the school. That seemed like a good enough excuse for me to not have to teach the afterschool class which is 90 min. instead of 45 though I get paid for two overtime periods at 30,000 Won per period for 60,000 Won per afterschool class (hmm maybe I should have chosen the afterschool class), so I had them sign me up.
I was signed up for jump-rope and badminton. The jump rope competition was quick, and our team won. I was one of the two rope spinners. Most of my co-teachers were the jumpers. It was quite strange seeing them bobbing up and down in unison in front of me, especially with the knowledge that any mistake on my part would be taken quite seriously. Competition in Korea is intense. They take things very seriously. Anyway, I didn't count, but I think the five or six teachers collectively jumped more than 30 times, which was several more than the second place group. They were all quite pleased. I think I won a prize, but I didn't get it.
Next, badminton. I was assigned randomly to a science teacher (female) whom I had never met before. She, and everyone else, was decked out in their expensive workout clothes (Koreans take everything very seriously, remember, and this means if you are going to work out, you'd better spend a hundred dollars on a specially made workout shirt - it has been said that Koreans are the best dressed hikers in the world for instance - it's quite similar to the REI aesthetic in the northwest, except they take it very seriously). So I was in my Khakis and dress shirt. And I was wearing my school slippers. The surprised look of disappointment on the science teacher's face was unnecessarily conspicuous.
I won't bore you with the match point for point details. I think the final score was 21-10. We had the 10. She was frustrated but friendly. It begs mentioning that they must spend a lot of time playing badminton. I doubt that any comparably fit selection of American teachers could last even as many points as I did. They take everything very seriously here, remember.
-Richy.
28.9.07
Comment Comment Comment
I set up a counter yesterday so that I can see how many people are reading our blog. We'd like to know who's reading it, anyone other than our Moms? Anyway, don't be afraid to leave a comment or two to let us know what you think. Or who you are.
Also, as you can see, i've updated the pictures in the slideshow. You can see just how many people they attempt to fit onto those razor thin ridges. Nice view of the city though.
More later.
Thanks,
Richy.
Also, as you can see, i've updated the pictures in the slideshow. You can see just how many people they attempt to fit onto those razor thin ridges. Nice view of the city though.
More later.
Thanks,
Richy.
26.9.07
Death march hike on Dobongsan
Our friend Asaf came into town for Chusok. We wanted to show him a good time, and we haven't had time to see a lot of stuff in Seoul yet, so we decided this would be a great opportunity to get in some hiking on the beautiful granite mountains that we see everyday from our bedroom window. We read about the Dobongsan hike in both the Korea guidebooks we have, so we figured it was a pretty good choice. Moderate, 5-6 hours, beautiful views, easy access from the subway. Great. We made a plan of it.
This morning we got up a little later that originally intended, but I figured a day of hiking deserved a good rest. We got out of the house by 11:15, and took the subway just a few short stops to the northwest. We got off the train and followed all of the way-over-dressed (or so we thought) hikers through the hundreds of hiking apparel and food stalls toward the trail head. Hiking is Korea is not the same quiet, one-with-nature, lonesome experience it is back home. Hiking in Korea is like waiting in line all the way up a mountain, but not really in a bad way. It's just more of a communal event.
Heading up, we came across a beautiful temple and wandered around for a few minutes. At that point we were thinking this might be a pretty relaxing experience. We continued up the mountain, came across another temple, and very gradually the hike starting going from pleasant to intense. Pretty soon it was hand over foot on granite boulders. We kept following the crowds (including children and the very active elderly) up, up, up. It was really amazing how much up there was. When looking at the mountains from afar (say, from our house) you can see the jagged granite cliffs sticking out white and stark against the sky, and I knew we were going to go hike those mountains. I just didn't imagine that we would actually be scaling the granite cliffs. In the US, you would need a permit for this kind of thing, you would have to sign a waiver. All of a sudden we were faced with rocks too hard to climb with just hands and feet. At this point, we found ourselves hoisting our bodies upward by clinging to poles and wire cables set into the rock. We were still following the children and the elderly folks. Reaching the peak was totally surreal. We were just barely perched there with something like thirty other people, clinging to these little fences and looking around at the city of Seoul spread out several hundred meters below us. Any of us easily could have fallen to our deaths at any moment and we found ourselves thinking that someone must have died getting these posts up here. I felt dizzy and sick to my stomach. I sat in the safest place I could find and waited for my heart to slow down and my adrenaline to stop pumping. Richy and Asaf didn't seem to have quite the same reaction to the height, but they agreed that it was pretty crazy. And this was nothing compared to the way down.
According to the guidebook, we were supposed to hike the mountains in kind of a loop: get off at one subway station, hike up the mountains, across the ridge, loop around, and come down to the other subway station. It seemed simple, and after the peak we thought, "Well, it's all downhill from here!" We saw the first downward looking trail and began to take it, but it seemed like we were going in the wrong direction. We asked some Korean hikers the direction of the station we were heading to, they laughed at us and pointed up. Then they pointed at our Chacos
and said "ha, ha, slippers!" So we went back up, and started toward what looked like another peak. All the guidebook said about the way back was something about a ravine and clinging to wire cables. Actually, it was an entire granite ridge, where we were precariously perched over sheer drops, clinging to cables and contending with waves of Korean hikers moving in both directions. At one point we came down an impossibly steep cliff only by clinging with our lives to a cable, only to reach a small standing spot, and having to scale another impossibly steep cliff in the other direction. At that point, we would have turned around if we could, but the only options were both straight up and the only easy way out would have involved calling a helicopter. I was really feeling nauseated by the whole thing, but we couldn't stop laughing about how completely insane this was.
Needless to say, our hike turned into more of an upper body workout than we ever could have imagined, and while I never would have chosen the hike knowing the difficulty level, I am glad we did it. On the subway ride back we had a new appreciation for the not-so-overdressed Korean hikers we see everyday on subway and a new appreciation of the muscle relaxing power of Korean fermented rice beverages. And the pizza we had for dinner never tasted so good.
Katie.
19.9.07
The Stitches Are Out
QUICK UPDATE:
We're done with hospital visits. Katie got her stitches out today. I'll post pictures sometime later. It looks much better now, the scar will be a bit smaller than anticipated so all is well.
Also, we're very excited because it's almost Chuseok, which means we get a mini-vacation of six days (saturday-thursday) then we have to teach on Friday for some strange reason, and then we have another weekend. Too bad we're already really needing a break though.
Finally, we should get internet this weekend so we'll have a more reliable connection for Skype calls etc.
More later,
Richy.
We're done with hospital visits. Katie got her stitches out today. I'll post pictures sometime later. It looks much better now, the scar will be a bit smaller than anticipated so all is well.
Also, we're very excited because it's almost Chuseok, which means we get a mini-vacation of six days (saturday-thursday) then we have to teach on Friday for some strange reason, and then we have another weekend. Too bad we're already really needing a break though.
Finally, we should get internet this weekend so we'll have a more reliable connection for Skype calls etc.
More later,
Richy.
16.9.07
10.9.07
our first real weekend in Seoul
On Friday, after school I was appointed as the special guest judge of the English Speech and Pop Song contest at the middle school I work at. Some of the acts were painful to watch (one girl ran off the stage after only one verse of her song because she heard one of her peers laughing during a pause in the music) while others were amusingly ironic (two totally still and stone faced schoolgirls singing "We Will Rock You") and some were just cute (the several prepubescent boys who got together to sing their hearts out to some sappy love song).
Afterward, my friendly and very gung-ho English department chair, Faith, insisted that all the members of the English department have dinner together at a nearby American-style buffet restaurant called Ashley. This is the second time I have been taken out to this place, at the chagrin of my colleagues, as they seem to prefer more Asian-style foods. But Faith wants us all to have an American experience here of course. Afterward she insisted that we all go out for a round of norabahng (Korean karaoke) but I could tell that my coworkers again, really didn't want to go (and who would want hang out with their boss on a Friday night and sing norabahng stone sober?) so I insisted that I needed to be home or Richy would get worried. This is a particularly good excuse since we don't have a phone. Relieved, my coworkers left and Faith disappointedly took me home. At this point I was feeling kind of tired, and although Richy and I did have further plans with friends that evening, I didn't think we would end up staying out for long. But I was definitely mistaken.
We met up with our friend Patrick from the SMOE orientation at 10pm, the first time we've seen him since we escaped the compound. He brought his girlfriend along, a Korean woman named Min Hwa. We wanted to meet up with our friends Tom and Lindsay, but it's hard to get a hold of them since they also don't have a phone yet. We had some tentative plans to meet at the Dongdaemun Stadium Station (built for the 1988 Seoul Olympics) at 10:30, so we bought a couple of beers at Family Mart and sat and chatted outside the station (drinking in public seems to be generally accepted in Korea, although I'm not entirely sure of the legality of it). We waited there until after 11:00, but no Tom and Lindsey, so we moved on (we found out later they had taken a cab all over the place looking for us, but to no avail).
Min Hwa helped us find a good spot to get some more drinks and something to eat. We ended up at this place that was full of college students, and had a wide expanse of private booths to sit at. Patrick and Min Hwa recommended that we get the dongdongju meal deal. We were feeling adventurous and the atmosphere was fun, so we agreed to try it. Our appetiser plate included seaweed, some sweet cracker biscuits, and hard boiled quail eggs. I had heard about the Korean affinity for quail eggs, but I had never tried them so this was a little intimidating. Richy and I peeled a couple and dipped them in salt. They were actually quite tasty, just like a normal hard boiled egg, but the yolk has a much richer and creamier texture. So I'm officially sold on the quail eggs. Next, we got a big pile of hot kimchi mixed with sliced pork, and surrounded by wedges of firm tofu. Very spicy, but also very delicious. Then we got the actual dongdongju. It comes in a earthenware crock with a matching dipping spoon and bowls. Someone spoons you out a big ladle of milky white liquid, and you drink it. It's a kind of fermented rice beverage, which tastes surprisingly like hard cider. It has the same effervescent quality. And although it doesn't taste very alcoholic, you start feeling it fast. Patrick was telling us that this is the same stuff old ladies drink when they climb to the tops of Korean mountains. Finally, we got a big eggy pancake filled with a combination of seafood, onion stems, and kimchi. This was totally delicious, kind of like a traditional Korean pizza, although the pieces of squid in it freaked me out a bit. I just had to avert my eyes and enjoy.
Patrick then got a call from the other Patrick, also an Evergreen grad (first Patrick, will from here on be called Golden Age Patrick and other Patrick will be called Space Age Patrick - don't ask me why, I didn't make it up) who wanted us to come to his area of the city (somewhere south of the Han River) to hang out for a while. The subway was closed at this point (it closes ridiculously early for a big city - like 11:30), so we decided to try to catch a cab. This turned out to be a monumentally difficult feat because all the cabs driving by were full, and their passed-out-drunk occupants were teasing us with their drooling faces pressed against the windows. We kept slowly walking up the road (for about an hour), when finally, just before we gave up a guy got out of his cab, and we were lucky enough to jump into it as he was stumbling out. I don't know exactly where we went to meet Space Age Patrick, but it took us what felt like an hour in the cab, and we definitely crossed the river to get there.
When we got there, Space Age Patrick was already drunk, and we wandered around for a minute introducing each other. Then I realized that I recognized Space Age Patrick because he dated my room mate Kate my first year at Evergreen. It served as an example to Min Hwa from Golden Age Patrick: "See I told you we went to a small college." Anyway, somehow we ended up at an empty bar called the Cowboy bar that had an animated nite-brite style wall decoration of the twin towers on the back wall. It was interesting when we realized that the fireworks behind it looked remarkably like the buildings were exploding.
We then moved on to another Family Mart, where we drank a few bottles of Soju and ate some dried squid with mayonnaise (surprisingly good, especially when you've been drinking). This is where we decided that it was a good idea to go to a norabahng. We found this norabahng place nearby and prepaid for our time, which I thought was only an hour. We figured they'd come tell us when our time was up. In norabahng, you get a private karaoke room with your friends, which really cuts the inhibitions. We sang until we were hoarse, no one ever came to kick us out. To our shock and disorientation, we emerged onto a sunlit street. I remembered someone saying that bars and norabahng in Seoul close at never-o-clock, but I didn't really take it seriously.
It was a long ride home on the subway, definitely more than an hour, and it was a struggle to stay awake enough to make our stops. But we did, got home at 7:30 am, and slept until 2:30pm, just in time for our sofa to be delivered. Surprisingly we still had enough energy to go out for dinner, watch dancing soju bottles in the streets, buy some bookshelves, and watch a movie at the Seoul International Film Festival. I think it's going to be a good year.
-Katie
5.9.07
First day teaching
Today was my first day as an English teacher. We've been going to the schools everyday this week, and Katie doesn't have her first class until Monday, but I had to start today. Five classes, and four different levels of English proficiency. There is a big difference between the top level students, who seem to understand me, and the low level students, who need everything translated.
I didn't have any real instructions on what to do, so I spent the 45 min class time introducing myself to the students, and letting them introduce themselves, I also wanted to get each student to speak individually so that I could gauge their proficiency, and I ended each class with a quick slideshow with pictures of family.
I began by having each student write down 2 true things and 1 false thing, and then had each student read them aloud to the class, and had the class help me decide which was true and which was false. Most were very soft spoken, and most of the phrases were very simple. I was surprised at what some of the girls wrote. Several said, "I am fat," or, "I am stupid," as their true statements. The boys were louder generally.
Then I had them write down five questions that they wanted to ask me. I had them work in pairs. Most of the questions were what you would expect, "How old are you?" "Where are you from?" etc. Some were disturbing, "Have you had plastic surgery?" because my eyelids recede, and my nose isn't flat, which shows the impact of western ideas of beauty in Korea. And similarly, a group of four girls came up with the oddly worded question, "We love you, do you?" by which I think they were asking me if I loved them. I didn't really know how to respond. Finally, I was asked if I've ever eaten Dog-meat soup, to which I simply responded, no.
Unfortunately, my co-teachers didn't really give me any input about whether or not I met there expectations, or whether or not I was doing a good job or a bad job. Though they did seem to be disappointed in the ability of the students to understand me. Apparently they expected the students to have a higher level of comprehension than they exhibited. But I thought I did an o.k. job. I tried to be lively and friendly and spoke clearly and loudly. I think my teacher-personality was spot-on, though at times it felt very artificial. I hope this is something that I just need to get used to. I just wish that I could have gotten more feedback.
...
Tonight, Katie and I walked a little ways down the main road toward central Seoul and found a much more lively part of town. There is a Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Outback Steakhouse, and TGI Fridays, not to mention 100 Noraebangs (private Karaoke room places) and countless bars, all studded with a million flashing bright neon signs that make the grey night sky glow in muted pastel colors. We ate at TGI Firdays for a change of pace. The average price of a dish was about 15 dollars, so we won't be doing that very often. And even though it is American food, you can still taste Korea.
-Richy.
I didn't have any real instructions on what to do, so I spent the 45 min class time introducing myself to the students, and letting them introduce themselves, I also wanted to get each student to speak individually so that I could gauge their proficiency, and I ended each class with a quick slideshow with pictures of family.
I began by having each student write down 2 true things and 1 false thing, and then had each student read them aloud to the class, and had the class help me decide which was true and which was false. Most were very soft spoken, and most of the phrases were very simple. I was surprised at what some of the girls wrote. Several said, "I am fat," or, "I am stupid," as their true statements. The boys were louder generally.
Then I had them write down five questions that they wanted to ask me. I had them work in pairs. Most of the questions were what you would expect, "How old are you?" "Where are you from?" etc. Some were disturbing, "Have you had plastic surgery?" because my eyelids recede, and my nose isn't flat, which shows the impact of western ideas of beauty in Korea. And similarly, a group of four girls came up with the oddly worded question, "We love you, do you?" by which I think they were asking me if I loved them. I didn't really know how to respond. Finally, I was asked if I've ever eaten Dog-meat soup, to which I simply responded, no.
Unfortunately, my co-teachers didn't really give me any input about whether or not I met there expectations, or whether or not I was doing a good job or a bad job. Though they did seem to be disappointed in the ability of the students to understand me. Apparently they expected the students to have a higher level of comprehension than they exhibited. But I thought I did an o.k. job. I tried to be lively and friendly and spoke clearly and loudly. I think my teacher-personality was spot-on, though at times it felt very artificial. I hope this is something that I just need to get used to. I just wish that I could have gotten more feedback.
...
Tonight, Katie and I walked a little ways down the main road toward central Seoul and found a much more lively part of town. There is a Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Outback Steakhouse, and TGI Fridays, not to mention 100 Noraebangs (private Karaoke room places) and countless bars, all studded with a million flashing bright neon signs that make the grey night sky glow in muted pastel colors. We ate at TGI Firdays for a change of pace. The average price of a dish was about 15 dollars, so we won't be doing that very often. And even though it is American food, you can still taste Korea.
-Richy.
1.9.07
our new home
So yesterday Richy and I arrived at Banghak middle school along with 16 other NSETs. We pulled up in a charter bus, into the school yard. I didn't imagine we would be treated like rock stars. Children were hanging out the school windows, screaming in excitement. Some were gathered around a bus, a few girls yelled "Hello" then ran away squealing, covering their faces. It was quite a production. The other teachers were there just to be picked up and taken to their respective schools, but I had to immediately meet the principal and some of my co-teachers since this is the school I will be teaching at. We sat awkwardly in the principal's office with our hands nervously folded in our laps. We were served some apple juice type beverage while students plastered their faces to the windows, waving and making kissing motions. It was entertaining but also kind of creepy. Students were recruited to carry my bags, and after all the other teachers were found by their school representatives, our co-teachers took Richy and I to our apartment.
Our apartment is on the 8th floor of a 15 story building called Hyundai Homecity (or Hometown depending on the translation). Before walking in, my co-teacher apologized because apparently the last residents hadn't cleaned and the guy who was supposed to order all of our furnishings procrastinated. I was expecting the worst. However, upon seeing the place I was pleasantly surprised to find a large living room, two normal sized bedrooms, a nice tiled bathroom and a decent kitchen. We also have all the traditional Korean fixtures such as a separate Kimchi fridge (in the place where I wish we had a dishwasher), a shoe closet by the door, and ondol (heated floors). Of course, it was dirty and barely furnished (we have a bed, TV, fridge, two bar stools, a microwave, gas range, washer), but with a lot of potential. We'll be posting a video tour as soon as we can get a decent internet connection.
Then we signed some papers, ate an American style buffet dinner with our co-teachers, and went on a stressful shopping journey for some bare essentials (dish soap, breakfast food, alarm clock, toilet paper, etc.). We came home and wanted to relax, but I ended up scrubbing the shower with Richy's extra travel toothbrush. Richy found a useable wireless signal and set up the closet space.
So far so good. I feel like we're starting over from scratch but it's good to have our own place. Today: more shopping.
Our apartment is on the 8th floor of a 15 story building called Hyundai Homecity (or Hometown depending on the translation). Before walking in, my co-teacher apologized because apparently the last residents hadn't cleaned and the guy who was supposed to order all of our furnishings procrastinated. I was expecting the worst. However, upon seeing the place I was pleasantly surprised to find a large living room, two normal sized bedrooms, a nice tiled bathroom and a decent kitchen. We also have all the traditional Korean fixtures such as a separate Kimchi fridge (in the place where I wish we had a dishwasher), a shoe closet by the door, and ondol (heated floors). Of course, it was dirty and barely furnished (we have a bed, TV, fridge, two bar stools, a microwave, gas range, washer), but with a lot of potential. We'll be posting a video tour as soon as we can get a decent internet connection.
Then we signed some papers, ate an American style buffet dinner with our co-teachers, and went on a stressful shopping journey for some bare essentials (dish soap, breakfast food, alarm clock, toilet paper, etc.). We came home and wanted to relax, but I ended up scrubbing the shower with Richy's extra travel toothbrush. Richy found a useable wireless signal and set up the closet space.
So far so good. I feel like we're starting over from scratch but it's good to have our own place. Today: more shopping.
30.8.07
Orientation wrap-up: The Beginning of the End
I just finished up a poster making session with a group of other middle school english teachers. This was meant to be a graphical representation of an action plan, a term that was never well enough defined to make it useful requirement. Nevertheless, we devised enough content to fill up a poster, so all should be fine. I'm not so sure that we'll win the prize for best action plan, but I don't really care.
No one really does at this point. Today they bussed us all into Seoul so that we could all do classroom observations. A rather awkward classroom observation since the observers nearly outnumbered the observed, but it was a helpful introduction to the intricacies of co-teaching. Afterwards they took us to the National Museum of Korea, a very large museum which covers the entire history of Korea. This was also our first real sojourn to Seoul.
The problem has been that we hardly feel as though we've been to Korea so far. Aside from the increasingly unappetizing cafeteria kimchee, we've been stuck in a microcosm of western culture isolated as we are at the training center. So today's trip seemed like a sadistic way to tease us about actually getting to Seoul and settling in. Not to mention that very few people seem to be taking this training course very seriously to begin with. On the bus this morning into Seoul there was a vocal minority chatting about how they were still drunk from last night as we were leaving. This attitude, coupled with the fact that the only useful piece of information we've received during the orientation is "it depends on your school," doesn't make for a very enthusiastic group of trainees.
So about the only thing anyone really cares about at this point is getting to Seoul tomorrow and getting their apartment, so that we can begin to settle in and see what this year is really going to be like.
-Richy.
No one really does at this point. Today they bussed us all into Seoul so that we could all do classroom observations. A rather awkward classroom observation since the observers nearly outnumbered the observed, but it was a helpful introduction to the intricacies of co-teaching. Afterwards they took us to the National Museum of Korea, a very large museum which covers the entire history of Korea. This was also our first real sojourn to Seoul.
The problem has been that we hardly feel as though we've been to Korea so far. Aside from the increasingly unappetizing cafeteria kimchee, we've been stuck in a microcosm of western culture isolated as we are at the training center. So today's trip seemed like a sadistic way to tease us about actually getting to Seoul and settling in. Not to mention that very few people seem to be taking this training course very seriously to begin with. On the bus this morning into Seoul there was a vocal minority chatting about how they were still drunk from last night as we were leaving. This attitude, coupled with the fact that the only useful piece of information we've received during the orientation is "it depends on your school," doesn't make for a very enthusiastic group of trainees.
So about the only thing anyone really cares about at this point is getting to Seoul tomorrow and getting their apartment, so that we can begin to settle in and see what this year is really going to be like.
-Richy.
27.8.07
On Korean Food and Our Orientation
So far things have been fairly laid back. We're somewhat isolated, so it doesn't really seem like we're even in Korea. It's more like we're at a convention on Korean culture and education. Though there is a town only fifteen minutes walk down hill, the double prospects of knowing there isn't really anything there to do, and that it's a half an hour hike uphill in sweltering heat keeps us securely placed near our air conditioned room. We've made a few friends, and since we're all stuck here together, going through the same things (adjusting to the climate, time difference, food, etc.), there's a real sense of camaraderie building up quickly.
Yesterday we spent three hours learning traditional Korean music and dance, in what turned out to be a kind of team building exercise. People, including Katie, being called out into the middle of all 190 or so english teachers because they didn't do the dance moves correctly. And a sort of contest where we all had to remember all seven traditional dance moves and in several groups perform them and hope for approval from the instructor. It was fun and interesting. It's actually quite nice that we are getting a rather slow introduction to Korean culture, rather than just being thrown in and seeing if we sink or swim, which is apparently what usually happens for first timers. Our colleague Patrick, who is also an Evergreen graduate, was forced to teach for three hours immediately after he got off the plane last year.
Later they made us watch Mr. Hollands Opus, presumably to inspire us. I almost fell asleep.
Today we start the more intensive orientation, how to write lesson plans etc.
On a final note. We have had kimchee for every meal, actually two or three different kinds of kimchee with every meal. I don't know if it's supposed to do this or not, but it seems to soften the stool quite a bit. Not in a diarrhetic way, but quite a bit more pasty.
--Richy.
Yesterday we spent three hours learning traditional Korean music and dance, in what turned out to be a kind of team building exercise. People, including Katie, being called out into the middle of all 190 or so english teachers because they didn't do the dance moves correctly. And a sort of contest where we all had to remember all seven traditional dance moves and in several groups perform them and hope for approval from the instructor. It was fun and interesting. It's actually quite nice that we are getting a rather slow introduction to Korean culture, rather than just being thrown in and seeing if we sink or swim, which is apparently what usually happens for first timers. Our colleague Patrick, who is also an Evergreen graduate, was forced to teach for three hours immediately after he got off the plane last year.
Later they made us watch Mr. Hollands Opus, presumably to inspire us. I almost fell asleep.
Today we start the more intensive orientation, how to write lesson plans etc.
On a final note. We have had kimchee for every meal, actually two or three different kinds of kimchee with every meal. I don't know if it's supposed to do this or not, but it seems to soften the stool quite a bit. Not in a diarrhetic way, but quite a bit more pasty.
--Richy.
25.8.07
First Excursion
So, today is our first real day here in Korea. We were wide awake at 4 am so now that it's 10 am, we feel like we've been up a long time, but lunch still won't be served for two hours.
We ate breakfast with some other NSETs (Native Speaker English Teachers, as our employers refer to us) and decided that we should explore the area today, since we don't have any scheduled activities other than meals until 2 pm.
Breakfast itself was rice, some unidentified and kinda icky leftover rice soup, some tasty and spicy kimchi (two different varieties), some seasoned pork, seaweed soup (miso-like), a light quiche-like egg dish, and dried seasoned seaweed packets. There was also some tea and toast available. It was actually pretty good, leaves you feeling much lighter and prepared for a hot, muggy Korean summer day than the traditional American breakfast fare.
After breakfast our friend Pat (who I happen to know from a class at Evergreen a few years ago) and Kara (from Minneapolis) walked down the steep hill that our training center is perched upon. We knew from the 3+ hour bus ride over last night that there was a small town area at the bottom of the hill so we were hoping to find something interesting or entertaining. It became clear very soon that the day was heating up and that we would end up sweaty and uncomfortable.
Early on, we found a convenience store and the friendly couple who seemed to own the place helped Kara pick out some breakfast items since she arrived for breakfast just as the cafeteria was closing. Kara then left us to go enjoy her breakfast in the comfort of her air conditioning back in her room. Richy, Pat and I moved on.
One of the things that I am amazed about in Korea so far is just the way that any available empty land is being farmed. Even small little lots on street corners are full of pepper plants, squash, taro, beans and lettuce plants. It really makes me hope that our neighborhood in Seoul will have a community garden or something. Vegetables seem to grow like weeds in this climate. Also, right now is obviously pepper harvesting time. Near the little garden plots you can see tarps covered in drying chili peppers. It's really cool to see real agriculture going on in this way: it's sustainable, aesthetically pleasing, and obviously contributes to the comfortable standard of living that the people in this community seem to enjoy.
We looked for an ATM, but it's a Saturday so all the banks are closed. We'll have to wait to get some Korean cash, but fortunately we were able to buy drinks at the convenience store with our visa debit cards.
After we wandered around the town, realizing everything was closed for the weekend (or for the time of day), we trudged back up the hill in the thick, slimy air. Now we're back at the dorm/hotel place with all the NSETs, covered in sweat, enjoying the air conditioning and waiting for something interesting to do.
We made it to South Korea
11 hours on a plane plus 3 hours on a bus = 24 hours without sleep.
And even though we were able to stay up long enough to go to bed at a
reasonable local time, we were still both wide awake at 4:00 am, aka
12:00 pm PST. Hopefully by tomorrow we'll be mostly over the jet lag.
And even though we were able to stay up long enough to go to bed at a
reasonable local time, we were still both wide awake at 4:00 am, aka
12:00 pm PST. Hopefully by tomorrow we'll be mostly over the jet lag.
-Richy.
22.8.07
Almost gone.
I haven't been able to sleep very well, even though I'm tired. Every time I lay my head down to rest I think of another thing we have to do before we go. It's hard to get excited in such a state. Right now, sitting down in my seat on a plane and knowing I have everything here squared away sounds like pure heaven.
And don't cry when I say goodbye to you. If you cry, I'll cry and then I won't get anything done.
-Katie
And don't cry when I say goodbye to you. If you cry, I'll cry and then I won't get anything done.
-Katie
16.8.07
New Beginnings
A new look for a new beginning. I've redone the site in a korea friendly theme. So I hope it looks good. Depending on how diligent we are, we'll try to keep an up to date journal of our lives teaching in Seoul for everyone who wants to keep track of us. Photos etc. will all be posted here so bookmark this page if you're interested in what we'll be doing.
Thanks,
Richy
Thanks,
Richy
14.3.07
afterword
Excerpted from Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore, a passage I circled from a book I took from the Bangkok guesthouse I stayed in:
"I'm free, I think. I shut my eyes and think hard and deep about how free I am, but can't really understand what it means. All I know is I'm totally alone. All alone in an unfamiliar place, like some solitary explorer who's lost his compass and his map. Is that what is means to be free? I don't know and I give up thinking about it."
"I'm free, I think. I shut my eyes and think hard and deep about how free I am, but can't really understand what it means. All I know is I'm totally alone. All alone in an unfamiliar place, like some solitary explorer who's lost his compass and his map. Is that what is means to be free? I don't know and I give up thinking about it."
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