3/20/05 The first day of Spring
I'm told that today's the first day of Spring. I could believe it, since the weather's a bit warmer than it has been. I woke up this morning to my dishes rattling and my bed shaking from a small (magnitude 3.0) earthquake. I guess really it was a pretty big (magnitude 7.0) earthquake, but in Japan. I've never felt an earthquake before and I woke up ready to share unkind words with whoever was making all the commotion.
I spent the day hiking in a nearby park with Michelle and a friendly old man we met along the trail. He introduced himself, asked if we were teachers, and thanked us for doing this job. I can't remember his name, but he had an interesting story. He had never graduated from highschool, but picked up quite a bit of English in the army, where he spent some thirty years. He had travelled a good bit in the US during his career and had the funny notion that Americans have great respect, as a culture, for law and order while Koreans are hopelessly individualistic. This has been the opposite of my experience, but I didn't bring that up. He was short a finger or two from installing landmines along the DMZ as a young man. He had quite a few more stories than that, and shared some of them, along with some Korean History lessons, as we walked. He's nearly seventy, but didn't have a problem keeping up with us twenty-somethings along the steep and rocky hills. After we said goodbye to the old man, I stopped at a mom-and-pop restaurant for my new favorite Korean food, Tenjang Chigae, which is spicy tofu stew.
3/14/05 White Day
Today's "White Day". On Valentine's Day, here and in Japan and Taiwan, girls give boys chocolate and gifts, but not the other way around. A month later, the boys return the favor. I read that the whole business was started in 1965 in Japan as a marketing effort by a marshmallow manufacturer. It was originally called "Marshmallow Day", but somewhere along the way it got renamed and marshmallows gave way to chocolate. It's pretty popular. The girls in one of my classes informed me in warning tones on Thursday that they would be expecting to recieve candy on Monday. I dutifully showed up heavily laden with Hershey Kisses and doled them out in each class. I think we all ate a few too many and if I never see another Hershey Kiss it will be too soon.
3/13/05 The Taejeon Dog Show
I got up early today (10 a.m.) to go see my bosses and their Westies compete in a local dog show. I've never been to a dog show before, but I guess the Korean Kennel Club puts on a good one. They even imported a severe looking judge from the American Kennel club. It was very crowded and quite a bit smellier than I had expected. As expensive and well-behaved as these dogs are, they are still, I've observed, prone to "accidents". The dog show attendees were sort of a strange crowd. I think its a tossup whether the dogs or their owners had more outrageous hairstyles. I watched dancing dogs, frisbee catching dogs, and dogs that just sat still and looked fancy. I don't think my pictures really capture the surreal nature of it all. Mr. Choi's dog "Boss" won a blue ribbon and he seemed quite proud. The whole proceedings lasted for more than nine hours, but I excused myself after three.
3/5/05 My size 300 shoes.
My work shoes have gotten a little ratty, so I went downtown looking for some new ones. I didn't know my Korean shoe size, but it turns out I take a 300 or 310. This isn't a really common size around here and I had to ask "Big size isoyo?" quite a few times. Usually an American size 10 was about as big as they came. I struck out completely at the first store, and was offered a pair of hideous, bright blue Nikes as my only option at the next. I finally found a servicable pair of black Chuck Taylors in size 300, so I don't have to walk around barefoot. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I went home happy.
2/26/05-3/1/05
Tuesday is a holiday and I asked off of work on Monday, so I decided to visit Seoul and get out of Taejeon for the long weekend. Michelle and I visited Sarah, our former co-worker who goes by Ji-Wan now that she's not an English teacher any more and spent the night out with her and her friends. The next day we did a little shopping in an outdoor market and rode a cable car up to Seoul tower to check out the view at night. At the market I picked up an excellent Bruce Lee keychain, which now hangs happily next to Mr. Friendly with my keys. My students have split opinions about which of the two would win in a fight.
On Monday, Michelle headed back to work, and I spent the day visiting the National Folk Museum and Kyongbuk-kung Palace and getting lost on the subway. I walked around the extensive palace complex for quite a while, reading the little plaques on each building. I learned that this is where Hangul, the Korean alphabet, was created under King Sejong, circa 1443. I visited audience chambers, sleeping quarters, ponds, pavillions, and various other buildings. Most of the buildings are reconstructions, since all but ten of the 500 original structures were burned by the Japanese during the invasions of the sixteenth century. The plaques remind us of this ugly history, and now each building has several fire extinguishers.
Of course, I took a few pictures.
When I was done with the palace and museum, I walked ignorantly up a nearby street into what must have been some sort of high security area. One of many very serious looking young police officers stopped me, asked me for my passport and wanted to know what I was doing. I didn't have my passport, but I guess my Alien Registration Card was good enough, because after I said I was just walking around he sent me on my way, despite the disreputable look of my ID photo. I think he just wanted to practice hassling somebody in English. I kept walking around, but couldn't tell what all the security was for.
2/17/05 A little bit of strife
Work has gotten a little more stressful lately, on account of Michelle fighting with our bosses. I do my best to stay out of it, since she's my friend and they're my bosses, but when folks are shouting and crying in our staff meetings that's a little tough. What makes it worse is that I really don't think that anyone has any grievances to speak of. Michelle was a little undiplomatic when she asked about overtime pay and the principal took great offense. We had a different schedule for January, and I think Michelle just meant to ask, "What are we getting payed for winter term?", but the boss heard, "You are treating us unfairly.", and freaked out. It turned out we were both owed fifty dollars or something, according to our contracts. That sum isn't a big deal at all, especially since the school really does do a lot of other things for us. After a couple days of elevated tension, I think the friendly atmosphere of the Love and Peace English Academy has been mended. In our last meeting I said that there had been a miscommunication earlier but now everybody seems to understand each other, so let's put it all behind us. I guess that's what it took, because later we went out drinking like a big happy family again. In an interesting side note, Sarah, the only person at school who is fluent in both Korean and English has finished her contract and is quitting on Friday. I don't know how these little situations are going to play out in the future without her acting as de facto translator.
2/14/05 Valentine's Day
Well, it's Valentine's Day here (almost) just like at home. At school that means a day of red and pink construction paper crafts. Only the little kids seemed to be excited. Everyone else seemed a little gloomy. Complaints included: "Chocolate is yucky, so I don't like Valentine's day", "I didn't get to play computer, just study", and "I didn't go out with any boys." I got a big stack of chocolate from my students, though, so I guess it's not all bad.
Valentine's Day in Korea is a little different than elsewhere. Girls give boys gifts or chocolate, but not the other way around. Sounds like an okay deal to me, but there is a separate day, "White Day", where boys give gifts to girls. There is still another day, "Black Day", when single people go out and eat Chinese noodles. I'm curious to see what the latter is like. I'm imagining restaurants packed with distraught singles crying into their noodles.
2/9/05 Happy New Year
Today's the first day of the Lunar New Year. It's a big holiday around here. Most folks take some time off to spend time with their families. Taejeon is like a ghost town with so many of the shops closed. I took advantage of the time off yesterday to go hiking with a few friendsa at Gyeryong, a nearby National Park in the mountains. We took a trail I'd never been on before, and found it to be a more intense expedition than we'd thought we were in for. It's quite a steep ascent and the rocky trail was covered with ice and packed snow making it a bit treacherous. At the top there are picturesque cliffs and stone pagodas. The way down was a good bit easier, on account of its more gradual slope.
Today, my Principal and school director came over and made me rice cake soup. It's a traditional food for the New Year holiday, and is pretty tasty, with lots of garlic. "Ma-nil", meaning garlic, is part of my very limited Korean vocabulary. It's important to start with the essentials. Anyway, they hung around for a while and we watched some Korean comedy programs on TV. Some of it was totally beyond my grasp, but some was funny in the way the Three Stooges would be, even if you only spoke fifty words of English. Other highlights were: learning that a unibrow is a proverbial sign of ignorance, learning that the salt in my pantry was actually M.S.G., and successfully explaining what "catfish" means, using mostly gestures. It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon, but by the time they left, I was glad to have my apartment to myself again.
2/2/05 At least I'm not bald
I just did something I've been dreading to do here since before I left the States. I got a haircut. I mentioned at dinner on Saturday that I needed one and my boss said, through a translator,"I'll take you on Wednesday." So that was that. We went to the place where he gets his hair cut and both got trimmed up together. I didn't get the impression that the stylist had ever cut anything but totally straight or permed hair before and I could communicate with her very little. I couldn't give much input as she cut, because she took my glasses away. I gestured to indicate "Get the electric clippers away from me", but she basically did what she wanted. I was initially horrified with the result, but having washed out the gel, I think it's okay. It's a bit short. The bright side is: I don't think I'll need another cut for a while. Really, with the exception of the brutal scalp massage, the whole experience wasn't too painful. I'm thinking, though, that I'll do what I can to avoid going to the hospital and going to prison, the other items on my list of things I'm afraid to do in Korea.
1/23/05 Field trip
Today I got to take one of my classes on a field trip. It was a pretty nice change of scenery, and our destination was hillarious. We went to the "Body Adventure", an educational exhibit where visitors can walk into an oversized model of a human body, starting in the mouth, and wander around through the heart, throat and stomach. The tour ends in a toilet, where speakers play the sounds of recorded flatulence. This was, predictably, a giggle fest for the little boys, who somehow all know the word "excrement". My camera was, of course, at the ready. Here are the pictures.
1/22/05 On the road with Mr. Friendly
I went on a trip to the beach with the other school staff this weekend. We stayed in a little fishing village, piled into an apartment owned by a friend of the principal's. We rode there in the school bus, Me, Michelle, Eric, Jane, Jane's kids, the bus driver, his kids and all nine of Eric's dogs. Quite a gathering. On the way we stopped at a nice rest/recreation area next to a frozen river. The ice was thick enough to stand on, so I slid arond with the kids for a while before it was time for lunch. Lunch was pretty intense. The first thing on the table was a big dish full of still-wriggling, fully alive smelts or sardines or something. I tried one. It wasn't really my idea of pleasant. The principal and the bus driver watched me intently while I ate. I must have made a face, because the laughed and ordered me some ramyun and soju. Soon enough we were back on the road. I slept most of the way until I was woken up by the bus's blaring karaoke system. I tried to avoid participating, but no such luck. I don't think my rendition of "American Pie" will win any Grammys, but everybody had a good laugh. When we got to the beach, the weather wasn't great, so we stayed inside most of the time, eating, drinking and playing games. I beat everybody at Monopoly. While I was walking down the beach, I bumped into another military lookout post, like I had seen in Gyeongju. I held up my camera and used my best Konglish to ask the bored looking soldiers if it was okay to take pictures there. They said "okay", stood up straight and struck serious looking poses while I snapped a picture or two. Everybody played more games, sat around and ate more. We didn't get back to Taejeon until about 11:00 on Sunday, and I was pretty glad when we did.
1/20/05 I wish...
A lot of times, class seems the same day after day, especially with the little kids. We play games, practice new words, I try to keep the students from tearing down the school. Every once and a while, though, something wakes me up and makes me think a little.
Today, with a group of quite bright and precocious eight to ten year old boys we read a story about a wishing well, so I asked everybody what they would wish for if they had a wishing well. The first boy wanted a BMW, the second wished he could fly, the third wanted a laser gun, and the fourth said "I wish I could not be in the Army." Every man in Korea is compelled to serve in the armed forces when they are around eighteen. It's not a temporary measure, like past military drafts in the US, but rather a permanent response to the ongoing and well founded mistrust of the million man army up north. I asked the student to tell me more about it, trying not to interject any of my own opinions about the military and conscription, which are touchy subjects around here. He told me "We're not at war now, but bad people could come and I could get shot." He acted out getting shot, the class cracked up, and the discussion was pretty much over. Back to work, but I was still thinking. Compulsory service is an unpleasant reality here. I knew that before. I was really surprised, though, to see a boy that young thinking about it. He was ready to use his only wish to get out of it. Maybe I would too, but given the differences between here and home I just wonder what I might do and how I might feel if I grew up here and found myself in the same situation.
1/17/05 Think like Mr. Friendly
The Love and Peace English Academy has a mascot. He is a colorful, gingerbread man looking fellow named Mr. Friendly. It's one of those cases where words fail, but, happily, you can see for yourself.
1/16/05 Blizzard Entertainment owns Korea
I heard before I came here that online video games are quite popular. I didn't have any idea how much so. Online games enjoy almost the same status as professional sports do at home. There are two tv stations on my cable that show live video game competitions twenty-four hours a day. One of them is dedicated exclusively to Starcraft, a realtime strategy game, which I think is the most popular. There are tournaments where young men in sci-fi looking white vinyl jackets play against one another for large cash prizes. High-speed internet is more widespread in South Korea than elsewhere, and I think this gives the gaming industry a boost. I'm told that Korea has the highest internet bandwidth per capita in the world. I couldn't tell you for sure. PC rooms (I'm sitting in one right now) are a popular place for young people to hang out and play video games for hours. It's a little funny to see so many teenagers and college students sitting in one place, basically not talking to each other. It costs about a dollar an hour and they're open twenty four hours a day. Cheaper than a hotel room, if you happen to be waiting for a bus in the middle of the night.
1/12/05 I'm older all of a sudden
Well, not really. In Korea, a person's age is calculated differently than in the West. According to my understanding, it works like this: You're one year old the moment you're born and your age changes on New Year's Day. It's like everybody's birthday. People who are born in the same year are considered to be the same age, regardless of their respective birthdays. Age is a big deal here. I was a little surprised to find out that I'm twenty-five now instead of twenty-three. Likewise, my students were confounded when I tried to tell them I'm twenty-three, since around here that is barely old enough to have graduated from university, let alone be their teacher.
12/29/04-1/2/05 Gyeongju
I had a few days off of work for the new year, so I headed to south and east to the town of Gyeongju, a small historic city on the coast north of Pusan, for my first proper vacation in Korea. Even though Gyeongju seems like the kind of place that might draw a lot of tourists, I felt pretty conspicuous most of the time. Usually in Taejeon I don't get totally stared at by children on the street, but here sometimes I did.
Gyeongju was once the capital city of the Shilla Kingdom and is full of temples, tombs, and artifacts. The first day, Michelle and I rented bikes and peddled around to as many of the attractions as we could manage. I've been a couch potato lately, and after a few hours, I was pretty exhausted. We didn't see everything, but I especially enjoyed Anapji Pond and the National Museum. Anapji is a thirteen-hundred or so year old artificial pond and complex of buildings constructed by King Munmu of the Shilla Dynasty. I'm told that it has been partially reconstructed in the original style, but parts remain buried, awaiting additional excavation. The national museum in Gyeongju is a treat if you dig ancient ceramics and sculpture. It's the sort of place I could spend days and days looking at, but it was cerainly worth the admission price of \400 (<$0.40). Oh, and I wouldn't want to forget the Gyeongju bread. It's a bit like a doughnut filled with sweetened red bean paste, and as you might guess from the name, a specialty of this region. Pretty tasty with a cup of coffee.
On New Year's Eve, I traveled an hour outside of Gyeongju to look at the underwater tomb of King Munmu (the fellow that built Anapji Pond). The cab ride there was a little harrowing, since the cab driver was weaving in and out of oncoming traffic on the steep mountain roads in order to pass up slower vehicles in front of us. It was also pretty pricey, since Michelle and I had no idea that our destination was so far away. It was immediately worth it when we arrived, though. The place made me really happy. The rocky coast seemed to drop right out of the nearby mountains and the surf was quite intense on the pebble beach. It was also freezing. The tomb can be seen offshore, but, I think, not visited without risking death in the crashing waves. We walked down the beach and climbed on the rocks a little. Every crevice was full of melted wax and incense, and to my surprise, there were more than a few pig heads scattered on the beach. Someone later explained that these things were used in prayer, by Buddhists and (in the case of the pig heads) followers of a traditional Korean religion which he had trouble describing to me. A half mile or so down the beach, I guess I climbed on the wrong rock, because a group of soldiers yelled down from their lookout tower for me to get down and stop taking pictures. I figured this was as good a time as any to turn back.
There were preparations underway for a New Year celebration and we decided to stay for the festivities. We had dinner at a mom and pop Korean restaurant, where we were told more than asked what we would be having for dinner. Noodle soup with clams, it turned out was quite tasty. Bus after bus of people arrived and soon the tiny beach town was overrun. People in traditional outfits were dancing and playing drums, folks were starting fires on the beach and shooting fireworks with reckless abandon. I watched the former and joined in on the latter. The people around were really very warm and generous, and constantly offering fish-on-a-stick, coffee, beer and other goodies. Michelle and I were literally the only foreigners in town, I think. We bumped into a fellow who spoke English quite well and, at the end of the night, drove us back to our hotel in Gyeongju. He explained that he had a daughter attending university in California and hoped that someone was watching out for her, like he was for us. I didn't mention that I hoped that his daughter wasn't taking rides from strangers in my country.
We stopped in Pusan on New Year's Day, but were pretty tired out and had a mostly unremarkable time hanging out with some Canadians we bumped into in the bar. I did meet a fellow from North Carolina, though, and when I told him I'm from Asheville he gave me a big hug.
I took a few pictures [1] [2], and I'll have them up as soon as they are formatted for the web.
12/25/04
Well, it's Christmas morning. It doesn't seem like it. It's not really a holiday here. Construction crews are working (starting very early in the morning), the PC room is crowded, it's really business as usual. I'm getting together with some other foreigners tonight for a little celebration. The phone in my apartment isn't working, and I'm pretty irritated about that. This is the first time I really feel bothered by the fact that I need help to do even basic things here, on account of my not speaking Korean. Anyway, I'm gonna try and call home from my friend's house. Yesterday, we had lots of Christmas activities at school. It was pretty cute. I'll try and get some pictures up when I get a chance.
12/18/04-12/19/04 Korean etiquette for beginners
At the dog kennel, I was shown, and expressed partially genuine delight at, an impressive number of Yorkshire Terriers belonging to Eric. Apparently, these are champion show dogs. He is very proud. After a while Jane's sister, Mi Ki, arrived with some coworkers, and we all went out for a traditional Korean dinner.
There were maybe twelve of us arranged around a low table sitting on pillows on the floor. I sat down on my knees and it caused an uproar. Mi Ki, who speaks English quite well, said, "Are you comfortable sitting like that?", in a way that meant, "Don't sit like that." I looked around and sat Indian-style like the other men were. I found out later, that the way I was sitting is the position in which children sit when they are being punished. Dinner consisted of rice, soup, meat, and at least a dozen side dishes served in small dishes around the table. When my hosts observed my difficulty using Korean chopsticks, which are metal and flat, they had a good chuckle and brought me some Chinese-style wooden chopsticks. The soju started flowing, and soon, I have to confess, I wasn't too nimble with these either.
The big joke of the evening was that we were having an international meeting, because there was a Japanese man and an American at the table. I had a good time. Everyone was welcoming and curious about me. I felt a little like I was on display for the directors' friends and business aquaintances. With a frequency that was well beyond moderation, someone at the table would say, "Matthew, cheers" and we would drink another soju. I learned that when I pour or accept a drink from an older person, it's polite to use both hands or to support one arm with the other as a sign of respect. I was the youngest person at the table, so I did this a lot. This is the custom, as I understand it, for giving or recieving any object, but especially important things like money, business documents, and booze.
The evening went on like this for several hours, with more and more food and more and more soju being delivered constantly, until about half of us ended up staying the night in a nearby hotel. In the morning, my headache was a source of great amusement. Mi Ki's boss, the oldest man in the group said to me, "You had four or three bottles of soju, what do you think?", then patted me on the back and said "Good guy!" I think I made a pretty good impression on everybody, but who knows.
12/17/04 We don't speak English, sorry.
So, I moved into a new apartment today. It's a little bigger and nicer than the last one. My boss, Eric, and a friend of his showed up to help me move things. Korean manners being what they are, they thought nothing of walking into my house with lit cigarettes, but scrupulously removed their shoes before entering, even when they were carrying heavy pieces of furniture. It was nice of them to help. My new place is less than a block from the old, but I wouldn't have liked to carry everything myself.
After I was moved in my boss said, "We go to dinner", and we walked down the street to meet the other school director at a small restaurant. As we sat down she said "We don't speak English, sorry." It was a nice enough dinner, though. We cooked veggies and meat on a little charcoal grill in the middle of our table and ate a variety of side dishes. I learned the Korean names for some of them. Some are still a mystery to me. Jane, the better English speaker of the two, asked me questions about myself and how things were going in Korea. She occasionally called her sister on her cell-phone to get her to translate something. While we were conversing in this limited and sporadic fashion, I got roped into visiting their dog kennel the next day.
12/13/04 Gyeryong-San
So, I finally managed to get out of the city for a while. It turns out
that a 1300 won ($1.20) bus ride will get me to the nearby National
Park of Gyeryong-San. On our weekend off, I visited with a couple of
friends. The place is beautiful. In the valley between some rugged
looking mountains is a buddhist temple peopled by shaven headed nuns.
The nuns bustle around in robes amidst the tourists and visitors, who
are variously decked out in either brand new hiking clothes or high
heels and skirts. The temple was closed to the public on this
particular day, but I gather that sometimes you can walk around and
look at certain sections of it. The trail up the mountain is rocky and
steep, downright treacherous at points. Despite this, it was
surprisingly crowded until sunset. After the sun went down, it got cold
quite quickly, and we stopped at an overlook to check out the waterfall
before turning back. It isn't especially impressive this time of year,
since it doesn't rain much in winter and it was almost totally dry. It
made me a little homesick stomping around the rocks and rivers. As we
walked back to the bus stop, the nuns started wailing away on some
enormous drums and gongs. It seemed like the kind of rythm that might
really help a person trance out during meditation. Of course, I took a
couple of pictures of this excursion.
12/05/04 The pollution makes a pretty sunset
Today the whole school staff (all five of us) crowded into the
director's SUV and drove to Seoul on a Saturday morning for the
International English Expo. It was a little like a family going on
vacation. It seemed like we drove about fifteen miles an hour much of
the way, due to traffic. The conference center is attached to a
large shopping mall, and when we got there, Mr. Choy treated us all to
lunch at the food court. I've never had squid as fast food before.
The Expo itself was pretty crazy. There were booths promoting summer
camps, exchange programs, employment opportunities and, of primary
interest to my school's director, new lines of textbooks and
supplementary materials. I, along with the other foreign teacher,
was supposed to evaluate these materials and report back. After one
week on the job, I didn't have a lot of suggestions, but whatever. We
did get some cool new reading material for the students. Some
poor sucker English teachers, who worked for the larger corporate
schools, were having their lessons displayed live on the jumbo-tron.
After our work responsibilities were taken care of, my co-worker,
Michelle, and I went out with a friend of hers to explore our
entertainment options. After getting lost on the subway, in the mall,
and on the train station we managed to find our way to Sinchon where we
hung out at a few of the pubs frequented by other foreigners. It was a
nice evening. I found everyone to be friendly and welcoming. It seems
like maybe there's a sort of instant community amongst people who are
all so far from home. Anyway, when I mentioned that I had just
arrived in Korea, everyone agreed that things will only improve from
here on in. I even bumped into a fellow from Grinnell that used to come
to Knox College for swim meets.
Sunday morning, we visited Itaewon, to browse the shops and look for
Christmas gifts. Itaewon, because of its proximity to a US military
base in Seoul, is the closest thing you'll find to an American
neighborhood in Korea. The vendors cater to the large foreign
population in this district, and seem to do a brisk business in tacky
junk, clothing, souveniers, and other small items. I was pleased to
note that unlike other shops I've visited, there seemed to be no
shortage here of shoes and shirts in sizes I could wear. I found a few
cool knick-knacks, so there's a chance that some of my friends and
family will not just be recieving gift-wrapped jars of kimchi for
Christmas.
12/03/04 Study, Study, Study
Today the students had their big end of grade test in regular school.
They were all a little worn out and crabby.
I don't blame them, though. The test is five hours long, and even after
that they still have to come to english school.
This got me thinking, and I asked one of the older students about her
daily schedule. She said regular school is from
8:00 to 3:00, free time is from 3:00 to 5:00, Englilsh school from 5:00
to 7:00 and she studies from 7:00 to 12:00.
That's a pretty long day. I asked another boy about his schedule, and
he said he plays video games all night after English school.
12/01/04 The bank.
Today I opened a bank account, with the help of a Korean coworker and
my phone got turned on. I'm starting to get set up like a real person.
Also, I found the post office, so maybe I'll send some letters.
11/29/04 Classes start.
I told you they don't waste any time around here. I began teaching
today, on my third day in the country. It wasn't bad, though. One of
the other teachers filled me in on the student's basic levels and the
kids got me up to speed on the rest. We are provided with fairly good
supplemental materials like tapes and activity suggestions,
so it wasn't too hard to put together a lesson at the last minute. It
will definately be better once I know the
students better and can put together classes that are more tailored to
their individual goals and levels.
I teach six forty-five minute periods on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays and four on Tuesday and Thursday. Eleven per week are private
lessons and fifteen are classes. No class is larger than five
students, which is great. This type of school is very different from
any that I've seen before. It reminds me a bit of working at computer
camp. Students do get grades, but English school is more of an
afterschool activity
than a proper school. Korean kids,
after their regular school day, attend various activities and lessons,
such as music, martial-arts, English, dance, etc.
for several hours and get home at seven or eight p.m. Today, one of my
students came to class fresh from his martial arts class with a Samurai
sword in his belt. It doesn't seem like that would go over well in an
American school.
11/27/04 Settling In.
I met with the head teacher today to learn about my classes and
curricula. They really don't waste any time around here. She mostly
told me to ask the other American teachers or just wing it.
I get the impression that I have a lot of leeway with how I conduct
classes, as long as I follow the basic schedule
set forth by the folks that publish our textbooks. The main purpose of
the adherance to this schedule seems to be
to complete the printed materials in the allotted time, but not move so
fast that the school has to buy new materials
before they planned on doing so.
Anyway, my apartment is pretty nice. It's cozy and small, equipped
with
everything I need. In addition to my bedroom
I have a kitchen with a two-burner range a bathroom, a tiny sunroom,
and even a washing machine. I'm not sure how to work the washer, as it
is labled in Korean. I have a Daewoo TV, which is as big as my
refrigerator, and is a dominating presence in the room. I took some pictures of the place, so you can see what
I mean. My favorite
part is the heater, which is an under-the-floor-tiles sort of thing,
which, keeps my feet nice and warm. It turns out this is a normal
fixture in most Korean homes. One thing I don't like is my shower,
which is really
just part of my sink. The showerhead is attached by a long flexible
cord to the sink and you just have to hose yourself down with it in the
middle of the bathroom. The water goes down a drain in the
tiled floor.
Maybe I'll come to love it, but so far, I'm not crazy about this.
11/25/04-11/26/04 Flying.
Well, I left home for the airport at 5:30 a.m., and arrived in Seoul
at
5:20 p.m. the following day. The flight
was something surreal. When I boarded the plane in Atlanta, there was a
tiny, ancient Korea lady forcing bananas
on anyone who walked by her. As we waited on the runway, the airplane
speakers were playing, no kidding, "Pomp and Circumstance". I couldn't
tell you why. In flight, I watched Spiderman 2 (in English, subtitled
in Korean Japanese) and dozed off a little. The Korean Air food was
alright. I had the choice of Korean-style fish or Western-style beef. I
opted
for fish and found it to be raw, served on a bed of lettuce along with
sticky rice and hot pepper paste. It was pretty tasty, but I didn't get
any kimchi.
Oh, well. I'll probably get my fill of that soon enough. When I asked
for a beer, I was served a Korean-labled
Budweiser. I guess you can't get away from the stuff
In Seoul, I was met at customs and put on a bus for Taejeon. The bus
driver was aware of my presence and cluelessness and so he grunted and
pointed when it was time for me to get off. I met my boss at the bus
stop,
looking terrible and probably smelling worse. After introductions to
the staff, he dropped me off at my apartment
at about 10:30 p.m. What a long day. I passed out without further
delay.