Marisa's blog
Yesterday I completed my last day of vacation school, at least vacation school at my school. We had a good final class yesterday. I'd been having them write every morning about various topics and for our final class I had them compare and contrast American high schools to Korean ones. This wasn't an entirely fair question since they were basing their ideas of American high schools on High School Musical and Step Up, the two movies we watched in class. But all the students seemed to be in agreement that they would prefer to go to school in America because the students have more freedom. They don't have to wear uniforms, and they have free time to do things besides study. Several students wrote woeful tales of studying all day and night so they could go to college. One girl expressed the one difficulty of going to school in America to be that she didn't have enough clothes. The other day we had a debate about whether or not Korea was the best place to live. After a thrilling debate by my divided class I gave them a few minutes to come up with the best reason to defend their side. The Pro side Korea was the best place to live becauuse their ancestors had died for the country. The Con side said that students in Korea don't have any free time because when school is over they have to go to the academy and study all night. In any case, there seems to be some resentment amongst the students about all the studying they have to do. And I don't blame them. It just encourages me to spend all my class time doing fun things, since they seem to have the boring things covered.
We had a scavenger hunt around the school as our last activity, which seemed to be a big hit despite the fact that it was rather chaotic and several of the clues mysteriously went missing. They had no idea what to do because I guess they don't have scavenger hunts in Korea. And instead of following the clues, several groups would see a clue and grab it. Then they would show up at my desk claiming to be done. So I would ask how many clues they had. "We have three clues!" "Well," I would say, "You are supposed to have 14, so go look again." But everyone had a fun time running around and then we had pizza, so the day was a success.
Next week we have another English camp that includes all the best English students in Gunsan. Jordan and I will be teaching an elementary class together. Since we've never taught elementary students before and don't know what ages these kids will be, it should be an interesting time.
Vacation school season is upon us. I've taught three days and found them to be quite enjoyable. It's quite a bit different than my regular routine since I have 20 students for four hours everyday for ten days. It's definitely nice to see the students long enough to learn who they are, and it's an even bigger bonus because only the really good students get the privilege to come to vacation school. And there is no boring textbook reading since I planned the class. Of course this means that I had to spend lots of time making plans since all the instruction I had was "there will be vacation school." So we do many amusing things like playing games, writing stories, and watching High School Musical (tomorrow Step Up!). Despite all the fun games I have tried to get my students to play, their favorite thing to do seems to be to write stories. I give them prompts, or certain words they have to use and then let them write stories with a few friends. Needless to say the results are always amusing, particularly when one group drew my name out of the basket of words. Sacrificing myself for the enjoyment of the class is how I looked at it. On the upside I got to be a famous singer in Canada. On the downside one of the students in class was also written into the story as a famous singer who loved me, but alas only received kicks from the woman he loved. Everyone has a good time and the students are all well behaved and interested, so the time goes by pretty fast (especially when we play Scattergories and I give out candy).
In fact word of my stellar teaching skills has spread and today I had a guest Korean teacher in to observe me and my teaching. I feel quite guilty when this happens because I rarely have more than a small plan of what I'm going to be doing and don't often feel like it's that useful. But I've sure impressed Ms Park, whose friend came all the way from Jeonju (the capital of our illustrious province) to watch me work my magic. And believe me, there is magic.
And so, without pomp or even realization by me, my first semester in Korea has ended. I thought I had one more class today, but as I got up to go Miss Kim informed me that there is no fifth class. What the rest of the school is doing I don't know, I will watch some Veronica Mars for a few hours before the weekend actually starts and I can leave. We have three days of school next week too, although as far as I can tell I won't be doing anything but watching more tv shows and doing some final preparation for my vacation school which starts a week from today (also known as the day after Christmas). I have most of my plans done though, as I hurried through them this week because I thought I'd be teaching next week. Now I just have lots of free time.
My Sauter uncles, aunts and cousins should be excited to know that they will be part of an activity in my vacation school where the students will have to reconstruct my family tree from clues I give them. Many other thrilling things are planned like playing Scattergories and watching High School Musical.
This week involved going to to class and watching the Grinch many times. I played Frosty in my last class and they were the only ones who did not stare quietly at the tv. The Grinch put my students in a spellbound daze, Frosty made them turn to their neighbor and yell loudly. I don't know if it was the movie or the class that was the dud, all I know is that I would rather watch The Grinch 5 million times than watch Frosty twice.
At some point there was talk of more snow this weekend. It seems fairly warm at the moment, although you never know what will blow in from China, or wherever our weather comes from. Even if it did snow this weekend, it would likely melt before Christmas actually arrives.
The school is unusually quiet. Maybe today was a half day and all the students have left. Many of the teachers seems to be missing as well. There's not much to do in Korea but wonder what is going on and hope that at some magical moment in the future it becomes clear. Or watch Veronica Mars.
Despite, or perhaps because of, my week requiring me to do absolutely nothing, it seems to have been one of the more stressful ones since coming to Korea. Mostly because at one point I thought my principal was going to take away all my vacation time and make me teach vacation school the whole time. This however was skillfully averted by Ms Park, who also did not want to come in on her vacation to teach, and so I am back to having many weeks of vacation. Apparently the crisis ended when she was able to make the principal laugh. Whether he was laughing himself thinking I should teach nine weeks of vacation school, or if Ms Park told a funny joke, I shall never know. But I am very grateful for her skills in getting me out of lots of work. I guess the principal still expects me to "better myself" like the other teachers do during the holiday. Ms Park goes to the library to study English. I shall work very hard to practice my English at home with Jordan. Perhaps I will watch some movies for extra practice.
Aside from the mini-crisis with the principal, the week consisted mostly of my lunching out with the ladies. On Tuesday I went out with the three women in my conversation class. They took me to a traditional Korean restaurant where they brought us about 500 mini plates of food. I see now why the Koreans kept talking about our dishwasher when we moved in, there are so many dishes I can't comprehend cleaning them. The conversation at this lunch focused mainly on when I would be having babies (they were shocked when I said it would be at least five years, I wonder what they would have done if I had said never) and what chores Jordan does. The women here seem to have heard that Western men do things around the house and always ask me what Jordan does. I then give them an impressive list of things, while they oooh and tell me he is very good (and handsome!). After lunch we went to the cinema to see the new James Bond, which was well received, although one of the women prefers Pierce Brosnan.
Yesterday I was invited to a housewarming party. Ms Park was very excited to use the word 'housewarming' because we had recently been discussing it. The party started at another traditional restaurant in the country that is actually owned by one of the teachers at my school. There were about 20 women who were invited, and I learned that the women who moved was treating us all to lunch. The restaurant was very cute, although it smelled bad because they eat this one fermented bean that smells terrible. I always cringe when we have it for lunch because the whole cafeteria smells bad. I eat really fast on these days. Luckily, we ate in a side room which didn't smell like smelly fermented bean. We had a big pot on the table with lots of vegetables in it which they turned into soup. I ate a mushroom which was not tasty. I ate some tofu which was. We then went back to town to view the new apartment. Everyone was very impressed by this "luxury" apartment and we walked around oohing and ahhing. After some fruit and tea it was time to go home.
Today I went to lunch with all the English teachers at the school, four of whom I teach with and one who only teachers third grade so I don't know her. We went to a so called "Western" restaurant, which means we got to eat with a fork. I was glad the food was at least a little western since my ability to eat Korean food is rapidly decreasing the more I eat it. These ladies wanted to know about Jordan's cooking skills, and Ms Park told me I should talk lots so they could practice their listening skills. This conversation ended with Ms Park telling the other ladies my life story in Korean. Good times. In all I've decided I like going to Korean parties because I'm not actually expected to be social. I can just sit there and smile.
It's going to be rough next week when I have to go back to teaching and can't sit around knitting hats, making Christmas tree ornaments and going out to lunch. I've scheduled a viewing of "The Grinch" in all 18 of my classes. We'll see how it goes. I might have to switch to Frosty half way through.
I had a request for the blog title, and it is true in the sense that Gunsan and the surrounding area are considered the breadbowl of Korea. Although if you drive five minutes from the city you will find either a mountain or the ocean, and there aren't more pigs than people. There are just a lot of people.
I must say that I had a productive Friday. I got to school, in the snow, and enjoyed the snow out the window while I painted my nails. Then I enjoyed the snow while I watched some TV on my computer. Then I enjoyed the snow while I knitted a hat and listened to an audio book on my iPod. Then I continued to enjoy the snow while I chatted with Laura Gibbons my roommate. Then I got to enjoy both the chat and the snow while I ate a whole sweet potato, freshly cooked who knows where and handed to me in a plastic bag. Now I am enjoying the snow while typing this blog post and will likely enjoy the snow while I finish a TV show and then enjoy it as I walk in its midst to the bus stop.
Next week will likely be more of the same, although I can't say for sure about the snow, or the sweet potato (I never realized that sweet potatoes are in fact sweet), and likely my nails will not need to be painted until at least the end of the week.
It sure is rough being an English teacher in Korea.
Today I realized that I knew a Korean word. I was in class with Miss Doo having big excitement with some listen and repeat exercises when I heard her say, "chumbi." "Chumbi" I think to myself, I know that word, and I am transported to the days when I was in karate. A vague memory floats back to me of how all the words we used were Korean, and "chumbi" is the only one I still remember. And I'm glad to say that my American karate teachers did not lie to me, and it does mean exactly what they said: ready. (Erica used to be a superstar at chumbi, be sure to ask her to demonstrate next time you see her.)
The school is in a frenzy getting ready for exams next week. This means for me that while everyone else is working really hard and getting stressed, I am sitting around with nothing to do. They don't really test the kids on what I do, I'm just here for entertainment. So when things are serious, like at exam time, I just sit at my desk and play computer Mah Jong. My Thursday and Friday classes have been canceled, since the kids have to prepare for next week's tests, so I'm looking at an empty week before a week half days. I knew I always liked exams. The only bummer is that my desk is right in the main doorway of the main office, so everyone and their brother walks by and checks out what I'm up to (playing Mah Jong, watching "How I Met Your Mother" or something else equally useless, listening to audio books on the iPod, typing up blog entries (which I tell myself looks useful because at least I'm typing something)). (I can put a parenthesis in a parenthesis because my high school English teacher told me that once you learn to write, you can break all the rules, so I like to think that at some point I reached the pinnacle and can now do whatever I want.) And the students seems to think that my space is their space and stick their faces right up to my screen to see what I'm up to. So I've had to stop watching "Dawson's Creek" at school because sometimes it's a little sketchy.
After exams we have about a week and half of school. I asked Ms Park what we do with this time, since the semester is kind of over as the kids will have had their final exams, and she said that we will teach them things, but with a worried look on her face said, "sometimes they are hard to control." "Really?" I say with mock disbelief, and think to myself, my mom has a certain phrase she uses in a situation like this, but I have not progressed enough to use it, and if I did I would get an email from my Dad saying it wasn't appropriate. So I'll just think it to myself and you can wonder on your own about the mystery phrase.
On a side note, the students here a geniuses. They can spell 'hundred.' I couldn't spell hundred until I went to college. And Miss Doo can spell exercise. I didn't learn that one until class today.
Since Erica was spectacular enough to actually look up the phrase, "who cut the cheese" we now have indisputable proof that the idiom is in fact all American and not just something from the Midwest, since it took center stage in this Superbowl commercial. And even if we don't know what "who cut the cheese" means, we know that Superbowl commercials are the stuff.
Yesterday, Jordan and I had the pleasure of being invited by my co-teacher Ms Park to her home in Jeonju. We met her and her carpool at my school around 12:30 (since all the Korean have school on Saturday for some reason, apparently they just have clubs on Saturday). Jeonju is about an hour drive from Gunsan and there are three teachers, including Ms Park, who share the commute everyday. We got dropped off at Ms Park's new apartment (very large) and then left with her daughter for lunch. Her daughter is currently in the midst of applying to Seoul National University (the Harvard of Korea) and if she gets in, Ms Park is going to have a big party. I have it on good authority that the daughter (her name was never disclosed) is very smart, always at the top of her class, so I guess she has a good shot.
We went to lunch in the downtown at a Vietnamese restaurant. At first we thought she was taking us to a "vitamin house," but eventually figured out that she meant Vietnamese. I guess foreigners like Vietnamese food (we like it quite a lot) so she took us there. Jeonju is about twice the size of Gunsan, and so has luxuries like Vietnamese food. We had some very tasty noodles and dim sum (although dim sum is Chinese....) and then took a little walk around the downtown. We have become very curious since visiting Matthew and now Jeonju to find our downtown because everywhere we have visited has had very nice pedestrian only shopping districts with lots of exciting things. So one of these days we must venture out and see if we can find the Gunsan downtown.
The day was completely freezing despite having started out as a warm day, so we hustled through our next tour of the traditional village in Jeonju. It was a very cute place with lots of traditional houses filled with shops, restaurants and museums, as well as some really old buildings that were once the spiritual capital of the Joseon dynasty. The first king of this dynasty came from Jeonju, so it has a bit of fame. It was really cold though, so we hurried back after a little tour to Ms Park's house.
She had just moved apartments about a week ago, but her home looked remarkably organized, and she gave us a pleased tour of her very large apartment. It makes our apartment look like tiny place. I also saw the kimchi fridge, where the family keeps their year's supply of kimchi. Apparently all Koreans have a kimchi fridge, I don't know where ours is, and since it's kimchi making time, they are all full to bursting. At dinner we were able to taste both fresh kimchi and fermented kimchi made by Ms Park's mother, which was much better than the stuff we're served at school. Apparently over 20 seasonings go into the kimchi when it's being prepared, so there's a big range in taste. Since Jordan liked the kimchi so much, we were sent home with a large quantity of our own to put in our normal fridge, since we don't have a kimchi fridge. The phenomena of kimchi is quite amazing. Who would think that there would be a whole race of people completely addicted to eating at every single meal spicy, fermented cabbage. If you told me I had to eat spicy, fermented cabbage at every meal for the rest of my life I would think it was a severe punishment. But to the Koreans, a day without kimchi is like a day without air, unthinkable.
Ms Park had determined that she would teach me how to cook like a Korean, so I helped her with dinner. Although many of the things seemed to have been premade by her mother and we just dumped them into a pot. So, I guess I have to convince my mom to come over and start making things so that I can cook like a Korean. We made a tasty chicken stew, and some beef bulgogi (which I think is a mushroom sauce). I also made a salad and we roasted some hot dogs (which I think were just there for me and Jordan, but there was so much food we could hardly eat it). The highlights of the dinner were probably either when I started flinging food around with my chopsticks (despite my normal ability to eat like a normal person with them) or when Jordan thought the teapot full of Soju (watered down vodka) was water. Jordan also proved his manliness to everyone at the table by eating the hot peppers that Mr Park was eating (we call him Mr Park because he was never introduced to us beyond being Ms Park's husband, and I don't actually think women change their name upon marriage here, but for want of something to call him we call him Mr Park). After eating the first spicy pepper, Ms Park had to find the even hotter peppers in the freezer, to give Jordan the ultimate test. Luckily for me, I think being a girl keeps me from having to partake in such manly contests, as no one but Jordan thought I should taste the pepper. And since Jordan puts on such a good show with his pepper eating, I didn't want to ruin it by having a panic when I ate one.
Ms Park had invited over her English teacher friend as well, so we passed a very pleasant evening discussing many different things, from Michael Jackson and Obama, to the phrase "who cut the cheese" (which apparently Jordan has never heard, please tell him this is weird). All the English teachers here like talking to us because we are very easy to understand (thanks to our Midwest upbringing I always tell them) unlike the newscasters on CNN whom they can't understand. It was a very nice, relaxing evening, aside from my flying food, and Ms Park has determined that next time we come we will spend the night in her extra bedroom and we will teach her to make pizza.
This is a secret video that Jordan took of the cooking excitement while loafing on the couch.
To see more picture from the trip, visit the album at flickr.
My students this week were excited and thrilled to study "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. This made for much amusement all around, whether from the enthusiastic whoops from the pop singer (imitated by the more daring in the class) or for me when I asked "who is the man in the mirror?" and received answers such as, "Michael Jackson!" or "poor people!" ("when you look in the mirror, do you see poor people?") When I was planning this lesson I didn't stop and spend much time on the choice of song, not fully realizing at the time that I would have to listen to the song about 300 times this week. The decision came mostly from a song that related to "how to change the world" and since everyone here knows Michael Jackson, I figured this was a good bonus (I don't think here in Korea they know much about his crazy side). Luckily for me, I have actually grown more fond of the song as I've listened to it. I hope to be so lucky next time I pick a song, as fill in the blank lyrics seems to be a big hit with the students. Even when the computer is broken and I must recite the lyrics, the class is still mesmerized into silence (in fact they are quieter when I read than when we listen). Perhaps I have a voice like my Intro to Bible prof, who no matter what he was talking about always put me to sleep instantly. I'm convinced it was the tone and cadence of his speaking, and the fact that is was at 8 in the morning. In any case, I felt a bit like the musician who tamed the wild beast when I read aloud, as the previously rowdy, obnoxious class became so quiet you could hear a pin drop (aside from my recitation).
The only other excitement of my week has been deciding that Gunsan must be the aberration of Korea because I believe we only have nice old people here. We have heard from various sources that the old women in Korea are something to be feared and avoided. Apparently they have no thought for the people around them and are quite ruthless when it comes to standing in line, walking on the street, or doing just about anything else. This being said, I have not experienced any of this mean old lady business. In fact I have only experienced very nice old ladies on the bus. One I met was quite worried that I get a seat on the bus and kept tugging on my shirt until I obliged and sat in a recently opened seat. And yesterday as I was standing at the bus stop in a little drizzle with only my raincoat, an old lady came up and shared her umbrella with me as we waited for the bus. There was also an old man on the bus who was determined to give me his seat, despite my deferrence (the buses in Korea are quite wild and it's all I can do to keep my balance as the bus jerks around, and I didn't want to be responsible for an old man falling over), he prevailed (and I think was more steady on his feet than I am) and proceeded to have a conversation with me in English. I'm not sure if a conversation is a good trade for a seat on the bus, but we both seemed pleased at the arrangement, so I guess in this case everyone was a winner. So I sit in wait of meeting my first mean old lady, but strongly believe that Gunsan is the land of nice old people.
When living in Korea (or really anywhere, if we're going to be honest) one comes across many absurdities in day to day life. Here are the ones I experienced today.
So we're not going to dwell too much on this because I'm in the middle of dealing with it (so is Jordan) and it's best not to think too hard about it. But the province we are in has created a contest for all the foreign English teachers. We are supposed to create a star lesson plan, video it, and send it in to a panel who might award us about $500 (although it's not clear if we get the money, or the school, I'm guessing it's not likely to be us). So, my co-teacher Ms Park says my Halloween lesson was a good one, why don't I do that. I type it up, making it look much fancier than it is and then this morning we video it in class (keep in mind the class has already had this class, back when it was actually Halloween). So we watch all the same video clips, do the same crossword puzzle and then, to top it all off, I give them fake homework (because the directions are that I assign homework, but in actuality I do not assign homework). I did draw a nice princess on the board, though. We finished a bit early (I wonder why, could it be that everyone is bored out of their minds and knows the answers?) so I improvised, quite well I might add, about Thanksgiving (since it's next week, unlike Halloween which was a month ago).
So we finish the class, the bell rings, and I think Hallelujah! no more of that nonsense (unless by some strange act of God my lesson enters the semifinals and then we have to do it again in front of judges), but then Ms Park comes and says, "I think we will have to do it again, the camera wasn't working." I smile, everyone knows I am very diplomatic, and say, "sure, no problem, I love this lesson, let's do it everyday forever." I was somewhat prepared for this eventuality because the same thing happened to Jordan, but I think to myself, at least we'll be taping again with a different class so it's not so boring that the students will likely jump out the window. But later I discover, for reasons unknown to me, we are filming with the same class on the same day during last period (to happen in about an hour). And then I begin to suspect that the camera was working fine, Ms Park just didn't like my ad lib about Thanksgiving (the only part during which the students acknowledged my presence) because she came down and gave me some pointers. "Talk slowly, make it go longer until the bell rings." Sure, right after I jump out the window with the students.
In the midst of this drama I've also been trying to discover the dates for my winter break. I knew the school was on vacation from December 25 until February 2, but sometime in there I am supposed to have vacation school. When exactly no one seems to know, although we're trying to make plans so I go and ask Ms Park if she can please find out so I can buy a ferry ticket to Japan. In the course of this discussion I discover that when we come back to school on February 2 we only have school for one week and then we have "spring vacation" which is the rest of February. At this knew piece of knowledge I stare at Ms Park like she has three heads and try and contemplate what good one week in the middle of a two month vacation could possibly do. I still don't know, it boggles the mind.
Although perhaps the most absurd part of the day was when I asked Jordan if absurd started with a 'U' or an 'O.' Why anyone thinks we should all learn English is beyond me.
Yesterday afternoon everyone was really excited about the few snow flakes that fell from the sky. But this morning we were shocked to wake up to about 6 inches of snow. And it kept snowing all day. Apparently the snow only lasts for a few days, so we'll see what happens. click here to see more photos
So I thought I might run you all through a typical day in my life. Despite today being my slacker day, as well as juice day, I think it bears enough resemblance to regular life to warrant the title "a day in the life."
Generally I wake up at 6:40 am. I'm supposed to be at school at 8:10. Why I'm supposed to be there at this time is a mystery to me. School doesn't start until 8:50 and I don't really have a whole lot to do before school. Every other English teacher I know (including all the teachers at Jordan's two schools) don't have to be at school until 8:30. And even when I come "late" at 8:20 or so, most of the teachers aren't here. I'm starting to suspect that Ms Park comes at 8:10 and for some reason thinks I should to. I have plans to casually come later and later every day.
After breakfast of cinnamon toast and PG tips (the only tea I like, carried to Korea all the way from England in a giant box), I get on the bus at 7:37. I then sit on the bus for about 40 minutes. I take this bus, not because it' fast (there are much faster ones) but because it takes me right from my door to the school door (although it took me several weeks to realize that the bus went down the school street and I used to walk a few blocks). And it's the bus they told me take and gets me to school late; I figure it's nicer to sit on the bus then sit at my desk (on the bus I can iPod it up).
I get to school at the aforementioned time of 8:20 and then sit around for a while, checking me email, doing some stalking on facebook, maybe updating my status so that everyone can know what I'm up to that morning. I generally always have class first period (although it's true that at least twice a week my classes happen at different times than it says on my schedule, unfortunately they aren't often canceled they just happen at later times. I think this might be because the teachers are going on outings and need to rearrange their classes so all the free time is in a chunk.) In class I often work right out of the (extremley dull) textbook. Mostly we are doing listen and repeat excercises so that all the students can learn to talk like me. Generally these are so dull that I fall asleep and start randomly changing the words, much to everyone's confusion (like when I called Jane a he, or read 'student' instead of 'earthquake'). I always claim that I am testing them (apparently people really do this, so I guess I'm okay). Sometimes I try and make the lesson more exciting by saying 'shampoo' as ridiculously as possible, or trying to get the students to say "I can't believe it" like they really mean it. Sometimes if I can make a connection I show a movie from youtube or do a crossword puzzle.
On Monday's and Tuesday's I work with Miss Doo and the first years. This week Miss Doo wanted to play a game, so we played "My Hopes and Dreams" Bingo. Everyone was very excited about it, so much so that they didn't want class to end. I gave out candy prizes, which I think is what the big excitment was all about. I think my students are some of the best behaved middle schoolers in the country. They don't seem particularily well behaved, but from the stories I've heard from others, I think they must be impressive. Although I was a bit annoyed with one boy who thought copying words off a list was too difficult and tried to copy his neighbor's sheet. He was then annoyed with me when I told him he had to copy off the other sheet, not his neighbor's.
This afternoon's class was topped off by the arrival of a small snow flurry, which I think out manuvered bingo for most-exciting-thing-to-be-happening-at-that-moment. While I'm sitting here we are still enjoying a small falling of snow.
When I'm not in class, I'm generally sitting at my desk "working" on things. Sometimes I do actually work making plans for next class. I generally do most of my school planning on Tuesday (today) because I have about a four hour break in the middle of the day. I have to plan about 3.75 activities. Some of the classes are in somewhat the same place, so I do something of the same thing. For one of my classes I still haven't found where my co-teacher's office is, so I just wing that one (meaning I show up and ask the kids what page in the book they're on, then we play some hangman).
I also have cafeteria lunch everyday, and I get to sit at the special teacher's table. We even have our own place to get food. I prefer to go before the actual lunch hour since it's seriously loud when the students are there, but none of the teachers really talk during lunch anyway (although I have a few fans who get excited when I come in for lunch and ask me lots of questions and try and get me to hold my chopsticks the right way). Today, however, I didn't eat lunch as I'm just drinking my juice in an effort to let my digestive system rest. However, in the afternoon we are often given tasty treats and today is no different. I have sitting next to me a tasty rice cake, the best kind of rice cake Miss Doo says, and I'm determining if it counts as juice. I fear that I will have to take it home for Jordan.
I leave school at exactly 4:30 everyday, if it's getting close to 4:30 (like 4:27) and I haven't left yet, Miss Kim who sits next to me tells me I should go. Today I'll probably sneak out a few minutes early so I can catch an earlier bus home.
Once home I generally make juice and have dinner, we go out frequently because there are lots of tasty and cheap restaurants around. Tonight though I will just have juice. At that point any kind of entertainment might proceed, knitting, movies, Harry Potter, the Sims...And then around 9:30 it's time for bed.
So as you can see, I really do lead a thrilling life.
So we had a half day at school yesterday. I was pretty excited to go home and do nothing for a while, but around second period Ms Park told me that the teachers were going to climb a mountain that afternoon and I was invited to go along. Invited meaning I was going along. I was a little annoyed at the short notice, since I was dressed for school in tights, a skirt and inappropriate footwear, while all the other teachers who were going were dressed in jeans and sneakers. I guess they were given more than a few hours notice of the trip.
So at one o'clock I found myself on bus with about 30 teachers (there are about 50 at the school, so a little over half). We pulled out promptly (or at least I assume it was promptly because we left at 1, although perhaps we were supposed to leave at 12:30, I don't know, no one tells me anything). Soon after we pull out people start passing around the snacks: a bottle of water, some tangerines, dried squid and beer. Dried squid is in fact one of my least favorite things on the planet, but I tried to it be sociable. And I drank my dixie cup full of beer. After about a half hour ride we pull off the highway and Miss Kim (I think maybe no one told me about the trip because Ms Park couldn't go, and I think she was worried about me going without her) informs me that we are stopping at a high school. Although Miss Kim is an English teacher, she speaks practically no English, although I believe she can understand a decent amount (at least she is always translating what I say in class), so what we're doing at the high school (and where the mountain is) remain a mystery. We meet the principal at this high school, and so there are some speeches amongst the two principals. Then we walk to this big building which turns out to be a large auto-mechanics classroom, with lots of engines and cars and stuff. So, I guess we were there to tour this pretty fancy technical high school. We also clapped for the auto-mechanic teachers. Then it was back on the bus and on to the mountain.
The mountains weren't too far from the high school and soon we were blissfully wandering amongst the fall colored leaves next to a peaceful brook, while vendors tried to sell us various strange foods. And it became apparent that "hiking the mountain" was really "stroll along at the bottom of the mountain and take lots of pictures and maybe have a snack." Since Ms Park didn't come with, I got to hang out with all the teachers under 30, as they frolicked from pretty tree to pretty tree taking pictures. The group of teachers who came on this outing, as far as I could tell, was comprised of unmarried, young women, older women whose children were gone, and various men.
As we neared the end of the path (paved for our convenience), the teachers I was with spotted the older teachers (including the principal) sitting at a table drinking and having snacks. At this point there seemed to be hesitation and an effort to turn around without being seen by this snacking group, but I fear there was no hope for them since they had me and no one was going to let me miss out on group bonding. I felt a bit bad because I didn't want to repay their kindness in letting me hang out with them by dragging them to the table with the bosses, but what could I do?
We found the principal, vice principal and various other teachers snacking on a salad and a quiche thing, with bowls of rice wine on the side. Of all the things I had to drink on this outing of fun, the rice wine was the best. There was a big discussion about my name, what the last part of it was, how to say it, then it was back on the trail to head back to the bus.
At this point, it's 4:30 and I think, "maybe it's time to go home." So I happily get on the bus and wait. Miss Kim comes and says, "now we go to dinner." Food is generally a good thing in my book, and I know both Jordan and Matthew have had very tasty meals with their teachers, so I was hopeful. The large, obscene statue outside the restaurant, however, should have made me wary. We walk into the restaurant and Miss Kim says, "Eel." "Eel?" I say back, somewhat worried. "Eel, do you like?" Well, I've never had eel, I tell her. Then she informs me that there is a small table where I can have meat instead. Sighing to myself, I say, "no, I will eat the eel." She looks at me dubiously and sits down. I think she was hoping to avoid the eel herself, but the principal was there and I was sure he would have been very disappointed if I didn't eat the eel. So I ate the eel. I suppose I can say that it wasn't terrible, I managed to eat a few pieces without the threat of gagging, so it's ranked above a few foods I've eaten. You know it's bad when the vegetables start looking good.
At dinner we also had blackberry wine. I'm not sure wine is the right word though because it seemed to be quite a bit more potent that wine. We had little glasses, smaller than a shot glass even. I tasted it and decided it would be better if I just ignored it and focused on eating the eel. But then, someone wanted to display their desire to be my friend and shared their glass with me. So, unless I don't want to be their friend, I have to take the glass and drink the wine. Not too tasty, but better than eel in any case. Then a few minutes later, someone else comes to be my friend. So we go on like this. Eventually Miss Kim and the other woman sitting near me intervene on my behalf and make them give me Coke instead. However, my triumphant moment was when, after taking a shot of Cola and listening to a speech about how he hoped I would learn Korean customs because they are "beautiful," as he was making to leave, I offered him my empty glass. "Ho ho!" everyone says, "Return!" And the man gladly takes my cup and I pour him some wine.
After dinner, everyone wanders back to the bus, and I'm ready for a little snoozing on the bus. However, apparently the party was just getting stared because the entire way back we were entertained with what I can only assume were jokes (everyone was laughing) and singing. Various teachers took the microphone and sang songs to make help make the time pass as we drove back to Gunsan.
Finally, we arrive back at 7pm and I bow goodbye to the principal and I'm given four cans of beer ("for your husband!") and I make my way home. Not quite the mountain climbing trip I expected, but then, this is Korea.
When we said we wanted you to sign the guestbook, we meant YOU!
So I was walking back from lunch with Ms Park and she starts talking about bowing. She says that some of the foreigners she's known have found bowing to be difficult. I told her when I moved to Bolivia we had to kiss everyone hello. Complete shock followed, then nervous laughter (is she serious? could such a place exist?), and agreement that bowing really couldn't be all the bad, could it?
Today is Pepero Day. This means that everyone is Korea gives each other boxes of Chocolate dipped sticks (called Pepero). The origins of the holiday are misty (as are most) although Wikipedia says, "Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero"; but the teacher who sits next to me says it was started by Lotte (the makers of Pepero). It's celebrated today because it's 11/11 (which looks like sticks of Pepero).
Pepero is like Pocky if you know about Pocky, but is made in Korea, not Japan.
Today I received a few boxes of Pepero, a giant Pepero stick, a twix bar, a milk candy and 2 vitamin C tablets. Jordan has received, I believe, nothing. Although we are going to go out for dinner because the holiday is something like Valentine's Day.
All I can say is, "long live Pepero day."
So, now that I've successfully completed all of my conversation classes at least once, I figured I could write a little bit about it. In total I have four conversation classes, one for first year, one for second year, one for teachers who don't teach English, and one for teachers who do. The first one I had, of course, was the one with the first years. Not having any clue what was going to happen, I just went to the class (last period on Monday) prepared for anything (in actuality I was prepared for nothing, but sometimes this is the same thing). There were about 15 students aged 14 (although I believe this means they are actually 13, apparently you are a year older in Korea, which means I am 24 turning 25, a fact I don't find enjoyable). So pretty much that first class consisted of us all looking at each other and the students giggling. I did manage to have some sort of conversation for 30 minutes, that's how I know how old they are. I tried in vain to learn their names. Once I mispronounce them they start laughing and can't stop long enough to teach me the right way. Their favorite subject, it turned out, is English. Who knew? So after a half hour of students either laughing at me or staring at me like I'm from another planet, I was a bit more prepared for the second years who I met on Friday.
The year difference in their ages was apparent, as this bunch was not nearly as wily or giggly as the first years. They even managed to make several sentence answers to my questions. Although, I was much better prepared this time, so in this class we made name cards and I had them draw things they liked as well, to talk about to the group. Some had some very nice artwork. The girls like eating, sleeping and some famous Korean people (some of them like sports too, or guinea pigs). The boys like various movies, have dreams to be doctors, scientists and soccer players, and some like to sing. One of the girls wanted my phone number so she could send me messages. Unfortunately, I haven't memorized my phone number yet.
I repeated this exercise yesterday with the first years, and although several of the boys started drawing random pictures of each other and some of the girls didn't finish, the results were still quite good. One of the boys likes sunflowers, and one likes roses. One of the girls likes Oprah Winfrey, although I think this might be because she (meaning Oprah) is black. Anyway, there was a discussion about black people (African-American we call them, I said, Negroes!, they said) and there's a nice drawing of a black woman on her name tag. I am optimistic for both these classes. After all, these are students specially selected out of 300 to be in my class, so most of them are willing to speak English and able to do so. Next we are going to talk about movies.
The adult classes are quite fun and a good way for me to learn about Korea. There are three women in the non-English teacher class. They apparently have only been speaking English for a year, as the teacher before me started teaching them. Considering this, their English is quite good. Today we had various questions about beauty and I learned that one of the women had plastic surgery on her eyes (very common in Korea, I guess the women want double eyelids, I'm not sure why), but only takes 10 minutes to get ready in the morning. Apparently they don't have eating disorders, but the men (the young men) like to lift weights to get buff. We also discussed mirrors because disconcertingly, there are several giant mirrors in the halls and in the classrooms, yet another indication of how important appearance is in Korea. Although they did say that even though they don't like piercing beyond the ears, they wouldn't leave a shop if someone had a lip piercing, etc.
I only have two English teachers in my last class. Ms Park, my coteacher, and Miss Doo, my favorite. Apparently Ms Park has some sort of book with topics in it for the class, although I haven't seen it yet. It's really easy to find already made lists on the internet though, so I'll probably bring my beauty questions to that class tomorrow, just in case :). From our last class I learned that Ms Park is moving apartments (to a bigger one, of course. I asked and apparently she thought this a silly question, her children are gone from the house though, so it seemed she could have been moving to a smaller one...) and Miss Doo lives with her parents (which is what all the unmarried women do, the teacher in my other class likes this arrangement because she can save money), but is lonely, likes to hike in the mountains and always has enough underwear (her parents own an underwear store).
Due to the personal style of these classes, I've been enjoying them very much and look forward to teaching them.
So I have one full week as en English teacher under my belt, well almost, anyway, it's just Friday morning. I have a few classes left to do. But one week done, many more left, and I think all in all, I am an okay teacher. I succeeded in getting a class to play charades yesterday (although I couldn't convince any of the boys to act out ballerina, middle schoolers are the same everywhere I guess). I also tried to become everyone's favorite teacher by playing hangman in one class because I had been assured by both Matthew, Jordan and the internet that all Koreans love to play hangman more than breathing. So I was extremely disappointed when the class just sat there and stared at me. They proceeded to sit and stare at me through the whole class, never showing an ounce of excitment, not for hangman and not for the word find I made for them. Needless to say that class has been demoted to my least favorite and I will not plan fun things for them anymore, since they like fun things about as much as they like being poked with a stick.
My other classes are much more enjoyable. I had some lessons this week about Halloween, a carry over from last week, so I played some clips from Charlie Brown Halloween. And while I always thought it was too sad to be funny, all the students laughed loudly when Charlie Brown received rock after rock while trick or treating. I also showed a "dubious" clip of an old Frankenstein movie. Ms Park was making dubious faces while I showed it, perhaps she thought it too scary for the students. But Halloween is Halloween, after all, and what is the holiday without a good horror movie?
Now I've moved onto explaining natural disasters, which is not nearly as much fun as Halloween, or My Hopes and Dreams. Although I'm looking forward to Internet Shopping in one of the text books.
I've also been enjoying my conversation classes this week, but as I have one still this afternoon, I'll wait a bit before I post on that.
The only real downfall to school is my computer, which is really too old to be functional. I spend about half the day waiting around for it to catch up. (That last sentence took about two minutes to appear). So soon I will likely have a break down and throw the computer out the window. Or else, I will be like Jordan and bring my Eee PC** to school and hack onto the network.
I am, of course, looking forward to the weekend, which is full of promise. It may include Korean Barbecue, a trip to Seoul, huge walking extravaganza, and/or a shocking new hair cut for me. You'll just have to check back and see what happens.
*One of my students wanted to know the word for a person who studies insects. I had to look it up.
**The Eee PC is my new laptop, likely to be referred to as the Eee or My Mini. Eee stands for Easy, Excellent and Exciting, what more could you want in a computer. Except perhaps to know that it is Rock Solid -- Heart Touching, which is the company's motto.
I was a little nervous the first time we spotted these giant crabs on the street. I was even more nervous when I noticed them in the school soup pot.