I like your descriptions, Marisa, and your incredible cultural insight and logic. You are very anthropological, which is the highest praise. :-) No wonder Korea is getting ahead in the world, with insights like the (free) recycling vs. (expensive) garbage choice. Maybe we should write-in vote for the Korean president.
Bravo, Marisa, for being so bold (and courteous) in your eating. It sounds like you're becoming a whole new person in Korea. (Next thing you know you'll be wearing Korean clothes and get a Korean haircut. :-)
After reading about Marisa's deep interest in donuts, I though your byline was about following Marisa and tracking down the best bakeries in Korea. I guess I'll have to wait for Jordan's follow-up lessons regarding Annie Dillard..Q8Dad
I too had Matthew's dilemma of only being able to reply to his comment, not the post about the "shout out to dad" (which would be me). I enjoyed reading and viewing your blog; you two will certainly keep the family informed. I'm pleased you survived the money crunch upon arrival and have found donuts comparable to Cub. I hope your uncle Mark reads the post, he may want to share the connection with his colleagues at work. Enjoy your transition to a new culture. -- Q8dad
It turns out that yes, indeed, you *can* turn green with envy.
But anyway, that's a seriously nice place. May it bring you many happy memories! (It will---I've been greatly enjoying my apartment even without the broiler, bathtub, spare room, and groovin' wallpaper.)
Blast your luck, there's only one good bakery in Chungju and it's on the other side of town from me. There are about a million "Paris Baguette"s (which I'm sure you have as well), but the ones in my area never seem to have anything in stock except for huge cakes and packs of milk bread buns.
...Can I admit that I like Lotteria considerably better than McDonald's? Especially their bulgagi burgers, they taste like the East and West are meeting in your mouth and peacably celebrating their union by eating Lotteria bulgagi burgers, which taste like... you get the picture.
"Cleaning time" is only a small part of your students' ridiculously uncool schedule, which I'll talk about when I see you tomorrow. Suffice it to say that they spend well over twice as much time at school and doing school-related activities as their American counterparts. Did you know that they all come in on Saturday?
And yes, many people here have truly never seen a real live foreigner before. The biggest problem with the English educational system---which of course we are here to help correct---is that it's very difficult for students to feel motivated when chances are that they'll hardly ever travel outside their hometowns. Why learn English when you only need to know Korean? But by our mere presence, we inspire an "a-ha!" moment in which Koreans realize that people really, honestly use English to communicate and not just as a particularly nasty test topic. This is definitely my favorite part of being in Korea. Take every chance you have to interact with the locals, even if their English is very poor or nonexistent; I guarantee that you will not regret it.
Thanks, Jordan, from an old one who lived "over seas" and kept in touch with family via ham radio. I now get blogging - you really are a teacher! I'm waiting for the Annie Dillard update - it's stirring a memory but not enough. Joyce, the mom-in-law, now known as J-mil
Hey, your first-years are using the same textbook as the ones I have at Chungju Middle School! We had a lot of fun learning that song; next up (I think in one or two weeks) is "Scarborough Fair," which is really quite a bit more English than "Edelweiss."
I could have given you that list of questions, but there's one set you forgot: "do you know x?" If you don't yet know x, you're going to learn about it. "DO YOU KNOW BIGBANG!" "DO YOU KNOW RAIN!" (These are from girls.) "DO YOU KNOW CHA SEUNG BAEK!" "DO YOU KNOW PARK TAE HWAN!" (These are from boys.) And of course there's the ever popular, "DO YOU KNOW BUSHIE!" by which they mean, "do you know George W. Bush?" Exactly how these questions are supposed to be answered remains a mystery to me... except of course for, "DO YOU KNOW DOKDO!" to which the proper response is some variant of, "yes, I think that Dokdo belongs to Korea."
I recommend going to the Lotte Mart and buying some indoor shoes. They cost about five bucks and it'll save you a lot of grief... the school will even give you your own shoebox with your name on it, which makes you feel warm and accepted. And yes, women bundle up here, a reminder of Korea ultra-conservative Confucian past---I haven't even seen bare arms, although for some reason miniskirts are a totally acceptable component of school uniforms.
As for the food, good job and keep it up! I too suffered greatly during my first few weeks, but I kept on thinking to myself, a few tears here and I will be able to eat spicy food for the rest of my life. And you know, it actually worked. Recently I've been downing my kimchi and red-pepper filled soups with the best of the locals. Someone just gave me a Lotte hamburger for lunch and... I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was kind of boring. (But you'll have a ton of fun when you get your first fish... and you have to debone it using nothing but your chopsticks.)
I have heard rumors of this miraculous Korean innovation... supposedly there's one for men and one for women. So far as I've ever been able to determine neither of my schools is blessed with them, but then there's plenty of rooms into which I haven't been.
Be really careful with the first-years, they will wear you down. I teach only first-year classes at Chungju Middle School, and I've found that it's a welcome relief to go to Tangeum and teach my second- and third-year classes. The thing about the 7th-graders is that they have a lot of energy, but they're utterly incapable of focusing it; all of the activities I use that work great with the 8th- and 9th-graders fall flat with the younger classes because they give up on following the directions after a period of thirty to fourty seconds. The older kids may seem quiet now, but if you find a way to pique their interest (music, movies, celebrities, and hangman always work---what is it with Korean children and hangman, anyway?) they will reward you by producing awesome things like the pictures I posted on my blog.
Then again, if your co-teacher actually likes the children and knows how to manage them, you could be in a sweet spot indeed with your first-year classes...
It's actually a lot easier to get by without cash here than it is in Japan.
I should tell you that you'll only be able to access your Korean money at the ATMs owned by the bank at which you have your account. This shouldn't be a problem as all the banks have ATMs up all over the place anyway, but you also need to know that (unless you're lucky enough to be with KB or another really special bank) the ATMs here have operating hours. I can only withdraw my money from my NongHyup account on weekdays from 10:00am to 6:00pm and on Saturdays from 10:00am to 12:00pm. (OK, technically I could do it after hours but this results in a rather nasty fee.) Since I'm often at work past 6:00 in the evening, this has created some interesting cash crunches...
Boy, this was a depressing comment. Um. Seriously, mostly Korea is great!
...And now we find out if your site can handle hangeul...
Anyway, welcome to Korea! You're going to have a pretty remarkable time here, so be sure to make many remarks. This blog is incredible. It is modern, beautiful, and full of interesting content. You made a nice site, and you actually update it. This makes me feel extremely insecure about my own egocentric effort at blogging, which I am glad I can hide away where no one can find it.
Your title and logo make my sensitive soul swoon slowly.
Your blog is wunderbar! Your apartment is lovely and I love Koreans. Your stories about them make me laugh and miss my Korean friends from Germany. Jordan needs to post something so we can know what he is doing, but Marissa your life sounds so great. My love to both of you. --Celeste
I like your descriptions, Marisa, and your incredible cultural insight and logic. You are very anthropological, which is the highest praise. :-) No wonder Korea is getting ahead in the world, with insights like the (free) recycling vs. (expensive) garbage choice. Maybe we should write-in vote for the Korean president.
-Doug
Bravo, Marisa, for being so bold (and courteous) in your eating. It sounds like you're becoming a whole new person in Korea. (Next thing you know you'll be wearing Korean clothes and get a Korean haircut. :-)
Have fun! And keep posting.
-Doug
After reading about Marisa's deep interest in donuts, I though your byline was about following Marisa and tracking down the best bakeries in Korea. I guess I'll have to wait for Jordan's follow-up lessons regarding Annie Dillard..Q8Dad
I too had Matthew's dilemma of only being able to reply to his comment, not the post about the "shout out to dad" (which would be me). I enjoyed reading and viewing your blog; you two will certainly keep the family informed. I'm pleased you survived the money crunch upon arrival and have found donuts comparable to Cub. I hope your uncle Mark reads the post, he may want to share the connection with his colleagues at work. Enjoy your transition to a new culture. -- Q8dad
You have a bathtub?
You have a SPARE ROOM?
Excuse me for a moment while I check the mirror.
It turns out that yes, indeed, you *can* turn green with envy.
But anyway, that's a seriously nice place. May it bring you many happy memories! (It will---I've been greatly enjoying my apartment even without the broiler, bathtub, spare room, and groovin' wallpaper.)
Blast your luck, there's only one good bakery in Chungju and it's on the other side of town from me. There are about a million "Paris Baguette"s (which I'm sure you have as well), but the ones in my area never seem to have anything in stock except for huge cakes and packs of milk bread buns.
...Can I admit that I like Lotteria considerably better than McDonald's? Especially their bulgagi burgers, they taste like the East and West are meeting in your mouth and peacably celebrating their union by eating Lotteria bulgagi burgers, which taste like... you get the picture.
"Cleaning time" is only a small part of your students' ridiculously uncool schedule, which I'll talk about when I see you tomorrow. Suffice it to say that they spend well over twice as much time at school and doing school-related activities as their American counterparts. Did you know that they all come in on Saturday?
And yes, many people here have truly never seen a real live foreigner before. The biggest problem with the English educational system---which of course we are here to help correct---is that it's very difficult for students to feel motivated when chances are that they'll hardly ever travel outside their hometowns. Why learn English when you only need to know Korean? But by our mere presence, we inspire an "a-ha!" moment in which Koreans realize that people really, honestly use English to communicate and not just as a particularly nasty test topic. This is definitely my favorite part of being in Korea. Take every chance you have to interact with the locals, even if their English is very poor or nonexistent; I guarantee that you will not regret it.
---Matthew
Thanks, Jordan, from an old one who lived "over seas" and kept in touch with family via ham radio. I now get blogging - you really are a teacher! I'm waiting for the Annie Dillard update - it's stirring a memory but not enough. Joyce, the mom-in-law, now known as J-mil
Hey, your first-years are using the same textbook as the ones I have at Chungju Middle School! We had a lot of fun learning that song; next up (I think in one or two weeks) is "Scarborough Fair," which is really quite a bit more English than "Edelweiss."
I could have given you that list of questions, but there's one set you forgot: "do you know x?" If you don't yet know x, you're going to learn about it. "DO YOU KNOW BIGBANG!" "DO YOU KNOW RAIN!" (These are from girls.) "DO YOU KNOW CHA SEUNG BAEK!" "DO YOU KNOW PARK TAE HWAN!" (These are from boys.) And of course there's the ever popular, "DO YOU KNOW BUSHIE!" by which they mean, "do you know George W. Bush?" Exactly how these questions are supposed to be answered remains a mystery to me... except of course for, "DO YOU KNOW DOKDO!" to which the proper response is some variant of, "yes, I think that Dokdo belongs to Korea."
I recommend going to the Lotte Mart and buying some indoor shoes. They cost about five bucks and it'll save you a lot of grief... the school will even give you your own shoebox with your name on it, which makes you feel warm and accepted. And yes, women bundle up here, a reminder of Korea ultra-conservative Confucian past---I haven't even seen bare arms, although for some reason miniskirts are a totally acceptable component of school uniforms.
As for the food, good job and keep it up! I too suffered greatly during my first few weeks, but I kept on thinking to myself, a few tears here and I will be able to eat spicy food for the rest of my life. And you know, it actually worked. Recently I've been downing my kimchi and red-pepper filled soups with the best of the locals. Someone just gave me a Lotte hamburger for lunch and... I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was kind of boring. (But you'll have a ton of fun when you get your first fish... and you have to debone it using nothing but your chopsticks.)
And yes, the people here are fantastic.
I have heard rumors of this miraculous Korean innovation... supposedly there's one for men and one for women. So far as I've ever been able to determine neither of my schools is blessed with them, but then there's plenty of rooms into which I haven't been.
Be really careful with the first-years, they will wear you down. I teach only first-year classes at Chungju Middle School, and I've found that it's a welcome relief to go to Tangeum and teach my second- and third-year classes. The thing about the 7th-graders is that they have a lot of energy, but they're utterly incapable of focusing it; all of the activities I use that work great with the 8th- and 9th-graders fall flat with the younger classes because they give up on following the directions after a period of thirty to fourty seconds. The older kids may seem quiet now, but if you find a way to pique their interest (music, movies, celebrities, and hangman always work---what is it with Korean children and hangman, anyway?) they will reward you by producing awesome things like the pictures I posted on my blog.
Then again, if your co-teacher actually likes the children and knows how to manage them, you could be in a sweet spot indeed with your first-year classes...
---Matthew
It's actually a lot easier to get by without cash here than it is in Japan.
I should tell you that you'll only be able to access your Korean money at the ATMs owned by the bank at which you have your account. This shouldn't be a problem as all the banks have ATMs up all over the place anyway, but you also need to know that (unless you're lucky enough to be with KB or another really special bank) the ATMs here have operating hours. I can only withdraw my money from my NongHyup account on weekdays from 10:00am to 6:00pm and on Saturdays from 10:00am to 12:00pm. (OK, technically I could do it after hours but this results in a rather nasty fee.) Since I'm often at work past 6:00 in the evening, this has created some interesting cash crunches...
Boy, this was a depressing comment. Um. Seriously, mostly Korea is great!
---Matthew
Maybe this is just Opera, but I am only able to post comments by replying to the previous post.
...And now we find out if your site can handle hangeul...
Anyway, welcome to Korea! You're going to have a pretty remarkable time here, so be sure to make many remarks. This blog is incredible. It is modern, beautiful, and full of interesting content. You made a nice site, and you actually update it. This makes me feel extremely insecure about my own egocentric effort at blogging, which I am glad I can hide away where no one can find it.
Your title and logo make my sensitive soul swoon slowly.
~Matthew of Chungju (the younger)
Wallpaper looks sweet.
Looks totally sweet. Tall buildings with space in between. Too bad you guys aren't like on the top floor.
Brendan Mag
Love it! Pretty balcony. And the wallpaper is indeed amazing.
~ Andrea
Your blog is wunderbar! Your apartment is lovely and I love Koreans. Your stories about them make me laugh and miss my Korean friends from Germany. Jordan needs to post something so we can know what he is doing, but Marissa your life sounds so great. My love to both of you. --Celeste
Your blog address makes me so happy I could cry. Or smile really widely.
I love you!
AmelMag
www.karithsoxford.blogspot.com
www.salemshalom.blogspot.com