Taking Photos: Koreans' #1 Pastime

Koreans love taking photos.  It's as simple as that.  Almost anywhere you go you will see Koreans toting around their pricey, new, digital cameras with their multiple lenses.  Being in one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, Koreans generally love their gadgets.  Galaxy Tabs, ipads, and smart phones of all sorts are everywhere.  Expensive cameras are no exception.  If you didn't know better you might think that this country has more professional photographers per capita than all other countries, but then you realize they just all look like professional photographers.  I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the only countries in which the natives take more pictures than the tourists.

Not only do Koreans like to take pictures, but they like to take pictures of themselves.  Tourist destinations are set up with photo opps so that people can take as many pictures as they want in various locations, with various objects.  One of my first excursions outside of Daegu took me to Gayasan mountain (which I wrote about in a previous post).  On the short hike up to Heinsa Temple there was a designated area, complete with a sign telling the photographer and model that this was a good spot to take a picture.  The sign was posted right at the entrance of a small foot bridge that was obviously built to take photographs on, as it was next to the pedestrian route and completely unnecessary (besides for taking pics).  As we stood by the bridge examining the mountain map a few couples and families posed for pictures on the bridge.

I snapped the above picture at a small theme park in Daegu called Herb Hillz.  It's a really wacky park built on hills, as the name suggests.  I guess the point of the park is to learn about nature, specifically different herbs.  There's also a small petting zoo and the main attraction for foreigners, zip lining courses.  While we were waiting for our zip-lining time to arrive we walked around the park to see what it was all about.  Basically the entire park is for people to take photos.  The above photo shows that I was at 'photo point 8' when I took the shot.  I swear the park designer must have been smoking some type of herb when building the park.  Here's a photo taken of me at one of the designated photo areas:

Here is one of my favorite examples showing the extent to which Koreans will go to snap the most perfect picture:

As you can see, the boyfriend (i'm assuming) has got his small digital point and shoot camera on a big ass tripod.  Like I mentioned before, Koreans love to take pictures of themselves so often times they haul around tripods so couples and families can have pictures together without someone being left out or having to ask a random person to take the photo.  I guess if you don't mind carrying a tripod around it's a good idea.  This photo shows the extent to which one will go to get a good photo of their significant other.  The guy is holding the camera, still on the tripod, trying to get the best shot of his girlfriend at the photo zone.

Couples here loooooove to take photos together.  Awhile back I was in Seoul at a park by the river where a big festival was going on.  There were lots of people gathered for the festival, sunbathing on the grass by the river.  I was walking around trying to figure out where I was going when I see a couple laying on an incline on top of a blanket, with their camera sitting on a tripod about 3 feet in front of them, pointed at them.  They weren't doing anything but cuddling.  I don't know if they were filming themselves laying on a blanket at a festival or if they had previously taken pictures of themselves laying on a blanket at a festival.  Either way it's pretty wacky.  I wonder if they will go home and look through their photos of themselves laying on a blanket at a festival and show their friends and say, "Oh, and this one's of us laying on a blanket at a festival."

Another funny photo-related anecdote takes place at my school about two weeks after an open class.  One afternoon my coteacher tells me, "we go to meet with other teachers to talk about open class and take picture."  As always, I obey like a trained dog and follow her to a nearby classroom where two other teachers await us.  I really have no idea what we are doing.  All I know is that we are talking about our open class we had a few weeks before and "taking picture".  I sit down with the two other teachers and my coteacher makes a phone call then sits down.  The teachers pass out blank pieces of paper and pens, then start talking in Korean.  About 3 minutes later a coworker comes in with a camera.  The three other teachers pick up their papers and hold them out in front of them so it looks like they are reading something.  They keep discussing whatever they're discussing and I follow suit, picking up my paper and acting like I have some sort of idea what's going on.  After about one minute of photo taking the lady with the camera leaves and my coteacher stands up (I follow like a good dog) and she says goodbye, we bow and walk out.  I am so confused by this point and beg for an explanation.  My coteacher tells me, "we have meeting with other teachers to discuss open class."  I'm confused because no teachers even watched our open class.  She tells me that they watched the video tape.  Alright, that makes sense.  Then I ask why the lady came in with the camera to take pictures. She says, "For proof that we had conference about open class."  Wow.  So we had to have a fake 5 minute long "conference" so that pictures could be taken to prove that we had a real conference about open class.

After experiencing and pondering all these situations in which photos are so important I wonder, why?  Could it merely be the fact that Korea is so hyper techno obsessed that they want to incorporate technology into their lives in as many ways as possible?  Is it because they want to flaunt their latest and most expensive gadgets?

Maybe Koreans just like looking at photos of themselves.  Any foreigner and Korean will tell you how obsessed Korean culture is with appearance.  Plastic surgery and cosmetics are huge markets here.  People are constantly looking at their reflections in windows and their mirrors they carry around in their purses, always touching up their hair or makeup.  Do they just like to see how good they look in photos, act like models for a little while?  I honestly don't know how they have the time to go back and look at all the photos they take.  I kinda wonder if they even do it.

As in the story above, are pictures merely a way to prove that someone did something, went somewhere with someone?  Obviously it's a way to prove to the principal that we had a mandatory conference that we really didn't have.  Is it a way for couples to prove their love for each other to others?  To themselves?

Maybe it's as simple as preserving memories.

I'll probably never know.

Annoyed in Korea: A Rant

As you have probably concluded from my previous blog posts, there are some big cultural differences between the U.S. and Korea.  Some are mild or subtle, such as the way in which one should grab things from another person (with your right hand and your left "assisting" it).  Some are a little more obvious and significant, like the fact that children live with their family until they are married.  And some are just plain annoying and sometimes almost unbearable.  I have recently experienced this last one.  Let me tell you about it.

Almost any native English teacher in a public school will tell you about the way in which Koreans go about giving information.  This being, at the very last moment possible.  Let me give you an example:  My coworkers will let me know about a dinner that I'm "invited" to at 3:30 p.m. on a Friday when the dinner is that same Friday at 4:30 p.m.  You will not be permitted to leave work early since your day ends at 4:30.  No.  You will go straight from work to the dinner. The reason I say "invited" is because you really have no choice in the matter at all.  You are expected to be at the dinner and if you decide not to go, you might be thought of unfavorably for the 11 months left in your contract.  Maybe you won't ever get invited to another dinner because they think you don't want to go.  If you have plans already, which I believe many native teachers do on a Friday night, you better postpone, or better yet, cancel them.  You will probably be expected to go to the norae bang after dinner and we teachers know that could last into the wee hours of the morning.  These dinners usually happen about once every 2 months or more frequently.  You will rarely be told before the actual day of the dinner.  I have gotten so used to this I can actually predict with great precision when I will have a school dinner.  Last Friday I literally woke up and felt in my body the announcement of a school dinner.  During my hours of free time at work I even told people on Facebook chat that I thought there was going to be a school dinner.  Sure enough.  Come 3:00 my coteacher gets a phone call, hangs up, turns to me and says in an apologetic tone because she knows that I don't like it, "Kelly, I'm really sorry for short notice but we will have school dinner tonight.  We will leave 3:20 and go hiking then we have dinner."  I say, "Hmm I only have sandals because I didn't know we were going hiking.  Can I go home and change my shoes?"  "No.  We go straight to hiking."  Perfect.  I predicted the school dinner but we've never gone hiking before.  My psychic abilities are not yet at that level.  Maybe if I stay another year...Hell no.  I discovered after we left to go "hiking" that we were actually just going to walk around some botanical gardens for 30 minutes so my feet were fine.  We went to dinner and I was lucky to get out semi-early because my principal apparently didn't feel like getting shit-faced that night.  I arrived only an hour late back to my apartment where an out of town guest was waiting for me.

This could be thought of as a pretty insignificant example of Korean tell-you-everything-at-the-last-moment-ism that one could easily get over with a little bit of cultural sensitivity and a laid back, go-with-the-flow sort of attitude.  Okay.  Maybe you're right.  But there's more.

Class changes are also told to you with very little time to do anything about it.  Sometimes it's cool because you will get to school thinking you're about to face 6 classes of disrespectful little shits and at 9:05 you will ask your coteacher where the class is.  She will say to you, "Oh, we have no class today because of test*."  You will suddenly become excited, and immediately update your facebook status to "It's Thursday and all my classes are cancelled!  Just one more day, then it's Friday!"  Though that status won't have any capitalized words or apostrophes and will be decorated by 10 exclamation marks.  You will sit at your desk bored as hell, caught up on all your reality T.V. shows and realize that maybe it wasn't so great all your classes were cancelled again.

It could be worse though and you could be told 5 minutes before the lesson you planned yesterday that in fact, you are skipping the lesson you planned and will be teaching the following one.  The one you will be teaching you haven't planned anything for, or even looked at, since you didn't think you would be teaching it until Monday.  You'll just have to wing it and it's your fault if you don't fill up your 20 minutes of class.

There are many combinations of class changes that one must endure.  These include the "All Classes Cancelled," the "Change of Lesson" the "Change of Period," the "Change of Day," the "I Don't Know What Day It Will Change To But I Will Tell You Later" (she definitely won't), the "Extra Classes Today," and the "I Don't Know Where The Class Is, Maybe They Aren't Coming And I Can't Get A Hold Of The Homeroom Teacher."  All of them are quite annoying and you never seem to get used to it.

I'd heard various horror stories from waygooks about their Winter Camp woes: the problems that they had faced with their coteachers, school administration, etc. when they were preparing for and teaching Winter Camp.  Kimchi Dreadlocks, without any guidelines or restrictions from his coteacher or anyone above her, was given less than two weeks to plan out an entire 40 individual lesson plans.  Then, the night before the first day of camp, his coteacher informed him that the lessons had not been approved by the education office and that he couldn't teach them.  She had spent all weekend trying to figure out what to do but didn't have time to change everything.  He would go to school the next day without any idea of what he was going to teach and his coteacher threw at him a bunch of material he hadn't even looked at and expected him to teach it.

Compared to many people I talked to, my Winter Camp was a piece of cake.  I really had no complaints about how my school went about it.  Today was my Winter Camp.

I was sitting at my desk at about 3:00 counting down the minutes until I could go home when my coteacher gets a phone call.  I know it's not going to be a surprise school dinner: one, because we had one on Friday and two, because I didn't get the tingly feeling.  She turns to me and says my name.  "Kelly?"  I take out my ear buds and my coteacher says to me "Vice Principal wants you to type all your lesson plans for Special Classes."  These "Special Classes" she is referring to are the 4 classes (one of each grade level) I teach by myself, without a coteacher.  Each class has around 10 students and I come up with the lessons without any sort of reference material.  Pretty much off the top of my head and the help of the inter web.  Because I don't have any books or anything from where to get my materials, each lesson takes me a pretty long time to plan.  I would say they take a good 1-2 hours each, depending on what materials I will use (ppts, worksheets, surveys, games etc.)  I really pride myself on these lessons.  Because I don't have to use the shitty government textbooks and have free reign, I can get creative.  I think the students really enjoy my lessons.  Enough about how awesome I am...  So the VP wants me to type up all the lessons.  Alright, this is doable.  I will just have to go through all of them and separate this semester's lessons from last's.  It will take some time because there is a big pile and they are all mixed up but I can definitely have this done by the time I leave work this afternoon.  Then my coteacher tells me that not only does the VP want the lessons I have already done, but she wants ALL the lessons for the entire semester.  I am outraged.  I have never before been told that I was supposed to have the lessons planned for the rest of the semester planned and written out.  I write my lessons the day before and they turn out awesome.  It takes a lot of time to plan a lesson when you have no guidelines, textbook or anything to go off of.  I didn't have to turn anything in last semester so how would I know?  So I'm going through and calculating the number of lessons I am supposed to have planned. The total comes to 34 more lessons.  This could take me up to 68 hours of planning time!  I tell my coteacher in a half panicked half angry voice that this is going to take me a really long time.  That I was never told about this in advance and I don't know how long it will take me.  She asks me, "Can you have done tomorrow?"  I about shit my pants.  Are you kidding me?  I tell her I have 6 classes tomorrow which leaves me with 2 hours.  I tell her no, that it's impossible.  Maybe I can have it done Friday since all my classes have been cancelled for a field trip*.  My coteacher does not seem to think that this is okay.  She keeps asking me if I'm sure I will not be able to have it done by tomorrow.  I tell her yes, I am sure.  I panic a little bit and get to work, hoping that I will even be able to have it all done by Friday.

The next day I come into work a little fearful and work on the lesson plans in every spare minute I have.  Like I said, I have six classes and not much time to accomplish anything significant.  Luckily my 6th graders are taking tests all class so I work on it a bit during this time.  In the middle of class my coteacher gets up from her chair, walks over to me, and asks me to pull up my lesson plans.  I tell her that I have all the 3rd grade lessons done but have about 18 more lessons amongst the other three grades.  She immediately takes the mouse from me and starts copy and pasting lessons from 6th grade into 5th grade, 4th into 3rd and any combination you can statistically calculate, to fill up the blank spaces.  She gives a little chuckle and says, "We have no time."  After all this I have 2 more lessons to come up with, which I pull out of my ass.  Apparently the quality of the work has no importance whatsoever.  She says "thank you" and looks relieved to have it done.  I am excited that I won't be working on this for the next two days but also a bit embarrassed about turning in something so crappy.  I get over it.  I sit there wondering, "Why did they tell me at the very last moment about something apparently so important?  Why didn't my coteacher tell the VP that the task she was asking of me was impossible?  These have to do with an aspect of Korean culture that I just can't seem to get used to.

In Korean culture it is usually unacceptable for one to question an older person or one of higher authority.  This is true in schools and I'm guessing it is very similar elsewhere.  In this case the VP told my coteacher at the last minute that she wanted me to get this huge quantity of work done in a very short period of time.  Since my coteacher is very young and the VP is in a position of authority, my coteacher does not have the right to question the VP.  She can not say that this will be very difficult to accomplish because it is almost physically impossible.  She has to say "yes", act like nothing is wrong and get the work done.  If it means staying up all night long to finish it, so be it.  Well, I'm not Korean and I'm not going to stand for it.  I understand respect.  But this is just ridiculous. I tell my coteacher that if she wants I will go to the VP and tell her exactly how I feel.  Since my coteacher will have to translate she doesn't want to do this.  She doesn't want to even be associated with the situation.  I tell her I'll have it done by Friday.  If the VP has a problem with that she can take it up with me.  I have no issues with speaking out for justice.  I mean, we all know what happens when an oppressed group of people does nothing to stop an power hungry dictator from taking over the world....okay, taking it too far.  In the U.S. we are taught to be assertive, speak our minds thoughtfully and articulately and to stand up to authority when we believe the person in power is really wrong or if she is asking us to complete an impossible feat.  Like I said before, I can't get used to the Korean way and don't think I ever will.

After lunch I ask my coteacher what the typed lesson plans would be used for.  She tells me that the school gets "bonus points" from the office of education for turning in extra things like this.  I guess it doesn't matter what content is on the paper, just that there is a paper.  Then I ask her why the VP needed it so quickly.  She says that it was due today.  I was given the assignment on Tuesday and the deadline to turn it in was on Wednesday.  Seriously?  She must have known about this for awhile now if it's a request from the office of education.  Did it slip her mind until the day before it was due?  I highly doubt it.

My point is:

1. I am sick of being told things at the last possible moment.
2. I know this submissiveness is deeply rooted in Korean history and Confucianism and I've tried to be culturally sensitive in regards to it but I still really hate it and don't want to be a part of it.  It's just not me.

It also doesn't help that all of this comes at a time when I am pretty ready to leave Korea.  I'm getting a little bit homesick and am easily annoyed by even the littlest of things.

Anyways, that was my rant.  I had to get it off my chest. 

Peace 

*Replace "test" with almost any noun (ex. field trip, Sports Day practice, yellow dust, kimchi deficit)  and this has probably occurred.
*The field trip was supposed to be last Friday but on Thursday I was told classes were not cancelled anymore.  Today (Tuesday) I was told that this Friday classes will be cancelled.  We'll see what happens on Friday.

Korean School Lunch in Photos #1

I'm running out of blog post ideas since everything is becoming so normal in Korea.  In the beginning it was super easy to come up with ideas for blog posts since everything was so new and exciting.  Now it's definitely harder to notice the subtleties in Korean culture that once popped out like the first pimple on an adolescent boy's face.  Since I first got here though, Korean food has been a subject that has popped up time and again from people back home.  I, just as friends and family back in the U.S., am really interested in Korean food and it helps that I actually enjoy it quite a bit.  I love it's spiciness, which often comes from the use of chili in many Korean dishes.  I also love the taste of fermented soybeans, seaweed, and kimchi which are staples of the Korean diet.

Although I am definitely not a chef nor do I pretend to even have any talent when it comes to cooking, I have become increasingly interested in the art of food since I have been in Korea.  This stems first from my abundance of free time at and after work when I am able to indulge in the beautiful media vomit that is Reality Television.  Since it has been on the air I have been a fan of Top Chef but the current season I am especially fond of.  Second, there is a grave lack of satisfactory foreign cuisine in Daegu and, I would argue, most of Korea in general.  In the past few months I have been scouring my city for good Mexican, Italian, Indian and Thai restaurants because I know that they could possibly, maybe, potentially exist.  I could never seriously think I am going to find that Cajun catfish po' boy that I've been craving or the Ecuadorian food I salivate for. I couldn't bare the let down after having even a glint of hope and finding out that there would be no one even thinking of this idea for the next 20 years.  The few foreign restaurants that I have found and gave the chance though have made me look more critically at food than I ever have before.  But don't expect too much from this.

Now that I've taken care of that I will get to the point.

Since the first lunch I ate and Namduck Elementary School in Daegu, Republic of Korea I have looked differently at school lunch.  I remember being in elementary school and dreading the days they would serve "ribeque" sandwiches.  I swear I would gag as I tried to choke down that unidentifiable "meat" that they put down our throats.  But I lived for the days when a big square of processed cheese and pepperoni pizza was slapped on our trays.  I think this was served at least once a week!  I definitely don't remember school lunch being healthy by any means.  They did have a salad bar but when you have the choice between pizza or the salad bar what do you think an American child is going to pick?  If I did ever eat salad I'm sure I drenched it in ranch dressing anyways to cancel out all of the nutrients I would have gotten from the veggies.  Now I look forward to school lunch, each morning I wonder what surprises I will be chop-sticking into my mouth at 12:10.  Usually lunch is awesome.  Sometimes dishes are served that I'm a little wary about but I try and end up loving.  Every so often there is something that I know to take very little of because I might throw up a little bit in my mouth (it's easier to take a little of something and then not eat any of it than to not take something.  Every coworker at your table will question you).  But these instances are few and far between.  The tasty treats definitely outweigh the dried minnows in syrup.

Because of all these factors I have decided to do a series of posts on the school lunches that I am served and kindly accept for a meager paycheck deduction of around $35 a month.  Less than $2 a meal!  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  And I can eat as much as I want.  Okay, here it goes.  "Korean School Lunch in Photos #1" starts now!

Top left: Cabbage kimchi.  There are many different types of kimchi, the most common being the cabbage kimchi.  "Kimchi" actually just refers to fermented vegetables in Korean cuisine.  The kimchi that is seen here is definitely my favorite.  Some of the ingredients in the sauce are red pepper powder, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and green onions.  You will always find some sort of kimchi served at school lunch and almost every Korean meal that you eat.

Bottom left: "Bap." This is obviously rice.  Rice is served with every school lunch too and like kimchi, is a staple of Korean cuisine.  I am often questioned why I take so little rice at lunch time.  I even take more rice than I know I'm going to eat sometimes just so that I am not pestered by the school chef.

Top middle: "Sook-joo-na-mool"(?)  These are bean sprouts mixed with imitation crab and 'minari' which is Japanese parsley.  Apparently minari is a seasonal herb that is consumed mostly in the spring.  I think my coteacher was trying to point out that spring time is coming and that is why this herb was put into the dish as the dish is most often served without it.  Honestly the dish did not have much flavor at all.  With the main ingredient being bean sprouts you can probably imagine.  I liked that it was healthy but it definitely could have used something to make it more flavorful.

Top right: "Jang-jo-rim"  The school has served this dish a few times since I have been here and I absolutely love it.  It is boiled quail eggs and chunks of pork in soy sauce.  The quail eggs are so much creamier on the inside than chicken eggs.  Plus, the yolk to white ratio is much more even, which I thoroughly enjoy.  The bite-size eggs fit perfectly in your mouth and the pork is tender.  The soy sauce is watered down which is good because it would be much too salty if it wasn't.

Bottom right:  "Soo-je-bi-gook" School lunch is also always served with a soup.  I generally really enjoy Korean soups.  They are usually spicy and brothy and I prefer brothy soups over chunky ones.  The noodles you see in the picture are made from flour and cut in a rectangular shape.  Accompanying the noodles are potatoes, zucchini and green onions.  I was pretty disappointed by this soup.  It had absolutely no flavor.  There was very little seasoning, if any besides salt, added.  The noodles tasted like squares of flavorless dough and the cooked zucchini and potatoes weren't much better.

Overall this was a very average meal.  If it wasn't for the egg and pork dish I wouldn't have been very fond of it as two of the three main dishes were lacking in flavor.  It wasn't an extremely healthy dish compared to others that are served, but it beats by a long shot what I imagine kids are eating in schools and at home back in the U.S.

More to come!
Peace

Balut!!!

I have yet to write a post about my time in the Philippines, and don't know if I ever will.  But I do want to share with you all an interesting edible which is common cuisine amongst locals and which I had the opportunity to try. Those of you who know me probably are aware that I am a bit crazy and adventurous in daily life and when it comes to trying new things.  I decided since the Philippinos eat it then why shouldn't I.  Here is a less graphic picture that I took from google images.  Trust me, it could have been a lot worse.

It's called "balut" and is a fertilized duck egg with a partially developed embryo inside.  They incubated until between 14 and 21 days and then boiled and eaten as a snack.  You can find people selling them all over the street at night and get to choose how developed you want your fetus to be.  I chose the 14 day fetus because I didn't know if I could handle the crunch of a beak and little feathers stuck between my teeth.

To eat the balut first you must find the end with hollow space, crack it open, pour in some vinegar and suck out all of the juice.  After you have sucked the juice you can begin peeling the egg.  You then eat the egg, pouring vinegar and salt on to your liking (use a lot).  I was very thankful that when I ate the balut it was  night time and could not see what I was eating.  I don't know if I would have been able to do it had I seen a fetal duck inside.

I wasn't so lucky about three days later when I got very sick to my stomach and probably had a mild case of salmonella poisoning for about three days at the end of my trip.  It all turned out okay though and if I had the chance I would do it again.  Maybe next time I'll go for the 21 day old fetus.

Teaching for EPIK: Pros and Cons

It's that time of year here in Korea when a whole group of new EPIK teachers will be arriving all around the country to start their year-long contracts.  EPIK takes in teachers twice a year: in March and August.  This is also the time that prospective teachers will be applying for the August take-in.  For those of you applying or thinking about applying to teach English in Korea, I decided to write a post about the pros and cons of teaching in a public school in Korea (EPIK) as opposed to at a private academy (hagwon).  As all I know about teaching at a hagwon is second hand, I really can't give my opinion on that but I will include information that I've received via hagwon teachers or other secondary sources.

Pros:

1. The benefits.  Native English teachers in Korea receive a pretty good bundle of benefits whether they are working for EPIK or a hagwon.  The flight is paid for and our apartments are covered.  All we have to pay for ourselves are general utility bills, cell phone, internet and whatever other extra things we decide to spend our money on.  When we complete our year long contract, we receive an extra month's pay (severance).  This last bonus is a really awesome thing if you're planning on traveling a bit through Asia after your contract expires and you haven't saved up as much money as you had planned.
2. Vacation/sick days.  As EPIK teachers we complain a lot about having to go to school and "deskwarm" when school is not in session.  Yes, it sucks and I am often bored out of my mind during these long hours.  My mind definitely wanders into unexplainable territory and I find myself getting dumber with each minute I watch exquisitely horrible reality television.  But compared to hagwon teachers we do get a better deal when it comes to vacation days.  During Winter Vacation we are allotted 10 paid business days for vacation with 8 during Summer Vacation.  I've heard from several hagwon teachers that they don't get vacation days.  Because I played my cards right I was able to use my 10 vacation days (14 with weekends) and tag on Lunar New Year, which is a national holiday to actually get 18 days of vacation time.  This gave me plenty of time to head down to the Philippines for two and a half weeks.  Pretty awesome.  We also get paid sick days and apparently hagwon teachers do not.
3. Support system.  As an EPIK teacher you participate in orientation before your contract begins.  During this time it's really easy to meet people and develop relationships with other teachers that will be working in your city and throughout Korea.  It's awesome to know that you will have people to talk to and meet up with when you get to your designated city.  I think this was one of my biggest concerns coming to Korea.  Hagwons are often small private academies that only have a few native English teachers.  I've heard from hagwon teachers that it takes a bit more time and effort to meet people who you'd actually want to hang out with.  Our coTs (coteachers) are also essential people in our lives when we first get here and throughout our year.  They do lots of stuff for us and help us out whenever we need it.
4. The job is generally easy.  On average we teach about 4 to 5 classes a day which totals 160-200 minutes a day.  I split my classes 50/50 with my coTs so I really only end up teaching 80-100 minutes a day.  Elementary school teachers must follow the government text books so the curriculum is planned.  We usually just have to create a game and some supplement materials for each class.  I've heard that hagwon teachers usually teach by themselves, spend lots of time planning their lessons and teach the entire time they are at work.

Cons

1. Deskwarming.  As I briefly stated earlier, "deskwarming" is an issue that every EPIK teacher faces.  It pretty much means that you are sitting at your desk with absolutely nothing to do, but can't go home because it's in your contract that you are at work for 8 hours a day.  It seems that Koreans don't really understand the phenomenon of deviation.  Doing anything different from the norm or the rules is just not really even thought of.  This is not only applicable in the work place but in everyday life.  When you go to a restaurant don't be surprised if the server literally just does not understand why you want to substitute a side dish for something else.  Korean culture is about conformity, not difference.  This means that during the time that students are not in school and we are not taking our vacation days, we will be on Facebook for 8 hours straight.  It's pretty funny to see your friends on Facebook go from 50 down to 16 at exactly 4:30.  At least I can stay caught up on Jersey Shore, The Bachelor, 30 Rock, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Parenthood, and Portlandia.  You are reading this blog post courtesy of deskwarming.
2. Korean culture can be hard to understand.  Because we are often times the only native English teacher at a school full of Koreans we develop relationships with a lot of our coworkers.  We are expected to go to school dinners and on school hikes.  These can be really fun but also a pain in the ass when they tell you an hour before that you will be going out with the school all night long to dinner and the norae bang.  It is not looked highly upon to miss a school function so you will have to cancel all your Friday night plans.  It is common for Koreans to change plans at the last moment during school too.  You will have planned a lesson the week before and 5 minutes before the class starts your coT will tell you that you're not doing that lesson anymore.  The end of this semester is on Wednesday and most of us will be getting new coTs next semester.  I asked my coT from this semester when I will know who my new coTs will be and she said, "I don't know.  Maybe next week?"  These little things about Korean culture can get frustrating after awhile.  I've just learned to go with the flow and never expect anything to be set in stone until it has already happened.
3. The curriculum is horrible.  From improper English to useless topics, the Elementary school curriculum is a laugh.  I can't speak for middle school or high school but the things we have to teach can be irrelevant or even completely incorrect.  A lot of us have to follow the books to a certain degree which can be really hard to teach.  It is also pretty boring it's a challenge to keep the students entertained.  Next semester there are new English books for elementary school so hopefully there is at least some improvement.
4. The variation.  Each EPIK teacher's situation is different.  Since your school makes most of the decisions regarding your job, housing, etc., no one can ever be sure of what their situation will be like.  I have a friend with a hole-in-the-wall studio apartment where her bed barely fits and another friend with a 4 bedroom "apartment" that's actually more like a house.  Your coteacher can be a huge factor in your happiness during your year in Korea.  If you have a coT that barely speaks any English, is old and conservative with a minuscule sense of humor, you may have a difficult time.  On the other end your coT might be 26 and down to party with you on the weekends.  I work at a low level school which can prove pretty difficult at times, as some of my students can't understand a word of what i'm saying and don't really care.  Usually at hagwons the level of the students is higher which I would guess could be more fun as you are more able to develop relationships with people that you can communicate with.

If you are a prospective English teacher in Korea I hope this helps you to make an informed decision!

Winter Camp for Parents

Christmas Eve in Korea marks the end of the second semester for Korean elementary school children.  This means that Korean students will have the next six weeks without regular classes.  One would think that this would also mean that the teachers have the next six weeks off, as it is in the U.S.  However, this is not the case.  EPIK teachers are required to be at school from 8:30-4:30 (regular work hours) during the entirety of winter vacation, minus the ten business days that we are allotted for our own vacation.  During this time many teachers must participate in winter camps.  These winter camps vary hugely from school to school on the curriculum, grades levels of the students, number of days and hours etc.  Some teachers may have four classes a day for three weeks straight, while others may have only one week of two or three classes a day.  Many teachers end up at other schools helping out other foreign teachers with their winter camps.

During the winter vacation I heard many horror stories about so many different aspects of winter camp.  Many teachers were not given any curriculum or even guidelines to go by when creating winter camp lesson plans.  This makes it very difficult to make weeks worth of lessons with absolutely no idea of what to teach or what level of materials to use.  I heard lots of complaints from teachers about their schools telling them on Wednesday, for example, that they needed to turn in all of their detailed lesson plans that Friday.  They worked all night long for a few days to get those plans ready and turned in on time.  One teacher worked on 20 lessons for the first week of his camp only to go to school on Monday and have his co-teacher tell him that the Office of Education didn't accept his lesson plans, and that she spent all weekend changing them.  His school did not give him any materials, curriculum or ideas for winter camp.  Therefore he planned lessons that he thought would be fun and actually wanted to teach.  He felt like his co-teacher thought he was a bad teacher and really guilty that she spent all that time changing the lessons.

When I was informed of what my winter camp would entail I felt like I had it pretty easy compared to many others.  I was only required to participate in one week of winter camp teaching three classes a day.  One of my co-teachers would be there teaching 3rd and 4th grades while I taught 5th and 6th.  We would switch off grades each day.  My other co-teacher would be in the room in case I needed something translated.  I was really excited that I had it so easy until my co-teacher came into class one day with a worried look on her face.  She told me that she had talked to the Vice Principal and that he said we had to do a second week of winter camp.  The second week would only consist of two classes: one class of 3rd and 4th graders that didn't get into the first winter camp (we only allowed 20 students per class), and one class of the parents of the students.  That's right.  The parents.  I was so intimidated by this.  I had never before taught ESL to adults and had never heard of any other foreign English teacher having to teach parents.  I figured it would just be awkward, that they would just sit there silently because they were embarrassed and very low level.  My co-teacher who would be there to translate for me also thought this was going to be a really weird situation, which did not make me feel any better.  

I dreaded the second week of winter camp all throughout the first and put off making any lesson plans for the parents' class so it didn't seem so real.  But eventually time was running out and I had to face the fact that parents' class was actually going to happen and that I would (hopefully) live through it.  I prepared an introductory lesson so I could gauge the levels of the students in order to create subsequent lessons.  After my class of young'ns on Monday I began to get ultra nervous.  I was under the impression that the parents' class would start at 9:50 and was getting my hopes up because by 10:00 no one had showed up.  To my dismay, by about 10:05 the students began arriving.  I said, "Good morning," to each as they walked into class and sat silently.  When there were eight women students seated in front of me I was given the go-ahead to begin class.  I began with an introductory powerpoint with pictures of my family, interests and favorites.  I was pleasantly surprised to get lots of giggles and tons of questions about my life back home and here in Korea afterwards.  As I continued on with the lesson the women opened up more and more.  Although their level was pretty low they still tried hard to communicate as much as possible.  They would say English words they knew and then say stuff in Korean and my co-teacher would translate.  One of the greatest things was that the women thought I was hilarious.  I acted like my silly self while teaching and they loved that.  They loved that I tried to say some words in Korean and laughed when I sang and danced.  The lesson ended up being incredibly fun because the women all had a great sense of humor and were eager to learn English.  I couldn't believe that I was actually excited to plan the lesson for the next day.

On Tuesday I taught the women a "pop song" as most Koreans love to sing.  This day we sung "I Have a Dream" by ABBA.  It's funny how much Koreans love the musical "Mamma Mia."  Many women know the tune to lots of "Mamma Mia" songs and may know some of the words to the chorus or make up their own words.  I also love to sing and have become pretty open about singing in front of people.  I would guess that back home people would be way less into singing songs in class and probably a lot more shy to let people hear their voice.  Each day I taught another song: on Wednesday, "Let it Be" by the Beatles; Thursday, "Mamma Mia" by Abba; and Friday, "I'll Be There" by Jackson 5.

On the last day of class one of the moms walks into class with a really large bag filled with unknown items.  She starts removing each item from the bag: a glass cylinder of water, a steel brief case-looking box, a small machine, and some cups.  As I'm watching her it becomes more and more apparent that what she has is a small espresso machine!  She opens up the little brief-case thing and she's got a bunch of little, plastic, sealed cups, each with a different type of espresso.  I go over to look and all the information regarding the espresso is written in German with her notes translating in Korean.  The Koreans inform me that she is a barista.  Apparently anyone who can make real coffee is a "barista" in Korea.  We each pick out which type of espresso we want.  I am the only one that chooses actual espresso while the Koreans all choose some type of creamy, sweet coffee drink.  Koreans love sweet.  I just found it hilarious that she would go to all of this work to bring in an espresso machine and make everyone drinks for a 50 minute long class.  To me his image is so incredibly Korean and awesome.

To top off a really good week the ladies invited me to go out to dinner and to the noraebang (Karaoke room) on Friday night.  The restaurant they chose was a really nice "Western" restaurant just up the road called "White Castle."  I found the name quite funny as it really actually was a "white castle."  I ate a tenderloin steak and all the Koreans picked "Korean style bulgogi steak."  The dinner was a total mixture of Western and Korean food.  Pretty tasty.  When we were about to leave, one of the women began to unclip her large fur bow, handed it to me and said "real mink."  My co-teacher said she wanted to give it to me as a gift and that it was real fur.  My co-teacher clipped it into my hair and all the women gasped saying, "Ahhh very beautiful!!"  With all the fur that I've acquired while here I hope PETA doesn't assassinate me while getting off the plane when I go home.  Next we went to the noraebang and at first sang all the songs that we learned in class.  It was good that the Koreans could practice their English in a real-life setting (Yes, the noraebang is a typical Korean setting).  For the next hour and a half we all took turns singing popular Western and Korean songs, singing, dancing and laughing.  

The whole week with the women turned out to be a blast.  Getting to know them and becoming friends has many perks.  They want to take me to Costco, which is really far away from my house and a huge hassle to get to.  It's also nice to get on the good side of parents, as this comes back to the administration at my school.  Getting on the good side of the VP and principal at your school can have many benefits, as it is in Korean society.  Because my principal likes me he let me go home at one o'clock every day during winter camp and during my desk warming days.

Now, done with winter camps, I'm off to the warm beaches of the Philippines for 17 days!  Should be a really good time.  If I have a chance while there I will write a blog post, otherwise I'll write ya soon!   

It Ain't Chocolate

I will preface this post by first and foremost saying that girls, despite some of your ignorant beliefs, do in fact poop.  Butterflies and flowers do not come out of girls' butts.  It is a fact of nature that we too have to somehow excrete all of the food waste that we have previously put into our bodies.  So if any of these past few sentences grossed you out, you should probably quit reading now.  It only gets better.  

Going to the bathroom in any country can be a challenge.  No matter where you are there are always barriers one faces when trying to go #1 or #2.  For women it can be a bit more challenging because we are expected to use the bathroom when doing both of these deeds, not simply the ladder.  I know that I am privileged living in the U.S. and have become accustomed to using Western-style toilets and being provided all the t.p. I need when using public restrooms.  I wouldn't say that i'm a snob when it comes to using the john, though.  I don't need the bathroom to be sparkly clean and I can easily pop-a-squat and go outside when need be.  In the little traveling that I have done I have found that the task of finding a decent pooper can be a lot more difficult than in my own country.  Although I wouldn't consider myself too picky about the quality of my lavatory I understand that I may seem like a culturally insensitive ass hole in the next few paragraphs.  I'm not trying to be.

In Ecuador it was always an adventure trying to find somewhere that had a public bathroom.  When you finally did find a small restaurant or coffee shop that would let you use the toilet, it almost always made you sure you could hold it for another 4 hours at least or until you returned home.  Sometimes I was afraid that while sitting down a bug or small mammal would find its way up my butt.  Guys had it really easy in Ecuador if they only had to go #1.  It was 100% acceptable for a man to whip it out and take a wizz at any time, anywhere and all over whatever they wanted.  One night a few friends and I were walking down the road headed for the party district.  My girlfriend didn't have any shoes on (that's a different story altogether) and as we are walking we notice a long stream of liquid rolling down the sidewalk.  We look ahead of us and we see three guys standing in a row peeing on a building.  My friend had stepped in their pee and couldn't really do anything to avoid it besides buying new shoes.  Yes I realize that she shouldn't have been walking barefoot downtown but it was still a bit traumatizing I'm sure.

Here in Korea it is much easier to find a WC than in Ecuador and it is not acceptable for anyone, be it men or women, to piss in public.  The problems that I have come across though can be lumped into two categories: #1, squatter toilets and #2, toilet paper.

#1: Squatter toilets

I know that my problem with squatter toilets stems from complete cultural insensitivity on my part.  I'm used to sitting down and I've become comfortable with that.  I can squat when I'm out in the woods and I need to go or when I'm not near a bathroom, a little drunk and I really will pee my pants if I don't squat.  But when it comes to being sober and in an enclosed area that smells like stale urine at best, it's a little more difficult.  I believe that Koreans are born with an innate ability to squat like a pro and anyone here will tell you the same thing.  They are completely comfortable squatting for long periods of time and actually really do spend much of their time in a squatting position.  For me it's a bit harder.  My knees just can not handle my body weight for long periods of time.  This makes going #1 pretty easy but #2 is a bit more difficult.  I also have a fear that haunts my imagination every time I use the squatter: that I will be pooping and lose my balance and some part of my body will land into the toilet. You can imagine what would happen after that.  This is especially scary when I've been drinking at a bar and I have to go extra bad because of the shit-inducing alcohol.  Who wants to come out of the crapper back to the guy you've been flirting with and have poo somewhere on you?

I can say that I've only ever pooped in the squatter twice since I've been here.  This happened when I first bought my French press and began bringing a 16oz black coffee with me to school every morning.  At first I painfully held it until I got home but then I just couldn't do it anymore.  I successfully went #2 in the squatters twice until I discovered that there is one "Western-style" toilet in the school and I began using that.  You would think my colon cannonball woes would be over after that, wouldn't you?  Well, think again.  The Western-style turd aquarium is locked I would say 50% of the time and about 50% of the time there is no toilet paper to be found outside of any bathroom in the entire school.

And that brings me to #2.

#2: Toilet paper, or lack there of

A lack of toilet paper while using the restroom is probably just as daunting of a threat as #1, especially if I have to drop a deuce.  I'm sure many of you have been in a bathroom, public or even your own, and realized that you don't have any or enough toilet paper to complete the full wipage necessary to not leave skid marks.  Sometimes I even go into the bathroom and sit down thinking that all I'm going to do is a quick #1 and get out of there when suddenly i feel something coming out of the other hole.  It's always a good feeling when I didn't plan on pooping but it just happened, except when you don't have any or enough toilet paper.

Public bathrooms in Korea, if they provide any toilet paper at all, usually place the dispensers outside the bathroom.  One must rip toilet paper from the roll and take it into the individual bathrooms with them.  If you don't take enough you're pretty much shit outta luck.  There are a few different steps you can take to render the potentially disasterous situation to some extent.

1. Wipe strategically: When attempting this method one must first evaluate the amount of toilet paper one has in their immediate possession and the type of poop that was just taken.  Did it break off cleanly without leaving much residue?  Or was it a bit more moist and juicy?  Try to estimate the number of wipes that it will take to leave you feeling fresh and rip the paper accordingly.
2. Be creative: If the strategic wiping did not turn out ideally then one must resort to number 2.  Use whatever you have.  If you are a woman and carry a purse this will probably turn out a bit better than if you're a man, unless you're a man that carries a purse (aka Korean).  Search through your purse and try to find anything you can possibly use as toilet paper.  Receipts and travel brochures work well.  Beware of paper with a wax coating, as they do not work as effectively.  Don't use any important documents.
3. The 2nd round: If one has tried both number one and two and is still not satisfied with the outcome, one must revert to number three.  Pull up your pants, go outside the bathroom, get more toilet paper, and return for round #2.  If there is a line for the toilet then this can be a problem, as one will have to wait in line again.  One faces the obvious danger of dirtying her panties in the process but there are even more dangerous consequences.  There is always the potential for humiliation when the long line of shitters see you leave your stall only to grab more toilet paper and return to the line.  Once you are seen doing this your whole crisis has gone public.  You know people are snickering and talking about you in their secret spy language. 

You say that all of this can be evaded by simply taking more than enough toilet paper?  It's harder than it sounds, my friend.  Recently I was in a public restroom at the bus station in Seoul and I sensed that I had to go #2.  There was a line of about 10 people into the women's bathroom.  When it was my turn at the paper dispenser I took a bigger than average amount of paper.  Korean toilet paper is like 1/2 ply so one must take a lot of it to suffice.  I took what I believed would be the perfect amount of paper for my ass but apparently the lady behind me thought it was a little excessive.  As i ripped off the wad i hear a loud and disgusted "Ughhhhh!"  I turn around to see a little old lady scowling at me.  I gave her an innocent "sorry lady, I gotta take a poo" look, turned around and headed to the bathroom.  Everything turned out well!

It's also difficult while at school to take a lot of toilet paper, as there are always students and staff members watching you.  As a foreigner you rarely have a moment in public when not one pair of eyes are watching you.  If you take a lot of toilet paper before you go to the bathroom then everyone in the hall knows you're going to take a shit.  I guess in this aspect it's more advantageous being a woman because you might be able to play it off as #1 paper.  If you're a dude you're pretty much screwed.

Speech Contest Humor

Don't be alarmed.  Yes, I changed my profile design.  It still sucks but I think it's easier to read.

Ready, Go.

The principal at my school informed my co-teacher that we would be having an English speech contest just days before he expected it to happen.  This put a lot of stress on my co-teacher as she is extra busy this time of year.  Since she is a temporary teacher and not used to everything here it is extra stressful for her.  Our school is very small compared to most elementary schools and this means that the teachers have even more work because it is split between fewer teachers.  It is not uncommon for my co-teachers to fall asleep at their desks in the middle of the afternoon.  There are also beds in the nurse's office with heated pads where teachers can go to take a nap.  My co-teacher gave me the go ahead one day and I spent about an hour cuddled up and warm, staring at my eyelids.  I don't think you've assimilated enough into Korean teacher culture until you've fallen asleep at your desk.  Yesterday I woke up when a co-worker walked into the English room to give the English teachers an invitation to her wedding.  I was a little embarrassed that I had to wipe the drool from my mouth as she was looking at me with a grin on her face.

Well this post has started to go in a totally different direction than intended.

So last week my teacher started working on the logistics of the speech competition.  The 3rd-6th graders that wanted to compete had to write a speech on various topics and recite it the next week.  They had the weekend to write and memorize their speeches and my co-teacher had that time to work everything out.  She was already stressed because she has been working on figuring out winter camps too.  Winter camps are week-long or more English camps that the native English teachers have to teach during winter break.  Last Friday my co-teacher was so stressed out and looked like she was about to cry.  I asked her, "Are you okay?"  She said yes but you know when people ask you if you are okay and you say yes but you really aren't and it makes you break down in tears?  Well that's what happened.  I felt so bad because I knew that she was really stressed out and I wanted to help but there is not much I can do without being able to speak Korean.  I always ask her to give me work and sometimes she gives me little task but usually just mundane details, nothing big.  My other co-teacher and I left for the day hoping that the weekend would calm her down a little. 

The next Monday the 3rd and 4th graders were scheduled to give their speeches.  Before the contest I volunteered to read the speeches and pick out the better ones which would be awarded more points for 'content.'  As I was reading I began cracking up hysterically at my desk at the hilarious, insightful, brilliant things that some of these students were writing.  The 5th and 6th graders gave their speeches on Wednesday and my reaction was the same while reading theirs.  Throughout the contest I just sat in the back of the room, score sheet in hand, with a huge grin on my face and seriously almost getting teary-eyed.  I had never heard my students, especially my 3rd graders, express themselves before.  In class they have to spontaneously answer questions but with this assignment they were able to take time to think, write down and practice what they wanted to say.  It was a really awesome event as it allowed me to understand the students' personalities a little bit more which is hard to experience with the language barrier.  I felt a little bit bad for scoring little elementary school kids on their English language ability but I guess that's what Korea is all about: competition.  Because some of the students' quotes were so intriguing I had to copy them down and share them with someone.  My co-teacher just didn't appreciate them the same as I did because English isn't her first language, but I hope you get as much of a kick out of them as I did and still do.  Here are a few of the quotes that I wrote down, with added commentary on some, separated by grade level:


3rd grade:

"I am so happy when I have dilicious food with my family.  Especially, I like deonjangjigae, cheonggukjang, kimchijigae.  They smell a little but they are really good."
         -The smellier the better.
        
"My dream is to be a soccer player in the future.  I'm a girl but I like to play soccer very much.  I want to inform my country in the world like woman soccer player Yeo-Min-Ji."
         -A 9 year old future feminist <3

"My mother takes care of me.  She is a math teacher.  So she helps me a lot with my math homework.  I think she loves my brother more than me.  But she also loves me...My brother is seven years old.  He is very cute.  His name is Toby, and he likes drawing pictures.  I like his hairstyle.  Sometimes, I tease him, and he yells a lot."
         -Can't empathize with ya there, brother.  My mom loves me the best.

"Flavorite food is seaweed."
         -Can you imagine the typical American child's face when he heard his 9 year old   Korean peer say that his favorite food was seaweed?

"My father is tall.  He is very busy and works until late at night.  He is a stern father but he loves me."
         -Multiple students wrote about their fathers being stern.  I thought it was culturally significant.

"My favorite color is blue, Becaus blue color makes me clam."
          -Clam or calm, it's awesome either way.


5th grade:

"Our English teacher is a native speaker and she is from America.  She is kind and pretty."
          -Had to throw that in there.

"Lastly we have to improve our a little bad things: loudly noise and playing tag, cutting in line school lunch, pushing eachother when washing hands.  If our these points change, I think our class will be more orderly and great class."
          -Future Kailey teacher.

"My classmates have a lot of nicknames.  These are so funny and interesting.  Kim-yoon-kyung is 'lazy' because she behaves like a bear moving very slowly.  Lee-eun-bi is a primitive woman, and the nickname of Park-mi-jun is a martian...I also have particular nicknames; vampire and koala.  Do you think I really look like these characters?...Anyway you can imagine how exciting and unique my classmates are by their nicknames."
          -Girl, you don't even wanna know my nicknames.

"Our class has 27 friends.  Their favorite subject is P.E. Because when they do P.E. they feel good and do their best in P.E.  But I think they do not good at math.  Because They don't answer when teacher gives a question in math class every day.  Our teacher is very scared if she is angry.  But sometimes she is funny."
           -It's bad if she even scares herself when she is angry!  I do it sometimes too.

"An English class with native speaker teacher is really exciting."
           -Oh, stop it.


6th grade:

"Drum skills of the star is so much better now cocked."
          -Your guess is as good as mine.  

"All the people's plan the daily schedule is almost same
First is wake up
That's war"
           -I couldn't have said it better myself.



And now an ode to the Korean educational system:

The test

I had midterm test a few weeks ago.

I wanted to do well on my test.

I was very busy preparing for the test.

Before the exam I reviewed what we learned.

The test give me a lot of stress.

I was very nervous before the test.

My heart was pounding.

I did my best,

finally the test were over.

After the test I felt free.

The test results came out.

I did well in English and Korean.

but I messed up in the science

I rank in the middle of my class.

I didn't want to show my report card to my parents.

I need to improve my grades.

Ill study hard from now on.

I just thought this was brilliant.  This puts into English words the stress that many Korean students feel.  This begins at the elementary school level and continues up until the university entrance exams and beyond.  So much pressure is put on children and adolescents to succeed in school, otherwise it is thought that one will have no future.  This speech, which I see as a poem, was written by one of my best 6th grade students.  I love the rhyme and repitition and feel that she needs recognition for this.

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone!  I wish I could be at home with you, family!

Koreans Say the Darndest Things---About My Hairstyles Pt.1

Any female teacher in Korea can tell you about Koreans' amazement with foreigners changing their hairstyles.  I have long hair and can do a few different things with it, so I quite often am amused by the comments I receive from students and other teachers about my change-ed hair.  I also have a particularly large collection of bows, headbands and hats that give everyone that much more joy when they see me at school in the morning.  Because most Koreans naturally have straight, dark hair, my long, curly hair makes me an anomaly.  Apparently Koreans rarely change their hairstyle, so when someone does everyone notices and it is a huge deal.  "Teacher!  Your hair change-ed!!  So beautiful!!"  I hear multiple times a day.  My students love to touch and play with my hair.  I'll be sitting in my desk on Facebook having an inappropriate-while-at-work conversation with someone when I feel something tugging on my long locks.  I'll turn my head around 180 degrees and look down to find a little twerp squatting in that oh so familiar stance, looking up at me grinning with her hand caught in the unintentionally grown dreads in the back of my hair.  I'll oblige her and allow her to continue for a while longer until i feel my hair/head being threatened, then I'll start pulling her hair so she sees how it feels.  She usually thinks it's funny and keeps going.

Anyways, this series of posts is going to be a documentation of the funny/awkward comments I receive by various people on my hairstyles.  They will feature a photo of the hairstyle and a list of the comments with a little explanation, or whatever I want to do.  I don't want to hear your negative comments about my hairstyles, so keep your mouths shut.

My neighbor and the first person I saw this morning: "Your hair looks different today!  It looks like you just got out of bed and put your hair up!"
        Me: "Thanks." Unamused.

My coteacher as she walks in the classroom and sees me: "Wow!  Your hair is sooo beautiful!  Your headband is so big and beautiful!"

A 5th grade student before class:  "Teacher!  Your head looks like pineapple!"

A 4th grade student in the lunch line:  Leans over to my coteacher and says something in Korean.  Coteacher laughs and says, "She says your hair makes you look like Princess Cinderella!"
          
Later that day the same student:  "You are Princess Cinderella!"

Today my coteachers and I left school early to go to the salon so I could get my haircut.  I had initially considered perming my hair but then kind of freaked out when I thought about putting chemicals in my hair and the fact that many Korean stylists have probably never worked with my hair type before.  Because of this I decided I would just get a cut.  This caused a problem because apparently my coteacher had already told the principal that I was going to get a perm and that we needed to leave really early since perms take a long time.  While in the teachers' room today I was 'talking' with the head teacher and principal and they were really excited to see my 'even more beautiful' hair after it was permed.  Since I had decided I just wanted a cut, and my coteachers still wanted to leave really early from school, we have to make up some elaborate story about why my hair isn't as beautiful as they had expected.  I told them I could crazy curl it on Monday before school so they would think I got a perm but they said this wasn't necessary, as the principal is old and probably would forget or not notice anyways.

The stylist took a few inches off and layered it.  We'll see what the students and principal (if he remembers) say on Monday.

Open Class Illusions

This post is for all the teachers in my family back home.

In Korean public school systems exists a phenomenon called 'open class.'  It is well known to all native Korean teachers and foreign teachers alike, as everyone must participate throughout the school year.  Open class is basically when people are invited to come observe a teacher 'teach' a class.  Sometimes the visitors are the vice principal, principal and coworkers from the teacher's own school.  Other times they are parents of the students in the class or teachers from other schools.  But on occasion the people that come to watch the class are people in high-up positions at the Office of Education.

Open class is basically a Korean teacher's worst fear.  The nerves that build up over weeks of preparation are enough to break a person down.  When a Korean teacher finds out the date and time of her open class she will spend weeks planning and preparing.  Unlike in the U.S. this is not a time when the principal comes in, sits in the corner unnoticed by students and takes a few quick notes on what the teacher is doing.  It is far from that.  Instead, the teacher creates an extremely elaborate illusion of what their class would look like in a perfect world where the teacher has an infinite number of hours to plan and prepare for their classes.  And this is what it is expected to be.  It is no secret.

Let me give you an example.  Three days ago one of my fourth grade classes was cancelled due to the fact that our head teacher, who is a P.E. teacher, was going to have an open class the next day.  The head teacher and his class needed to 'practice' the lesson the day before so they would be prepared for when the important people from the Office of Education would come the next day to observe.  Yes, they actually practiced the exact class that they would be having the next day and held their students out of my class to do it.  The next day I walk up to school having completely forgot about the head teacher's open class, but am quickly reminded of it the second I step foot on school grounds.  Groups of students are scurrying around with little brooms and dustpans sweeping up all the fallen leaves and dirt off the driveway.  The dirt field in front of the school, which is used for P.E. classes and sports, is completely covered in sports equipment.  Let me just tell you that I have NEVER seen anything on this field besides the two permanent soccer nets that it houses and elementary schoolers playing various sports.  On this day the students would have the greatest P.E. class of their lives.  They would get to participate in an cornucopia of sports ranging from badminton to bowling to balance beaming.  On the field were various types and sizes of nets, mats, stools, big, wood things that looked like a bean bag toss without a hole in the middle and special equipment at each station.  Someone had even gotten out chalk they use on baseball fields to designate each area. I too had to sacrifice for this class.  My coteacher and I were asked to haul our oversized dry-erase board down three flights of stairs out to the field.  Who uses a dry-erase board in the middle of a dirt field?  When the decorating was finished all I could really do was laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole affair.  But I was the only one laughing.

To make matters even more extreme, the school apparently bought over 20 two-foot potted flowers.  As we were lugging the dry-erase board outside the vice principal would stop every 10-feet to indicate where the students should place each pot.  It was someone's genius idea to place these directly in the middle of the hallway, as if it was totally natural to have barriers in the middle of the hallway of an elementary school where students are constantly running, jumping, sliding, hitting, kicking and participating in outrageous activities I've never even seen before.  There is no way that on a normal day these flowers would have lasted 10 minutes without getting knocked over and destroyed.  At the end of the line of flowers there was a table set up with various books, binders and student creations all on the subject of P.E.  The Office of Educationites could explore the wealth of knowledge belonging to our beautiful, perfect school, students and staff.

And the next day the beautiful illusion ceased to exist.  (How'd you like that one sentence paragraph, Jay?)

 The school's field on a normal day. 

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on open class day but you can imagine.

Now I'll briefly tell you about my own open class, which I have yet to do.  Well, originally I was supposed to do it on the 6th of October.  Then it changed to the 13th, then the 12th of November and now it is scheduled for November 19th.  Since it was originally supposed to be the 6th of October my coteacher and I will naturally be teaching the lesson that we would have taught would it have been that day, 4th grade Chapter 11 Part 2.  Instead, when we actually teach our class, our students will be on Chapter 14 Part 1.  Oh, and did I mention that November 19th is a Friday and I don't even teach 4th graders on Friday?  Yes, we will be having a class that day that doesn't actually exist.  We will be teaching a lesson that the students learned a month and a half before and that we already practiced with them.  I'm sure we will practice it for a second time the day before.  For this class my coteacher spent hours creating the lesson and laminating and cutting out paper and I pretty much did nothing.  This is not because I am lazy or don't care.  It is because Korean teachers take this so damn seriously and get so stressed out over it that they won't let their coteachers do anything because they could screw it up.  If they screwed it up then what would happen?  Probably nothing.

I just have to mention again the fact that EVERYBODY knows that this happens and it is expected.  If a teacher's open class lesson didn't look so overtly outrageous the people at the Office of Education, and everyone else, would have a fit.  I'm sure the whole school would learn about it as soon as it happened (or before) and everyone would be talking about it.  Maybe my criticism is too harsh because I come from a different culture and am used to things a different way, but I really have thought long and hard about this trying to think of the reasoning and I just don't believe it is the best way to evaluate a teacher's ability and success as an educator.  It also causes so much stress on the teacher and takes time away from the students' learning, as they have to practice the same lesson multiple times in an unnatural fashion.

On the plus-side, students will be so well behaved there will be no corporal punishment in the classroom the entire period.

The next day the flowers (this is only half) had been moved to a more practical location.

Maybe I'll get to take one home with me.

My first month

So I've already been in Korea for over a month now.  Every year it seems like time flies by a little faster than the previous.  Why can't time slow down when you're having fun and speed up when you're not?  In the past few weeks I have been settling down and getting accustomed to my daily life.  It has been good to start getting comfortable with my apartment and the area in which I live.  I have been going on short hikes to get in a little work out on the mountain that I live by.  There are so many mosquitoes on this mountain so I have to walk fast or run so I don't get bit.  I think it helps my work out in the end!

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while but I've been really busy and so much has happened since then!  I'll start with Busan.  Busan is the second most populated city in Korea and it is on the south eastern coast.  On the high speed train from Daegu it takes only about 45 minutes to get there.  They say that on a clear day you can see Japan from Busan!  I went to Busan with 5 other friends to visit our friend Kevin who we became good friends with in orientation.  We boarded the train on Friday night and thought we would start off a good weekend with some beer and a few bottles of soju.  We had heard that it's totally legit to drink on the train.  Apparently it wasn't.  We were asked to quiet down multiple times and I'm pretty sure everyone on the train hated us.  I later learned that people take the KTX because it's supposed to be quiet and people want to sleep.  Sorry, people!  We lost a few more friends when we arrived to Busan and hopped on the subway with beers in hand.  Apparently just because it's legal doesn't mean that it's kosher to drink on the subway.  One Korean lady was particularly angry and yelled at us for a while in Korean.  It's actually a lot funnier when you have no idea what the person is saying.  Now we had upwards of negative 40 friends in Busan.  The plan was that we would all stay at Kevin's apartment on his floor but that meant that there would be 8 people in a studio apartment because Kevin's girlfriend, Ruth, was visiting from Seoul.  We decided it would probably be a good idea to get a 'love motel' instead.  Because Korean children usually live with their parents until they get married 'love motels' are really popular.  They are small motel rooms that you can rent by the hour or the night and usually cost around $40 a night.  Don't ask me what they cost by the hour haha.  I've heard that many love motels are actually pretty nice for the price but some can also be pretty bad.  I think it's kind of a hit-or-miss type of deal.  Well, I think that we missed on ours.  The first thing we noticed when we walked in was the bright yellow cement floor and the cockroach on the ceiling.  The wallpaper was stained with who-knows-what and apparently smelled really bad.  We ended up having to sneak the boys in because we told the hotel lady that there were only three of us when in actuality there were six.  Do you remember what Korean showers are like from my previous blog?  Well the water drains into the floor.  When six people are showering and using one bathroom it gets pretty disgusting after about ten seconds.  Whatever.  We didn't care that much.  We were in Busan on the beach!  It was probably around 80 degrees and we were really excited to see Kevin and the other friends that we had made in orientation who were living in Busan.  We spent the weekend partying, eating and lounging on the beach.  I don't think I've laughed so much in 2 days than I did on that trip.  On the Sunday that we had to leave we decided to go to the most famous beach in Busan called Hyundae (like the car).  We were all taking a nice nap in the heat when I hear a man trying to talk to my friend Lara.  I suddenly sit up to see what's going on and this old Korean man is squatting in front of Lara with a small paper cup and two toothpics in his hands.  He is trying to give Lara something and she is shaking her head in protest.  I finally figure out that the man has a cup of boiled bug larvae and is offering her some.  He notices that I sit up and he begins to walk over to me.  My instinctual reaction is to open my mouth.  Please don't ask me why.  Apparently opening of the mouth universally means "feed me."  Needless to say he pops a few boiled bug larvae in my mouth and I begin chewing.  Before this I like to think that I can at least tolerate everything that I have eaten in my life.  Not anymore.  Everytime I even smell the cooking of these larvae I begin to gag and have to run away.  I really hope that no one tries to feed me these ever again.  Besides this one event Busan was really incredible and we've already made plans to visit again within the next few weeks.  Apparently Busan has the biggest fireworks show in the world (?) and it takes place in October so we will hopefully be going for that.

 We hung out in a giant bowl on the beach

 Our dinner one night which consisted of lots of squid! Yummm

 The crew (minus Shaun who is taking the pic) in front of the 'love motel'.


Two weekends ago was one of my coteacher's last day as she is going on maternity leave until after winter vacation.  My two coteachers and I decided to go out to dinner since we wouldn't see her for a while and just to hang out.  Emily and I had been talking about going out for makchang for a while.  Makchang is pig intestines that the restaurant gives you raw and you grill it up yourself.  Each table has its own little grill in the center, and like much Korean food, the servers bring it to you and you cook it.  I had eaten tripe in Ecuador and really liked the flavor but I always had trouble swallowing it because it is so chewy and I could never break it down enough to swallow it.  I would chew it for a while to get the flavor and then spit it out.  I hoped that the makchang would be easier to swallow because I didn't think it would be as appropriate to spit it out in front of my coteachers at a sit-down restaurant (in Ecuador we ate it off the street).  We ordered spicy and regular intestines and, like normal, we got tons of different Korean side dishes.  This is one of the greatest things about Korean food.  You get the meal and included in the meal are many side dishes with various types of food.  Always included is kimchi, which I love.  with the inestines came tree leaves that you were supposed to make a little wrap out of with the different side dishes and sauces.  Apparently the leaf is very high in iron.  Lots of barbequed meat is served with these leaves.  The intestines and all the side dishes turned out to be delicious and I was even able to swallow it with a little extra chewing.  I think these were of higher quality than the ones I often ate in Ecuador and this is why I was able to successfully complete the eating process.

 My coteachers, Emily and Ju Young.

 Cutting the makchang

 Leaf wrap

After we ate dinner we walked next door to the norae bang.  Norae bangs are the karaoke rooms that Koreans are so very obsessed with.  You can seriously find a norae bang on every street corner.  I was a little bit nervous because I have rarely sang karaoke in front of other people completely sober.  If I sing back home it is after having a few drinks and the entire group I'm with takes the mic and we perform a hilariously ridiculous ballad and it is completely a joke.  In Korea karaoke is not a joke.  My two coteachers and I paid for an hour in the norae bang and we opened up the song book and started choosing songs.  I was pretty relieved to find out that my coteachers were no Celine Dions like I imagined all Koreans to be.  My intimidation flew out the non-existant norae bang windows and I let loose.  My coteachers and I ended up having a really fun time dancing and singing.  I closed the hour with an epic performance of "Ode to my Family" by the Cranberries.

 Norae bang

This past week beginning on Tuesday was a mini-vacation for Chuseok.  Chuseok can be compared to Thanksgiving in the states.  People travel to be with their families and they cook and eat and do different things.  Because of this I didn't have to be at school from Tuesday through Friday.  All the EPIK teachers traveled to different places and I decided to go to Seoul and hiking with a group of five other people.  We signed up for a pre-planned trip through a travel company called Adventure Korea that caters to foreigners.  They plan trips all over Korea and lots of people really like the company.  This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday was a hiking trip to the Seoraksan mountains.  Seoraksan is the biggest mountain range in Korea and apparently is pretty well-known.  When i told my coworkers that I was going there they said, "Wow!  Seoraksan!  Good!" hah.  So we headed to Seoul on Wednesday morning where we would stay for two nights before the hiking trip.  Full of "Seoul" puns, the trip turned out to be a blast.  I couldn't believe how huge it is.  Seoul is one of the biggest cities in the world with over 12 million people and the 3rd largest subway system in the world which we dominated.  When I say 'we' I mean the other people in the group.  We took a trip to a palace which is located in the city at the base of a mountain built in the year 600 something!  The king of the dynasty during this period lived here and it was destructed when Japan took over but rebuilt later.  We also visited Seoul Tower which is on top of a mountain and overlooks the entire city.  We were not the only ones who had this same idea.  In fact I believe that about 98% of Seoul had the exact same idea.  My allotted 15 seconds of viewing time was pretty incredible as the sun was setting right when we were there.  Earlier that day we walked down the Han River and took a little rest in a park and that night we wandered around the city.  Seoul has amazing shopping and food and I would definitely like to spend about a week there.  I don't think I could live there though.  Everywhere you walked there were about a bazillion other people.  There would definitely be something to do all the time though.  While I was there I met a friend from Willamette, Brett, who has been living in Seoul as a teacher for the past month.  Before we graduated we both talked about meeting up.  It was really nice to see someone from home!

 Juxtaposition of the thousand and a half year old palace and the city.

 The girls

 Girls in traditional dress

 A clothing store called "Teenie Weenie".  The sign says "Fly to your dreams" and "All that bear."  Don't ask me...

 "Soft and deep tastes of flesh chicken."

 Once again cooking our meal.

 Seoul Tower

On Friday morning with an hour and a half of sleep we had to get up to go on the hike.  I was pretty much dying of exhaustion but thank God for the 3-hour bus ride.  I was able to take a little nap before we hiked the mountain.  We get to the mountain with our group of 75 (way too many people) but then i realize that the Korean idea of hiking is pretty different from my own.  Hiking this mountain, which means you literally climb the entire mountain, are thousands of other people doing the same thing.  From babies to 80 year olds, the mountain was drowning in people.  It got really really frustrating having to wait behind a long line of slow people or waiting for the people going the opposite direction to go past.  The hike to the top of the mountain proved to be pretty treacherous as it was super steep and there were so many people.  I was astonished at the way the really old people and young kids could climb this mountain.  Before the recent waves of Christian missionaries Koreans have been predominantly Buddhist because of the history of Chinese domination.  Now Korea is one of the most Christian countries in the world which is kind of sad to me.  Many younger people reject their Buddhist heritage for Christianity but the older people tend to stick to their traditions.  I would guess this is why there are so many older people that religiously hike the mountains.  I've noticed that when I go hiking on my mountain that the majority of the people hiking are probably around 50 or 60 years old.  Mountains are sacred in Buddhism and temples are usually built on or at the base of mountains. One of the most interesting things is that on so many mountains, and in public spaces in general, there is "work out equipment."  Apparently the government places workout equipment in the middle of a mountain where old men in suits can go to "work out."  Right when the get off work they must climb the mountain to work out without changing their clothes.  It's really strange but hilarious because we would view these machines as pretty ridiculous.  To me they seem like playgrounds for grown ups.  The machines don't really work you out to say the least and you will have a good laugh watching someone so seriously 'working out' on these machines in their professional dress.  Anyways hiking wasn't exactly as I imagined it but it was an experience.  On Saturday we went to the beach instead of doing the 11 hour hike and we lounged in the sun and rode mini electric motorcycles.  My favorite part of the 'hiking trip' was ironically the spa.  But this ain't just any ol' spa.  Spas in Korea are very popular and everyone is very naked.  First you go into the 'shower' where you undress and hang out naked in your choice of about 8-10 different tubs.  These tubs are more like mini pools and each is a different temperature.  They have cool and hot pools, saunas and an outdoor hot tub like pool.  The water they use is apparently mineral water that i believe is from a hot spring.  People also go to the shower to, you guessed it, take a shower!  They bring all of their bath stuff and sit in front of mirrors with shower heads and bathe each other.  Yes, they rub each other down from head to tow.  My friends and I were pretty comfortable after a few minutes but we never reached this level so we decided to bathe ourselves.  When you are done in the 'shower' you put on these really stylish shorts/tshirt uniforms and go to the 'spa' area that is integrated with the men.  Here there are about 10 different saunas at different temperatures and even a cold room that is totally iced over.  You can also hang out in the center and lay on the ground to watch TV.  We decided to pay an extra 1,000 won (85 cents) to do the massage chairs.  This was the most intense 10 minutes of massage that I've ever endured.  All in all the 'hiking trip' was fun although we did have a few complaints with Adventure Korea.  We may not be booking another trip through them.

 There are lots of stairs involved in Korean hiking

 The climb was worth the view from the top

 Biggest Buddha i've ever seen

Complaint #1:  No beds in the hotel room.

OK I really must go.  I've started to get sick and I really need to go to bed.  I'll leave you with a few pictures that I took in my 4th grade special class.  I taught a lesson on clothing and took pieces of my own clothes in.  We played a game where they had to put on my clothes.  It was pretty funny.

Stay tuned.  Hugs and Kisses <3