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!   

100 Ways To Spend ₩₩₩ in Korea

Key:
$1 USD = 1,121 Korean won
(It's easier if you just look at the won and take off 3 zeros to convert it to dollars)

Arguably the most alluring reason to come to Korea and teach English is the pay.  Whether you teach in a hagwon (private academy) or for EPIK you will be getting a pretty good deal in the dolla dolla bills department.  With just a four-year college degree you are eligible to apply for a teaching position in Korea.  As a public school teacher one has the potential to earn from about 1.8 million won to 2.7 million won depending on the area of Korea where she is teaching and her credentials.  I personally make 2.1 million won which translates to about $1,800 USD.  Because I took an online teaching course before I came I was bumped up on the pay scale.  Before you say that $1,800 isn't that much money, the benefits of teaching in Korea as opposed to many other countries are quite substantial.  First of all our school pays our rent.  All we have to take care of is the utilities, internet and cell phone bills.  This is quite nice depending on the apartment your school hooked you up with.  My apartment is pretty modest but it's enough for me.  I would guess that it saves me from paying around 400,000 won a month.  The cost of living here is cheaper in many aspects of day to day life than it is back in the States.  Before deciding to come to Korea I had read, and people had told me first-hand that it is easy to save money while living here.  Admittedly, I decided to come to Korea because I figured I would be able to save the most money in order to pay off student loans.

Okay, Mom, stop reading now.

Before I left for Korea I had planned on saving around $12,000 dollars and knocking my student loan debt down to about half of what I started out with a year before.  Sounds too good to be true, right? Right.  Turns out we do make a lot of money as teachers and it would be possible to save this amount if one was very frugal, but it's hard to live like that when you're in another country living a "once in a lifetime" experience.  I want to enjoy my time here as much as possible because it is very likely that once I leave in about 7 months I may never come back to the good ol' ROK.  So what's a girl to do?  If you know me I think you know the answer to that.

As I read and heard from people before me, "It's easy to save money in Korea."  Well, I am going to give you the other end of the spending spectrum and tell you about how "It's easy to spend money in Korea" as the title implies, although I lied about it being 100 ways.  It just sounded catchier than "6".

How to spend money in Korea:

1. Drinking.  I would say that drinking is a favorite past time of both Koreans and foreigners in Korea alike.  On a weekend night in Daegu there isn't much to do besides ditch outta town or go downtown.  If one chooses either of these his night may very well consist of moderate to heavy drinking.  Unless one decides to camp outside of GoGo Vinyl all night, which serves 3,000 won "extra strong alcohol" drinks in a bag that look like adult Capri Suns, drinking can make a significant dent in one's wallet.  I can't say that most people spend more money on alcohol here than they do back home but I can say that I have seen my friends drop some cash.  One can also choose to go the soju and Korean beer route but after a full night of this one may find himself in the gutter-literally.
2. Western food.  Non-Korean food here is priced about the same as it is back home and sometimes can be even more expensive.  If one chooses to eat Western food, which my friends and I do pretty often, she can expect to spend around 10,000 won a dish.  Since I eat Korean food everyday for lunch I usually prefer to eat something else for dinner.  Unless of course it's kimchi pancakes which I could eat for every meal.  Korean food is pretty cheap and you can get a meal for around 4-5,000 won but, although it is delicious, I can only eat so much.  To give you an example, a medium pizza at Papa John's is about 23,000 won.  
3. Travel.  It's only natural while living abroad to want to travel while you have the opportunity.  In Korea the public transportation system can get you anywhere in the country.  This makes traveling to more entertaining cities than the one you already live in very easy, and pretty expensive.  In the last 5 months that I've been here I would guess that I've traveled to Seoul five times.  At 41,000 won each way on the KTX (high-speed train) this gets pricey.  Of course you could take the bus at 26,000 won each way but you will end up spending a few more hours in transit.  When you will only be there for less than 12 hours it's sometimes not worth it to take the bus or slow train!  Also, many people were placed in more rural areas of Korea where there is very little to do.  I have friends that make frequent trips to Daegu and other big cities for the weekend.  Finally, having important people in other cities makes you forget about the money that you spend getting there and back.
4. Shopping.  Daegu has a lot of really good shopping, at least for women.  As it is known as "the fashion capital" to Koreans there is naturally much money to be spent.  The price range varies from really cheap to really expensive depending on where you shop.  You can choose to browse through a local boutique with cheaper Korean-made clothing or head to Busan to visit the largest department store in the world, Shinsegae Centum City which is crammed with floor after floor of brand name and designer stuff.  The first few months of living in Daegu I was overwhelmed with joy at the vast shopping possibilities.  Therefore I went at least a few times a week.  Since then my addiction has subsided a bit but is not back down to where it was in the States.  I'm gonna have to donate a bunch of clothes before I leave Korea because they definitely won't fit in my bags.
5. Music Fests.  Since I have been in Korea I have attended two music festivals at about 88,000 won a pop.  The first, Global Gathering, was an electronic music festival held in Seoul in October.  The second, SEMF, was an awesome concert held at a classy hotel in Seoul over New Years Eve.  Both nights were an outrageously fun but pretty expensive with the tickets and the trains to and from Seoul, although we did save on drinks!  Holler!  Definitely worth it in my book.
6. Reoccurring health issues.  I know some people who have had to go to the "hospital" many times since they've been here.  Although we do have insurance through our schools, it doesn't cover everything.  Koreans tend to go visit the doctor much more frequently than Americans, maybe because it is cheaper, and this means that if you go once, you will probably be back.  When someone goes to the "hospital" the doctor gets a certain amount of money per person that they see.  The cost is subsidized by the government so the patient doesn't have to pay all of it.  Because the doctor is making more money the more patients he sees, sometimes it is in his/her interest for the patient to keep coming back.  This is definitely not the case in most situations but I have spent more money than I wanted at the doctor's since I've been here.  The Korean health care system is explained here for anyone who cares. I find it quite interesting. 

Now I will give you the one-and-only definite way that you WILL save money in Korea.

1. Partying at Club Frog in Daegu on a Wednesday night.  Hold your breath....Club Frog in downtown Daegu is FREE!  No, I'm not just saying there's no cover.  The drinks are free too.  So are the lockers to put your shit in.  If you order a cocktail (they have a list of 10 or so to choose from) you can have free drinks all night.  And this is not even just for ladies; men drink for free too.  Don't ask me why cause I have no idea.  I don't promise that this will be going on for much longer, as I don't see how this is even possible.  Not shittin ya.

Saving money:  Korean beer and drink-in-a-bag

Okay, so I've made it sound like I haven't saved any money in Korea but I totally have.  I've got a few grand in the bank so far but I am going to the Philippines for three weeks comin' up here really soon.  I am doing fine and paying off my student loans as they come.  Don't worry.

I really just think that Korean money is so easy to spend because it looks like Monopoly money.

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.

Daegu Or-ee-ahn-suh

This past Tuesday night a group of friends and I made our way out to the
basketball stadium where the Daegu Orions professional basketball team compete with other teams from around the nation.  I was really excited because I had not yet been to a professional basketball game here in Korea but had seen little bits of games on T.V.  During baseball season I was given the opportunity to attend two professional baseball games which turned out to be the Korean equivalent to the World Series.  Although Daegu's team, the Samsung Lions lost, I had so much fun and was interested to see what basketball was like in Korea.  I knew that basketball was not as popular of a sport as baseball but wanted to check it out.  I love watching sporting events live because even if I have never seen either team play, if I have a team to support I get really competetive and into the games.  I enjoy yelling at the other team's players: insults that I argue are funny but other people could quite easily find annoying.  I love chanting with the crowd and standing up and dancing crazy in an attempt to get free things.

So on Tuesday night we meet up with about 10 people, buy our tickets and walk into the stadium.  I'm suprised at the size of the stadium which is much smaller than any medium sized college arena.  In the crowd are probably only a few hundred people.  I'm a little disappointed by this but I figure that I'll head over to the beer gods and they will help ease my pre-game nerves (yea, I was really nervous).  When I get to the one and only beer/snack stand I face disappointment #2 when I realize that all they have are 12oz cans of Hite.  I am not a fan of arguably the most popular Korean beer as I have a more refined palate and prefer the more robust flavor of Cass.  Actually, I really hate all Korean beer but I doubt many places around the world can compete with the incredible selection of microbrews that the Pacific Northwest births.  Everyday I see someone drinking a Korean beer I long for a Ninkasi Total Domination IPA.  Despite my not-total-hatred but strong-dislike of Hite I figure that I'm at a basketball game and I want a beer.  I buy a Hite.

The group settles into our few rows of seats as the Korean national anthem begins to play from the speakers.  The crowd stands up and puts their hand over their heart.  I don't really know what to do during this.  Should I show respect and also put my hand over my heart?  I notice that the foreign basketball players have their hands behind their backs so I do the same.  Actually, I really didn't give a shit about this.

The game between the Daegu Orions and the Jeonju KCC begins.  With only ten minute quarters it seems like the game is going to be pretty quick.  Each team has two foreigners on their team: tall black guys which it's apparent at the beginning of the game that they are going to be the star players.  Apparently each team can only play their foreigner when the other team is playing their foreigner.  I don't know why but this is a really funny concept to me.  Both teams playing are apparently really shitty as the Orions are ranked 7th of 9 teams in the country and KCC is ranked 8th.  This gives me a little bit of hope.  After about a minute our foreigner goes down and sprains his ankle or something.  This means that our other foreigner has to play the entire game.  Otis takes the court and begins his domination.  I'm pretty sure he scored like 70% of the points the Orions made that game.  I thought it was a bit unfair that Otis was the only player on the team that had his own song.  The DJ would play part of a song and the crowd would chant Oh-tis-uh in that so familiar put-an-UH-at-the-end-of-every-English-word way.  His name had to be made into three syllables otherwise the Koreans wouldn't understand.

When KCC brought out Ogre I was convinced that the game was over.  Ogre was probably at least 7 feet tall and easily the tallest and beastliest man on the court.  Most impressively, he was Korean.  He was a bit googly-eyed and I couldn't help but yell really hilarious things like "Too many ogres on the court!" and "OOOOOOGGGGGGGGRRRRRRREEEEEEE!!" in a low pitched voice while he was shooting (and most often missing) his free throws.  There was no way that anyone could block any of his shots without fouling him so he got to shoot many.  Really his only skill was standing under the hoop and dropping the ball through the net.  Not that impressive.  The other team also cheated by having a half-black half-Korean guy on their team that counted as 'Korean' and not 'foreigner'.  This meant that they were allowed what I saw as 1.5 foreigners on their team at a time plus Ogre.  They definitely had an advantage.  In our defense we did have the handsome #40 이동준 (Lee-dong-joon).  A long haired, greasy ponytail-wearing, young, tall Korean guy whom was being fought over by a couple of girls in our group.  After the game they decided to split up the days of the week that they would have him so they both could get a piece.

Ogre

Lee-dong-joon

My favorite cheer, which was brought to my attention by Kyle, was the 'de-fense' cheer that sounded like the popular brand of adult diapers, 'De-pends'.  Every time the announcer started the cheer by yelling "De-pends" in a low voice and the crowd followed I chuckled, cheering along with 'De-pends' innocently.

I also really enjoyed the cheerleaders along with their dances and outfit changes.  Their uniforms, in a rainbow of colors, did not match the red and yellow of their basketball boys.  Even though they were probably the cutest cheerleaders I have ever seen, their skinny, gumby-like bodies gave them a different style than what I was used to.  Maybe I was just bitter because one of the girls pretty much put a free Papa Johns pizza right under my nose for me to smell the steaming cheese and then took it away from me and gave it to a young group of guys.  I was definitely dancing at a more spastic level during a time out than those stupid boys.  She looked right at me as she was walking up the stairs as if to say, "Hey, girl, this juicy pizza that you've been craving is all you."  I swear she kept eye contact with me and had a smile on her face until the moment she did the psych out and placed the pizza box in the boys' hands.  Then her face turned from a sweet smile to a sly 'ha-ha-ha I've got the pizza power' grin.  Needless to say I was angry.  After this I was determined to get something for free as I love free things.  I danced like a crazy bird for the rest of the game and eventually was thrown a free Pocari Sweat.  Even though it was a small prize for all my hard work I still enjoyed it.

Overall the ball handling on both teams was very poor.  The players looked a little bit like out of control monkeys.  The ball and players were flying all over the court and the shooting skills were sub par.    I swear the Orions missed like 75% of their shots, or so it seemed.  It was kind of frustrating to watch.  Even though our team only ended up losing 94-89 we played like we should have lost by 20.  Now we're ranked number 8.  Despite the poor performance by the Orions it was still a fun game to watch and I enjoyed the company of my friends.

Oh, an upon further Ogre speculation (me searching for pictures) it looks like he played for the Portland Trailblazers.

Pictures borrowed from Google Images.

I Hope You're Hungry

I know most of you back home are moderately to very interested in the food we eat here in Korea.  I've been asked questions from "What is your favorite Korean food?" to "Do you like your school lunches?"  and received comments like "Tell her to go marinate some dog meat."  I know that most of my family and friends back in Idaho have probably never eaten a Korean dish in their entire lives.  Before I came to Korea I searched online and in the phone book for Korean restaurants in Idaho so I could prepare my taste buds for what they would be eating for the next year.  This proved very difficult as I found out that Idaho does not have a single Korean restaurant in the entire state, or at least there was no evidence anywhere that I looked.  It seemed that there had been one Korean restaurant that had gone out of business, probably with the economic recession.  All I had heard about Korea was that they ate a lot of kimchi and that they were stereotyped as puppy-eaters.

A Japanese friend, who had done an exchange at Willamette, was in back in Salem after a few years of being away.  We met up at good 'ol Pete's Place with a few other Matthewsites from freshman year and had a few beers/G&Ts.  Before I knew it my friend's arms were around my shoulder and he started calling me "Kimchi Bunchee!!" which lasted for the rest of the night.  For awhile after that I continued to get facebook messages addressed to Miss Kimchi Bunchee.

Before I arrived to Korea I was excited about the food, as I am a very adventurous eater, but also a bit afraid that I just would end up not being that crazy about it.  I prayed to God that I would like kimchi because I knew that Koreans ate it like the majority of Americans eat fast food.  I didn't want to offend anyone with my distaste for God's fermented gift to Koreankind.  When I finally arrived in Jeonju for orientation I wasn't surprised when kimchi was served at my first meal and every meal thereafter.  I cautiously picked up the tongs and pinched a very small portion of the spicy cabbage to put on my plate.  When I sat down and forked my first ever bite of kimchi I was pleasantly surprised at the cold, spicy, taste that filled my mouth.  What a relief.

Since orientation I have actually come to absolutely LOVE the taste of kimchi.  Korea had a month-or-so-long period where there was a cabbage shortage and the price of kimchi sky-rocketed.  Restaurants stopped serving cabbage kimchi in favor of other types of kimchi like the radish variety (kimchi actually doesn't have to be made from cabbage but it is the most common type).  I was devastated when my school stopped serving it but excited when they finally put out a bowl of cabbage kimchi exclusively for the teachers.    It was common courtesy during this time to take only a very small portion of the kimchi as to make sure that all the staff got some.  I really did not like this rule and when no other teachers were watching I would take a few extra pinches.

Anyways, this post is supposed to be about Korean food in general, not only kimchi.  The following are pictures and a little description of Korean dishes that I love and a few that I'm not so crazy about.  Enjoy.

"Tteokgalbi"  Made from shortribs, a grilled mixture of pork and beef.  Kind of tastes like meatloaf but is a lot more juicy and delicious.

"Kimchibokkumbap"  "Bokkumbap" means fried rice.  This one in particular is made with kimchi.  I also really like bokkumbap made from chicken but the kimchi variety is probably my favorite.

"Kimchijeon" My friends and I crave what we call "kimchi pancakes" all the time.  They are greasy pancake like things made from kimchi, flour batter and maybe other vegetables.  Sooooo good.

"Chungukjang?" I'm not sure of the Korean name but this soup is a fermented soybean soup.  My Korean coworkers tell me that most foreigners do not like the smell of fermented soybeans and therefore also dislike the soup.  I guess I'm an exception.  This is one of my favorite soups.

"Bulgogi" Marinated barbequed beef.  Usually served with onions and other grilled veggies.  Tasty.

"Ddukbokki" Rice cakes in a spicy sauce often served with fish cake (see 'Odang').  A dish I try to stay away from.  Don't hate.

"Odang" Boiled fish cakes in nasty fish water.  Often served like so from street carts.  Koreans love this shit.  Everytime I smell it I want to throw up.  It tastes like a fishy, soggy bread like inedible thing.

  

"I have no idea and don't really want to know"  About 4 times so far this semester my school has served a dish that makes me want to vomit.  This picture is the closest thing I could find to what it actually looks like.  Tiny dried minnows, so small I could barely tell what they were the first time I ate them, served with dried shrimp still in the shell in a sweet, syrupy sauce, sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Not appetizing one bit.  I almost cry when I walk into the cafeteria and see this on a student's plate.

"

"Beondegi" Brace yourself for the most apalling 'edible' you will ever taste in Korea (at least I hope so, otherwise I might puke out my entire digestive system).  Remember the 'bugs' I told you about in a previous post?  The one where the old, creepy man fed me with toothpicks on the beach?  Yea, well they are actually boiled silkworms prepared in a big pot and eaten as a snack.  This last picture could have been the old man on the beach if his hand was a little more wrinkly and deformed (at least that's how I remember it).  Trust me and just never eat it.

Hope you enjoyed the tidbit of Korean food that I've experienced.  As I am here longer and eat more interesting dishes I'll share with you a little taste.


All of these photos were taken from Google images

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.