Life as an English Teacher in Korea

So someone from home asked if they could publish a link to my blog in the Maine Education Association newsletter so that the student members could have a glimpse of what life as an English teacher in Korea is like, and it made me realize that I really haven't posted a heck of a lot about my job. I pretty much just talk about life in Korea. But yes, I do go to work 5 days a week.
Tomorrow marks the end of the first four week series that I have completed as a MoonKkang teacher. I picked up the last two weeks of the previous series in December, but I just finished my own complete series. I got a list of all my new classes for the month of February, and fortunately I was able to keep all of the same classes. I will lose a few students though because they will be leveling up to the next class. I'll also gain a few new students who have leveled into my classes. I also just finished my first round of progress reports. I have 12 different classes with an average of 12 students in each class, so that's approximately 144 progress reports. I have to grade each student in four different areas: participation, comprehension, fluency, and accuracy. Fortunately, I only have to do them every two months because I take turns with my Korean partner teacher, Young Kyung.
I also recently got an email from one of the foreign managers at MK. She only recently discovered that I have a degree in Secondary Education, thus qualifying me for a higher rate of pay. So I'll be paid the correct amount for future months, and I'll get back-pay on the last two months. Sweet deal.
I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but it keeps escaping me when I actually sit down at the computer. Koreans are crazy about rock-paper-scissors (it's rock-scissors-paper here). The kids use it to decide everything. Adults even use it to resolve issues with their kids and with other adults. I once heard my coworkers joking that President Lee Myung Bak probably uses it to settle disputes with North Korea. Rock-scissors-paper is the thing to do here.
I had a piece of coffee flavored gum today. Really bizarre.
And the big news is....(drum roll please).....I CAN NOW READ AND WRITE IN KOREAN! I sat down on Sunday and studied the Korean alphabet, and now I can actually read the signs! Unfortunately, knowing Korean is a two-fold thing: you have to be able to read the script AND know the Korean words. So even though I can read the language I don't always know the Korean word that it spells. I'm still working on building my vocabulary of Korean words, but at least I can finally read the words I do know (as well as the ones I don't).
I'm headed to Busan again this weekend...I'll write again when I come home.

Roaming Solo

This weekend was another lesson in how to live alone in the city. I didn't really do anything too exciting, but I did get some things done that I've been meaning to do for a while. Saturday I went to the Chilseong Furniture Market with Ted (one of my coworkers) because he wanted a loveseat and he knows even less Korean than I do. Believe it or not, I actually proved to be useful as a translator. I did some grocery shopping at HomePlus, had dinner at Maya (an Indian restaurant), and hopped on a bus in an attempt to head downtown. The bus that I got on was supposed to make a stop an Banwoldang, which is the subway exit closest to downtown. However, the bus route is a big circle, and I didn't realize two things: #1. The bus was making its last circuit for the night, and #2. The bus had already been at Banwoldang and was completing the rest of the loop. It wouldn't have been an issue if I hadn't hopped on the last bus; it would have made it to Banwoldang eventually. So lo and behold, I am the last one on the bus when it stops on the outskirts of the city and the guy tells me to get off and find a taxi. I start walking towards the lights of the city, trying to find a taxi, hoping I have enough cash on me to cover the ride back. Five minutes later, the bus shows up and pulls over. The guy tells me to get on...he's going to take me back into the city, thank goodness. Once there, I hop off again and find a taxi to take me downtown. I would have used the subway, but the subway stops at 11:30pm so taxis are my only option. I made it downtown, and I discovered how to navigate from the main street to the couple places I've heard about (Communes, Club Frog, etc.). But I was looking for a specific theatre in which to watch Avatar. I wanted to watch it in 3D, so I had to find the IMAX. I walked around for a while looking for it, and eventually I just gave up. Right at that very moment I found the Lotte Cinema and decided to watch Avatar there instead. I bought my ticket, and it turns out Lotte was playing it in 3D, as well. Score! I had to wait 2 hours for my movie to start though so I went to Communes (a foreigners bar) and hung out for a while. I've been told that if you sit there long enough you're bound to meet someone cool. Apparently I either didn't look approachable or I didn't sit there long enough. Oh well. I got to listen to a decent Korean cover band do a few Weezer songs. I went back to the theatre for 2:25am, was one of three people watching the movie, and left at 5:05am when the movie ended. The movie was awesome, by the way...the only issue was that there were Korean subtitles so when the characters spoke in the alien humanoid language, the subtitles were still in Korean. Fortunately most of the dialogue was in English, but I think I'll have to watch it again when I come home so I can get the full effect.
Sunday I slept until 2pm or so (didn't get to bed until 6am), and made myself some Korean pancakes for breakfast. Very tasty, but very difficult to make. I think I'll stick to having someone else make them for me. I ventured out early Sunday evening to try to find a gym. I walked around for a few hours and found nothing. I even walked around on the Kyungpook National University campus right across the street from me. I also tried to rent a movie at two different places near my house, and because they couldn't speak English and I can't speak Korean we were at an impasse and I went home empty-handed. I looked up KNU when I got home, and it turns out I did find the fitness facility on campus, it was just closed. Now I just need to figure out if they'll let me go there even though I'm not a student. Keep your fingers crossed!

Chillaxin' on the Coast

This weekend I went to visit Angie in Busan again. In the subway station we heard a ruckus coming from down the corridor so we turned around to investigate. What we heard was a crowd of people gathered around a group of men doing a traditional song and dance. Check it out:
We headed down to Nampo-dong again because Angie had ordered a pair of boots in one of the underground subway shops so we did a bit of shopping while we were there. We had shabu shabu for dinner (thinly sliced beef cooked in boiling broth with veggies and noodles), and hit the hay at 10pm (both of us were running on 3 hours of sleep from the night before).
Due to our exhaustion and lack of sleep on Friday, we both slept until 1pm Sunday afternoon. She slept the entire time. I had trouble falling asleep, despite how tired I was, so I only slept for about 11 hours...which was nothing compared to Angie's 15 hours. We headed to E-Mart for groceries and saw the cutest little puppies I've ever seen. Somehow the Koreans have miniaturized breeds of dogs that are quite large back home (Australian shepherds, collies, etc.) and the puppies were tiny. I seriously considered getting a dog to keep me company and help me ward off the homesickness I've been feeling lately, but Angie informed me that apparently we're not allowed to have dogs or cats in our apartments. Oh well. It's probably best anyway since I would have to give the dog to Angie when I leave.
Sunday afternoon we went to the Haeundae Beach Aquarium. It was really quite relaxing just to watch all the exotic sea creatures floating around. Everything under the water seems to move in slow motion. The jellyfish don't have an agenda...they just glide around in aimless circles in their tank. It was a nice change of pace from being outside in the city where everything is bustling and busy. My favorite sea creature by far was the weedy sea dragon. So beautiful!
After the aquarium it was galbi for dinner, and then I was homeward bound. This time I made it home without incident. No missed trains, no snow, and no almost being late for school. Thank goodness.

Outside the City

This weekend Angie and I stayed in our respective cities and did our own thing. I made a trip to Costco (like BJ's or Sam's Club on steroids) on Saturday, but Sunday was the exciting part of my weekend. I went hiking at Mt. Palgongsan National Park with three of my coworkers, Hannah, Ted, and Hee Jeong. We were a little ways into our hike when we came across a Buddhist temple on the mountain. Someone we passed on the way up informed us that they were serving free lunch at the temple, so we stopped in for some traditional Korean fare. After a very tasty lunch we were instructed to head to the prayer room to pray three times to the Buddha inside of us. It was a little awkward at first because we weren't entirely sure how to proceed, but we figured it out, and I think our efforts were appreciated. We left the temple and proceeded up the mountain. It was a bit chilly, but the exertion was enough to keep us quite toasty. We stopped at the top of the ridge to have some hot tea and snacks, and then we went on our merry way.
Once we got to the bottom we were nowhere near a place to pick up the bus so we just had to start walking. We stuck out our thumbs hoping someone would give the four of us a lift to the bus stop, and fortunately a very kind man in a van gave us a lift to the bus stop. However, on the way down Hee Jeong spotted a traditional Korean tea shop and suggested we pop in before catching the bus back to the city. We were the only guests so we had the exclusive attention of the hostess, and she explained in detail about each of the teas we tried to Hee Jeong, who then translated for us. We tried three different types of green tea, all made with the very first leaves harvested that season. Those leaves are the smallest and have the softest taste. Apparently the temperature of the water is very important when brewing tea, especially green tea. The hotter the water, the more bitter the tea. We then tried a yummy Japanese green tea latte, made with green tea powder. It looks a little funky, but it had a very smooth, sweet taste. Next was a Chinese jasmine tea which was also quite good. The whole time we were drinking her tea the hostess was feeding us crackers and bagels with mulberry jam (excellent, by the way) and chocolate to bring out certain flavors in the tea. By the time we left I was warm, happy, and quite full. It was nice to spend some time outside of the city in the fresh, cold air, and I also got to see a bit of traditional Korean culture. Not a bad way to spend the weekend.

Beautiful Busan

This weekend I journeyed to the far off land of Busan, South Korea. Actually, it’s not that far off…it’s about an hour by train. Saturday morning I boarded the southbound train that dropped me off at Gupo Station about an hour later. I peeked out the window a bit on the way down, and the Korean countryside really isn’t anything to write home about right now (ironic, because that’s exactly what I’m doing). It’s rather barren and dead-looking. Angie was there at the station waiting to pick me up. As soon as I left the station, I saw this man in a suit standing with his eyes closed and his head pressed against a tree. Angie and I positioned ourselves so that it looked like I was taking a picture of her, and I managed to capture this tree-hugger in action. There certainly are some strange people out there.

Angie and I hopped on the subway, and then we had a 40 minute ride back to her neighborhood. Her friend Shannon called on our way back and asked if we wanted to go to the salon with her. Angie has been thinking of going red, so we went with her to a very posh Korean salon. They put our coats and purses in a locker, served us cocoa and cappuccinos, and set me up with a laptop and the internet while I waited for Ang and Shannon. They even had the fanciest toilet I’ve ever seen. It had a heated seat, as well as a variety of buttons that did things I didn’t dare to try.

After the salon we did a bit of shopping in an underground mall at one of the subway stops, and then set out to find something to eat. We ended up eating at a little Korean restaurant and enjoying some very tasty “Sam-gep-sal.” It’s like Korean bacon, but it’s thicker and more fatty. However, I was still quite hungry after dinner so I bought some mandu (dumplings) at a street stand, and even though they were cold they were still quite delicious.

We then headed back to Shannon’s, tried on our new stuff, and headed out to a western style bar called Star Face. A very friendly, very drunk Korean man offered us a large glass of Hite, and a very androgynous looking Korean woman insisted on buying us shots of tequila. The laid back bar turned into a little dance party, and after joining the dancing Koreans for a little bit we headed out in search of a bigger, better dance club. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one that charged less than 15,000 won to get in, so we made an early morning pit stop at Haeundae Beach so I could touch the Yellow Sea, and then we went home and went to bed instead.

Sunday was a busy day. We didn’t get to bed until 4am so we didn’t wake up until 1pm. At that point the day was already half over so we had to get up and get out butts moving. Our first stop was Haeundae Beach so I could see it during the day. It was packed, even during the winter, and a couple of guys apparently though it was warm enough to be out playing Frisbee in their little bathing suits. Weird. It’s quite beautiful though, and it’s neat to see the city right on the edge of the beach. It’s something you don’t really see at home.



After the beach we headed to Nampo-dong, a little shopping district in Busan. We had “Gam-ja-tong” for dinner…it’s a potato soup with some weeds and huge meat-covered ox backbones in it. It comes to your table in a large steaming bowl, and then you keep it bubbling on the gas burner in the middle of your table. It looks disgusting, especially when you’re done eating because all you’re left with is the carnage. Despite the way it looks, it was actually rather delicious and quite filling. We also got little tiny dried silvery fish that Angie said tasted like fish jerky (I can’t eat that stuff), and some dried fish meat that was fried. I tried it and promptly spit it out. I simply can’t eat fish if it tastes like fish.

While we were at the restaurant there was a huge party of older Koreans at the table next to us. When they left they came over to our table and said “Ya-bu-da, mi-an-ham-nida,” which means, “beautiful, I’m sorry.” I’m assuming they were apologizing for being so loud, but that’s not the point. The point is that I understood what she said! That was probably the best part of my weekend because it gave me hope that I can actually learn the language. Go me!

Angie and I headed home around 8:30pm because we were just so tired. We watched Pride and Prejudice and hit the hay. I headed out Monday morning around 9:30am. Of course I missed the train I wanted to take by 7 minutes so I had to wait half an hour for the next one. I did fall asleep on the train, and when I woke up it was snowing. Real snow, not just the occasional flake we’ve been getting. My first thought was, “Shit. I slept through my stop. Now I’m somewhere near Seoul where it’s cold enough to get this much snow. I’m going to be late for school.” But then I looked at the time on the screen and realized that I had not actually missed my stop, it was just snowing in Daegu. I took a cab home, and it was ridiculously expensive for the actual distance we covered. They get this much snow so infrequently that no one knows how to drive in it. They all go about 10 mph, which is a huge difference from their usual pace.

But I made it home safely, and now it’s back to work for another week. We start a new curriculum this week, so hopefully the transition will go smoothly.

The Ringing of the Gong

Happy New Year, or as they say in Korean, "Say-hay-bok-mani-ba-du-say-yo" (and of course that is nowhere near the correct way to spell it, but it's phonetic at least)! A friend invited me to join him and his friends downtown for the Ringing of the Bell ceremony. Of course it was packed (probably not quite like Times Square, but pretty close), and naturally it was the coldest night we've had in a while. My friend searched all over the city for a bottle of decent champagne, so at least we welcomed the new year in style. Although, it may not have been that classy as we were drinking it out of the bottle. No fluted glasses, I'm afraid. At the ceremony there was some traditional drumming, some singing (a Korean version of "I Can Hear The Bells" from Hairspray), and some dancing little girls in matching dresses sans mittens. Then at the stroke of midnight, the ringing of the bell began. The name is a smidge deceiving, though. The bell was more like a gong. They rang the gong 31 times (once for each day in December, I believe), and that was followed by a spectacular fireworks display from the roof of the building behind us. Well done, Daegu. We lit some sparklers, and then we headed down to Communes, a popular foreigners bar. It's usually a very laid back, low key kind of place, but last night it was packed. I had a wee glass of Bailey's, chatted with some other MK teachers, met some new people, and shipped myself home and off to bed. Not a bad way to spend New Year's Eve in a foreign country, if I do say so myself. Best wishes to everyone at home for health and happiness in the new year!