Hi again everyone!
So, I officially survived my first full week in Korea-land. All is still well.
I still have not felt the major culture shock that everyone talks about. I think it's because I'm still surrounded by foreigners, and am still so lost in this city that I don't venture out much alone. I am starting to experience life as the "outsider" in a new land, though... last night I was in a cab and a car three lanes over was honking at us. Why? Because a father wanted to let his 3-year old girl wave at me! There was also the cab driver who drove a group of us foreigners to the train station... he kept turning around to the backseat and fully staring at us... I'm talking clear, 5-second eye contact! Travis, who speaks some Korean (he's been here 3 years), asked him what was up - turns out he couldn't believe that we all had different eye colours. Crazzzy! Apparently Koreans are extremely sheltered and don't know very much at all about the world beyond their borders. Even university students are very ignorant... some thought that Travis (who has dark skin) must surely come from Africa, just like all white people always come from America. Those are really the only two options. Beth, a Black teacher (the first and only one ever hired at her school), had a student very innocently tell her to "go wash up" because she was "dirty"! Of course, I was horrified when I heard that story! Beth was amazing about it though - she let the kid touch her skin and proved that the "dirt" doesn't come off at all, that it's just the colour of her skin. In that sense, it is a very different world from Canada.
OK! Story time.
Last week Rosie and I decided to venture out and explore the city a bit. We went downtown (not very far from our place at all) and did a little shopping. They have so many cute umbrellas here!! Probably because of all those monsoons. :) Anyway, it's fun playing around with all of them. They also have a ton of cute stationary type things here... I don't know why, but they're really big into it. Printed tees are also huge... they often have funny typos. The fashion here is very forward, they seem to have a lot of the trends before they hit the Americas... it's fun to see the new styles coming out. Warning: baggy clothes are heading your way!
Eating out here is incredibly cheap - sometimes it costs less than cooking something yourself. I've had a number of fantastic meals here. Get this... everyone is impressed by my spicy food abilities! All that training I did before leaving Canada has paid off. Spicy red paper paste is no match for me, my friends. Hot peppers? Bring it on. I'm ready, Korea. (Take that, Jason! Milk too spicy my butt).
OK, what else? I had my first full week of teaching. I was certainly on my toes the whole time. I only get 35 minutes with each PIK (intermediate kindergarten) class... I'm still learning how to allocate that time. There is a lot to do in a short time span, and the kids aren't used to my way of teaching yet, so things go even slower. Science experiment day (Thursdays) are the most stressful. There is a lot of excitement, a lot to do, and a LOT of mess! This week I helped 60 7-year olds learn about acids and bases. Imagine trying to teach little kids (who don't speak English, mind you) that carbon dioxide is basic and therefore changes the colour of BTB Liquid. Mmhmm. Fat chance. Once a week (Wednesdays) I get to relax and play games with the kids. It's a chance for them to chill out, get to know me, and practice their regular English conversational skills. Math days (Monday and Friday) are also nice because the kids are relatively quiet. I just teach the lesson, and then they do their workbooks. I can handle that! The tough part is deciding how much work time to give them, because some kids are speedy with the problems, and others have no clue what they're doing. It's tough, but it's also really great practice for teaching. I'm so grateful for the experience I'm getting. Speaking of which, I've been continuing to look at that program I want to do next year. I found the admission stats this morning... last year, about 1 in 5 were accepted. It's not bad, but I'm a bit nervous, of course. I hope my supervisors have enough command of English to give me a good reference!! I am going to start writing my essay soon... it's due in December.
So, I got through the work week unscathed! Friday night I just completely crashed... I've been feeling a bit sick this week, so I'm trying to ward whatever it is off. Saturday we all woke up bright and early to catch a 7am train to Seoul. It costs $20 and only takes 50 minutes! Not bad. 5 teachers from our hokwan went on the rafting trip: Me, Rosalie, Travis, Rachel, and Brianne. At the station, we met up with 3 teachers from a hokwan in Incheon (a city outside of Seoul): Barnes, Beth, and Jennifer. We were picked up by a Korean tour group who organizes adventures such as ours. There were also about 7 Koreans on our trip... that was neat, it was my first experience hanging out with Koreans who don't speak English. My first exposure to actual Korean culture. The bus ride was LONG, and made longer by the fact that we stopped about 3 times on the way for "rest breaks". I think they were trying to be very hospitable, which they were, but most of us just wanted to get going.
Anyway, we stopped for lunch, where I learned some more rules about Korean eating rituals. The status of each person at the table is very important. The youngest or newest group member pours all the drinks, starting with the eldest and then working their way down. If you don't know people's age, you have to guess... you can imagine how that often turns out. :) If you mess up, people are still nice, because they no we're foreign and we're trying. But, if you mess up twice, they get mad. Also, you can never pour yourself a drink... you must wait for someone to fill it for you. If they don't, you just lift your glass and hold it until someone fills it. If your friends neglect to keep your glass full at all times, they are bad friends.
So! We piled back onto the bus, and finally arrived at our rafting site. The mountains were breathtaking. There are so many of them, all covered in greenery during the summer. The rafting experience itself was interesting. Not amazing, I must say. The guide spoke only Korean... it was kind of funny trying to figure out what he was saying. There was also a very friendly but slightly overzealous member of our group (I think his name was Choi). I ended up sitting next to him on the raft. When I was halfway through pulling myself onto the raft, he grabbed the back of my lifejacket to "help" me on. Now, these lifejackets include that strap that goes between your legs... you know the ones, so they don't float up and off you if your drowning? Yeah. That was the biggest wedgie I've ever had. Ever. Stupid Choi. AND, he did it again later!! Maybe he just thought it was funny giving the white girl wedgies. I guess we made up later though, because he gave me (and the rest of us) a note with his contacts saying "I wanna your friend." Awwww, Choi. The raft ride itself was less than inspiring. We had a few small spurts of white water, but mostly it felt like the Lazy River ride at Wonderland. Very scenic, though! At one point the guide literally pushed us all off the boat, so we just drifted down with the current. The interesting part is that no waivers were ever signed... in fact, they didn't even take our names! Good thing we all knew how to swim. There was also the option of jumping off of this huge rock. People did it, but to me it just looked kinda dangerous.... it jutted out and people were often very close to completely taking their heads off. It was actually frightening to watch. Some people are very brave, I guess!
On the way home, I got my first seriously Asian introduction. I'm sure you all have heard that Karaoke is very popular on this side of the world. Well, I've now discovered just how popular. I knew about little phone booth things were you can just go in, insert a coin, and sing your fave tune... but I'd never heard of karaoke on a bus! Oh yes. LOUD karaoke on a bus. Here's, it's known has NoriBong (singing room)... so this was the NoriBus. Good time. It is interesting though, because Koreans seem to have no concerns about whether or not they can actually carry a tune. They just sing and dance their hearts out. It's wonderful, in a way! There isn't any judgement around it, and no fear. You just do it.
So, that concluded my second week here in K-town. I've decided that, so far, I'm a fan of Daejeon, and I really like all of the people I've met. I wish you guys could be here with me. Next week's adventure plan is to do a hike up one of the mountains surrounding our city. I hope it won't be too hot! Apparently at the top there's a free spa. Now that's motivation. :)
OK all! Love you very much, please keep in touch! Send me an email in reply, tell me about your lives. Miss you.
Peace
Lisa-Teacher.
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