Carefree in the Snow (8 December)

Day two of the final exams starts of slowly.  I have to invigilate two exams today and will be free from 11:00am to concentrate on the journal comments that need more urgent attention.  The first exam seems to pass without much excitement so I’m not really paying attention to anything when I leave the classroom.  I need to ask my co-teacher about something so when I see that she’s in the classroom next door to mine, I wait for her to finish counting the papers and leave the classroom.  As she exits, she grabs my hand turns me around to face the outside window where I see that it has started snowing.  Everything else forgotten, I excuse myself in my excitement of the first snow in Gunsan for this season.  My colleagues have been telling me for weeks that it’s going to snow that I’d almost stopped believing them.

Let it Snow

I fly down the stairs, pausing just long enough to bow and greet all of the teachers I pass in my haste to get outside.  As I skid in my sudden attempt to change direction at the front door, I hear several people laughing at me as I narrowly avoid landing head over heels before charging down the final path to the snow.  The snow is beautiful! It’s soft and fluffy, each snowflake is large yet gentle and it lightly kisses my eager, upturned face as I stand in the parking lot with my arms stretched and staring at the snow in wonder.

This is not the first time I’ve snow – in fact, when I was an exchange student in France I saw a lot of snow – but this is the first time I’m seeing snow fall and I feel like I’ve entered a movie set.  It’s incredible how quickly the snow collects on the ground and I have a sudden urge to make a snowball.  Considering that I ran out of the building without my jacket and gloves, I have to fetch these before playing in the snow.  As I enter my teachers’ room, I’m greeted with amused laughs and surprise as my colleagues take in my snowy appearance – snowflakes still decorate my hair and hug my clothes and eyelashes.  I grab my gloves thinking I’ll cope without my jacket since I only have a few minutes anyway and then I remember that my camera is still in my handbag so I sprint back to my desk to grab it before I’m once again out the door must to the amusement of several other teachers.

Playing in the Snow

So contagious is my enthusiasm for the snow, however, that while I take random photos of the snow around school, several teachers have put on their coats and gloves and are joining me outside in the snow.  When the bell rings for the next exam to begin, I return to my desk long enough to put down my camera and gloves and tell Mr Jeong (who is still laughing at me) that I’ll be standing next to a window for the duration of the next exam.  Fortunately, I’m invigilating an exam with my co-teacher who allows me to stand beside the window and watch the snow outside – she loves the snow as much as I do.  I’m so engrossed in the snow that I’m not really paying attention to what is happening in the classroom.  When I hear the door open, I automatically turn to greet who ever has entered the room and blush profusely when I realise the teacher at the door is Six-pack.  He seems equally surprised to see me and I’m suddenly very self-conscious of the fact that the snow that had clung to me outside had now melted and turned my hair frizzy.  There's nothing that I can do about it at this point so I turn back to my gazing out of the window and studiously avoid his amused gaze on me.

The students finish their physical education paper ridiculously early so the next 30 minutes seem interminably.  I’m overjoyed when my co-teacher tells me that she’ll stay with the students for the rest of the period while I go and play in the snow.  Her only instructions are to take lots of photos which is exactly what I do.  I take photos from every possible vantage point in the school before heading outside.  Within an hour, the snow has melted and there’s no sign of it ever having snowed at all except in my happy expression.

Amusing and Confusing My Colleagues

Much to the continued amusement of my colleagues, I remain enthralled with the snow for the remainder of the day.  I shock them further when I ask Mr Jeong to teach me the Korean word for snow and the expression “It’s snowing!”.  His initial response: “Why do you want to know that?” I feel like a naughty kid for playing in the snow and then asking him to teach me the appropriate Korean expression but he nonetheless complies.  It’s then that I realise how carefully the other teachers in my teachers’ room are listening to the conversation and that I’ve just completely upset their view of me (and foreigners) – I’m not supposed to be interested in Korean language it seems….

Snow makes everything beautiful and it’s difficult to be unhappy when it’s snowing.  Perhaps the snow has made me look very relaxed and happy which is what I hear later in the day. As I walk past one of my second grade students, he comments that he envies me because I look so carefree while he and his peers are sweating it away in self-study sessions preparing for the next day’s exams.  The school passes quickly and I now find myself looking for a way to pass the time until 21:30 when Catfish and I are meeting another Canadian at a new Western bar.  Since neither Catfish nor I know where The Rok is, we agree to meet each other at Ediya Coffee for a chat and moral support.  We’ve been invited to a ladies’ night with several of the other foreign teachers who we have not yet met.

Coffee Encounters and The Rok

When I arrive at Ediya Coffee, I realise that the next hour is probably going to be a ‘token foreigner’ moment.  There is a group of Korean guys sitting at the corner table and two Korean guys behind the counter which means that not only are we the only women in the coffee shop but we’re also foreign – something they’re very much aware of too it seems.  As we try to order something to drink, we’re aware of the heckling that this crowd seems to be doing – everything we say is followed by seemingly suggestive comments and the guy behind the counter is not looking comfortable at the moment.  Catfish and I talk about the snow while we wait and, when she struggles to remember the Korean word that she learned today, she decides to play on the foreigner card and bounces over to the table of guys to ask them.  Whether they’re amused or surprised by this, I don’t know but, by the time we leave Ediya Coffee, they bid us farewell.

The new Canadian is very bubbly and lots of fun.  She drives Catfish and I to The Rok which is completely empty apart from the foreigners we’re meeting tonight.  It’s an interesting mix of people and a lot of fun but 21:30 is a bit late to be starting a night out during the school week so by 23:30, we’re ready to call it a night with promises to get together again soon.

International Craziness (7 December)

Final exams start today so, naturally, the atmosphere around school is extremely tense.  Not relishing the thought of yet another four days of preventing my soul from it’s regular attempts to escape in the sheer boredom of invigilating these exams, I’m overjoyed to see that I’ve only been scheduled for one exam today.  This means that I have an opportunity to work on the journal comments that now need to be finalised by the end of this week. Surprisingly, the morning seems to drag even more as I repeatedly assault my tired brain with demands of interesting and unique comments for each student’s journal.

By lunchtime, I’ve starving and I happily leave my desk when my co-teacher sends me a message telling me to meet her in the parking lot to go to the restaurant where the International Department (basically all of the foreigner teachers at my school) is having lunch today.  It’s my first staff lunch and we’re having barley bibimbap so my stomach is growling in anticipation!

Lunch and Everything Else

Lunch is delicious and there’s a lot of talking happening which is unusual at a Korean meal.  My co-teacher and the head of the International Department show me two ways to hold my chopsticks. Unfortunately, neither of them is particularly successful so I’m just going to have to keep on practising until I get the hang of it.  I’m so engrossed in learning how to use chopsticks properly that I’m slightly taken aback when NZ2 leans over and says: “Don’t worry, we’re only waiting for you…”.  That’s when I realise that everyone else has finished eating except for my co-teacher (who I’ve been talking to) and me.  I hurriedly stuff the remaining bibimbap into my mouth, the head of department says a few words and everyone gets ready to leave.  There’s talk of coffee at a really nice coffee shop nearby and that’s when I notice that the restaurant is next to Eunpa Park.  We’re told that we have the rest of the afternoon off so the Chinese, Spanish and English teachers (only the foreign ones) brave the cold in an attempt to find this coffee shop while the Korean teachers all go home.

We’re not able to find the intended coffee shop so we settle on another one nearby where we all enjoy a Cappuccino or Hot Choco before heading back to school to shut down our computers for the day.  It’s great to be able to leave school early to get some shopping done at a reasonable hour.  NZ2 and I sort out our things at school and then meet to do some shopping at Lotte mart.  Christmas shopping for my seven-year-old nephew is proving more difficult than I had anticipated so it’s good to have another opinion on things to buy.  While in Lotte mart, we discover the Christmas decorations have been set out so we spend at least fifteen minutes taking photos in front of the Christmas tree decorations and the ultimate purchase: Santa hats to wear on our Christmas trip to Jeju Island.  Yet another to love about living in Korea: Dorkiness is not only actively encouraged but applauded! If you’re a foreigner and doing dorky things like run around in a Santa, you’re going to get a lot attention…

Dinner, a Movie and a Date? (6 December)

Although I spent most of yesterday just hanging out in my apartment, I’m still exhausted after the weekend’s crazy series of events.  In addition, I don’t have actual lessons to keep me occupied at this point since the students are using the time to study for this week’s final exams.  Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that I have free time – it just means that I can do other things during the lessons while they study.  As a result, I find myself struggling to stay awake in each class that I have to supervise and, at one point, even fall asleep at the teacher’s desk.  My students seem to find it amusing that I’ve actually fallen asleep in class since I’m always waking up sleeping students during my lesson – at least, this is what I think is going when I wake up a few minutes later and discover half a dozen students hovering around the desk waiting to excuse themselves from my class.  Either that, or I was snoring!

Dinner

By the time I get home from school, all I want to do is change into comfortable clothes and laze about my apartment.  I’ve barely changed out of my work clothes when my phone rings.  Catfish is hungry and avoiding her apartment so we decide to meet for dinner which turns into dinner and a movie.

By the time I finally make it across town nearly 30 minutes later, I realise I’m dealing with a very hungry Catfish.  We’ve met outside of Lotte Cinema – since that’s the closest landmark that I can pronounce – and she’s keen to show me a restaurant that she and the other South African have been to.  We merrily head down the road in the general direction of the restaurant and I’m surprised to discover we’re walking past the Galbi restaurant that the Canadian couple took me to a month ago.  Catfish isn’t entirely certain where the other restaurant is and I can strongly recommend this particular Galbi restaurant which we quickly agree upon since Catfish is now ravenous.

We’re seated at a table next to the window and the usual table setting occurs.  This is the first time we’ve seen each other since the ER and jimjilbang experience on Saturday but it’s reassuring to note that there’s no awkwardness at all so we’re soon chatting about random events.  A quick side note to explain how galbi works: Galbi is pork ribs that you cook over hot coals in the centre of the table.  The idea is that each table cooks the meat themselves.  Although Catfish and I are comfortable with this idea, we’re not given an opportunity to actually do any of the cooking ourselves.  Instead, being the token foreigners in the restaurant, we become increasingly aware that the staff seems to passing our table on a constant loop – all of the male staff, that is.  If we even look like we’re going to touch the meat, one of them will suddenly appear and do it for us.  It’s rather entertaining to watch – especially when we notice that they’re also peering at us around corners and over the low wall in the middle of the restaurant.  Being the token foreigners in places is a lot of fun and it’s one of the things I love most about my little town of Gunsan; why would I want to live in Seoul when we get so much special attention in Gunsan!

A Movie

The food at the Galbi is delicious and, once fed, we decide we’re in the mood for a movie.  Movies in Korea are shown in their original language with subtitles where necessary.  This means that English movies are shown in English with Korean subtitles – unfortunately, Korean movies are still only shown in Korean with no subtitles for obvious reasons.  While it’s great to be able to watch the occasional movie, we can’t really be fussy about what we want to watch since it very much depends on whether or not any English movies are even showing.  Furthermore, I have yet to meet a foreigner who understands the movie schedule here so we all work on a system of “Show up and see what’s playing at the time” which is usually fairly successful.

Tonight’s English selection is Skyline which Catfish has already watched but is happy to watch again.  It’s an…interesting and stereotypical movie that reminds me a lot of War of the Worlds in terms of the very basic plot (i.e. Aliens invade and take over humans except for the core group of lead actors who will survive regardless).  By the end of the movie, however, we’re both exhausted and ready to call it a night.  It’s a novelty that I’m able to find a taxi directly outside of the cinema and even more surprising that this particular driver speaks English. 

A Date?

On the way to my apartment, he asks me the usual questions of name, nationality, where I teach and so on.  As we reach Soryong-dong, the conversation shifts and this is where I become a little more uncertain.  We’re talking about Korean food and whether or not I like Korean food when he suddenly asks if I’ll have dinner with him.  This is new territory for me so I don’t quite know how to respond.  I somehow manage to stall until we get to my apartment building where he hands me a business card and tells me to call him.  Great! I now have the telephone number of an English speaking taxi driver and, it seems, an unspoken agreement to have dinner with him at some point…

New Clothes, New ER, New Embarrassing Experiences (4 December)

Becoming Properly Acquainted With Catfish

Catfish and I meet at the Gunsan Express Bus Terminal at 8:40 this morning.  We’ve decided that the 9am bus is a good start to the day and I think we’re both a little apprehensive about what the day may hold.  Boarding the bus, we’re seated right at the back where the cool kids usually sit in high school.  Our conversation is somewhat hesitant and we both try to figure out the other person.  Our Kiwi-mom had mentioned that we have music in common so this seems like a safe enough topic before long. 

Surprisingly, conversation gets easier and we’re at the rest-stop before we know it where Catfish introduces me to Khuhultteok – Korean style mini-pancakes with brown sugar in the middle.  The final stretch to Seoul seems quicker than ever and a new friendship is seeming rather likely.  I’m somewhat taken aback when she mentions my blog… I’d been wondering who my South Korea audience is so when Catfish refers to a particular blog post about being formally introduced to a gorgeous Brit, I know exactly where this conversation is headed and I’m reminded of my initial hesitance in spending time with her: The gorgeous Brit clearly liked her and not me! It’s enough reason not to be friends with someone in girl-world but Catfish has other redeeming qualities so I’m prepared to give her a second chance.

Arriving in Seoul, we bounce off the bus, eager to get to Myeong-dong for shopping.  Catfish has been here with the other South African so she takes the lead.  She confided on the bus that she’d told her mom in a previous conversation that she hopes I manage to find some clothes in Myeong-dong because she really hoped we could be friends; if I wasn’t successful, I may equate Catfish with unsuccessful shopping trips.  Assuring her that this won’t happen, we head straight for Forever 21.  I’m not familiar with this particular store since it hasn’t reached South Africa but I do know that it is a popular store in the US.  I’ve also done my homework and have seen that it usually caters to very small sizes so I’m not particularly hopeful about finding anything here. 

New Clothes

There are some fantastic clothes and it takes us nearly two hours to pour over the selection – actually, it takes Catfish about two hours to try on a variety of clothes and me about an hour to discover that there are a total of three things (other than shoes and accessories) that actually fit me in the entire store.  There’s no stronger motivation to lose weight than attempting to shop for clothes in Korea!  By the time we’ve paid for our purchases and sprinted through another store (Uniqlo), we realise that it’s nearly mid-afternoon and we’re starving.  I’m in the mood for pizza so Catfish stops a passerby and asks for directions to the nearest pizza place which happens to be Mr Pizza.

Seated at a table, we attempt to work out the menu.  I’ve only been to Mr Pizza once so I’m happy to let Catfish recommend several pizzas.  We try to order a lunch time special but we’re too late so we settle on the Shrimp King pizza with sweet potato crust.  In the interim, our “two Cokes juseyo” (with the corresponding number of fingers) results in one glass of Coke with two straws arriving at our table.  We’re amused by the misunderstanding and successfully manage to order a second Coke.  When our pizza arrives, we attack it like we haven’t eaten in days.  Delicious!



Ummm...we asked for two Cokes not one with two straws.



Our final destination for the day is Itaewon where Catfish is hoping to find a Korean soccer jersey as a gift for her soccer-loving brother back in Indiana.  While on the subway to Itaewon station, Catfish asks if I’m feeling alright since I’m looking a bit flushed.  My face is tingling a little bit and I feel a bit nauseous but I’m probably just tired.  We decide to get off the subway at Noksapyeong station and walk towards Itaewon station since we’ll pass a number of stalls on the way.  I’m feeling rather self-conscious about not being able to keep up with the pace at which Catfish is walking so I assume that I must be having an asthma attack.  While I concentrate on deep breathing, Catfish finds her soccer jersey and we’re soon entering Itaewon station to head back to the bus terminal.  We stop briefly to take cheesy photos in front of the Christmas setup which results in us just missing the train. 



Cheesy Christmas photos in Itaewon station...


While we sit and wait, I take the opportunity to find my inhaler which brings no relief.  Ironically, the possibility of my being allergic to shrimp is raised and quickly refuted – I’ve eaten shrimp before and even had one on the flight to Seoul.  Of course, this pizza was laden with the largest shrimp I’ve ever seen but that’s beside the point.  This must be an asthma attack and one that is causing my face to tingle and redden.  I feel rather melodramatic suggesting I go to the nearest hospital so we continue to debate the possible reasons for my face being so flushed that my neck and torso are also now changing colour, a slight rash that is spreading across my body, tingling in my face and the swelling that shocks me in action when I finally take a close up photo of myself while thinking that breathing is now becoming a skill rather than a basic action.   Catfish suggests finding the nearest pharmacy and we’re once again heading out of the station.  While I concentrate on breathing, she sends several requests not to collapse: After spending around US$300 today, she’s not looking forward to having to abandon her purchases in order to help someone she still doesn’t really know.

New ER

I’m grateful to have Catfish take charge yet again and she does a fantastic job of communicating to everyone who can possibly help us that “friend…sick”.  The tourist information office tells us that there’s a pharmacy just around outside of the station so that’s where we head.  Like a true American (for which I’m very grateful), Catfish enters the pharmacy and announces I need help.  The pharmacist doesn’t look too concerned while he finishes helping another customer before handing me a box of Zyrtek.  I’ve had Zyrtek before but, when Catfish tells him that I’ve taken my asthma medication, he takes the table out of my hand and tells me to go to the nearest hospital.  Address in hand, Catfish hails a taxi and gets us to Soon Chun Hyung University Hospital which happens to be only two or three kilometres down the road. 



The staff at this ER are fantastic and speak pretty good English!



As we enter the ER, laden with packages of day’s purchases, Catfish once again successfully communicates “friend…sick” which prompts the nurse to ask: “Can you breathe?” All I can do at this point is shake my head while five doctors and nurses converge on me and get me onto a bed where they then proceed to attack me with the largest needles I have ever seen in my life.  They’re also kind enough to show these needles before attempting to dig them into my resistant and very shy veins which are retreating under the current attack.  As they dig the first needle into my hand, I can’t help but flinch which results in a reprimand not to move.  I’ve already had oxygen fitted across my nose but breathing still requires all of my efforts so I have limited responses available to me – other than a childlike shriek and hiding my arm – when they show me the enormous needle that they’re about to try to stick into another vein. 

Catfish is great and uses her ‘fierce teacher’ voice to pause the sudden flurry of action and ask the doctors and nurses to give me a moment.  I’m not exactly scare of needles – I just don’t like them (particularly after the last two years of regular blood test) and I cope better when I don’t see the needles at all.  I’m not sure if they’re scare of Catfish or just annoyed but they’ve paused long enough to realise that I’m not a fan of needles.  I feel like baby as the nurse cajoles me into giving her shaking arm once again when what I really want to communicate is that the veins in my right arm are always bad for needles whereas my left arm’s veins don’t manage to run away as quickly.  After another painful needle attack, I finally have enough control over my breathing to communicate this, blood is drawn and I’m soon connected to a drip with some weird combination of fluids that I neither know and probably couldn’t pronounce anyway.

During this dramatic sequence of events – that probably only took about 10 minutes – Catfish is tasked with filling in all of the forms for me.  She’s known me less than 24 hours but sure, why not.  Fortunately, I’m neurotic enough to carry most important documentation with me whenever I go further than just the other side of Gunsan so it’s pretty easy for her to find all of my information in my purse.  She’s also managed to communicate essential medical history to the doctors and nurses and phones her fantastic co-teacher to assist us in translating ‘shrimp’ since we’re both fairly certain that I’m allergic to our lunch.  It’s incredible that it’s been less than an hour since eating that delicious pizza!

Once the forms are filled in and the drip connected, it’s a waiting game.  The nurses tell us that I’m likely to be in the ER for at least six hours which means only being discharged at around midnight.  Realising that we’re probably not going to make it back to Gunsan tonight, we start working on a Plan B: Finding accommodation late at night in an area that we don’t really know is an interesting task.  Although we’ve spent a couple of days in Seoul, we’ve never had to sort out accommodation and we’re not entirely sure where anything is.  Fortunately, NZ2 comes through for us and starts sending out SOS text messages to his sister and friends in Seoul.  Within an hour, we have so many choices of possible places to stay and I can breathe normally once more so we settle into a fairly lively conversation in the otherwise empty ER.  The doctors and nurses understand enough English to probably get the gist of what we’re saying and we’re a little self-conscious of the fact that, at this point, we’re just hanging out in the ER, killing time while the doctors ‘observe’ me for any other reactions and Catfish and I ‘bond’. 

Informing me that I am now allergic to shrimp - which I've already figured out - I'm discharged at 22:00 so that we can try to make it back to Gunsan tonight.  We're in such a rush to get back to the bus terminal that we're already halfway up the hill to Itaewon station when I suddenly remember that I didn't collect my script from the hospital's pharmacy. Heading back to the hospital, we re-enter the ER and ask for directions to the pharmacy.  The nurse is so helpful that she tells us to leave our shopping bags on a chair next to her while we get my script.  With the script in hand, we thank the ER staff for being so helpful and kind and having done everything in English.  We're running out of time so we decide to take a taxi to the station which proves to be more difficult than we'd initially anticipated.

While we attempt to communicate our destination the driver, he takes us on a scenic night tour of sketchy Itaewon while asking Catfish if she's Russian - i.e. if she's a prostitute.  Catfish is blonde-haired, blue-eyed and gorgeous like many Russians and a lot of prostitutes are apparently Russian. Wondering where in Itaewon we are, we're relieved to spot the subway station directly ahead of us.  We rush out of the taxi and have just enough time to take a commemorative photo of the two of us on the platform before we're finally on the subway to the bus terminal.  Incredibly, we're going to make it just in time to catch the last bus home.



Catfish and me on the platform after my latest ER trip.

Bounding up the escalators at the bus terminal, Catfish heads to the ticket booth while I attempt to buy some snack for the bus since we don't have time for dinner.  The news is devastating: There's only one seat available on the last bus home so we're stuck in Seoul for the night.  Even if we manage to get a bus back to Jeonju or even Iksan, we're not sure if we'll be able to get back to Gunsan until tomorrow morning anyway.  Dismayed at our luck, we move onto Plan C since all of the places we have addresses for in Plan B are closer to Iatewon than the bus terminal.  The person at the Information desk tells us that there is a hotel on the top floor of the terminal; what he doesn't tell us is that it's the Marriott Hotel which costs around US$350 per night.  Killing two birds with one stone, Catfish phones the gorgeous Brit over whom we have bonded and he informs us that there are several Love Motels outside of the bus terminal which are cheap.  Neither of us has been to a Love Motel before so we're not even entirely sure what to look for but we're fairly certain that it'll be easy to spot one so we exit the terminal rather confidently.

New Embarrassing Experiences

Outside of the terminal, we can’t see any hotels so Catfish bravely asks a passerby for help.  Unfortunately, she chooses a man who doesn’t speak English but she speaks loudly enough to catch the attention of a couple who are also passing by.  The woman can speak English and offers a few suggestions including a jimjilbang which is the cheapest option.  It’s ironic that Catfish and I had been discussing jimjilbangs on the bus ride to Seoul – now she’s asking me if I’m okay with spending the night in a jimjilbang.  I’m so tired at this point that I agree and we’re soon giggling our way through deserted passageways leading back to the bus terminal in the general direction of the jimjilbang.  Every time we see someone, we ask them if we’re heading in the right direction for the jimjilbang. The reactions of those we are is generally surprise, amusement or an embarrassed laugh and here’s why…

Jimjilbangs are the Korean equivalent of the Japanese onsen.  Jimjilbangs are public bathhouses where Koreans go to soak in a bath (since most apartments only have sink showers) but you can also have what I’ve been told is a really thorough and great massage in these bathhouses – while butt-naked, I must add – and just generally hang out and relax or sleep here.  They offer cheap accommodation, lockers in which to store your belongings, provide pajamas and are convenient.  If you’re not comfortable with nudity, however, this is not the place to go.  I can’t believe we’re heading to a jimjilbang where taking the hot shower that I so desperately crave at this point means getting naked in front of several dozen strangers.  Considering I’m larger than the average Korean woman, I’m not looking forward to showing my cellulite and fat rolls next to their seemingly flawless bodies!

By the time we finally get to bed, we’re not yet exhausted enough to go to sleep immediately.  We’ve found two empty patches of ground in a passage way and laugh over the absurdity of the day’s events before drifting in an out of sleep.  We’re conscious of several Korean people pausing beside us as they walk down this particular passage and we’re fairly certain that there aren’t usually too many foreigners in this particular jimijilbang.  By 7:00am, I’m eager to leave so I wake Catfish and we manage to make it onto the 8:00am bus home where our friendship has been sealed over a crazy 12 hours between an ER and getting naked in front of several strangers….

Now It Makes Sense…Kind Of (2 December)

I Shall Not Torture Myself

It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been in Korea for two months.  The last month seems to have been a combination of a social whirl of meeting new foreigners and finding my feet at school.  This week has probably been my most exhausting but, I’m proud to say that I have somehow managed to stay a-top of everything although I’m really tired.  Since the students are now finished with their assessments, we were told to give them self-study time to prepare for next week’s final exams.  Mr Jeong has told me not to torture myself during these lessons by standing – I should sit and do things that I enjoy while the students study.  My approach is that if I’m allowed to do the things that I enjoy during these lessons, the students should be allowed to follow suit.  They seem to think that I’m joking when I tell them that they can use today’s lessons for self-study or “catch-up-on-sleep” time. 

A Long Chat

I’m exhausted so I’m almost tempted to excuse myself from tonight’s game night with my Kiwi-mom, another South African and an American I’ve only met twice but we’re meeting in a coffee shop so I force my feet to hunt down a taxi and head across town.  I don’t actually know what to tell the taxi driver in order to get to the Angel-in-us coffee shop but I remember it’s a short walk from the cinema so I use this as a landmark.  I’m slightly put out to arrive at the coffee shop – late as usual – and discover that I’m the only foreigner there.  I’m in the middle of an upsetting game of ‘find-the-foreigner’ when my Kiwi-mom arrives followed shortly thereafter by the American.  I still have mixed feelings about the other South African and the American but they’re both close to my age so I’m willing to give them a shot. My biggest concern is that they’re already friends so I’m the odd one out….

Game night is a weekly girls’ night: The guys play screen golf, and we get together and play a cool board game called “10 days in Europe”. It’s an interesting game that really tests mental skill – but sometimes we cheat and just gossip instead.  It’s all a ruse….  Although we’d intended playing the game tonight, we somehow end up chatting the night away.  The other South African and the American help me to understand some of the stranger quirks that my Korean colleagues seem to have and tell me about Korean culture and beliefs that help me to better understand why they’re so reluctant to be friends with me.

Catfish

The American shares a funny story too: Her name is Maggie but since there is no ‘a’ (short and sharp like the phonetic alphabet) sound in Korean, she is called ‘Meggie’ which means Catfish in Korean. Consequently, all of her students laugh each time she introduces herself as “Catfish teacher”. 

Catfish and I need to do bank transfers for the Christmas trip we’re taking to Jeju Island with Adventure Korea.  Spotting a bank across the road, we head over to finalise everything and the subject of clothes shopping in Seoul pops up once again.  Before I have time to think, Catfish has offered to accompany me to Seoul, specifically Myeong-dong, where the other South African told me a friend of hers managed to find some “Largeee-sizeeee” clothes.  I don’t know Catfish very well but we’d better have lots in common because that’s 5 hours of travelling on the bus alone and an otherwise very long day together…

Brown-noser! (29 November)

I can honestly say that I love my students.  Yes, they frequently frustrate me and at times are very resistant to just about everything but, overall, they’re good kids and, most importantly, they make me laugh – a lot! 

The final assessment task for the first graders (grade 10s) is an individual speech of 90 – 120 seconds.  It may not sound long to many of you but, for many second language speakers, it’s like asking them to deliver the moon at midday.  The first class of the week is also my favourite so we’re off to a good start.  Most of the speeches are actually really good and well-written.  In addition, many of the students sound quite natural when speaking as opposed to the overly-rehearsed quality so many of them seem to strive for at times.  It’s impressive to hear some of them speak and I’m feeling quite optimistic by the end of the lesson. 

As Mr Jeong, NZ1 and I leave the classroom, I can’t help laughing at the students (most of whom are not even taught by me personally) who are shouting out random compliments to me as we fight our way to the door.  My co-teacher just laughs at these attempts of brown-nosing since he knows that this is, without a doubt, my favourite class.

The speeches in the next two classes are also fairly impressive and, finally, we can see the results of several weeks worth of preparation.  The highlight of the day, however, is the news that the co-teacher of a Kiwi friend is prepared to teach me Korean!  I’m beyond excited when I hear this news.  Unfortunately, I also have to face reality which is not as exciting: Between the extra editing I’ve agreed to do, the journal comments I have to do, and the attitude scores that I really need to start thinking about doing, I’m reminded that there are final written assessments for the second graders waiting to be marked.  Somehow, it was rather convenient to forget about this final set of marking when the envelope with the tests was still sitting on another teacher’s desk.  

And You Shall Have an Oven (27 November)

After a very social week, all I want to do is stay in my apartment and relax.  I don’t bother setting my alarm as I probably won’t hear it anyway.  Being able to sleep in is fantastic and I get the feeling today’s going to be a lazy day when I finally get out of bed at 10:30.  Since having internet in my apartment is still something of a novelty, the first thing I do when I get up is log onto the internet.  I’ve barely logged on when my phone rings….

Connie, the Canadian who lives closest to me, is phoning to see if I want to come around to her apartment after lunch.   This forces me to shower and actually get dressed for the day.  Finding Connie’s apartment is another story altogether.  It’s the first time I’m going to her apartment on my own but I think I can remember how to get there – after all, there are only two roads and there was a large sign on the wall of the second road so I’m confident I’ll find it pretty easily. 

As I walk along the first road, I start to doubt my sense of direction.  All of the side roads are starting to look familiar and that enormous sign that I so clearly remember being on the corner of the road at which I need to turn seems to have been removed.  I’m suddenly reminded of an English speaker in Japan whose wife reported him missing when he didn’t come home from work one night.  He was eventually found but had been driving around for hours looking for the McDonald’s sign that he used as a landmark and which had subsequently been removed.  Fortunately, I live in a small town and I know that I’m not far from the main road.  If all else fails, I’ll have to take the very long, but very direct, route. 

By the time I finally make it to her apartment, I’m relieved to discover that another waegook is joining us so I haven’t kept Connie waiting too much.  As soon as the American arrives, we’re off to E-mart for McDonald’s – food we recognise, can pronounce and, on occasion in my case, crave.

The rest of the day passes in a bit of a blur as we meander around E-mart, ooh and aah over the Christmas decorations that have been set out and make random purchases.  My favourite purchase of the day is the pair of fluffy pajama pants that are soft, warm and actually fit me.  This purchase becomes my second favourite when Connie mentions that she and her husband have a small table-top oven that they’re wanting to sell and so, in the eighth week of being in Korea, I finally have an oven!

By the time I get home, all I want to do is go to bed so it’s a rather rude awakening the next morning when I suddenly fully understand the extra work I’ve agreed to take on this week.  Between my co-teacher and a student, it dawns on me that I’ve agreed to edit nearly 200 pages of writing (on varying topics) by Friday – on top of my actual job.  It’s a good thing I have two weeks to finish those journal comments….