Change is Afoot (18 February)

Catfish has recently told me of the staff changes at her school – including the fact that she is getting all new co-teachers since her current co-teachers will be teaching third grade for the 2011 school year.  I hadn’t really considered that my co-teachers may not be my co-teachers for 2011.  In South Africa, you’re a teacher for a particular grade and tend to teach the same grade for several years.   Assumption is always dangerous in Korea and this has once again been proven as I rush to my fantastic co-teacher and ask her if we’ll be teaching with different Korean teachers for 2011. 

I’m devastated when she confirms that this is so and I suddenly realise just how disappointed I am to have spent so much time invested in building relationships with both of my co-teachers over the last three months and will now have to start the entire process all over again.  I feel like I’ve spent the better part of the last four months attempting to prove myself at my school in one way or another: I’ve had to work hard to convince my colleagues that I’m different from the previous foreign teachers who have abandoned their contracts mid-way or sooner, I’ve had to work hard to try and get my co-teachers to trust me and engage with me so that we can be a successful team in the classroom and I’ve worked extremely hard to convince my students that I’m in this for the long run.  I’m now facing the reality of having to start all over again and I realise that I’m extremely anxious with the uncertainty of knowing who the new Korean English teachers are, who will be my new co-teachers and whether or not the last four months I’ve invested in my attempts to establish a relationship with my fantastic co-teacher and Mr Jeong have all been for nought. 

My fantastic co-teacher tells me that there will be a meeting after lunch for all of the Korean teachers to hear what their new responsibilities will be for the new school.  Each teacher apparently submits requests and a plan for what they hope to achieve in the year ahead and what their personal goals and aspirations are with regard to the school.  After the meeting, my fantastic co-teacher tells that she had hoped to be a homeroom teacher for 2011 because she feels that she has a good relationship with the new second grade students but it’s a demanding job and one that her husband and family asked her not to take for fear that it will be too taxing on her.  She does, however, receive all of the things that she’s requested for the new year and, despite knowing that this means I’ll probably be seeing a lot less of her in the year ahead, I resign myself to the fact that I’ll be starting from scratch in establishing relationships with the new teachers and dig deep within myself to the adult buried deep inside of me to congratulate her and wish her much success and happiness for the year ahead. 

Painting the Town Red - Gunsan Style

The rest of the day passes quickly and NZ2 tells me that KiwiKat is on her way down to Gunsan for the weekend.  I’ve already signed up for an Adventure Korea trip for this weekend so I won’t be able to see her over the weekend unfortunately but I’m still excited by the news that she’ll be arriving at the end of the school day.  She arrives shortly after 16:00 and manages to find her way to our office where we chat briefly before my fantastic co-teacher tells us all that we can leave at 16:30. 

We head into Gunsan to run a few errands after school – mine involves recharging the airtime on my cell phone at the Qook store opposite the bank.  I keep returning to this particular store since there is someone who speaks decent English.  Unfortunately, even though I mostly only go to the store in order to recharge the airtime on my phone, most of the staff there seem to panic with a deer-caught-in-headlights reaction every time I walk in – they all insist that I wait for the guy who speaks English no matter how hard I try to convince them that they can help me with such a small thing.  KiwiKat and NZ2 amuse themselves outside of the store by taking photos of each other dancing next to the dancing character that is a signature of the store.  Today, it’s dancing pig and by the time I finally manage to get the airtime on my phone recharged, they try to convince me to pose beside the pig.  I refuse on grounds of dignity and the fact that I actually have to frequent this particular store in order to recharge my phone each month; I already embarrass myself enough without trying to embarrass myself further.  They head back to NZ2’s apartment to a dinner of French toast which I decline since I need to still wrap KiwiKat’s birthday present before we again meet for coffee at Angel-in-us. 

I meet them just over an hour later outside of the store where they have again been entertaining themselves by taking photos of each other dancing next to the new character – the outfit was changed in the 90 minutes we were gone.  Somehow they manage to convince me to pose for a picture while I feel like a complete idiot.  We then head to Lotte mart which, as KiwiKat points out, is how we paint the town red on a Friday night in Gunsan.  Lotte mart is a hub of activity as usual and I head to the pharmacy while the Kiwis head to Skin Food where NZ2 needs to buy a birthday gift for KiwiKat. 

Ty-he-le-nol

The pharmacist in Lotte mart speaks fairly good English and all I need is Tylenol which is also called Tylenol in Korea.  I approach the counter confidently and the pharmacist smiles as he greets me.  “Hana Tylenol, juseyo,” I say confidently and am greeted with a slightly puzzled look; I try again and smile encouragingly while confident in my Korean pronunciation and proud of the fact that I can form a whole sentence in Korean.  Once more I’m greeted with a slightly puzzled look as the pharmacist asks me to repeat myself again while he listens carefully in an attempt to decipher what I’m trying to purchase.  With slightly less confidence, I narrow my request down to just “Tylenol” which now sounds more like a question than a statement as I try to figure out where I’m going wrong in this exchange.  This time, I’m greeted with a broad smile as he turns away to get a box of Tylenol for me.  I pay quickly, stuff the box into my bag and scurry away hastily to the second floor where the Kiwis have wandered off to.  KiwiKat then explains to me that Tylenol is three syllables in English but four in Korean: my request should actually be Ty-he-le-nol.

Angel-in-us

After a brief, and rather feeble, attempt to distract KiwiKat in Lotte mart while NZ1 and NZ2 find party paraphernalia for tonight, we head to Angel-in-us where we are meeting two other foreigners whom I haven’t seen since NZ2’s 40^th birthday party in early October.  They teach at a hagwon so they’ll only be meeting us after 21:00 which is when we arrive at the coffee shop.  By the time they arrive, we’re all in good spirits and joking around before pulling out party hats and gifts for KiwiKat who’s birthday is actually 1 March.  The party hats turn into a competition of who can wear theirs the longest – naturally KiwiKat wins – and we find ourselves leaving only when Angel-in-us closes for the night; it’s been a surprisingly good evening even though I have yet to pack for my AK trip.

Don’t Leave Me… (28 January)

After one too many late nights and busy days, I allow myself to sleep in until 10:00.  When I finally do get up, I’m still thinking about the confusing conversation that took place on Wednesday morning.  I’m tired of feeling confused about everything so I’m determined to ask the translator to clarify a few things for me when I see her this afternoon for my acupuncture appointment.  In the meantime, I try to learn a few essential Korean phrases that I should probably have learnt months ago.  KiwiKat has suggested that being able to use a few Korean words or phrases might also make the cute doctor feel a bit more relaxed with me as a patient since clearly having to try to speak English is stressful.

The taxi ride to the Medical Centre is yet another bizarre one.  Finding a taxi when it’s slightly colder than usual or snowing is almost impossible.  When a taxi finally stops for me, I notice that there is already (presumably) a passenger in the front seat. It’s fairly common for drivers to take more than one passenger if they’re both going in the same direction so I assume that this is what’s happening as I get in.  On the way to the Medical Centre, I’m asked the usual five questions: Age, nationality, am I an English teacher, how long have I been in Korea, do I have a husband / boyfriend.  I feel very proud of myself as I manage to answer most of these questions in Korean and my study time this morning seems to have paid off.  It also boosts my confidence in speaking Korean and I’m certain that this confidence will carry me through my acupuncture appointment. 

On My Own

As we round the last corner to the Medical Centre, my phone rings: It’s the translator; she’s ill and isn’t at work today so I’ll be alone with the cute doctor.  Gulp! If Sunny had phoned me before I left my apartment, I would probably have just re-scheduled the appointment but I’m already here so I step forward purposefully and with false bravado.  I’m not feeling quite as confident as I enter the Medical Centre and head to the Oriental Medicine Department.  Clearly this news has already reached the department because the nurse looks at, grins and says, “This is going to be fun!” as she ushers me to a cubicle and sets up the initial part of the treatment.  I take out my phrase book that I’ve thankfully brought with me and start frantically attempting to memorize vocabulary and phrases that I think I might need to use today.

By the time Dr Kim arrives, I’m feeling a little more confident and smile encouragingly when he greets me: I can do this! He then tells me that the translator is not in today which I already know and half-jokingly follows this with a rather stressed yet comical, “Oh my god” and I can feel my confidence waiver slightly.  I’d like to think that I’m fairly perceptive and good at reading people but I don’t know what to make of this particular doctor.  He seems a little unnerved too at the prospect of having to deal with me by himself and keeps excusing himself to fetch things he’s left in his office.  This makes me feel even more self-conscious and I wish I had re-scheduled the appointment because I really feel sorry for the guy.  I wish I knew enough Korean to be able to communicate with him so that he wouldn’t have to use only English with me. 

Somehow we manage to get through the appointment with me writing down a lot of things and using lots of gestures accompanied by very simple sentences.  As I move to the chiropractic bench for the final part of the treatment, I’m actually relieved that the appointment is almost over and I conclude that I’ve seriously misunderstood Wednesday’s conversation.  I’m relieved that I didn’t embarrass myself on Wednesday on clarifying what I thought (and hoped) might be happening.  There’s a mutual silence as Dr Kim starts the final part of the treatment which is my favourite part because it’s relaxing. 

Conversation Time

The slightly awkward silence is broken by him asking me if I’m satisfied with the treatment I’ve received.  He seems slightly bashful when I confirm that I am and that I think he is a very kind and nice doctor.  He seems to be thinking very hard about something and I’m trying my best to understand why he’s suddenly talking to me; is he relieved to have survived this appointment without a translator?  He then asks me if I’ve had a particular Korean dish; I’ve never even heard of this dish much less know what it is.  He tries to explain and then stands up to face me and tells me that he had this dish for lunch so he hopes his breath doesn’t smell.  I can’t help laughing at this unexpected conversation and his expression which seems to ease some of the tension – apparently he wants to chat!  

I ask if he’s from Gunsan and he tells me that he’s originally from Seoul but has been in Gunsan for nearly two years.  I then tell him that Seoul is too busy for me and that I like Gunsan because it’s quiet.  He agrees that it’s quiet and tells me that, now, he likes Gunsan.  We chat about a few inconsequential things and the appointment is soon over.  We seem to have got into a routine of thanking each other at the end of each appointment and he waits a few moments while I say thank you and goodbye.  I then surprise him by wishing him a good weekend in Korean and he matches this in English before finally bidding me farewell.  As he leaves the room, he murmurs something to the nurse who looks at me and smiles.  She asks me to take a seat while she quickly assists another patient before turning to me with a broad smile and saying that she has to try to get me back here on Monday.  We schedule a time and I ask her to write down the code that I need in order to pay for the appointment on the second floor.

As I leave the Medical Centre, I’m elated that I’ve managed to get through the entire appointment without a translator and realise that things aren’t quite as hard as they may have seemed at the time.  I’m in a good mood and lost in my own thoughts.  As I start walking towards Catfish’s apartment, I hear a very enthusiastic English “Hello” and turn to see three high school, or possibly university students, sitting on a flight of stairs and waving at me.  I return their greeting thinking that this is probably the extent of their repertoire when they surprise me by asking me where I’m going.  Unsure as to how to answer this question, I grin and tell them I’m visiting a friend at which they express their disappointment and ask me to sit and chat to them for a while.  I decline with the excuse that I’m late and wave goodbye – if they only knew just how much older than them I actually am!

Pamper Time

Catfish and I have finally managed to secure an appointment to have our nails done and we’re looking forward to some girly salon time.  I can’t help but feel ashamed of the condition of my nails and hands in general as the manicurist gets to work on my cuticles and all of the grooming things that need to happen before the actual paint job.  I’m relieved that Catfish’s nails seem to take just as long and relax to enjoy being pampered.  It’s a lot of fun choosing different colours to try out and I can’t resist admiring my nails as they visibly improve with each step of the manicure. 

Our salon experience runs into dinner time and we merrily make our way back to Lotte mart and Hoa Binh, the Vietnamese restaurant that I’ve come to love.  Instead of our usual platter and rice wraps, however, we choose individual dishes that come with some complications for me.  The fried rice on pineapple looks mouth-wateringly delicious but contains shrimp to which I’m allergic.  I’m not in the mood for a possibly allergic reaction even if we are just down the road from the local hospital so I ask if I can order the dish without the shrimp – our server is familiar with us by now, automatically understands my request and assures me that this won’t be a problem.  Catfish decides on a seafood pho and we sit back to chat while we wait for dinner. 

Under the Sea

When the food arrives, I’m touched to discover that they’ve substituted the shrimp in my meal with chicken; we’d ask for something like this to be done in our own countries but trying to make such a request in Korean is just too difficult so it’s impressive to see that this has automatically been done at this restaurant and I really appreciate it.  Catfish’s dinner is a little too ‘under the sea’ with whole shrimp that stare accusingly from the plate, and she seems less than impressed to discover what she calls “an alien” (baby octopus) on her plate.  The staff probably think she’s crazy for not eating most of the seafood in this dish!

As is customary, dinner is followed by coffee at Doctor’s Coffee which serves the most amazing white hot chocolate.  We can’t help but laugh at the decorative topping that Catfish’s coffee receives and immediately reach for cameras to document this amusing sight.  We’re not at Doctor’s Coffee for long, talking about JH, when Catfish decides to text him to confirm their meeting place tonight.  It’s nearly 21:00 and she suddenly recalls arranging to meet him at Angel-in-us coffee which is further down the road so we say a quick goodbye, promise not to meet over the weekend so that we can have a break from each other before she runs to the next coffee shop where JH is already waiting, and I head home for the weekend. 

Remember Me? (26 January)

I have five days of vacation starting today.  Thanks to a administrative mix up, I had three months worth of pension payments deducted from my December salary so I’m not able to go to Japan for my vacation as I’d hoped.  Instead, I’m staying in Gunsan until 1 February when I’ll go to Seoul for a ski trip.  Until then, I’m just going to use the time to catch up on blog entries and relax.  To kickstart this vacation, I have an acupuncture appointment.

As I arrive at Gunsan Medical Centre, I can’t help wondering if the cute doctor will remember me after nearly a month.  I corner the translator before we get to the Oriental Medicine Department and ask her if she remembers that I made the cute doctor blush in December; she immediately starts laughing and comments on how amusing it was so I ask her if I offended him at all.  I’m pretty sure that I didn’t offend him – only embarrassed him – but I want to make sure that this is not an issue in Korea where hierarchy, respect and saving face are all highly valued.  She assures me that there’s nothing to worry about and tells me that he blushed because he’d said I was beautiful and kind.  Such a Korean answer!

Uh Oh...

When we arrive at the department, he doesn’t look very happy to see me and I again start to wonder if I inadvertently offended him in addition to embarrassing him.  The nurse, however, is as friendly as always.  I’m rather quiet as Dr Kim tries to work out the best approach for today’s treatment and I understand a few words of the ongoing conversation between him and the translator.  Soon, we’re joking around and I start to relax as I realise that he’s probably just very shy and not comfortable speaking English.  He doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave either despite there being numerous patients at the time.  Instead, he and the translator seem to be discussing something (me) at great length and I’m starting to get very curious about what’s being said. 

I Don't Understand (Again!)

Eventually, the translator turns to me with a serious expression and I can see she’s thinking very carefully of how to phrase something.  She proceeds to tell me that he didn’t have much reason to speak English until now so he and I should spend a lot of time together.  As she’s speaking to me, I notice Dr Kim watching me very carefully from the furthest corner where he is fidgeting with various things.  He’s seems slightly embarrassed when she finishes conveying everything and tells me, “just joking” with an embarrassed smile.  I’m confused.  Is he asking for English lessons or does he want to be friends?

This doesn’t dissuade him from spending a lot more time with me in this appointment than is perhaps necessary.  The nurse comes in several times to relay information to him in Korean and he sounds fairly dismissive with each “Ne, Ne”.  Each time it happens, the nurse looks at me and laughs and I’m even more confused as to what is happening.  He’s seems overly attentive in this appointment and I get the impression he definitely remembers me from my last appointments at the end of December.  He’s also telling me that I need to come back the next day.  I ask if I can rather return on Friday since I don’t really want to have a doctor’s appointment on my birthday even if it is the cute doctor. 

Trying To Work It Out

I leave the Medical Centre even more confused than I was in December and meet Catfish at Angel-in-us where we spend several hours discussing the events of the last 24 hours under the pretext of working on our respective blogs in the coffee shop.  Naturally, there leads to dinner at the Galbi restaurant where, once again, we’re treated to very attentive servers who seem to dote on as we continue, unsuccessfully, to try to puzzle out Korean men. 

A Korean Challenge (22 January)

Before going home last night, Catfish, the other South African and I arranged to meet each other today at midday to have our nails done.  We meet at Dasarang in Naun-dong which is near their apartments, an easy landmark for me and across the street from the nail salon that can’t actually fit us in as we discover once we’re already there.  We’re determined to have a girly salon day so we start walking towards Lotte mart where Jess knows of another nail salon – another salon that is fully booked for today. 

Cursing the Korean obsession and slave-like attitude to anything beauty-related, we decide to have lunch at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant that Catfish has been trying to convince me to try for weeks now.  I’m not a fan of Vietnamese food but, in all fairness, that’s probably because I haven’t had particularly good Vietnamese food prior to this.  This particular restaurant is fantastic!  The food is great, the people are friendly and good times are had all around. 

After lunch, we head back to Lotte Cinema to see if there are any English movies playing this afternoon.  I have yet to meet a waegook in Gunsan who has successfully worked out the movie playlist without having to go to the actual cinema and simply hope that an English film is playing.  Our options today are limited but there’s an animated film, Megamind, playing which we all agree on – we even decide to watch it in 3D – and happily prepare for a relaxing afternoon at the movies.  In the actual theatre, we settle into our seats while Catfish plays with the children who are seated in front of us.  They’re all giggling away at the sight of three foreigners in this movie and the adults are looking at us a bit strangely but we’re used to being stared at and in the minority so we don’t pay much attention to their reactions.

Korean Overload

The lights dim and the movie starts.  As the opening line is said, we all blink at the screen in confusion.  There’s a blue alien type character falling from the sky; we understand the visuals but the audio is not making any sense at all and that’s when it hits us: This is the Korean version of the film!  We’re so used to all the animated movies being in English with Korean subtitles, and the cinema staff usually warn us too, that it never even occurred to us to actually ask if this movie would be in English.  Jess utters a few words of surprise and sinks lower into her seat as she covers her eyes; Catfish and I look at each other with a What-the-heck-do-we-do-now look and burst into slightly hysterical laughter.  We decide to stay for the movie simply because it’s warm, we’re comfortable and Catfish and I are curious to test just how much Korean we understand.

Each time we hear a few words that we understand, Catfish and I cheer and congratulate ourselves on our limited Korean comprehension.  Even more entertaining are the English words scattered amongst the Korean dialogue and these scenes suddenly become far more entertaining than if we could understand the entire movie.  It’s an interesting exercise in comprehension, stamina, determination and sheer stupidity.  It’s also a unique experience to suddenly be on the reverse side of the movie situation – the side that our students are usually on: We’ve all watched foreign films with subtitles but we’ve never tried to watch a foreign language film with no subtitles. 

It’s inevitable that this particular movie experience reminds me of the old Choose Your Own Adventure series of books that were popular when I was at school.  We have limited understanding as to what is happening in this movie and so, from what we can see and the limited conversation that we do understand, we create our own, personal storylines to accompany the visuals on the screen before us.  This is, without a doubt, the longest hour and 20 minutes of my Korean adventure thus far!  The effort involved in trying to work out the storyline of even a children’s movie that is playing in a language that we can barely understand is enormous so it’s hardly surprising that we all fall asleep for part of the movie.  At the end of it, we’ve understood the gist of the story: Bad Blue Guy (Megamind) kills Good Guy whom cute reporter loves; Bad Guy likes cute reporter and attempts to win her over, creates another ‘Good Guy’ who turns into a genuine Bad Guy who original Bad Guy now has to defeat which, when he successfully does so, wins over cute reporter.  Catfish and I are very proud of our deduction skills although we’re now exhausted and in need of coffee!

Give Me Caffeine

We make one more futile attempt to have our nails done today before saying goodbye to Jess and heading to Ediya Coffee to try to wake up.  We’re planning to go to The ROK tonight where an English band from Jeonju is playing and I don’t feel like heading back to my apartment because I know that I probably won’t leave it again tonight if I do go home.  Catfish is a few steps ahead of me in entering Ediya Coffee: She walks in and immediately turns around and back out the door to excitedly tell me, “It’s them!” which attracts a lot of attention.  By “them”, she is referring to the guy who served us a few weeks ago while his friends heckled him about trying to speak English.  He seems to remember us too because he quickly pushes the second guy forward to help us.  This guy speaks pretty good English and Catfish seems to go directly to flirt mode.  The cynic in me can’t help wondering if he’s secretly thinking Yes! I finally get to use that situational conversation lesson that ______ teacher insisted on doing with us back in middle school!  As is customary when spending time with Catfish, the afternoon quickly sprints away and evening appears leading us to dinner at the Galbi.  We can’t deny that we’re creatures of habit! 

The Galbi is extremely busy considering that it’s a Saturday night.  As a result, we’re seated in a separate side of the restaurant that we didn’t even know existed until tonight.  We’re also not the token foreigners here tonight which is slightly disappointing and, when we see other foreigners seated in the same section as us, we can’t help wondering if they’re trying to seat the foreigners separate from the Koreans tonight.  By now, we’re well-practised in how to do a Galbi dinner and are further disappointed to realise that we’re being left to cook our dinner solo tonight.  It’s only later, when we see a table of (presumably) US military guys being helped with their food that we realise it’s a compliment to us that we’re being left alone – it means we finally know what we’re doing and can be trusted not to screw up the food!

Satisfying a meal as ever, we barely pause to question whether or not dinner will be followed with coffee at Angel-in-us; we simply know that that’s our routine as we automatically walk to our second coffee shop for the day.  By the time we’ve settled into Angel-in-us, we’ve decided that we don’t really feel like going to The ROK anymore and that, being a Saturday night, it’ll probably be overcrowded and filled with annoying military guys.  We’re far more content to simply while away the hours, chatting over coffee in the warmth and comfort of one of our favourite hang out spots.

Surprise! (21 January)

Today is the last day of the conversation classes.  As of Monday, we officially have no work to do at school – at least, in theory we have no work to do but I still have to mark the final journal entries the freshmen wrote a week ago at the end of winter camp.  Since today is the last lesson, we’ve decided to use the Korean competitive spirit to our advantage and will be grouping students randomly to demonstrate the various speaking exercises they’ve been practising over the past two weeks.  We’ve also brought appropriate prizes: Candy! 

The lesson is very successful and the students really get involved in the discussion with great comical effect. One student in particular, a boy, is highly entertaining and very good natured when the conversation turns towards his three wives, four girlfriends and whether or not he’s gay.  The lesson passes far too quickly and we’re soon left with nothing to do for the remainder of the day but count the hours and eventually minutes until the end of the day when NZ2 and I are meeting Catfish and two other kiwis at Angel-in-us where we’ll then go to dinner.

NZ2 has organised tonight’s social event but clearly doesn’t travel often from Soryong-dong to Naun-dong at 17:00 on a weekday.  In theory, the trip should only take about 10 minutes but we have to factor in traffic which makes the trip completely unpredictable.  Incredibly, we manage to find taxi within seconds of leaving school and we’re soon on our way to Lotte mart since we don’t know what to tell a taxi driver in order to get to Angel-in-us.  When we arrive at Lotte mart, NZ2 seems determined to make it to the coffee shop by 17:30 exactly despite my reassurances that everyone will understand if we’re a few minutes late – after all, we’re the only ones who live on the opposite side of town while they’re all within reasonable walking distance of the venue. 

Be Careful Who You Talk About

Somehow we manage to make it to Angel-in-us by 17:30 where Catfish, our Kiwi-mom and her husband are already waiting.  I introduce NZ2 to the other New Zealanders and excuse myself to use the restroom. When I return, NZ2 is recounting the story of how Mr Jeong and some of the other teachers at our school thought that he and I should get together.  I then add my two cents’ worth including the fact that I spoke to my co-teacher about this very matter after lunch today at school.  She assures me that she knows that NZ2 are only friends and that only people over 40 years of age might find it difficult to understand that men and women of marriageable age can be just friends.  In other words – I only need to worry about what three-quarters of the teachers at school think instead of all of them!

I’m just finishing sharing this story when I feel a hand on my arm and hear someone say, “I’m sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to say hello to Sarah.” As I turn to the speaker, I can feel surprise take control as I realise it’s my co-teacher – about whom I’ve just been speaking – and I’m confused; my brain starts working overtime as it tries to work out why my co-teacher is in this coffee shop.  I introduce her to my friends and then look around for her husband or family to say hello since I assume that she must be having coffee with one of them or a friend.  As I look around, however, part of my brain registers that they all live in Jeonju (including my co-teacher) so they wouldn’t be meeting at Angel-in-us in Gunsan; in addition, I said goodbye to her an hour ago when she helped me with the timer on the heating system in my apartment before telling me that she was going home. 

Catfish recently told me that I think very quickly and that the emotions attached to my thoughts often flash across my face in succession before I even say a word.  It seems my brain processes information very quickly and I struggle to keep my thoughts hidden while my brain does this processing.  If this is so, I can only imagine the expressions that flash across my face as my very confused brain tries its best to process what, exactly, is happening. 

I Can't Figure This Out...

After a futile attempt to see where my co-teacher is sitting in the coffee shop, I glance back at my friends who have suddenly all started taking out gifts and placing them on the table in front of me.  I look back and forth between my co-teacher and my friends, none of whom seem surprised to see each other.  It’s only when my Kiwi-mom invites my co-teacher to sit down and NZ2 tells her that her timing was perfect as he pulls out his camera that I finally realise tonight’s dinner has been turned into a surprise birthday party for me.  Ironically, Catfish and I had been planning to organise a surprise birthday party for our Kiwi-mom whose birthday is on Monday (three days before mine) but we haven’t been successful; to discover that tonight’s dinner was turned into a surprise party for me was something truly unexpected and a very special gesture. 

My co-teacher can only stay a few minutes but her taking the time just to stop by Angel-in-us – particularly since she lives in Jeonju – means more to me than she’ll probably ever realise!  Catfish later tells me that when NZ2 asked if she had any suggestions as to what to get me as a birthday present, she suggested inviting Six-pack to tonight’s dinner.  Since he would’ve been the only non-English speaker – and therefore an unrealistic birthday present – she suggested NZ2 invite my co-teacher to join us.  For the record, having my co-teacher join us for 10 minutes is far better than having Six-pack attend! Besides, the cute doctor is on my birthday wishlist this year…

From there, we decide on the Pasta Steakhouse next door for dinner.  The food’s not too bad but the company is fantastic.  We order steak and wine and conversation flows easily as we catch up on news with each other after the Christmas and New Year vacation periods.  So well-organised is this party that my friends have even bought me a birthday cake with a candle which they now take out and sing “happy Birthday” to me. 

After dinner, Catfish, NZ2, another South African and I head back to Angel-in-us coffee shop where we end up chatting for several hours.  The other South African invites another friend of hers – a Brit – to join us. He’s just renewed his contract for another year but will now be teaching at two schools instead of one.  He’s soon regaling us with hilarity of the possibility that one of his schools might just be on Seonyudo where there are currently no foreign teachers.  We can’t help but make joking suggestions of how he’ll have nearly three hours of travelling each day if he works on Seonyudo which is the islands closest to Gunsan.  We tell him to ask for a speedboat and talk about how living on Seonyudo would make Gunsan seem as exciting and as much of an adventure as Seoul and other larger cities currently are for us.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this particular situation….

Endings and Beginnings (14 January)

The day’s lessons seem to fly by with one exception.  Since it is the last day of winter camp (for the freshmen at least), the timetable is slightly different to that of the rest of the week so I cover today’s conversation lesson.  NZ2 has told me of the type of speaking activities he’s been doing in class and I work from his notes.  However, despite this approach, the lesson appears to be an epic (no pun intended!) fail and the students definitely seem to prefer NZ2 to me. 

Bad Chopsticks!

Today really does not seem to be my day as lunchtime is just as awkward as the conversation class.  First, I accidentally snub the gorgeous Mr Maths by not sitting in the seat next to him at lunch (which is apparently where I’m meant to sit following a seating arrangement that I still don’t quite understand), then I discover that, although I’m sitting next to Mr Jeong, I’m also sitting diagonally opposite Six-pack who is sitting between Mr Maths and Mr Baek.  It’s not a good chopsticks day for me and my hand is seriously cramping from my iron-tight grip on the chopsticks in an attempt not to embarrass myself.  It’s this very sight which seems to amuse Six-pack and Mr Baek (among other teachers) who pass various comments on my chopstick skills.  I’m tired and my hand is sore so I’m not in the mood for even joking comments but I try to smile and be gracious about the jokes nonetheless while I feebly attempt to eat some lunch.  Before I know it, the day’s lessons are done and it’s time to move to Dandelion Hall for the closing ceremony of the freshmen’s winter camp.

Help You? Sure!

On Wednesday and Thursday night, I spent 30 minutes helping a freshmen student to practise his English poem that he is reading in today’s winter camp closing ceremony.  My co-teachers seem to find it very strange that I voluntarily came back to school at 19:00 twice in one week just to help a student.  What they don’t seem to understand is that the students don’t ask for help very often – at least, not from the foreign teachers – so I jump at every opportunity when they do ask for my help because it shows that I’m not just a non-entity as far as they’re concerned.  I only aim to win over one student; anything more is a bonus.  The results are also worthwhile: Seeing that student on stage, a little bit more confident thanks to 60 minutes of my time, is far more rewarding that sitting at home playing around on the internet or our drinking with other foreigners.

Endings

It’s impressive to see the various classes perform things from their different lessons of the past two weeks – particularly when considering that some of these students have only just started learning Spanish, Japanese or Chinese during the two weeks of camp.  The students are all in high spirits as they leave the auditorium and I’m feeling a bit cheeky when a group of them call “Sarah teacher” behind me in the corridor as we’re leaving.  I know from the sheer volume of these voices that these are students from 102 so I match the volume and quality of their voices much to the amusement of several teachers and the confusion of several parents as we chat while heading back to the main school building.  One of the teachers later comments that it’s been a while since he’s seen new students take such an instant liking to a foreign teacher which I take as a compliment.  I’m touched when several of my students take the time to say goodbye to me and tell me that they’ll miss me; I’m even more touched when one of them brings me chocolates to say thank you for teaching her. 

Winter camp is finally over and I find myself a little sad that I won’t see these students again until the beginning of March.  We’ve just been told that the second part of the camp, scheduled for early February, has been cancelled by the Department of Education due to lack of funding.  With camp over, school will once again be running on skeletal staff and it’s a little depressing. 

Exciting Beginnings

As I head home for the weekend, I think of the news that my fantastic co-teacher shared with me earlier about her brother getting married the next day.  I’ve heard a lot about Korean weddings and hope to attend one while in Korea.  I didn’t see her before she left so I send her a text message wishing her well for the wedding and everything that she has to organise.  I’m barely home when she sends me a text message inviting me to the wedding.  Now I feel awkward.  I hope that she doesn’t feel obliged to invite me and I know that she’s going to be busy with family obligations so, as much as I’d love to attend the wedding, I feel that I shouldn’t and this is what I tell in a text message.  Clearly, I still haven’t learned lesson two!  In the mean time, I ask NZ2 for advice and he tells me to attend the wedding.  Catfish also tells me to attend it and then asks if I feel like Galbi for dinner – it turns out we both had unsatisfying lunches at school today.

I’m just about to phone my co-teacher to accept the invitation when she phones me.  It’s no imposition at all and she’d love to have me attend the wedding if I don’t mind travelling to Jeonju which she thinks is relatively far away.  I’m very excited to attend my first Korean wedding, which is what I tell her perhaps a little too enthusiastically, and she gives me the basic details with a promise to text me the address in Korean to show to a taxi driver.  I all but skip out of my apartment to meet Catfish who is already at the Galbi waiting for me with her Culture Shock book and the section on weddings earmarked for me.  I have to buy this book!

Galbi is as satisfying a meal as ever – perhaps even more satisfying than usual since we end up ordering a third portion to share instead of one each as we usually do; the staff seem to find this a bit amusing but happily comply.  It’s a compliment to the restaurant that we obviously enjoy the food!  We discuss the upcoming wedding and generally catch up on the week’s events – it’s mindboggling just how busy a week in Korea can be even when you think you’re not doing much.  There are any number of things that can, and do, happen that make the days memorable and these have to be shared with special friends who appreciate them as much as I do! 

From Galbi, we move to Angel-in-us for coffee and a continuation of our chat that seems to digress and bounce back to the various topics we simultaneously discuss.  Close to midnight, we rush down to Lotte mart to try to find a wedding card of some sort.  Catfish ends up singing the traditional Western wedding march in an attempt to explain what it is that we’re looking for but her current victims understand this to be an enquiry as to what time the store closes: We have 20 minutes.  We head to the stationery aisle with our fingers tightly crossed for luck as we laugh over several “Oh Korea” moments and generally de-stress after a busy two weeks of winter camp.

I Look Korean? (10 January)

After a weekend of procrastinating over my marking, I’m finally almost finished commenting on all of my students’ journals which need to be handed back today.  Fortunately, today should be a relatively stress-free day since my students will have the entire lesson to type up their best writing from last week’s lessons for the portfolio of writing to commemorate the ADEPT program.  I can’t help wondering how much the school spends on printing costs for things like this but it looks impressive and that’s probably more important than the cost.

Since the students only have to type one piece of writing, I’m anticipating a fairly easy three hours of class today.  It’s unusual for students here to constantly ask for help in a lesson so I’m very surprised when I realise that in two of my classes, I barely have a chance to register the start and end of each lesson as I keep moving from one student question to the next.  It makes the lessons go by far more quickly than usual and it’s genuine footage for Mr Jeong to film for the video clip he’s making for Friday’s closing ceremony.

I also have an opportunity to just chat with some of my students once they finish their work and I can’t help but laugh when I see one of them looking through photos (of me and the Kiwis) from our school festival which a senior student has posted on her webpage.  Another student makes me laugh even more when she shows me a picture of a Korean woman who is apparently a television star here – and then proceeds to tell me that, in her opinion, this is who I resemble in appearance.  I’ve been told increasingly often over the last few weeks that my mannerisms are very Korean but this is the first time I’ve been told that I look Korean! 

My Personal Challenge

My students seem to genuinely like me – except for the majority of 104 which is still a bit of a challenge.  I’ve also given considerable thought to Malicious Boy and realised that it would be so easy to request that I not have him as a student in the new year but the reality is that, at some point, I’m going to have to deal with him or a student like him – and I already have dealt with similar students in South Africa. 

I’m actually looking forward to the challenge of finding a way to win him over since I firmly believe that he’s actually quite intelligent and has simply had a negative experience with either English teachers or foreign English teachers in particular.  He’s also lived in China for the past two years so he may just be a little insecure.  Whatever the reason for his negativity towards my subject, I’ve spoken to other teacher friends and am determined to get him to participate positively in my lessons.

Conversing Waegook Style

The rest of the day passes fairly quickly and I’m soon meeting Catfish at our favourite Galbi restaurant where we can’t help noticing that we’re once again receiving more attention than most other customers.  It’s particularly entertaining when a mini-scuffle ensues between a male and female server who semi-tackle each other in their enthusiasm – the girl won and the guy stood only slightly to the side looking somewhat bashful as Catfish broke into uncontrollable giggles over the absurdity of the situation.  After dinner, we break with tradition only slightly by going to Angel-in-us (or AngeLInus as the Koreans call it) for coffee instead of Ediya Coffee. 

There, we continue with a typical ‘Western’ chat (ie lots of facial expressions and gestures) much to the amusement of the staff who seem to find us fascinating to watch – or maybe they were just wishing that we would leave.  However, we redeem ourselves by waving and greeting all of the kids who are in the coffee shop and playing with a toddler at the next table.  This is something that we do regularly but in Korea, it’s looked upon very favourably – Koreans like kids so if you show that you like kids, and the kids respond well to you (which, being foreign, most of them giggle and laugh just because we look and sound different), then it seems to be assumed that you’re a good person.

Lotte Mart and the Time Warp

Our final destination for the evening is Lotte mart where Catfish needs to purchase aluminium foil.  Culture shock is a strange little bugger that settles in very unusual and unexpected areas of our lives at random moments.  This is why some foreigners are literally scared to leave their apartments some weekends (I have had several weekends like this in my time in Korea) and grocery shopping and department stores can suddenly seem overwhelming and terrifying.  For Catfish, Lotte mart has become a sort of nemesis – she’s scared to go grocery shopping by herself but she needs aluminium foil for her winter camp lesson the next day so duty calls.

At the best of times, Lotte mart is a sensory overload: there are so many bright colours, neon arrows and singing promotional signs, in-store promoters who helpfully try to help you find the best deal (even when it’s clear that you don’t understand Korean and they don’t speak English), overpowering smells (Catfish can’t stand the fish section where you choose your live fish and I can’t stand the meat section – although you don’t choose meat from live animals behind the counter in this section!), repetitive jingles and more.  In addition, Lotte mart is a bit like being in a casino: It’s so brightly lit and there’s so much activity that you can easily lose three or four hours in this four-storey building without really accomplishing or buying much.  As a result, it’s not unusual to see foreigners shopping in pairs; in fact, it’s somewhat advisable to bring reinforcements on any shopping trip because two foreigners is more intimidating than just one.

Aruminium Poil

Our main mission tonight is to find aluminium foil for Catfish although I do also need to some grocery shopping while we’re here.  It doesn’t take us long to round up the few items we’re each looking for – except the elusive aluminium foil.  In American and South African stores, aluminium foil would be stocked in the general grocery section which is where we’re looking.  Recognising that this is the Western-logic-approach that is so frequently unsuccessful in Korea – and tiring of having fought our way through the late night shoppers and the same aisles one too many times – Catfish approaches a store employee and asks for hep.  The immediate response is the deer-caught-in-headlights/the waegook-is-talking-to-me look but we’re patient and Catfish smiles encouragingly while carefully enunciating what we’re looking for.  Still no luck.  Aluminium foil is not exactly something you can mime but Catfish tries still to no success.

I then decide to make one more circuit of the nearby aisles to see if I can find anything similar or possibly even aluminium foil itself while Catfish continues trying to explain it to this unfortunate victim since my mini-dictionary has failed me once more.  When I return, Catfish is speaking to someone on the phone which I presume is her co-teacher, Miss Kim.  It’s only when she hands the phone back to the employee that I realise that this woman has gone out of her way, using her personal phone, to find someone who speaks more English than her in an attempt to better assist us – such is the overwhelming kindness demonstrated by Koreans on a regular basis.  Her face lights up as she listens to the translation of aluminium foil via the person on the other end of the phone conversation and she quickly grabs Catfish’s hand and leads her to the escalator.  On the second floor, in the aisle next to the car section, is the kitchen storage section of Lotte mart: This is where we find aRuminium Poil (as it’s called in Korean)! Catfish has a far more descriptive, and detailed, account of this particular adventure in her blog which I can highly recommend.

'l/ vs /r/ and /f/ Challenges

Koreans struggle to distinguish between and /l/ and /r/ sound (the Korean character ㄹ is the same for both of these sounds and the sound is determined by the placement of the character in each syllable) and there is no /f/ sound in Korean.  We already know and understand this.  What we don’t know – and can’t understand – is that if this is true, what did this particular woman hear differently in Catfish’s pronunciation of “aLuminium Foil” and the Korean pronunciation of “aRuminium Poil”?  That is perhaps a mystery that will never be solved.

Snowfall and Falling in the Snow (30 December)

Snowfall

I wake this morning to the sight of big, beautiful snowflakes outside.  The scene that greets me outside of my apartment building is one reminiscent of a winter wonderland and I can’t resist taking several photos as I head to the main road to attempt to find a taxi.  The first order of business for today is another acupuncture appointment and my friend has chosen to accompany me to the appointment this morning.

My acupuncture appointment passes quickly and we’re soon heading towards Lotte mart to try and find Jeonbuk Bank which is where NZ2 has said I’ll be able to pay my accounts – and his.  There is an incredible amount of snow on the ground which means that we’re sliding more than walking.  It also means that there are fewer taxis available since no one wants to walk in this weather.  When we finally get to Lotte mart, we head in the direction that NZ2 has told me. 

Something about these directions isn’t quite making sense and we walk for a few blocks before I realise there are no more commercial buildings around us; conveniently, NZ2 isn’t answering his phone but Freddy is having a blast making a snow angel in the thick and lush snow while I try to figure out where to go.  We head back towards the main intersection where I saw a branch of my bank and I decide to play the foreigner card: I just want to pay my bills and be done with this errand!  There’s a convenient little machine just inside the bank that accepts all accounts; unfortunately, it’s all in Korean so I don’t know how to use it and rely on a bank employee to assist me.  She then tells me that NZ2’s main bill has to be paid at Jeonbuk Bank specifically which is across the road

Falling in the Snow

Crossing the road proves more adventurous than usual now that there are enormous piles of snow on the sides of the roads making it more difficult to determine where the pavement is.  While trying to cross the road as quickly as possible, I suppose it was inevitable that I would end up falling onto a huge pile of snow instead of just walking around it.  Fortunately, the oncoming driver was paying attention and stopped!

With accounts finally paid, we browse around Lotte mart before heading back to my apartment and then meeting Catfish for dinner at the Galbi restaurant.  Catfish and I love the Galbi restaurant that we frequent because the staff usually circle our table on a loop. It’s entertaining to watch how they almost seem to fight over who will get to help us cook our food – we only have to touch the tongs and someone is at our table, taking over the cooking process.  Tonight, with the addition of a male, it’s slightly different and it’s interesting to note the change in dynamics – the servers aren’t quite as attentive as usual….

Dinner is followed by coffee at Ediya Coffee, another tradition it would seem, where we discuss our plans for the next day and New Year’s Eve’s party.  We’ve already booked a room at Hong Guesthouse in Hongdae for 1 January so we just need to work out the logistics of what to do with our bags the next night since we have every intention of staying up all night at Countdown Seoul!

Harry Potter Finally Reaches the ROK (17 December)

For some reason, the most recent instalment in the Harry Potter franchise was only released in South Korea nearly a month after the rest of the world.  In fact, South Korea was one of the last two countries in terms of worldwide release dates which was a rather discouraging bit of information for hundreds of foreigners living here.  Nevertheless, it was an eagerly awaited movie and top of our list when the day finally arrived.

Last night, I was meant to go to the final concert for 2010 of the Gunsan Philharmonic Orchestra.  Since I wasn’t feeling well, I excused myself and went to bed early.  School today was a bit of a stressful occasion as I continued my unsuccessful attempt to catch up all of the work that I should have done on Wednesday.  Consequently, I spend most of the day frantically attempting to complete my notes for the winter camp workbook and I’m determined not to be the weakest link in the chain: NZ2 has already submitted his work and, if the Korean teachers have to have everything completed by tomorrow (yes, they’ll be at school on a Saturday), then why should I be any different.  Miraculously, I do manage to finish these notes and, although it means leaving school 30 minutes later than usual, I’m relieved and proud to know that I’ve still managed to adhere to the original deadline – particularly since my co-teacher has informed me that she’ll be taking me a specialist at Jeonbuk National University Hospital next Monday since the teachers are all worried about me.

Galbi and Harry

It’s been another long and tiring week so all I really want to do is collapse in an exhausted heap when I get home.  I’ve barely lain down when I hear a strange noise that turns out to be my mobile phone vibrating in my handbag (I’d forgotten to change the setting back to audible after school): Catfish is impatient to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, which, in all honesty, I’d forgotten had finally opened today, so we agree to meet for dinner and the movie.  Somewhat reluctantly, I drag my tired body off my bed, bundle up in warm clothes once more and head out.

Lotte Cinema is usually our preferred cinema but the next available show is only at 21:55 so we decide to head up to CGV Cinema which is about two blocks uphill and compare the schedules. Of course, no foreigner seems to be able to work out the schedule at CGV or, in our case, even where CGV actually is in this building.  We manage to communicate our question as to where the cinema is and we’re soon buying tickets for a show that is only about 25 minutes earlier than that of Lotte Cinema since the next show is already sold out.  With much time to kill, we head to the Galbi restaurant where we are greeted like long-lost friends. 

Once again, we sense a fair amount of hovering on the part of the servers but we’re now starting to find this rather humorous – it’s probably one of the many reasons, apart from the great food, that we continue to return.  Harry Potter is great although we both seem relieved that the movie is finally over – there are just a few parts in the movie that seemed a tad too long!