The Flu Fiasco

I have tried everything to keep healthy and strong, yet I doubt any number of vitamins, orange juice, sleep or washing my hands is going to help. A week ago I came down with a minor cold, and within days I found myself with what I like to believe was pneumonia (or it sure felt like it). After 36 hours of not being able to get out of bed, I made it to the pharmacist, and went to work Monday morning. It is Wednesday night and I still have intense coughing and shortness of breath occasionally. If I had gone into the doctor, I am sure they would have said I have the flu.

Everyone here is getting the flu, or some sort of it. Half the teachers are sick, and half the students are not at school due to being sick. The flu is unavoidable here, and it is extremely frustrating to me. I have not gone running in a week, and have not enjoyed the beautiful outside weather. I thought I had built up such a strong immune system before coming here. I was sick for the first 6 months of working at Fraser, but then had stayed healthy until coming to Korea. I argue that I should be able to fight off these germs, but I am told that this is a new environment and new children. Maybe I just don’t like to accept the fact that I am just going to be sick constantly for the next few months.

H1N1 is an extreme fear here. If you are ill, you wear a mask. If you are afraid of getting ill, you wear a mask- both children and adults alike. The masks are very similar to doctor masks, except they only cover the mouth. Some children have really cute ones though- e.g. some of my kids have a bear face on theirs. I have many students that come to class wearing masks. Parents are very fearful of their children getting the flu, since past children have died from it. I do not know facts or statistics from this, it is just info I receive from Korean co-workers. We have 2 children in our kindergarten class that will be gone for a month from school because they are currently sick, and their parents do not want them to get worse. Other parents are deciding on whether or not they should keep their children home as well.

Since at ECC we are an English Academy, and children come to our school after their regular day at school, parents can choose to send their children or not. (IVY Kids is school for Kindergartners- a language immersion school) Many students have not come to ECC because there regular school has closed for a few days do to H1N1. I am not sure what it is like back home, but I am blown away by how many schools have closed due to this. I understand it is a serious issue, but I do not believe that many children have H1N1, and that instead it is closed due to the fear of the “flu”.

We can only hope that so many children are absent at our school it needs to close for a few days. Since some classes already have been cancelled since no kids showed up, I think this will stay as just a hope…

One Month!

As of Monday, Oct 19th, I have officially been in Korea for one month. The days often go by slow, but the weeks have gone by fast. I am sure I have said this before, but it honestly feels like I just left home yesterday, yet at the same time, I feel I have known the girls here for a much longer time. I don’t think I could ever have connected so quick to anyone back home as I have here. Sometimes I think it is because you almost have to. Not that I do not have a choice of who my friends are, but when you do connect with people, those are the ones you constantly hang out with, and therefore get to know very quickly. I continue to rely on them to help guide me. They are honest and trustworthy people I love. 

I continue to feel more comfortable with the culture and making my life here. Yesterday we went to Suseong Lake- which to us Minnesotans, it is more like a pond. Nothing can compare with the lakes we have though (especially after I lived on the Chain of Lakes), and for Korea, it was a beautiful lake. The weather was gorgeous too. It was sunny and probably 70 degrees. On this lake, they have “ducks”- which are like small boats you pedal to move- and are designed as ducks. We enjoyed the ducks and walking around the lake. There was also a mini carnival area for the children. Once I can get good internet I will post pictures. We ended the day with a delicious Korean dinner. Although many times we have Western food when we go out, I thoroughly enjoy Korean food, with limited spiciness. I am working on my spicy tolerance, so in a few months I am hoping I will be great with spicy food . 

Work is still going well, and I am getting more used to the schedule, my classes, and the kids. The kids are starting to warm up to me, for good and bad. This makes some classes easier because they actually talk now, whereas other classes now talk too much and are too crazy. Having the range of ages too from age 5 to age 15 in one day is difficult at times. Although I need to talk slower all the time, sometimes I worry I talk in too short of sentences to my better classes as I do with my kindergartners. In 2 weeks I hope that I will be completely comfortable with all classes. I have been running quite a lot in the past 2 weeks, and I love it!! It sometimes is still a struggle, and I know my legs and body are tired since I am out of shape, but I know I will get over that hump soon. This past Saturday I had a great run where I felt I could run farther, so I know I am getting there. It has felt good to get back in the routine of running. When I run, I really have to focus on my running, as not to get angry with the old people I pass by, which are the only people I see. Old ladies in general do not like foreigners, and so when I go running past them, I often get dirty looks. The old men will usually wave, or say something in Korean I don’t understand. Yet, twice I had an old man spit immediately after I ran past. Coincidence? I don’t think so, but maybe. Either way, I found it rude. I don’t let any of these looks and comments get to me though, I just enjoy my run and focus. Also, in my time here, I have only seen one person running. Otherwise, the men will do exercises on the equipment outside, and the ladies will do their speed walking. So, I am not only this tall, Western, redheaded girl, I am now running which is unusual. It’s alright though, I enjoy my running too much to let this bother me. 

Hopefully I get my own internet at the end of this week!

Peace and Beauty

Yesterday I went and explored Unamji, a well-known park near my apartment. The park has a beautiful pond where families come on the weekends. It also has a mountain which is very well-known. If I want a taxi home, I tell them Unamji, that’s how close it is and known. Which, I can take a taxi home now by myself! This seems small, but it is huge, and gives me more independence.

Everything was peaceful and beautiful despite an old lady who continued to stare at me after she walked past me and the nasty biting mosquitoes. Although Chilgok does not have the wonderful chain of lakes I miss, it does have beautiful mountains. Although there are others hiking as well, I felt so peaceful while hiking and sitting at the top of Unamji. It’s amazing how I felt completely away from the busy city.

I also completed my first week of teaching this past week. It had its ups and downs. I absolutely adore my kindergarteners. Although they can be very chatty, I love them. Korean children are beautiful. In addition to my kindergarteners, I have 7 classes and a one-on-one. I teach a different course to each class. I am working on overcoming the challenge of learning the course of what I am teaching to each class, and learning about each child. Some classes have extreme energy, especially the 10-year-olds, and others are completely silent and do not participate, usually the 13-year-olds who just don’t care. I am also strategizing ways to make the classes exciting and bring more games into them. It has only been a week, so I know I have time to grow. I have been observed twice by two different supervisors, and have done well with both observations.

I have a huge gain with having so much experience with children and teaching. Many teachers come to Korea with no background experience at all, but will succeed. Our academy, as many others in Korea, enjoys bragging about teachers that have experience. We write an autobiography that is hung up on a wall where parents can read it. I can now understand why they were excited to have me come and teach at their school.

Although I should have more to write, this is it for now. I am still gaining my ground and learning Daegu.

Making Korea My Home

(Written yesterday, Friday Oct 2nd)

I have been here for 11 days now. The first week I lived in a motel and a co-worker’s apartment, and as of this past Tuesday I have moved into my own apartment. Things have been going really well. I feel that it was just yesterday that I left home, yet it has felt like I have been here for a long time. I have made good friends, become comfortable with getting around on my own (well, somewhat…), learned and explored a bit of Korean culture and language, bargained for fruit and vegetables on the street, have been introduced to kimchi and soju, and completed two days of teaching.

Although I of course miss friends back home, I have also quickly made good friends here. There are 3 girls that have really taken me in and have been great support in the past week. I lived with Kayleigh who has been here for 8 months for the few days, and her home has become my second home. If I am not at my apartment or at school, I am at her home. I took Heather’s place at school; she has gone home for a month but will be back to Daegu working at another school. Mel does not work with us, but is good friends with Kayleigh and Heather, and frequently lives at Kayleigh’s house as well. Both Heather and Mel have been here for over 2 years. They are teaching me about the Korean ways, introducing me to downtown Daegu and many wonderful restaurants and shopping, making sure I do not eat any shellfish, helping me get around the city, and basically are great company. Between the 4 of us, we cover an extent of the world. Kayleigh is from England, Heather is from Canada, and Mel is from New Zealand. Not only have I been learning about Korean culture the past week, I have been learning about many other cultures. It is interesting to learn about each one’s home life. Our culture is similar (at least compared to ), but language and use of words can vary. Example, in a small purse for us is called a handbag and a wallet for us is called a purse. I love that I have met people from all over the world.

On Monday I shadowed Heather to all her classes, so I had a feel for what to do when teaching. However, teaching my own classes began immediately on Tuesday. I have 4 classes on Tuesday and 8 classes on Wednesday. Every morning I teach 2 classes of kindergarteners, all the same students. I adore these children! They are incredibly cute and currently my favorite class. However, after teaching preschoolers for a year, and knowing how tough they become, this might change. Yet. Since they are so cute, it is hard to ever get really mad at them. My other kids range from 8 years old to 13 years old. This could mean they are really 7-12 year-old in Western age. In , a child is born at being one year and a person gets older at the New Year. So a child who is born a week before the New Year could become 2 years-old a week after birth. This makes it very difficult to judge children’s ages. My 6-year-old kindergarteners could be 4-5 years-old Western age. It’s a crazy concept. Learning the routine of each class will take some time; yet, my first two days went quite well, despite only having one day of “training”.

Outside of teaching we adventure to downtown Daegu or downtown Chilgok. Daegu is the main city I live in and Chilgok is my neighborhood, like is in . Dowtown Daegu is amazing!! I still have lots to see, but so far it is fantastic. I have ate at a few restaurants, both Korean and American, gone to the theater (yes, there are a few movies in English), and explored some bars. With every Korean meal there is kimchi- a very spic type of cabbage. It is way too spicy for my taste, but maybe this will change after a year. They add spice to everything. I have not seen any actual American-named restaurants in Chilgok because it is so small. Downtown Daegu has many American-named restaurants though, such as Outback Steakhouse, Starbucks, and of course McDonalds. I enjoy eating at other various restaurants though. Then there is Soju, a very cheap type of vodka that everyone drinks here- it tastes much better than vodka back home though. Most people will just sit and take shots of it. The girls will often make it as a mixed drink, but that is not the typical Korean way. Also, you never take a drink without others taking a drink with you, and you never pour your own drink. These are just two rules of drinking. There are many other rules you should follow when drinking here, especially with a Korean. I cannot drink nearly as much as people here, but since I am new they are lenient with me J.

I have done random this and that’s on my own recently. I learned that if I want to buy produce on the streets, that I will get an abundance of it. I came home with 3 very large apples, 1 head of lettuce, 6-7 cucumbers, and about 10 tomatoes. It was ridiculous. Since I probably cannot eat this all before it goes bad, I might resort to buying produce at a small grocery store where it will be more expensive. I also learned yesterday when buying bananas at the store that I cannot take the number I want. I ripped off 4 bananas because I did not want all 8 in the bunch, but that got me in trouble and given funny looks.

I went running for the first time today in almost a month. It was tough to get out the door, yet it felt great to run again. There is only one place to run around here, and it is along a river. The path is next to a busy road, so I cannot get away from people. I focused well though on my running which helps make me feel more alone. I am sure I looked silly though. Many people bike all over town (for transportation), but I have not seen one person running. I would like to possibly join a gym though so I can continue swimming. There is a gym a block from work, but it does not have a pool. There is a YMCA though downtown Daegu, so I might check that out. It also has Korean language classes which I would love to look into. I have been told one can learn to read quickly. Speaking is the more difficult part. It has been hard to learn even basic words here, but I have been told I should not stress about it much because I have only been here a short time. I just want to learn so much…

Since this is already ridiculously long, I will write more later on what I am learning about Korean culture.

Check out pictures on:

http://myjourneyinkorea.shutterfly.com/