I’m just over the 6 month mark my friends. I’ve had a month of ultimate frisbee, bull-fighting, wine-tasting, sky jumping, mountain climbing, more epic nights out downtown, and the start to a new school year at work. Overall, I can’t complain about my life here. The randomness it brings and the people that I meet prevent me from ever being bored.
Although I am an awful frisbee player, and definitely better in hockey (if that says much), I went out every week ready to work hard and have fun. I always got a good work out and met some wonderful people. Tomorrow we have our tournament and I am sad that the season has come and gone so quick.
Not only have I discovered that ultimate frisbee is not my sport, I have also realized that bull-fighting is not great entertainment. I didn’t expect it to be of high interest, but it was even less than I expected. However, it was two bulls fighting, what more could I ask for? The same day we also visited a wine tunnel. I’ve never actually been in a wine tunnel before, so it was enjoyable (despite the awful wine we tasted). Yet, I went in great company and enjoyed the day.
Jumping 123 meters off a tower is quite exhilarating. At the beginning, they drop you about 5 meters and hang you while taking your picture. Then they drop you completely. I found the hanging part the scariest… waiting in anticipation till they completely let you fall. It was a fantastic experience though! I went back to Palgong Mountain, but with different people this time. Even the second time I enjoyed it. I forgot how much of a work out it is though! Or I’m just in less shape perhaps…?
Work has been crazy this past month. It has been busier than usual for me, and a bit more stressful. I have a class that began not knowing any English. We took over a week learning the words “here”, “sit”, “stand”, “stop”, “girl”, “boy”, “water” and many other basic words. Although it has been challenging, it is becoming more enjoyable. I semi follow a book’s curriculum, but I have been doing my own lesson planning for the most part. I have loved bringing educational arts and crafts back into teaching.
As for the epic nights out, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Let me just say, most nights are always random, and you can never know what to expect. Majority of the time, they always end up to be great nights with fantastic friends.
As the weather is getting warmer, I look forward to more adventures outside, and hopefully visits to the beach in May!
WOW! A month has passed
since my last entry. I apologize to all my loyal readers. As weeks and months
go by, I continue to settle and make my life here in Korea.
Minneapolis will
always be my home, but currently Daegu has become my home. I love my city,
friends, and most of my students. Here is a random list of things I have
learned while living here and just my life in Korea.
It is written in no particular order.
1.I am a proud owner
of a rice cooker.
2.I have learned to
make the most of my weekends, and can do almost anything hungover… going
downtown until 5am and getting up by 12pm (sometimes even earlier) is not a
rare occurrence and is possible.
3.Korea
is turning me into a very stylish person. My appearance may not change, but my
clothes and accessories are becoming more Korean everyday.
4.I couldn’t live
without my Korean friends and foreign friends. I need them both.
5.Friends here have
become my family quickly.
6.Learning a second
language at the age of 25 sucks, especially when I need to learn characters
which are very different from the alphabet.
7.It is as essential
to make friends here as it is to keep in contact with friends back home.
8.It’s difficult to be
an American in a world that (mostly) hates America.
I am constantly challenged to hold my ground and say I am a proud American. I
don’t like admitting, but sometimes I struggle defending America after
all that has occurred.
9.Heated floors are
fantastic. 10.I live in the “country side” of Daegu. Children stare and
follow me around. Older children love to show off their English to their
friends by speaking to me.
11.I might kidnap a Korean child someday… they are just too
cute. (Just kidding!)
12.If I was addicted to traveling before, I am even more so
now. I want to see so much more of the world.
13.Although I am teaching English, I believe my English
speaking skills are becoming worse the longer I am here.
14.I have become territorial when I see another foreigner in
my neighborhood. It is rare to see foreigners I have never met before in my
area, so I (unintentionally) stare at them like children stare at me.
15.I don’t like agimas (old women) very much. Once in awhile
you will meet a friendly one, but usually they are quite rude.
16.The rest of Korean culture is very welcoming.
17.Korean relationships are very different than western
relationships.
18.Korean men are much different than western men.
19.I feel safer in Korea
than anywhere else in the world.
20.I miss American Chinese and good Mexican food more than
anything.
21.When it rains (even a drizzle), every man, woman and child
has an umbrella up. I have never seen anything like it before.
22.I wish my feet were smaller. There are an extraordinary
amount of cute shoes here, and I don’t fit into them. I have tried.
23.Norabongs (a room where just you and your friends rent for
a few hours to sing karaoke) are fantastic.
24.I have had the warmest winter of my life here. Although I
missed the snow a lot, I did not miss the miserableness of the extreme cold. I
could not even describe to people here how cold our winters are back home. They
just don’t understand.
25.One day I will get hit by a motorbike, no joke. They drive
where they want (including the sidewalk) and don’t care if you are in their
way.
Other than this, I went
to Hong
Kong
over the Lunar New Year 2 weeks ago. Although the weather was horrible, we made
the most of our trip. It was drizzling and misty the entire time. It was also
extremely foggy, so a few of our plans were cancelled. We never got to get a
good view of HK from any of the well-known peaks which was unfortunate. We went
to see a HUGE Buddha, but even being 5 feet away we only could see the outline
of it because the fog was so bad. However, being there during Lunar New Year
was a fantastic experience. We enjoyed just wandering the streets of HK, and
came across random festivities. It was fun to be a part/view all the
celebrations. One night there was a parade, and the next they had fireworks.
The parade was quite amazing. Groups from countries all over the world
participated in it. Yet, guess who represented America??
The San Diego Chargers cheerleaders! Really!? I guess we don’t have anything
else to represent us?! This will probably be my last trip out of the country
until July probably due to work. We don’t have any holiday breaks until then.
In the meantime, I hope to make it to Seoul and Busan
a few times.
Although hockey is over,
the ultimate frisbee league has begun! Yesterday was the opening day. I am
unfortunately on a team where most of the players travel to Daegu from Busan
(about a 1 hr train ride). Due to the traveling, we don’t play every weekend,
and to make up for this, we play 2-3 games in one day! With only one (girl)
sub, I played a lot!! I am not very good, but I worked hard. I never thought I
could feel this sore after playing a few frisbee games. I love to play though.
Again, my Sundays are filled with getting some exercise and socializing. I love
it. Oh! And it was warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirts, and still be very
sweaty by the end of the game. I also got some color!!
Happy Birthday to my baby
brother who turns Sweet 16 on Saturday!!
This journal entry initially was going to be a topic on
culture in Korea.
However, I started with appearance, which led to children, which led to parents
taking away their children’s childhood, to… well, let’s say it stayed on the
topic of children and many of the frustrations I have with Korean culture and
how they raise their children.
First, understand that every person- man, woman and child-
are obsessed with their looks. Everyone thrives to be skinny and beautiful.
This is their culture; something I do not like but I cannot say it is wrong. I
have girls that will get up in the middle of class to look in the mirror and
make sure their hair looks okay. Girls (5-year-olds) are afraid to run and do
somersaults in gym class in fear it will mess up their hair. I had a
kindergartner that told me she was on a diet. After attending ballet class,
either her instructor or Mother noticed she was a little larger than the other
girls, so she needed to start losing weight. A co-worker was once told to not
feed a child much food so they could lose weight. These are growing children!
They need to be fed! I did lunch duty for another class for a week. By the
fourth day, the children said they didn’t like me. I soon learned it was
because I actually made the children eat their food, whereas the Korean teacher
never made them eat lunch (where they later would complain they are hungry). At
the age of five, all I cared about was playing and having fun. Never did I
worry about my looks or my weight. Pictures prove this; I was quite a chunk! ^^
Yet, this is the way it should be! It frustrates me and I become so angry when
children are more worried about their appearance than having fun in life.
In addition, picture day at school was quite different than
picture day back home. They literally dress the children up like young
princesses and princes. The photographer brings in a supply of various dresses
for the girls and outfits for the boys. It is adorable, but a little over the
top I must say. Some of the girls wore a gold dress, with a sparkling choker
necklace, sparkling headband, and sparkling bracelet. After the picture, the
student takes the outfit off, gives it to someone else, and puts on another
outfit. Due to time restrictions, some children had several different photos
taken, and some children did not get one picture taken. I also noticed the more
attractive children had their pictures taken. Two days later, we did pictures
again. However, this time it was simple pictures, similar to back home. I never
knew picture day could be such an ordeal.
While I am on the topic of children, and the frustrations I
have with the culture, can I say how sad it is that children are having their
childhood being taken from them? Children are stressed about school and
studying while in kindergarten!! They are expected to sit in class for 40
minutes, and play for a 10 minute break. These children, at the age of five,
are reading and writing English. English, their second language! Children back
home are not even reading and writing until the age of seven and that is their
first language! I am amazed by the intelligence, but also saddened that they
study more than play. Majority of them also are in night classes for art, music
or tae kwon do (boys only); or participate in
all of the above. As they get older, they attend a regular Korean
school, and come to our academy after their regular school. English academies
are their extracurricular activity. While I was participating in soccer at that
age, they are becoming fluent in a second language. It only gets worse as they
get older. Middle-schoolers have been learning all day and are at our academy
until 9pm, sometimes 10pm. Some of them continue on after to another
place until midnight for more
studying! No wonder why they fall asleep in my class or just don’t care. I will
not, and can not, punish them for not doing their homework whereas they will
get punished if they do not have work completed for Korean teachers. Although I can get frustrated with the
middle-schoolers attitude, I remind myself of how much studying they have.
Lastly, when I ask the children what they did on the
weekend, they either have visited their Grandparents or have studied. They are
currently on a month break from school, yet they are still studying constantly.
Remember, these are elementary children. The children’s intelligence is high,
but is it worth it to take away fun in life? I could never raise my children in
Korea. I want
my children to learn, but also to play and enjoy life. Parents in Korea
have in my eyes too high of expectations for their children.
I could go on about the behavior of children as they get
older, and how parenting has positively affected it, but I will save that for
another day.
As a side bit- I turned 25 years old this past weekend. We
made it a girls weekend in Seoul
(which I had never been to so that was exciting in itself!). The girls made it
a very special birthday for me. On Saturday night we went out to celebrate.
They surprised me with a cake at the bar, candles and all!! I was extremely
excited! I definitely did not expect a cake for my birthday. I could not have
asked for a better day with my girls.
Yesterday we had Open Class at kindergarten. This is when
all of my students’ parents (and sometimes Grandparents), come and sit in and
watch my class. I was told the only thing I could do was to be prepared because
you cannot predict the students’ behavior. They most likely would be quiet or
trying to show off their English. My students were extremely quiet, even the
loudest ones in the class! Although this is better than them going crazy, it
was sometimes even a struggle to have them speak when I called on them to
answer a question. I am overall pleased with how it went, and am happy it is
over! It is Friday and I am happy the weekend is here!
This past weekend I went to Tokyo and met up with my friend Nick from back home. He is in Japan visiting his cousin for two weeks, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to see Nick as well as see Tokyo. Although I only had 3 full days and 2 partial days, we kept extremely busy and saw quite a bit of Tokyo. We saw both historical sites and the trendy areas of Tokyo. We started Thursday night off with going to the popular and well-known Tokyo Tower. It was amazing to see Tokyo at nighttime! After, we headed over to Shibuya to witness the largest intersection in the world. After wandering around for a bit, and adventuring into a loud and crowded store, we decided to call it a night.
The next day we got up early and walked a good mile or two to Asakusa. The temperature during mid-day was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, so it was always beautiful to walk places. We also enjoyed the scenery along the way. We walked around the Buddhist Senso-ji Temple, a very popular temple in Tokyo. Asakusa also consists of a shopping street filled with traditional Japanese souvenirs. I was proud of what we bought and didn’t buy as much as we definitely could have! I could have spent so much money there!
In the afternoon we took the train over to the Imperial Palace. Although it was awesome to see from the outside, it was a disappointment to not be allowed inside the palace. You were only allowed if you were an official tour! So instead we walked around it and took pictures, soon leading us to a park.
After enjoying the beautiful weather, we walked through Ginza district and viewed many buildings with popular brands we know well from the states. I was the most amused by the Sony building which had a display of fake snow. A child was playing in it, but Nick said I was too big to play :( We also saw Samsung, Yamaha, Toshiba, and many others I cannot remember at this time. We decided to watch the sunset on the 35th floor of a building near Tokyo station (I believe it was called Marunouchi). While chilling out, we got a call from our friend Courtney saying she had just arrived at the Tokyo airport. Courtney has been living and teaching English in Japan for 1 ½ years now, but went home for the holidays. She was planning on being back in Japan around New Years weekend, but flights continued to be delayed. She took the train to Tokyo station where we met her and spent the rest of the night hanging out. We walked around Ueno park for a bit and then hit up Akihabara, the district for electronic goods. We explored a 6 story floor (I believe) of electronics. I enjoyed it much more than I expected! They had everything imaginable- from the expected cameras and computers to rice cookers, hair dryers, virtual picture frames and globes. Courtney and I took some time finding awesome new camera cases ^^. We then went in an 8 story book store! If it was in English, I would have been in there for hours! It was still cool to see the assortment of books available! Following some more wandering around, Courtney brought us out for some good Japanese food. It was delicious! We also tried a drink that consists of whisky and iced tea. It was really tasty, despite the sound of it! And of course we enjoyed some sake before calling it a night.
Early the next morning, before the sun rose, Courtney left to get back home. Nick and I slept for a few more hours, but got up early enough to have another full day of site seeing. We went to the area of Harajuku and visited Meiji Jingu. We first walked around the garden which was very peaceful and away from the busyness. The garden also had a tea garden which was neat to see. Meiji Jingu also has their well-known temple where we witnessed a few weddings. I loved seeing the beautiful dresses and definitely was the tourist that got some photos!
In contrast to the peaceful gardens and traditional temple, we adventured to Harajuju- a central area for a young, trendy population. The style of dress was extremely different from Korea and other parts of Japan. We walked through a crazy street filled with stores of crazy clothing- including netted shirts and tights, a fully “pink” store, gothic and black clothing as well as really puffy, tutu type skirts. I absolutely loved this place!! This was one of my favorite places we saw; I really enjoyed the culture.
After the hip, young culture, we went to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Again, it was very peaceful which was well needed before meeting up with our friend Mai (she is Japanese and lives near Tokyo) for a crazy night out. We began first at a Japanese restaurant. Once again, it was all so delicious. She then brought us to Roppongi, a place known for bars and clubbing. It was a bit overwhelming to walk down a street filled with people yelling and trying to get us into their bar. Mai brought us to her favorite club, where we enjoyed ourselves and got to know a few of her friends.
After a few hours of sleep, we got up and ate at a Denny’s! It sounds funny to eat at one in Japan, yet it was clearly an Asian Denny’s. The breakfast menu consisted of numerous rice dishes. I, however, was extremely excited to eat some French toast- and it was wonderful! ^^ Before I had to get my flight back home, we visited one more garden, the Hama-rikyu Gardens. This garden also had a tea house, but also had flowers and a 300 year-old pine. The flowers were exciting to see in January!
As you can see, we covered a lot of Tokyo in a short amount of time. We also loved the various machines on the streets where you could get any type of drink you want, including hot coffee!! That was our favorite! ^^ There were also machines filled with cigarettes and have heard they have machines with umbrellas! Crazy, huh? Japan was very foreigner oriented, so it was easy to navigate around the city. We could wander the districts of Tokyo knowing that at almost every block there would be a map that could help us get back to the train station.
I absolutely loved Tokyo and wish I had more time to visit. It was wonderful to see Nick, Courtney, and Mai. It is crazy how we all live in different places around the world, but could all meet up over a weekend in one city!
To all my readers, I apologize to not having an update in
awhile. I appreciate all the comments posted on my blog as well as personal
messages you send. It is nice to know I have not been forgotten about quite
yet.
I have learned in the past few months that I am very open to
almost everyone I meet. I have already had a few encounters where I have a good
chat with someone and really get to know a part of who they are immediately; there
is none of that small chat going on. Back home I would never get to know
someone on too personal of a level or open up upon first meeting them. Somehow
it is different here. Although we are all be different, we all have something
in common: We are a foreigner in Korea
teaching English. Some people have come here to just earn money and see Korea.
Others have extraordinary stories of travels around the world. I immediately have
found these people inspirational. It encourages me to continue traveling and
adventuring. My travels to Peru
and Uganda
cannot compare to some of the travels of others I have met here. Although it is
disappointing I do not get to know some of these people I have met more, I can
at least take something from our conversation with me.
Although I may frequently post status’ on facebook as sad
thoughts about missing Christmas back home, I am doing alright and being
optimistic. Yes, I do miss the ability to bake Christmas cookies (no one has
ovens here), snow, the Holidazzle, and spending time with family. The weather
also makes me forget how soon Christmas is coming. I went running in 40 degrees
and rain this morning. Rain in December is just not right. Yet, I also remind
myself that I have spent 24 Christmas’ at home, and will have many more in the
future. Everything here is different and new, so I will accept this Christmas
to be another new experience. My friends here have become my family, people I
trust, can depend on, and love. I will spend Christmas with them. These friends
also understand and are feeling the same way as myself. We all miss home, but
we will make the best of what we have here. I may even stay over at a friend’s
house Christmas Eve so I won’t wake up alone on Christmas Day. It will be a
great day.
The snowstorm that occurred back home the past 2 days made
me really miss having snow. I decided to print pictures that Kelly and I took
after a snowstorm from a few years back to show my kindergartners today. They
absolutely loved the pictures and I loved showing them what my home can be
like. They never get that amount of snow here, so it amazed them. They especially
loved a picture of me and the snow. It was silly to see Casey Teacher playing
in snow! They all wanted to bring a picture home with them so I promised to
print more for tomorrow. We then did a snow art project while listening to Christmas
music. It was a fantastic class! Yesterday we had fun with chalk while
listening to Christmas music too. My classes include: language, speech, drama
and storybook, so I never get to have fun with art. The subjects I teach can
all become boring over time, no matter how exciting I try and make it. I am
going to work on incorporating art more often if possible; I have really missed
it. We are having our Christmas party at school on Christmas Eve with each
class putting on a performance. Although holidays are always crazy, it will be
cute to see them singing for everyone!
If I don’t write again before Christmas, Happy Holidays to
all!!
I have had a good few weekends here. Last weekend I had friends visit from a small town in Korea. We enjoyed the weekend exploring Daegu. It is such a large city I am still learning it. We went downtown, found a great coffee shop and ate waffles (here, a lot of the coffee shops also have waffles and ice cream), wandered around downtown, ate dinner, wondered around more, went to a new bar for a drink and ended the night at a norabong . Sunday we just wandered around my neighborhood of Chilgok. We were going to hike the mountain near my house but unfortunately it was raining. We still enjoyed our time just chatting and walking around. It was so good to see people from back home.
This weekend was quite laid back, except for Friday afternoon. After lunch on Friday a friend went into having a severe allergic reaction. It was so severe I had to use my epi-pen on her and call for an ambulance. It was quite a frightening experience, and I sure learned a lot about Korean ERs. They honestly didn’t do much for her, except for an oxygen mask a half hour after she arrived at the hospital. Then, after blood tests were taken, they concluded that this was a result of stress. Everything here is blamed on stress. People will stay in the hospital for a week for stress. I understand that they do overwork themselves, but blaming an allergic reaction on stress, really?? I don’t think so.
The rest of the weekend was better. We took it easy and hung out Friday night. I was downtown Saturday for a movie, dinner, coffee and playing board games. It was an enjoyable two nights just chillin with friends. I had my second day of hockey today. I love it and continue to get to know the guys better. I walked away though with a cut finger and black toenail. In combination with my injured foot from running, I am proof that I am prone to injury. Yet, I still love hockey and running! Well worth the injuries that come with them.
Teaching is also going well. I still have only had 5 students in my kindergarten class, but hopefully this week more will come back. Wednesday was Pepero Day, sort of like Valentine's Day. There are these cookies sticks dipped in chocolate called Pepero here. The company decided to make November 11th a national holiday- the date decided because 11/11 looks like Pepero sticks. Clearly a commercialized holiday, yet people love it. Kids will often exchange Pepero sticks with friends and give them to their teachers. Couples will also exchange gifts. I brought some for my kids as well.
I cannot believe I have been living here for 2 months now…
It’s been a busy few days here, and I love it. Friday we
celebrated Halloween at school, and it was extremely exhausting. Although
Halloween is not celebrated in Korea,
we did because we are an EnglishAcademy.
The morning with the kindergartners we had a party almost the entire time- from
Best Costume Contest, to Trick-or-Treating, and a bit of art. Then I went over
to ECC with the older kids. In all of my 6 classes, we taught half the class
period, and then either had a Halloween party, or went to different rooms
Trick-or-Treating. We also had other classes coming to ours while teaching, so
obviously it was crazy all the time. When I got home Friday night I crashed. I
also celebrated Halloween on Saturday night with friends. As I said, Halloween
is not hugely celebrated here, but it is still recognized, so many foreigners
and some Koreans got dressed up and went celebrating downtown. Some of the bars
had Halloween parties, which was a lot of fun. I had a fantastic Halloween.
On Saturday I hiked the most well-known and beautiful
mountain in Daegu, Palgong. It was amazing!!! It was the perfect time of the
year to hike it, when all the leaves are changing color, and it is not too hot
or too cold. On the way up, as we would stop for breaks, we were fed apples and
chocolate from random people. There were also temples to view- my first temples
I have seen here! At the top, there was a Buddha with people praying to it. It
was an amazing atmosphere I did not expect. People will climb to the top and
pray to the Buddha for their children during exam time or other important
events that need extra praying. Palgong and Halloween celebrations made for a
fantastic Saturday.
I joined a hockey league! I started playing this past
Sunday. I am excited to get involved with extra-curricular activities and meet
new people. Although some of the people can get competitive, they are all nice
guys. I have joined in on their third week of playing, so everyone has already
met and have been playing together. Despite this, everyone was very welcoming,
even when they found out I have never played hockey before (excluding the times
of floor hockey with family a long time ago…).
My kindergarten school closed this week due to the flu, so I
have my mornings off! I am excited for the break!
