Starting with Lunch Time

I've been lacking in details on this blog.  Lacking in the details of day to day living in a foreign country. It does a great disservice to anyone who reads this blog and then imagines that living abroad is all glamour. Photos of Gyeongbok Palace, temples and korean barbecue (and the like) will continue to be posted, but for my own peace of conscience, I will start being more inclusive of everything I experience, the good and the not so good.

That being said, I thought the first thing I would write about is lunch time at my school because for me, it can feel like the most 'Korean' part of my day in many ways.  My school is small for being in Seoul.  We have just over 300 students and just under 40 staff members.  If I had to imagine working in a country school in Korea, I would imagine that it would be somewhat like my school.  I look outside one window and I face a green mountain, the other side is a massive dirt field.    The hallways are usually filled with running children who feel at ease with each other and with the teachers and run past saying "Hello, Teacher" or "Annyeonghaseyo" all day long.

My lunch time starts at 12:30, coming directly from a class, I usually end up being a little late.  I wait for my two co-teachers and we walk down five flights of stairs together (there's no elevator in our school), teachers stealing looks in the mirror as we pass one at the end of every floor.  We make our way down to the staff lunch room, where a large rectangular table sits that can fit about 12-14 teachers.  

In the front of the room are several large aluminum pots.  I grab a metal tray, a spoon and chopsticks and wait in line, first to put my side dishes, there are usually three, and two of the three usually consist of kimchi and something kimchied, then take the main dishes of rice (all variations) and some kind of soup.  It usually looks something like this:

I don't dread lunchtime, mostly because the food is pretty good and costs me just a little over $2 a meal. It gives me a chance to try out lots of Korean things that I never would try on my own, but the experience of sitting at a table with 12 of my Korean colleagues was at first a bit overwhelming.  I would hold my breath (who am I kidding, I still do) and pray silently that I would not end up in a seat near the principal.  He seems like a nice enough man, mind you, but you can feel his power.  He is the principal.  And people tiptoe around him and laugh politely at everything he says. I might be the one person in the school that he is a bit afraid of though, because when I'm there, there is that reminder that English could be spoken and isn't.  He, like most teachers, won't address me directly, usually through one of my two co-teachers translations.  Most Koreans know some English, but at school they are afraid to use it.  Sometimes I think more afraid of what their colleagues will think of their English than what I will.   I've had a few teachers brave talking to me (never at lunch), and I'm so grateful when they do, but its rare, and usually if no one else is around.  But for the most part, we stop at "Good Morning." or "Annyeonghaseyo".

Do I think they should or have to speak English with me? No.  

Does that make it uncomfortable sitting at lunch together every day, day in and day out? Yes.

So as a result, I usually eat my lunch in silence and stare up at the big screen TV and watch the Korean News and if the conversation goes on especially long that day, I get to watch parts of a Korean Drama. I usually have no idea what is going on, but fawning interest in that is a lot easier than pretending I know what is going on in the conversation around me.

A day for children

Tomorrow is Children's Day in Korea--which is normally a national holiday and a day off--but since this year it falls on a Saturday, our school decided to host Sports Day for the kids in the morning and let them go home earlier.  In the afternoon, all the teacher's went for a hike to Gaewahsan Mountain.  Some photos...

The school all decked out with flags and students warming up for sports on the field.

My lovely co-teachers.  All the staff had to wear bright green sports jerseys--myself included.

Games--take 1

Games -- take 2

Hike with the teachers.

A temple we saw along the hike decorated with lanterns for the upcoming birthday of Buddha!

The view from the top--where our principal gave us all lottery tickets as a thank you  for our efforts from today. :)

View--take 2

This weekend, heading to an Azalea Festival in Cheongpyeong.  I love spring time in Korea!

Chopsticks and Spaghetti

Korea. It's all about doing something new.  Like eating spaghetti with chopsticks like I did today at lunch. Comparing my life from Germany to Korea, seems like night and day.  The city, the people, the job, everything feels different.   Here are some of the biggest differences I've seen so far.

1)  What I love, love love so far about Seoul -- the city is always alive! Those Saturday afternoon mental run-throughs to make sure I have everything I need for Sunday is no longer necessary.  Sunday--everything is open and all the shops are open late, 9pm, 10pm.  Some shops (more like massive block long malls) are open all night, from 10am to 5am the next day. I feel like I've been given an extra day on the weekend.  So awesome.

 2)  My job here still involves teaching English as a foreign language, but other than the language part, it's totally different from the freelance lifestyle I had in Germany.  My commute is, get this, only FIVE minutes from my house.  Five minutes!  Those long 1.5 hour commutes for 2 hour lessons are long gone.  Also, I'm co-teaching with two Korean teachers and that helps a lot, the pressure isn't all on me, all the time.  The material I'm teaching is a lot simpler too--which, can be dull at times, but my co-teachers are fantastic and I'm really happy with where I am work-wise.


3.  On another note, I stick out a lot here.  I'm white, and people see that I'm a foreigner immediately.  Gone are the days in Germany when I could walk down the street and people would just assume I was German (at least until speaking to me).  I haven't had too many strange encounters, as Seoul is a city, so a bit more international and people are more used to seeing foreigners.  Although did have a man try conversing with me from across the street while waiting for a stoplight.  He then proceeded to cross the street and walk with me on my way to school to practice English with me.

4.  I feel like a whale here.  The women are so tiny.  All the clothes I have to buy here have to be large or XL. :(


5.  Fruits and veg are out of this world expensive.  Expect a post about this soon.

To be honest, I've been holding back on posts, not because I don't want to write, there's just too much to say.  I'll try to be better with it in April.

Until next post.

ten

That's how many days I've been in South Korea.

Despite all the hassle that came along with applying to EPIK (a government sponsored program) as opposed to going the Hagwon (private school) route, I have to say, so far, it's been worth it ten fold.  The orientation was super well run, and super helpful to 1) give us some tips and hints about the year ahead 2) to meet other NSETs (native English speaking teachers) and 3) to get over jetlag.

I'm finally in my district now, in Gangseo (강서), the western most area of Seoul.  I'm basically on the border to Incheon, and despite the distance,  I'm really pleased with everything so far.  My apartment, a typical studio w/ loft type-place is only down the street from my school and on the bottom floor of our apartment is a 24 hour convenience store, a bunch of restaurants and cafes and a norebang, a Korean karaoke.  


I met my co-teachers on Friday, who both happen to be new to the school as well.  They seem pretty nice.  Friday was the first day of the school year for Korean kids and when I got there early afternoon, I had five meetings!  Four of the five were held in Korean, so lucky for me I could kind of zone out a bit, but during the faculty meeting, I had to introduce myself to all the teachers, and I did it in Korean.  I was nervous as heck, but I hoped that they would see that as a genuine effort on my part to try to get to know Korea and its culture and hopefully make them a little less afraid to try speaking English with me. They all laughed as soon as I said 안녕하십니까 (the formal way of saying hello)--so hoping that was a 'laugh with me, not at me' type thing.    

Next week will be my first teaching week, which I'm kind of nervous about, but overall, I'm really excited. 
Some photos for your viewing pleasure :)...

Field trip with EPIK-SMOE to Changdeok Palace, Seoul.

Deongdaemun streets at night.

Teacher and students greeting each other in Korean fashion--with a bow.

Iman, an awesome fellow NSET from Chicago, and me on the last day of orientation before meeting our co-teachers.