Happy Chuseok!

This month was a trying one in many ways and September has somewhat exhausted me, luckily this month is ending with a nice, long five day weekend.  Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, is here with gifts of Spam and tuna to boot.

Koreans generally give 'practical' gifts such as toothpaste and soaps.  For the big family holiday, gift sets are given such as the ones above with Spam, tuna, cooking oil and/or sweets.

 

Traditionally the holiday is celebrated with family and lots and lots of food.  People put up with hours of traffic to go back to their hometowns.  As was cited somewhere on the net, apparently 75% of Koreans drive south from Seoul during this holiday and three hour journeys have been quoted to take more than eight or nine.

Chuseok congestion: one side going out of Seoul and the other going into it. 

That's why my colleagues suggested that DH and I stay in Seoul.  Apparantly, this city gets pretty empty (although I think I'll have to see it to believe it). Tomorrow we'll hike another trail at Bukhansan, Sunday attempt to go to Nami Island (third time's a charm) and Monday hit up Everland, with their generous discount for foreigners (tickets only 23,000 compared to the normal 40,000). 

 

For all those celebrating Chuseok this weekend, enjoy a much deserved break.

The Other Koreans

I write this post merely as an observer.  I am by no means an expert on North Korea nor North Koreans, however for some reason, the universe has placed me in a school in South Korea which happens to have a high percentage of orphans and North Korean defectors.  These are some thoughts I've had while dealing with these students over the course of the last six months.

North Korea conjures up all kinds of images. It is haunting and mysterious and yet fascinating.  A place I've grown increasingly interested in since moving to South Korea.  Seoul is less than 190km (118 miles) away from the last Stalinist state in the entire world.  South Korea one of the most wired nations in the world, is butting elbows with a nation where people don't even know what the Internet is.

That dark blog mass there is North Korea.

The stories and the rumors can easily flood your mind with negative images and I remember the first week of school, before I met the students, how curious I was about these defectors from North Korea.  What would they be like?  Would they be like soldiers?  Would they talk with a funny accent?  Would they hate me as an American?  Had they been brainwashed to hate their South Korean counterparts too? 

But when the first week of classes came and went, I realized that I had been unable to identify who had been born on which side of the 38th parallel.  It hadn't been as obvious as I had thought.  As time passed, I started to learn who came from where due to two factors, 1) NKs often speak Chinese and 2) they usually have a much lower level of English than the other kids in their class.

My co-teachers often say the students coming from NK tend to get angry more quickly than others, however as the foreign teacher I don't feel I'm qualified to agree or disagree with that statement.  I don't see them acting all that different from the other kids. We have some loud ones and some quiet ones, some very polite ones and some rather rude ones, but what I've come to see is that once you strip the labels, they are indeed still children.  They do not seem to be ashamed of the fact that they came from North Korea, but they are ashamed of the fact that they cannot speak English as well as their peers, but that is the same case for the students coming from the orphanage.  

I do have a soft spot for them.  When I see them, I often wonder what they have already experienced in their young lives.  What a contrast of worlds!  Maybe some don't remember, but probably many do.  One new student who arrived last week came to South Korea by "crossing over a mountain in the middle of the night and then waiting in an orphanage with her sister until her mother could join her". And there are so many more stories.  Stories that aren't mine to tell, however if you are interested in reading a book that can give you a glimpse into the lives of other NK defectors, I want to recommend to you this book, Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick.  Different from other books or documentaries about the Hermit Kingdom, this writer doesn't just give facts and stats on the regime, she tells the stories of  real people living in that dark mass you saw above.  People with hopes for happiness and love and prosperity the same as everywhere else.  A page turner and a good read.

* * *

Learning Korean

Next week are the final exams for my Korean class at Sookmyung University (숙명여자대학교).   There are lots of places offering Korean classes in Seoul, some for free and some not.  I started in free classes here and in addition took classes on Saturday morning at a church on the east side of Seoul.  While the obvious FREE-part was pretty sweet, the downside was that teachers and students changed often and it felt like there was little continuation from week to week.  I decided to look into paying courses, and in the end, signed up for Sookmyung's Summer Evening Program because of the price (it is one of the cheapest university programs at 450,000 won).  The class meetings are 3x a week (MWF) and books are included in the price.  I lucked out and the teacher was fantastic.  Even though my level is still beginner (1.2), I feel much more confident about my Korean studies.

There are a lot of good reasons to study Korean if you're a foreign teacher in Korea (even though many decide not to), but besides the obvious ones,  I have to say studying Korean has given me a much greater appreciation for my students and my co-teachers.  The two languages are SO different! When learning a Germanic or Romance language, there are a lot of similarities to build off of, but with Asian languages, you literally are starting from scratch again. As an English speaker, learning Korean is an option, but for Koreans, the pressure to learn English is intense and constantly there.  

Again, there are lots of options, so if you don't want to pay for classes, there are courses for free at lots of locations throughout Seoul (this link lists many of them) , and if you're not in Seoul or don't want to attend regular classes, there is also the online option.  Yonsei offers an online course for 100,000 won per level and of course, there is always the ever-popular Talk to Me in Korean website.

행운을 빌어요!

"I am learning Korean!"

태풍 볼라벤

Typhoon Bolaven is making its way up the coast to Seoul.

Supposedly the size of France to Poland in land mass--the typhoon is scheduled to hit Seoul tonight and tomorrow morning.  School is cancelled--for the kids--but teachers have to come in.  Not sure the logic behind that decision, but in any case, my commute is only a short walk.  I hope for the teachers who have to drive or take the bus that they make it in safely.  

Weather forecasters predict it to be the worst storm to hit Seoul since 1965--but you'd never guess it from the weather this morning;  totally blue, cloudless skies.  Guess we'll see how bad this really is tomorrow.

Zzzz

Day two of desk warming*.

It's hard being back but even harder being back to do nothing.  I've tried the best I can to come up with ideas and things for upcoming classes, but there is only so much you can prepare for.  (I had two days of deskwarming on Monday and Tuesday as well, before the semester even started).  I've studied Korean, tried reading, writing a bit, but there's a limit to that too.

*sigh*

Tomorrow will likely be the last day of this until the end of this semester, so I guess enjoy it while it lasts.

* * *

*Desk warming is the term coined by foreign teachers in Korean public schools who sit at their desks for hours upon hours (sometimes entire work days) without classes to teach or prepare for. Their only function is  keeping their desk warm.

Round 2: Back to School

Today begins the winter semester for the Korean elementary school kiddies.  Half the school year is behind us and the next half is now officially under way.  It's raining today--although the kids don't seem to mind,  and honestly, I'm just relieved the weather is finally cooling down. 

It is also six months today since I landed in Korea.  Six months of experiences and six more still to experience.  My best advice for all future EPIKers out there, whatever expectations/worries you have, try hard to rid yourself of them.  Then when you think you're expectation-less, do it one more time.  Korea will not be how you picture it, the good parts nor the not-so-good parts.

A little tiny part of me was dreading back to school because vacation and the last couple of weeks have been so nice, so relaxing.  But as a wise person once told me, fear and worry is always a result of thinking about something in the future. When the moment comes, those fears and worries are gone.  And it's true--as I'm sitting here at my desk, co-teachers across from me, students running in the halls--that dread is gone.   Second semester will be as the first, happening one day at a time.

There seem to be no English classes today or, I've heard, for the rest of the week.  So next week will be full force back to the grind.  As for now I'll just sit here and enjoy the cool breeze coming through the windows and get myself ready for round two. 

Drinking Coffee in Seoul

Seoul has got a crazy cafe scene. In addition to the chain cafes and the mom and pop shops found just about everywhere, there are loads of theme cafes like dog and cat cafes, cafes with sheep, cafes with birds flying around, Hello Kitty or Charlie Brown themed cafes and the list goes on and on.  If you're looking for unique places to sip your coffee, Hongdae Three Hundred has reviewed loads of places in the Hongik University area.    

During our vacation, we hit up Tom's Cat Cafe in Hongdae and the Board Game Cafe in Gangnam.  Both relatively 'easy' to find once you know where they are, but seem like you're searching for a needle in a haystack when you're wandering around with instructions like "its not far from the station", as so many kind bloggers have posted. Some photos for your viewing pleasure along with my attempt at directions, but my best advice to you is to just call 1330, Seoul's 24 hour (English) Tourist Information Hotline when you're not sure.  They are so helpful!

Tom's Cat Cafe, Hongdae

He was my absolute favorite one!

As the pictures suggest, you drink coffee, pet cats and take pictures.  I'm not much of a cat person, but for the experience I would suggest it at least once for anyone looking to change it up a bit from their regular cafe scene.  For Tom's Cat Cafe, take exit 9 at Hongik University... and... actually, I forget exactly, but you need to find the Lush and turn left there.  It's directly across from the Artbox, on the 3rd floor.   You order a drink and admission is included in the price.  I had the Red Velvet Latte for 8,000 won--it was really good!

The Board Game Cafe, Gangnam

We were disappointed to find out the board game cafe we were looking for in Hongdae had been closed for over a year, so we headed to Gangnam station where we heard there were lots.  1330 gave us instructions to this place, as it was the closest one to the station.  To get to The Board Game Cafe (the sign is in Hangeul) take exit 11 and walk straight until you see the Lotte Cinema.  Turn right and walk one block.  Turn right again, and you'll see it on the 3rd floor of the Mini-Stop building.  You pay 3,000 won per person per hour plus drinks, for two people we paid 16,000 won for an hour of playing various games (Jenga, Battleship and a German game called Geister).  Normally, the people working there explain the rules of the games, but our attendants that day didn't seem too confident in explaining the rules to us in English, so she asked us to pick a game we already knew.  Geister had instructions in German and English, so we could figure it out on our own.