Rural Korean Entertainment

Sorry this post is coming a few hours late- I was busy with some Korean homework and totally forgot! I know, I know. No excuses.

This week I'll write a little bit about how I entertain myself on weekends here. We'll use his past weekend as an example. Now keep in mind I am a whole world away from Seoul, so all of those fun/wacky/crazy/exciting things you may have heard about Korean don't always apply here. Or ever apply, really. At all.

For starters, there's a bowling alley right by my house. Only you'd never know it because it's on the 7th floor of a high-rise. I've never heard of a bowling alley being on anything other than the ground floor, but it's not a bad place to hang out. I met a group of six other people there, each of us chipping in $10 for three games and shoe rental. The most fun in the bowling alley is watching all of the wanna-be pro-bowlers play. They come in with odd gloves that go clear up their forearm, uniforms (no two people have the same uniform), and custom balls. Once, a guy even used the ball rack for our section to stretch his legs. But who knows? Maybe Korean bowling is different and more taxing on your body (Hint: It's not different at all).

After that, we moved on to the Korean chain pizza restaurant Mr. Pizza. I haven't eaten out anything other than Korean food since I've arrived so this was a welcome new experience.  I was surprised the pizza was actually good- even though Koreans apparently put corn on their pizza. But whatever, don't knock it. It's pizza.

When it becomes evening proper it's acceptable to hit up the local foreigner bar- All That Jazz. It is as it sounds- a bar for foreigners. Drinks are decent, company's decent, Jazz is usually a pretty safe choice if you want to have a good time. You can find a nice spot in the back, order some drinks, and listen to the live entertainment while relaxing on the couches. And if you get the itch to perform a little yourself, you can move on to next natural progression of things- 노래방 (noraebang- karaoke).

Karaoke in Korea is quite interesting. First, your party is put into a private room. Second, you get an irresponsible excess of alcohol and 안주 (anju- side dishes (think beer nuts, only things are more Koreanized like squid rings and dried seaweed). There's a book a good 5 inches thick of songs to sing (Korean-English-Japanese-Chinese, pick your poison). And you pay for half hour sessions. Now, the last time I went out we ended the night at noraebang (at 7am, but still!), but this time it was still early enough that some people felt the need to go back to Jazz. So we went.

Jazz: Part 2 consisted of me meeting my first Korean person I've ever seen there (aside from the owner). He was a nice guy, dressed too young for his age but he was just looking for a good time so we'll give the man a break. I small talked a bit in Korean with him (name, age, where are you from, etc). He took my hand in both of his, kissed it, and bought me a beer. And then he employed a concept I've NEVER seen a Western man use before- He LEFT ME ALONE. There was no hounding, no creepy side-eye, no following me around the bar. We chatted, he bought me a drink, we went on our way. Wow, what a concept, right? It's

quite nice, I have to say.

The night ended on the rooftop of an acquaintance's apartment building with some sparklers and mixed drinks. When it became too cold for even drunken slobs like ourselves to stay outside, I walked home as all of the street merchants were setting up shop for the day.

I should let it be known that I NEVER partied this way back in the states. I don't know if it's the influence of all the foreigners or what, but I've definitely changed in that aspect. It's also really nice to completely bowl and sing and eat and drink everything away for a night every so often after a full week at work, which I have affectionately dubbed The Fuck Parade of Cirque de Grab Ass. No, things haven't improved. Yes, we're still all kinds of lacking morale. No, I'm not quitting my job. Yes, I really like it here.

Well, loved ones, I have a jam-packed week ahead of me to prepare for- culminating in OPEN CLASS at the end of the week. Yay, my students' judgmental parents get to come into my classroom and stare at me the last two days of the week. Should charge them for tickets at the door. No one gets a free peek at this circus' Freak Show ;)
                                                                   ~N.

Work Evaluations and Inedible Tofu

   This week I finished my second full week as an English teacher! Different than the first, this week came with no less than 7 evaluations, 5 of which being surprises. For the most part I walked away satisfied with my evaluations and the feedback/discussions I've had with my observers, but myself and the other foreign teachers are having some similar grievances across the board. The biggest of which happens to be the fact that we're continuously being fed conflicting information. One day we'll have to come in to work early for a meeting on the importance of the students filling out every detail of their in-class workbooks, and the next time we're evaluated we'll be told that the foreign teachers are meant to be a source of fun and entertainment and not to be so heavy-handed with the class material. Apparently this game of micromanaging grab-ass is new to my co-workers who have been here longer, but no one appreciates it much. The saddest part is that when I arrived (barely a month ago) my co-workers all praised one of the other foreigner teachers on his positive attitude and optimism...and lately he's been the one to push back the most, coming purposefully late and unprepared to mock teaching evaluations, arguing against criticism he gets from our boss, and just generally not being the source of good energy he was just weeks ago.

   The good news is that I've gotten settled to the point that work is just one small part of my life :)

   On Monday/Wednesday/Friday I have Hapkido in the morning, and I'm very proud to say that at the end of April or beginning of May I will be testing for my next belt! It might seem kind of sudden, but I am the only white belt in the class so I get a lot of one-on-one instruction so I can learn more quickly. Doesn't mean I'll necessarily PASS the test, but I'll give it my best shot.

   Mondays and Wednesdays, immediately after Hapkido, I have Korean class. The best thing about studying Korean is that I'm getting the courage to use the language with people. For the first week or so I'd stumble through a situation when I knew very well a couple words or phrases that would smooth things over. Maybe it's fear of making a mistake, but sitting in class and actively learning gave me the confidence to start immersing myself in the language I hear and see all day, every day anyway. After only a week of lessons I've learned: how to read meat labels to figure out what kind of meat it is (most meat comes pre-chopped so pork and chicken look deceptively similar), tell people how long I've been in Korea/talk about units of time (yesterday, today, tomorrow, a week/month/year from now/ago, etc), and other helpful things like the words for "and", "however", and "but". Of course I've also learned some Korean in the classroom from my students (words like "homework", "sit down", and "SOMEONE FARTED!"- hey, I teach elementary-aged boys, what do you expect?)

   The biggest update from this week of my life would have to be 두부 (Dubu, meaning Tofu). I have a great time every day when I go out, but the apartment is far too quiet and lonely. So, along with one of my co-workers, I went out and got a new pet- a hamster! He's a baby Winter White, only 6 weeks old, and I can't even BEGIN to talk about how awesome he is. Typically hamsters are a lot of work to hand train. Unlike with a dog or cat, if you want a small rodent that does anything YouTube worthy, you have to put hours and hours into it. I don't know if I lucked out or if the department store I bought him from has a private breeder instead of a breeding mill as a supplier, but he's already hand trained! When I tried to lay my hand in the cage just to let him sniff it he hopped right in and up my arm to sit on my shoulder. He's only actively awake about 45 minutes a day since he's so young but he's had no problems sleeping on me both nights I've had him. I even got cheek licks today! Doesn't he look like a little lump of tofu?!

                                                                                                                       ~N.

"Beef Up, Fish Down"

   One of the other foreign teachers used the term "beef up" while speaking to one of his high-level classes. After explaining what it meant in slang-terms, one of the students proceeded to ask if English speakers also say "fish down". Not only amusing, I think it's the perfect idiom for my first week as a fully functioning member of Korean society. Every day - no, ever HOUR - brings so much change on you and you never can be sure what you're going to get. Of course things are normalizing as time goes on, but the adjustment game is still 50/50

   With 29 classes I have 29 different classroom dynamics to discover and work with. On Thursday a student in a class told me to go fuck myself, but on Friday the class followed me into the office demanding I come back so they don't have to work with the Korean co-teacher. Fish down, beef up.

   I go to my first local foreigner meet up on a Saturday night and find two young women my age both living in town (one of which in my building) and make fast friends. But I also spend the entirety of the night dodging a middle-aged man from Southern USA who referred to me as "Princess" and couldn't keep his hands to himself. Beef up, fish down.

   After such a shaky first day, I'm happy to say that I found myself some hobbies outside of school. I started taking Korean classes Monday and Wednesday mornings. But more than that...I've also registered for hapkido on Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings the hour just before Korean. The teacher and location are one and the same, exercise can't hurt, and I feel like I'll have something to show for my time spent here. If I leave Korea after this year, if I move to a new city and start a new contract, I'll always have whichever belt I'll have earned to look at and say "I worked at this while I was living in Changwon". I can actually feel all of my close friends and family holding their breath waiting for news of a broken bone or face plant. Don't worry guys, I got this.

Just to spruce things up a little bit around here, how about some pictures?!

This is a picture of the first full, proper meal I had in Korea. It's not quite 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal) (pork belly) because I believe we ended up with beef, but it was DELISH. You grill it yourself at the table and have an assortment of things to dip it in, everything from oil and salt to spicy pepper paste called 고추장 (gochujang).

The view from my apartment. 롯데마트 (Lotte Mart) is kind of like a Wal-Mart Supercenter. From what I've noticed, Lotte seems to have a hand in the production of just about everything in Korea. Really interesting is that two Wednesdays out of the month, Lotte Mart closes so people have no choice to shop at smaller places. I guess it's some kind of law that protects small businesses.



   It's true everything is still new and exciting for me, but I feel like I'm finally getting a hold of my life here. I've done normal things like laundry and grocery shopping and taking a taxi, and it keeps getting easier and easier. I do, however, have to prepare mock teaching lessons to present to my coworkers this week. Not only that, but I have to be up in the morning for hapkido, Korean, and work! Gotta beef up on my sleep or this fish'll be down all day tomorrow.

My First Day Teaching!

 I'll spare you all the details about my few days living at a Love Hotel (which is, as it sounds, a hotel for the express purpose of having sex in and leaving), or the hospital visit to make sure I didn't have AIDS or a drug addiction (I don't), and jump right into what I came to Korea for in the first place-

Teaching!

   It was...new. Since I'm the only one with any background in English, they gave me the most classes to do- 29. And since I'm the new teacher, I had someone sitting in most of my classes. I started out with a class of 4-year-olds, and I'd say my oldest group is about 14. I have to say that I felt like I went through the day running with my head cut off.

The youngest class protested homework because the teacher before me broke the rules and didn't assign them any.  (Important to know is that the parents EXPECT homework and have and will call the school to ask what it is or complain if their child came home without any).

One of my classes DID NOT want to talk unless called upon by name (I was assured that it's just the age group).

And of course the one class where I was left by myself I totally rocked it (if I do say so myself).

I know it's my first day and I should expect some growing pains, but I walked home just feeling like maybe I'm not cut out to be a teacher. The person observing me would take over class at will. I got through all of the work set for the class, the kids behaved for me and did their work, and no one came to me with any sort of complaints but...I just feel like I didn't meet my own expectations. I know that when I watch the other teachers I'm looking at people with more experience who have been in the game longer, but I can't help but compare myself to them.

Oh and in the last 15 minutes of the day my boss said "10 minutes~" and walked away....which apparently meant "I want to see you in my office". So she waited in her office for all that time and then stopped me when I was leaving to ask why I didn't go see her? Miscommunication for the win!

I really hope that I adjust or am doing better than I think because I really do kind of like it here. I'm not the type of person that came to Korea to vacation for a year and just happen to HAVE to teach during the week, I've really always wanted to be an English Teacher. Hopefully tomorrow is easier!

   ~N