The Best Job in the World.

My favorite co teacher is taking an English discussion course this fall. So of course I offered to help her with her homework and anything else I could do to make it a little easier on her. Yesterday's topic was the Best job in the world. I quickly threw out that I knew I had it. She was like "WHa?!?" I said I know I did... but then again it might just be the best job for me. This then followed with a mixture of discussion about why I loved it.
I started listing the reasons. 1. I get to travel and live in another country while getting paid for it. 2. I get to work with children which means I get to act like a kid about 75% of the time. 3. I have all the respect and perks of being a teacher with about a third of the paperwork I would have in the US. 4. I have a good schedule and a decent amount of time off.

About half way through she was agreeing with me. I do have the best job in the world. I told her my theory that if you don't like your job either you're in the wrong job or you're working in the wrong place. I'm wondering how the class went. I'm sure we'll talk about it a bit this morning as we get ready for to teach the 5th graders.

Diffrences between Teaching in the US and Korea

Today has been one of those surreal sort of days. I was giving the practice golden bell quiz to the 5th grade. The schedule had been changed cause the 5th grade also was getting their yearly sex talk. I taught two periods of 5th then my one period of first graders. We were working on parts of the body because they are starting the clinic zone. The plan called for the students to label a cut out of a little boy and say the parts of the body. So I had kids coming up and sticking the labels on. This one little girl got up and stuck the label on for Arm. Then proudly turned around and shouted ARSE! The whole class responded "ARSE!" I somehow managed not to start giggling and then said arM! and the class after 2 more rounds of listen and repeat figured out it was an arM not and arse.
The next period it was back to the 5th grade. One of the boys, who actually is rather smart and good at English, decided while Sunny was out wrangling other students to draw an anatomically correct penis and testicles and label them. After he drew them he then turned his white board to me and asked if it was right.
I think the second he saw my face he knew he was in trouble... I told him to erase it and we'd talk about it after class. I sat down with him and explained that he was in trouble and that for a change I was going to punish him US style not Korean style. (Koreans still use corporal punishment.) He has to over night copy a poem in English 4 times. I gave him "A Picture Puzzle Piece" by shel silverstien to copy. Hopefully that will keep the drawings at bay. He actually came back after school to get the poem cause of course I don't keep things like that ready.

It's been a long day of having to really tighten down on the students. Hopefully the 6th grade boys being kicked out of the English Center except for class for 2 weeks will get them back in line.

Cheusock can not get here fast enough. I'm ready for a long weekend of travel with friends.

Perfect weekend back in Korea.

Round trip ticket to Busan = 32,000 won
Motel for the night= 39,000 won
Drinks, dinner, cab fare= 28,000 won
Playing 6 degrees of separation with a group of Lesbians in Korea and finding less than 1 degree using friends back home = PRICELESS!!!!


Went down to Busan on Saturday and spent the afternoon, evening, wee hours of the morning with an amazing group of women. I'm going to have to make sure I can make it to a few more of these weekends. Not a hook up group just like minded women hanging out and having fun. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. I'm now back in Daegu and getting ready to go do some shopping for the new place and I'm completely relaxed and grounded for the first time in what feels like forever.

I'm probably going to crash hard later today but it was completely worth it.

New place... no more showering with the washing machine.

Here is a short Photo tour of my new place... staying on a second year does have it's perks.

I now have an electric lock on my door. I just have to remember the combination when it's time to get in.


Inside the door I now have a shoe closet so it doesn't look like a centipede lives in my place. I'm really enjoying these and might want them in whatever place I land next.

I have a much nicer Kitchen. The big black box over the sink is a dish drier/ sanitizer. Hopefully I'll figure out how to use it properly soon.

View from the doorway through the kitchen, through the bedroom, to the porch/ laundry area. The bathroom is on the left hand side.


My very blue bathroom, I like it except it's so dark that I have to be very careful if the lights aren't on.


View from my window. It's nice and in the evening I can here the call to meditation from the temple. The tree below my window is a persimmon tree. I'm hopeful I'm not allergic to it.

Counting Down

I've been trying to keep it to a minimum but with tomorrow making it one week till I take off on a plane to the US, it's not easy. A week from today I will finish my last English camp and hop on a train to Seoul, then take the subway to Incheon, crash for the night in a hotel, and then grab a plane to Tokoyo and then on to Atlanta. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I'm ready to see my friends and family. It's been 11 months. Have things changed in the last 11 months, yes. But it will be good to see everyone.
I was thinking last night as I was eating a yummy bowl of bibimbap and some gu mandu that, I've come a long way. When I got here I had no clue how to order food in Korean. Much less what anything was. Now I can order food and know what I'm ordering. I also have made new friends, done some things I never would have thought about doing before, and generally had a good year.

I no longer feel like beating my head against the wall when I get told things that would have seemed totally asinine if I was in the US. For example, last week I was chatting with my co-teacher Sunny and we were talking about what needed to get done when I get back from the US. She said, she had bad news from the VP. I have to be in quarantine in my apartment when I get back. I can't go to school on that Wednesday like planned. Why? you ask. Because they are afraid I will be bringing Swine flu back with me. Now I might have been offended, if it was just me, but anyone, teachers or students, who go overseas during the vacation can't come back to school till they have been in Korea for at least 4 days. That gives me plenty of time to get over my jet lag. The nice and sweet part of this is that Sunny was mad cause she said she's going to miss me and want to see me after my vacation, she doesn't want to have to wait for the quarantine period.

I'm sure some of my vocabulary has changed. I have a bad feeling I'm going to answer someone in Korean when I first get home. I've just gotten in the habit when it's easy questions of just using Korean to make things easier and clear for the Koreans I'm around. I'm fairly sure I will answer some question I've been asked with a "Nay!" not a "Yes." My newest muttering of "I-go" will get some strange looks where as it is normal here. My "oye!" has slowly been changing. They are little things that I have noticed I picked up but they don't surprise me here. But the strangeness of them in Atlanta will be a bit of a shock.

I'm sure I will be having reverse culture shock. I'll probably bow at someone, yell out Anyoung haseo as I walk into a store. Things that are normal and expected here, but never done at home.

I also know, but I'm not sure how it will feel, that people and things at home have changed also. There has been a year of events, relationships, growth, etc. That has happened while I've been gone. It's tough to think about how my relationships with my friends are going to be different, I'm just visiting this trip. I no longer live there. My home, is in Daegu.

There will be questions about how many more years are you going to be in Korea? Answer: I don't know. Do I have my future planned out right now... nope. I just know that I've signed a contract saying that I will be teaching for the DMOE for the next year. I'm fine with that plan. But I know others will be interested in answers I don't have yet.

It's not time to worry yet....

I've been jokingly asking Sunny since the first rumblings with North Korea started and she said don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. So every time something happens I ask her "Is it time to worry yet?" She always says "No, don't worry." Today at lunch I was eating with the 6th grade teachers and Sunny and I said ok I'm asking with everyone here. I then prefaced the question with there is a lot of coverage in the US papers and International news about North Korea doing things. After the missiles this weekend "Am I allowed to worry yet? I know my mom is worried and I'm going to have 3 weeks at home dealing with my mom worried about it." They all said nope. We'll tell you when it's time to worry. So then it was follow up question time. So if everyone else is worried how come you aren't worried? We're not worried cause we have the US Army here. Why would any one attack us when we have your army here? I was like... hold it. All of your men have to do military service and yet you are counting on the US Army? Yup.
Then they changed the topic. It was interesting. But as I've said before to people it's not time to worry. The South Koreans don't think it's a big deal so, all of us over here really aren't worrying.

Food thoughts

After being here almost a year I've discovered a few things. Firstly my taste in food has expanded and changed. Over the last week I've tried a few new things and eaten somethings that I've learned I love. I"m sure my mother will have a small heart attack reading this next bit but. When I was at the Organic, Vegetarian, Korean buffet with some of the other teachers and the principal and VP I found and dug into one of the traditional foods I've developed a taste for. They are a type of mushroom that are cooked in a tempura batter and then covered with a sort of sweet and sour sauce. I also ate quite a few other mushroom dishes. There are so many different types of mushrooms here that I'm learning to like them. `I'm still not a fan of the plain old mushrooms that are slimy and everywhere in the US.

I've also developed a taste for this soybean and red pepper paste that is a main stay of Korean cooking. I've been really lucky. In recent weeks thanks to the cafetria being under construction I've been bringing my lunch. I've also been invited out to lunch or invited to have lunch with a couple of different grades. 6th grade took me out for noodles one rainy afternoon. They were wonderful but burnt the heck out of my mouth they were so hot. This past week one of the 1st grade teachers made Sunny and I lunch. It was wonderful. It was 2 different types of rice, the soybean/pepper paste, chicken, lettuce wraps, and homemade Kimchi, a cucumber and some red spice salad. It was wonderful. There has been a lot of talk around the school about how "Korean" I am. I was given a great complement by the Vice Principal she said I must have been Korean in the past because I have done so well at picking up customs and taking to the food.

I should probably talk a little about the soybean/ red pepper paste. When I first got here I could only tolerate a very little bit of it. Now I love the stuff. I slather it on when I have BBQ. I also have bought some to have a home to make a meal of it's wonderful.

This was dinner tonight, lettuce, rice and the paste. It's all that's needed. I'm wondering how my new taste buds are going to react to eating food back in the US. Are things that used to be too spicy be bland now? Is my body going to react well to the switch back to American food for 3 weeks? Just things I'm thinking about right now.

Shoes and Socks!

Guess it's time for a cultural interlude. In Korea, like may Asian countries. You take your shoes off when you go inside many places. At school every morning my first stop is the shoe cabinet for teachers. Inside sit in nice neat rows the slippers or shoes for all the teachers at the school. I pull off my tennis shoes and slip on a pair of slippers and then head up stairs. Meanwhile the students go in two side doors where they take their school slippers out of the shoe bags they carry every day and put them on. Then they put their tennis shoes or whatever they are wearing in the bag. When they get outside the classroom there are rows of shelves where they line up their shoe bags. They wear their slippers all day with the exceptions of in a few classrooms. The English Center is one of those exceptions. Because the students sit on the floor they take off their slippers at the door. They then are supposed to line them up against the wall. They don't always get them perfect but since it has been part of the class score in the English center, they are getting better at it.
I've talked to a couple of students and they were telling me that if they wear their shoes inside at home their parents get really angry at them. They were asking me why we don't take our shoes off in the US. I said I think the difference is that our floors aren't heated.
One by product of all this time spent in slippers or without shoes on is that the socks here are really fancy. I have acquired a few pairs of fun socks while I've been here. I have a pair of Mickey Mouse ones that even have little ears that stick out. I also have a pair of Starbucks socks (copyrights aren't really respected here). The best pair I have so far are a pair I don't wear at school. I found some Obama socks the other day that I've been debating picking up and bringing home with me. You can find anything on socks. Most socks for kids are band members, cartoons, sports people, or just whatever current trend is going on. Adults tend towards simple patterns or plain. I figure I can always play the crazy American card and go for a mix of fun and plain socks at work most of the time.

Korean Queer Cultural Festival

Adventures in Korean communication

Cellphones are everywhere in Korea, if you don't have one you are way behind and will probably get laughed at. I've had a phone here since I got here but it was a "pay-as-you-go" phone. Which meant that every month I had to hike down the street to a store and hand over some won to make sure it kept working. Occasionally I'd go through the won on my phone quicker than expected and suddenly I'd be without a phone. It happened at odd times. Usually while I was out of town or even on a weekend when I couldn't go add minutes so I was not accessible on a weekend. I have enough ways to get in touch with people it wasn't really a big deal for me except when I was out of Daegu and trying to meet up with people. My cellphone was in the name of a nice Korean guy who owns a cellphone store at the corner. I started talking to Sunny about her helping me get a phone in my name. She was more than willing and we took off from school one afternoon to visit a couple of stores in the area and get me a phone in my name that would direct bill from my bank account. We walked into 3 stores and they would be friendly but say nope we don't have the right type of phone to let a foreigner have. I was like is it because they are in Korean? Nope. Is it because they are afraid we will leave the country and not pay our bills. (well maybe.) Nope. If you want a phone in the name of a non Korean here. It can't shoot video. This is in a country where cellphones can be used to pay for everything from subways to food. You can listen to music, watch tv, play games, everything on the cellphones. But they lock them down so that foreigners can't use all the features. We eventually had to take a bus downtown and ended up with the phone in Sunny's name but auto-pay from my bank account.
It's just another reminder of how things work over here.

Kidnapping at my school

I waited to write about this till things have finally settled down about this here. About two weeks ago now I started hearing strange announcements during the school day. Sunny told me that one of the 3rd graders hadn't made it to school and the principal wanted to know if anyone knew anything about it. At the end of the class day the students all went home but the teachers walked around the area trying to find him. Around 4:30 when I go home I was walking down wondering what was going on and I found out that the student had escaped from where his hands, feet, mouth and eyes had been tapped and he'd been put in an abandoned house in another part of Daegu. The boy's father had been called for a ransom but the student had escaped and been heard by a neighbor and they got him to the police. He was back in school two days later but they still hadn't found the kidnapper. So for about a week I walked to school past crowds of police both in uniform and out. It was a little crazy. I know that the only reason I wasn't stared at harder was that every morning I'd walk with some students and they always came running at me and yelling my name.. so it filtered through the police ranks that I was the English teacher at the school so I wasn't a threat to the kids.
I heard yesterday that they finally caught the guy in Busan. I guess he'd run to a family members house. Through the whole thing I was thinking that I really hadn't appreciated amber alerts and such much till now. Cause there are no systems like that in place here in Korea.
I'm just glad the kid is back safe and sound with no major injuries. (though that is a relative statement cause I've got 3 students with casts on right now.) But he's actually really good no injuries and back happy and talkative in class.

Been Slammed

Not sure where to start. There has been a lot going on over here. I've been grappling with getting to know the kids better and running head long into some of the same things I found in Atlanta. Kids learn what they see around them so if all they see are negative images of people other than Koreans they are going to pick them up. I had a child tell me that she likes Africans cause they are made of chocolate. I'm not sure if that is just the color she knows their skin is or if someone unthinking said that and it stuck with her. I showed her some pictures of my old students and she was trying told me they were all chocolate. It was then followed by a conversation about why their hair was in braids. I've been talking to a friend here who has it worse. His students pull on his skin and say "Yo, Man!" in greeting because that's what they see.

Then I have the joy of listening to and judging speech contests. I really hate that I feel like some of the kids got an unfair advantage because their homeroom teachers came to me and asked me to edit their speeches. Which I did happily. The ones who didn't had potential but the English was so bad it took away from their over all scores. I'm taking time these days to work with the students more on finding a rhythm and tone in how they speak. It's interesting to see the kids realize without fully understanding my words that you don't yell when you are asking someone for directions so it makes sense to speak in a normal voice while practicing. Some days teaching here is easy and fun others it's painful. Overall I love my students and I really enjoy working with them. The current class of 6th graders are really getting comfortable with me so they come in to my office and hang out and talk with me. The only downside of this is I'm picking up more and more Kpop references. I now can throw out singer and band references at them and cut them off before they start singing things like Super Junior at me.
I thought American kids were good little consumers but these Korean kids have them beat. They can rattle off cellphone ads, chicken ads, you name it. They also can do all the dances that go with the songs on command (I just had 3 girls doing the dance to that video in my office when they heard it playing.)

Time to get back to teaching... I'm staying in Daegu this weekend to go to a festival downtown and catch up on sleep. Next weekend I'm headed to Seoul. I'm going to really miss being able to hop on a train anytime I want to get anywhere when I go back to the States.

Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul

Sports day in Pictures

Korean Questions

There are certian questions Koreans always ask. They know that they aren't proper questions in other places but here they are. So as I was sitting at the accupuncturists on thursday afternoon. He was examining my ankle and heel and making small talk. He asked "I know you must get asked this all the time but, are you married?" My standard reply no, I'm not. A little while later after he'd put 6 needles in my ankle he started asking me about what exercise I do and did I know fleps? huh? Phelpsa? Ah... yes Micheal Phelps. Typical Korean pronunciation with an added vowel. It comes from how Hangul is written and spoken. It makes much more sense to me now that I've been studying Korean.
Then after twisting the needles and checking them. Every time he'd go out turn the lights off in the room, I'd hear him talking to the other doctor and nurse in Korean. He'd come back in with another set of questions. I started getting the feeling that even though his English is good he was going out and discussing my answers with the other doctor and looking up words to ask me another set of questions.
The last time he came in for my foot he took out the needles and asked if he could give me a treatment for my shape as service. For those of you who don't know service here is when you get something for free. So he wanted to stick me with another set of needles for free. I was like ok why not. Then he asks so what shape is your sister? I was like...um.. I don't have one. I have a brother. He's tall and thin like my father. He was then like what shape is your mother. Oh.. my mom... she's short and round. He palpitates my stomach and then pulls out the longest needle I've seen yet it was probably 5 inches long but as thin as fishing line. I got 4 of those in my stomach. Two on each side. I really find it funny. The doctor says I'm fat and gives me a free treatment to try and fix that. The school lunch ladies say I'm getting to skinny and need to eat more. Not sure which it is... but hey if the needles work I'm willing to go with it.
Anyway you put it my heel is feeling a bit better and the doctor is nice and it's not too expensive to go in and see him I'll go back on Monday for another round on my foot.

Bullying in schools

This post isn't about Korea. It's about the load of bull that is being talked about at home. I know the programs that Dekalb county says they are using. I know about teachers and administrators SAYING that they have a zero tolerance. Note I said saying. Their actions speak much louder. I taught at schools were a copy of the Anti bulling law was posted in the classrooms. I have seen teachers and principals give lip service to the idea that they will put a stop to the bulling. I've also seen those same teachers and principals say things about gays and boys who might be slightly effeminate. I've watched them turn their backs when those students get teased. The facts are that there is a lot of lip service in the US education system and not much really happening about it in the lower grades. Once it becomes uncool in rap music and pop culture to say things are Gay then it won't be the trend so much in schools. However what get's taught at home both good and bad will come into the schools. The raising of kids to day is the job of both the parents and the teachers. But sometimes its being done by neither.

When in Korea....

I hurt my heel probably a month ago. It didn't hurt except when I stood on it for long periods of time or walked a lot. I finally figured that it was time to do something about it. I talked to my Dad and he said western medicine the best I could hope for was a shot or cortisone or some pain medicine. I was like I've been popping Advil for weeks. That's not going to cut it. I'd heard a few teachers over here talk about going to get acupuncture. Why not I figured... how bad could it really be. A few needles in my foot or something. Eh, I could take it. So I walked into school and asked Miss Kim to help me find a Chinese Doctor to try it for my heel. We found a place after school today. The doctor actually spoke pretty good English. He did an ultrasound on my heel and there was nothing wrong with the bone. He checked a few things out. Then he said I needed to get a little acupuncture. I was like ok.
I was lead into another room where he stuck a bunch of needles in my heel. Then he played with them and it was like HOLY CRAP!!!! THat HURTS! About 15 minutes later he pulled them out and handed me something to drink. The first sip wasn't bad. Tasted sort of like molasses. Then as I continued to drink the liquid. It went from not bad to oh my lord that's nasty. Then he told me I had to take more of it after the next two meals.
We'll see how it goes I figure give it 24 hours and if I feel better. I'm supposed to go back on Thursday for another treatment.

Spring has Sprung!

I've been busy the last few weeks with traveling to Suwon and keeping up with things down here in Daegu. My school is full of fun moments the current amusement is the students and teachers all practicing for Sports day on May first. From what I've seen of the rehearsals on the field at school I will be dying with laughter before it is over. The whole school does a group exercise that looks like a mix of Tai chi, stretches and tae kwon do.
On Friday I got a Flat Stanley from Kristy who I used to teach with at Benteen. She does the project yearly so I was excited to get to participate finally and be able to share with a few students in the US my experiences over here. I took Stan with me to meet up with Jamari for dinner. He got to see a bit of Downtown Daegu and enjoy a Kraze Burger. I'm going to be taking him around with me for a couple of weeks then I will send him back to Kristi's class with a few things from Korea.
Saturday was Korean class. I'm plodding along in it. I can do somethings pretty well but others I'm having troubles with. I don't really mind that. I've never been great with languages so I'm trying to be forgiving to myself, rather than the usual beating myself but with frustration. After class I took a wander around Daegu to take pictures of some of the spring flowers, and lanterns that are out for the festivals that are coming up.

I should probably mention that I did my renewal application last week. It was fairly easy. I really hope I get to stay here at Boykmyung Elementary. I've really grown to love the students and I enjoy the faculty. They are all trying hard to learn English and I know my struggles with Korean make them feel like I'm really making an effort to understand them better.

Friday Morning Smiles

Not that I wouldn't normally be happy about it being Friday morning. Today my smile was made even bigger by my walk to school. I had just turned the corner where I can see the school and many students walk this same street to school. The new safety guy was standing at the crosswalk, he's an ex VP and watches out for the students as they walk to school since there are no sidewalks most of the way there.
I heard from behind me "O-----y TEEEEEEAAACHHAAAAR!" and the sounds of little feet running. One of the little 3rd graders who loves me had spotted me and wanted to walk to school with me holding my hand. She's pretty fluent in English so she told me that she was sorry she didn't get to have class with me this week. I bowed as we walked past the safety guy who I could tell thought it was funny that this huge American was so loved by the students, and that I was holding this little girls hand. We got to the gate of the school she was joking that my hand was big. I said yes... Teacher's hand is huge. Then she hugged me and ran over to the steps where the students come in and change to their slippers. I also go a chorus from the students standing there of Hello! Hi! OOhh! Teachar!
I do really love my students... they make teaching fun again.

Korean Bullfights

Last weekend I got together with a mixed group of Expats and Koreans. The group had arranged for 2 buses to go to Cheongdo, where there is a bullfighting festival. I got downtown and found the group and hopped a seat on the bus not sure what I was going to see but knowing that it was important for me to try something new. It's been one of the pieces of advice I got before I left home that I've found to be incredibly valuable. It was just to be open to everything. So even though I had heard lots of people going off about how cruel it would be and that it was wrong. I went with open eyes and an open mind.
There were many things that were typical to Korean festivals as I've learned. There are crowds that shove, food stalls, exhibits, bad singers and dancers. I wasn't there for those I wanted to see the action. We walked around before we went into the stadium and I saw where they were keeping the bulls before hand. It looked like a typical barn. Stalls with roofs, animals tied up so they didn't wander too far and lots of handlers making sure the bulls were ready for the fights. I watched for a minute and saw bulls being lead by ropes, and generally it looked like they were well cared for.
Then we walked into the stadium which was packed. We found some seats near the top with good sight lines to the ring.

Then the bulls were lead out and lined up with each other. Usually they weren't too happy about being near another bull so there was some pawing of the ground and snorting. Then the test of wills would start. It wasn't like they were charging each other they just butted heads and pushed against each other till one gave up and walked away. The one who stood their ground won.


It was interesting to see and hear the crowds cheering for bulls and the trainers were in the ring yelling at them like a corner coach would in a human fight. The ref was there to make sure the animals didn't get hurt and declare the winner.
After that the bulls were checked as they left the ring and another pair was lead in. It seemed fairly harmless... like too big jocks trying to get a cheerleader by showing who was stronger.
After we left the festival we went to a wine tunnel that had previously been a Japanese rail tunnel. It was pretty cool. I liked the persimmon wine and then we got to go back in the storage area where people normally aren't allowed. It's a nice sweet but dry white wine.

I picked up a couple of bottles for my apartment... I figure if I ever get visitors over here it'd be nice to have something other than soju to offer them.