Kimchi on the side please!

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  Ch’ŏrwŏn, Gangwon, Korea Rep.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Annyong everyone!  I cannot believe one month has gone by already!  My first month was a bit confusing and overwhelming, but also exciting and eye-opening as well.  I feel very fortunate to be living with other Westerners, especially all the way up here in the boondocks!  We share our nights together at the local bar, the Redroom, or at my apartment watching movies and drinking wine after work.  Also, the group of EPIK teachers in the surrounding villages who have been here for the past 6 months have been nothing but welcoming and helpful and I feel like I have a huge support system which is extremely important to me. 

Upon my first week of teaching, I was taken out to dinner by the 30 teachers, principal and vice principal of Shincherwon Elementary school at a one of the many local restaurant in town that serves Korean barbecue, Samgyeopsal, thick unsalted bacon cooked over hot coals in front of you.  It is eaten with many different side dishes, like kimchi and octopus in red sauce, and you usually wrap the meat in a lettuce leaf or sesame leaves, with fresh garlic, and chili paste....and its to die for.  As for Kim chi, the staple Korean side dish of fermented cabbage or vegetables in a spicy red chili sauce and is served with absolutely everything....umm, no thank you!  At this welcoming dinner, I was introduced to more than just the teachers, but an important tradition of drinking soju.  I had enjoyed Soju in Seoul, but never at a traditional dinner with my respectable co-workers and principal.

Soju is a popular alcoholic drink made traditionally from rice. It is akin to drinking hard liquor. It takes somewhat like vodka, and there is a proper way to drinking it in Asian culture. In order to impress and show respect to your Asian associates or co-workers. Soju is shared, so visitors can expect people to drink out of your glass. It's a sign of respect for a senior associated in the group to drink from your glass of soju, which in my situation is the principal of the school.

Someone may offer the guest their empty glass; the guest must accept it, and wait for them to pour soju. The most gracious response to receiving the soju is to nod, thank the person, by saying 'kumsumnida', smile, and drink the soju. Keep smiling, even if it's a bit strong to the taste. When Korean's offer guests their glass to drink from, the guest can assume that they respect him or her or are extending friendship to the guest.

Well, I got pretty good at the pouring exercise, but I then I didn't realize that when someone offers you soju, you need to take it with two hands. Koreans believe that it is a sign of respect to accept any gift or drink, for that matter, with both of their hands. Conversely, if guests pour or give someone soju, offer it over with two hands, as well. I of course had no idea what was going on the whole time, so I was just accepting and pouring with one hand, whoops!  I just smiled and enjoyed my first real cultural experience, listening to the chatter of Korean completely confused and utterly lost in translation once again!  I am now just starting to get over the incredible tense awkwardness that the language barrier can create when in a social situation!  But by the end of the night, I was a pro and of course was more relaxed.  The principal really wants me to learn their way and be completely immersed into the culture, therefore I find that I am more persistent in learning the language and customs.  Just as I was about to walk home, one of my co-teachers, Paul, the sweetest man ever, said "Round two?"  Round two is usually when a smaller group goes and enjoys more food and drink.  I thought to myself, more food and drink.  There's no way.  But yes, makgeolli, a milky, white fermented rice wine and more appetizers and snacks.  Koreans think that food and drink go hand in hand, so it is strange to them to just drink at a bar.  After round two, comes....yes, you guessed it round three!  Off to the nori bang, the Korean singing room, or karaoke.  Koreans don't mess around!  What an amazing night of food, drink and good company!

As far as teaching is concerned, I am warming up to it.  A bit overwhelming at first, but I think now I have got the hang of it.  I teach 15 regular school classes, 5 after schools, and 2 adult classes. A total of '22 hours' a week, but it usually less than that.  On Tuesdays I teach 4 forty minute classes at Nae Dae Elementary school, about a 15 minute bus ride passing through fields of rice patties and fields of wildflowers.  The classes are no bigger than 8 students and I absolutely adore the kids. I taught them all the macarena this week and they couldn't get enough!  Even before I enter the school, the kids are hanging out the window yelling "Hello Johanna Teacha."  And we usually play games and sing songs, then I join them for lunch in the cafeteria. 

On Thursdays I teach 4 forty minute classes at Moonhye Elementary school, also a small school and about a 10 minute bus ride.  I absolutely love it there too.  I get the feeling that the children are really excited about class and actually want to learn English.  The fist day the children just stared at me and told me "Wow. Teacha. Big eyes. Small head. Very butiful!"

I was a bit skeptical about my adult classes, but I am so glad that I have the opportunity to teach these classes!  I have already been invited to my adult students home to make kimchi!  It is a great way for me to learn Korean, while I teach them intermediate English.  It is also a wonderful cultural exchange.  They have learned so much already about American traditions etc. and vice versa.  Today, one of the my adult students said that she wishes she could be in my class for 2 hours instead of one and she never wants to go home because it is her favorite time of the week :) 

The times that we aren't teaching, I am usually busy making lesson plans and helping our students with the upcoming English Speech Contest.  One thing that I am already used to is to "Expect the unexpected!"  Yesterday, class was canceled and we went on a hike!  How wonderful!  Last week, class was canceled because of an English contest, in which I was told to be the judge about 2 minutes before the contest!  So, learning to just go with the flow and being extremely flexible is the only way to get by here I think.  It can be frustrating at times, but learning to accept that is a part of the Korean culture.  

Just starting my 9 day holiday break for Chuseok.  Chuseok is similar to Thanksgiving, a celebration of harvest and a time to visit family and eat lots of food!  So, I am heading to Seoul for a baseball game then to a friends birthday dinner and night out in the city.  And then to Busan, the second largest city in Korea, located on the east coast.  My friend Claire and I have a hostel 5 minutes from Hongdae beach...really looking forward to traveling within the country and can already assume that it is very different from traveling in Latin America!  No chicken buses here! 

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Waterfall behind our house	Chili peppers everywhere!	My home	Hiking with elementary school kids
Scouts hiking trip	Rafting bridge	The walk to school	Farm lands
My gym. What a view!   Comments!	Sunset out my kitchen window   Comments!	Sunset	Mountains
Traffic jam with army tanks	My Apt. building	School time	The gang in Dong Song
Ma gkali party	kiddos	Redroom- our local spot!	Grade 3,4 afterschool

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