A few more photos

Display window at an upscale clothing boutique

View from one of my schools. 

Christmas dinner at the Toolbox.  The owner invited a large group of us to his restaurant and made a rather extravagent meal for us...and then refused to accept payment.  It was incredibly special and a very Merry Christmas dinner indeed.

Close up of some of the food.  The things on the left are similar to chimichangas.  I don't know what they're called, but they were so delicious.  The pitas on the right were hand-made by the amazing chef...and then filled with bulgogi.  Yum. Yum. Yum.  Times a thousand!

Silk worm larvae.  This is very popular in Korea.  The owner of the toolbox had this with his meal.  He dared us to try them, but only a few of us were brave enough to do it (I was not one of them).  In the grocery store, in the aisle that has SPAM and other mystery canned meats, you'll find an entire shelf taken up with a variety of these lil' guys.

This is similar to a sports drink.  The name is rather funny.  What's even better is that on the back of it reads, "This drink is excellent for replacing important minerals lost during strenuous activities such as, physical exursion and taking a hot bath". 

Sheet music from Son-Myung-ai's house. She played guitar, while her and two of her friends sang these songs to me.  Beautiful.

My life as a Korean School Teacher

I love my student's creativity.  I had a Harry Potter themed day.  They were divided up into their "houses" and then their project was to create a House Flag.  Bet you can't tell which group had girls and which group had boys in it.  :)

This is Kim Min-joo, who likes to be called "Jenny" during our Summer/Winter Camp classes.  She is decorating the cover to her Winter Camp book here. 




Two of my boys working away...well...kind of working away.  Most of the time they were doing what boys do best, which is running about, practicing taekwondo.  They're good boys though.  Just easily distracted.

This is yet another picture of Honey Butter Bread!  This was a special one though.....as it is the last ever Honey Butter Bread I will partake in.  My friend Tika and I splurged on it this evening--our way of celebrating New Year's Eve.  Sort of a last blast before 2012 starts.  Officially, no more Korean sweets from tomorrow...onward.  I swear this country turns you into a butter ball.   It is a slippery slope, but a fun ride.



"You're such a puppy"

After asking several Koreans about the word, "kitten" being a terrible, terrible word to use---it was then brought to my attention that "puppy" is profanity too!  Since I am getting this information through English as a second language, my understanding is a little foggy.  I do know that it is incredibly insulting and should never be used.  She mentioned something about how only in recent years, have dogs (and cats) been seen as pets.  With that, the offspring of dogs have never really been viewed the same way we do in many other cultures, who have viewed dogs as pets and companions for quite some time.

In Korea, dog is still served in many places, although it is not widely advertised.  Dog is seen as a delicacy and it is somewhat  of a prestigious thing---that if you can afford to order dog, then you are viewed as a person with means.  Not in every situation, of course---and again, my understanding is via second language, so don't quote me.  I also read somewhere that when the '88 Olympics were in Seoul, they asked restaurants that served dog to keep it less noticeable because it is offensive to westerners.  I must make a side note that the serving of "dog" is not something that many Koreans are proud of.  Many, many Koreans are embarrassed by it and find it really disturbing that this goes on.  So, I don't want to perpetuate any kind of rumors about 'all' Koreans eating dog, because the vast majority do not.  They are in the midst of a culture shift--and I think eventually it will be no more. 

So in conclusion, I have only gathered that off-spring of dogs and cats are not really seen as cuddly pets, but are more of disgusting little creatures that are messy & clingy, and up until recent times, as eventual food.  I think the evolution of the words, developed much the same way as the "b" word in English...through time, it turned into a derogatory word, but in the earlier years, it did not have the same effect as the modern day usage of the word.  I'll just relate it to the fact that if I were to try and explain to someone, via a second language, why the "b" word is a cuss word, I would have a really hard time trying to explain that.  In fact, I don't really know why it is an insulting word, I just know that it is.  But really, I guess when you think about any of our "cuss" words, a lot of them were not created as insults, they just evolved into that over time---even more extreme cuss words in modern day English, weren't originally bad words either. 

kittens

Apparently, the Korean word for "kitten" is a bad word!  I can only imagine it has the same connotations as the other word for female dog.  This explains why none of my kids know what a "kitten" is.  They're not teaching it!  My kids know, "cat", "dog" & "puppy", but I have noticed a long time ago that at both schools, they didn't know this word, and I was mildly surprised.  Today in class we were doing a phonics bingo game focusing on "k" (and a few other letters).  When I called out "kitten", the kids struggled with that.  So I then typed it into google translate and had it up on the smart board and suddently a "husssshhhhhhh" fell upon these 5th graders, like I have never known before!  Apparently the way to make Korean children be quiet, is to flash the word, "kitten".  Sadly, a little late in my year, to have just figured this out!  Drats! 

After I figured out that this was a bad word, I felt a little guilty that I inadvertently polluted my kid's minds with terrible words like, "kitten".  I told them, "sorry", while quickly pressing the backspace button over the word, to pretend as though it never happened.  I said something like, "Interesting.  In America, this is not a bad word."  They said, that "Yun-ye teacher (English teacher), slaps their hands when they say kitten".  (I think they're fibbing a bit, because I have never missed a day of class and she has never once hit them. Although, she has intimidated them with her impressive stink-eye though).  One of my kids then said to me in her best grown up voice, "Christine teacher.  This is called culture.  American and Korean culture--different".  Yeahhhhhhhhhhh ...okay--smarty pants-- 5th grader.  I stand corrected.

 

I am very curious as to why it is a bad word though.  I'll get to the bottom of this and loop you in as soon as I'm the wiser.  I can't figure out if it is the, English pronunciation---or if it is the actual word that comes through via translation and there is actually another word they use for "kitten".  My kids did talk about how disgusting little cats are though.  They made some very disturbing faces, while mimicking the grossness of a kitten!  I have to be honest, but I find it a little disturbing that kittens are considered as anything other than stinkin' adorable in any culture.  Who doesn't love kittens???  I am pretty open minded about most culture differences, but this one really boggles my brain.  I did have an incredibly hard time concealing my look that fell somewhere between shock, horror and concern as they made these terrible faces, when talking about them.

 

Another cultural tidbit I picked up, a little late in the game I might add, is that the color red is associated with death and bad luck.   I can't believe I have been here this long and I just now found this out!   I just thought there was a very serious disdain for the color red.  Whenever we have teams--"red team" or "blue team"--the students will fight to the death to get the blue team.  In addition, whenever I hand out white board markers, the students will freak out if the only color choice left is the red marker.  In my head, I have been thinking, "get over it!!! just use the darn marker", obviously, completely oblivious to the reasons for such behavior.  I guess it is also extra bad to have your name written in red (things.. that would have been really helpful to know when I got here).   I have broken this rule so many times.  Now, I feel a little bad.   I had made these little sticker, reward cards for all my students.  For my 3rd graders though, I went a little above and beyond and wrote their names in glitter glue.  I used a variety of colors, but a few of them I had written their name in red.  Those particular students were visibly crushed when I gave them their cards.  This was back in September, and I remember being a little deflated and hurt at how ungrateful they were being, because I put so much work into creating these cards.  Again, would have been really, really good to know a very long time ago.  Oh well. 

 

TidBits

 

Everything here is a "story".  The names of thousands of restaurants & brands are called, "______ story".  For example:  A coffee shop:  "A Coffee Story"  A Cake Shop:  "A cake story"    A candy bar:  "A chocolate story"  A hair salon:  "A Hair Story"  An ice cream brand:   "An Ice cream Story"  I don't know why.  I don't ask questions.

English t-shirts

This is so you can see first hand some of the crazy mish-mash shirts printed in English that are incredibly popular in this country.  They are all such a jumble of disconnected words that are put together and boldy printed on millions of t-shirts.  We don't know what they mean.  This particular shirt was courtesy of one of my 4rth graders.

p.s. to read what it says..click on the picture and magnify your computer screen.

Rules of Korea

All of the Native English Teachers (NET) had to go to a training on crime prevention, drug/alchohol use & abuse, and basic Korean laws.  Obviously (and unfortunately) this meeting was created because some of the NET's had been deported because of bad behavior.  My main happiness for being there, was that my classes were cancelled for the day so I could attend this meeting and as a bonus I was able to catch up with many of the people I went through training with back in March (and haven't seen since).  So that was pretty neat.

The people who were conducting the meeting were bilingual Koreans from both the police force and the office of education.  Occasionally when people who are giving presentations not in their native tongue, a few things can get a little mixed up through translation.  For example the superintendent of the Ulsan Office of Education was being introduced and the person introducing him said, "Now please give him a very warm welcome with your really big hands".  These big hands were made for clapping baby!  I just about lost it when she said that, but fortunately my laughs were drowned out by the loud clapping with all of the large-handed people in the room.  I must say, that I am impressed with anyone who is bilingual.  Particularly bilingual coming from a native Asian language that has a sound system so completely opposite from English that their mouths literally can't make some of the sounds (and vice versa).  So I do poke fun, but I am also humbled at their ability to speak more than one language.  It's just funny how a few simple key words in a sentence, when put in the wrong place can have a completely different meaning.

One of the topics was how to defend yourself against, drunk old men--um, I guess if the need arises??  Clearly there is a reason that this was a topic.  In case you want to know what to do when in Korea, and a drunk old man harasses you:  "You can't punch him.  But you can push him".   End of topic.

They also had a tid bit on driving in Korea.  If you want to get a drivers license in Korea, you first have to go through some sort of training to be able to drive here.  All the complaining I do about the driving here, I can't imagine what the training involves--maybe some sort of deprogramming about all the rules of the road you thought you knew prior to coming to Korea.   I think the training would go something like: 

1.  You ALWAYS have the right-of-way.  In every situation. 

2. If the light is red, and you feel you have stopped for long enough or alternatively, you don't feel like stopping at all, just run it. 

3.  Honk as often as possible, for no apparent reason. 

4. Driving on sidewalks:  Purely optional.  As far as giving pedestrians the right-of way, when you are driving on sidewalks--refer to rule # 1.

5. If you are in a left handed, single lane turn lane, and you happen to be the last car in the line, it's okay to leap frog everyone and make a double left turn with the person in the front of the line--after all you have the right of way (#1). 

6.  If you come to a cross walk and you see old people & children patiently waiting to cross the street in sub-zero temperatures, always remember rule # 1!  Stopping is optional, however if you do stop, you may get honked at by the people behind you--refer to rule #3.

7.  Pull out in traffic first.  Look second.  Rule #1.

TidBits

I was taught how to ask, "Are you really crazy?" in Korean today.  I have heard this sooooo many times that I already knew how to say it.  Those little stinker kids have been asking me this for 10 months now and of course busting up in pure delight at my clueless expression.  Ohhhh how much fun it is to pick on the non-korean speaker!   I love them.  I really do.  But they're stinkers, no doubt about it.

fancy food & product displays

Street Food!  What's not to love?  Battered & deep fried goodness.

The restaurant put this little tray of food out on the street to show a sample of their menu or maybe the special.

This was was the onset of the weight gain.  They do waffles right here!  You can get them covered in gelato, with mounds of whip cream; Fruit & whip cream stuffed in between, for a waffle sandwich;  Waffles dipped in chocolate.  I will never look at waffles the same. 



mmmmm...................


This one is a window display at dunkin donuts.  This country does cakes right too!



I went to dinner at Son Myung-ai's house this evening.  This was dessert!  Very delicious.



And this was the main course.  It is called, "Jin-da" which basically means 'boiled chicken'.  I fear a rather boring name for something so extravagant & interesting.  It was very likely the best meal I have had since my arrival in Korea. 





And the award for the creepiest window display goes to.....

Seriously creepy, right?  This was at an upscale boutique too!

It is not as spooky without the TV glowing, white noise--but still a little off.  I actually quite liked the display.  Creepy and artsy looking. 









streets of ulsan...

Average looking store front

These little claw toy machines are insanely popular here.  There is hardly a city block that doesn't have at least one of these.

This is hard candy that they shape into ornate designs.  They always look too pretty to eat.

Two little girls walking down the street carrying flowers.  What you don't see is that right after this photo, the girl in blue threw her flower down in a fit of disgust.  I don't know why.

Gloves hanging out to dry

Flyer for a concert (I think)

Street corner shop.  They sold mostly rugs, ear muffs and socks.

Tis the season for tangerines & potatoes.  They are literally sold on every street corner, make-shift stand right now.  You never have to question what is in season in Korea. 

Something was happening today.  I can't read it so I don't know what.

Your neighborhood hardware store.

Truck parked up on the sidewalk selling tangerines.

A group of ladies were sitting out on the sidewalk selling miscellaneous goods.

The sock and PJ truck stand.

You see a lot of older men & women pulling these carts around collecting cardboard boxes out of recycle bins, I assume to re-sell.

pictures

Me and Son Myung-ai.  She is such an important part of my life here, I thought it was about time to get our picture taken together. 

One of my sisters sent me a care package with this Xmas tree.  My apt is so small and to top it off I am not the cleanest person in the world, so decorations end up getting swallowed.  I gave it to Son Myung-ai yesterday and it made her so happy.  She sang, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" in Korean, while she put the lights on it.  No doubt the new home, in her Kimbap shop, will be the perfect place for it.  I suspect it will be used for years to come.

She just put this divider up between the dining room and the kichen and decorated it for Xmas, now the little tree lives on that divider. 

Decoration on her wall.

My meal every day at her restaurant.

Random photo.  This is at one of my schools.  It speaks for itself I suppose.

practically fluent...and oh so cool

Sometimes I get overly-confident and proud of myself.  Every now and then I will order food, completely in Korean.  The person will give me my total in Korean and without having to cheat and sneak a peak at the price I can understand the amount of money the clerk said AND they give me what I order.  It makes me swell with pride every time it happens and I do a little, unnoticeable happy-hand jive dance in celebration.  Small accomplishments.  Recently, I think I have gotten a little full of myself.  I smugly walk up to the counter and flawlessly place my order in "perfect" Korean, secretly wishing another westerner was around to witness my coolness.  In the past week, I have had 3 transactions without once having to resort to my elaborate mime routine.  Each time I am plum proud of myself, pay the woman and wait for my order.  The problem is--I am most certainly not getting "what I ordered".   I guess I should not be so quick to put my mime act on the shelf...just yet.  Although I still can't figure out how I managed to get a Hot Chocolate, when the word for Cafe Latte in Korean is, "Cafe Latte".   I think this particular barista just takes a stab and guesses with me...so far it is about a 50-50 accuracy rate.  Not sure why I keep going back. ;)   I think she feels sorry for me and my pathetic use of the Korean language and doesn't want to make me feel bad, so she just fakes it and hopes for the best!  She is probably doing her own version of the 'happy-hand-jive' dance at her world renowned abilities to understand "Konglish". 

 

 Last night at a different place I ordered two Mon-du.  I got 10 of the wrong thing.  I kept thinking, I said, "deu-gae"!! (2-units)--obviously more concerned with the quantity issue than the complete wrong item.  I don't even know what the word is for ordering 10 of anything. I am limited to quantities, no higher than 5.  My apartment is full of items purchased in quantities of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.  I also sound cooler when I say "Han-gae", "deu-gae" or "Sae-gae" rather than holding up 6, 7, 8+ fingers.  Knowing me, if I really needed 8 of something, I would order 4 and then go back a few minutes later and order 4 more!  Fortunately, I only have to worry about myself, so I usually don't need more than 5.   I really enjoyed the 10 food items I got by accident though.  I just wish I knew what they were and what the word for "10 units" is, so I could order them for real next time!  Or just stick to my orginal plan and order 5 and then go back for 5 more.

 

One of the best things about Korea, is that you can eat cloves, upon cloves of garlic at every meal and your fellow citizens will never be the wiser, because they too, have eaten cloves upon cloves of garlic.  It is one of the major perks to a garlic lover, like myself.  At home, I would think about what I had going on the next day, which would be the determining factor of the amount of (if any) garlic I consumed.  There are meals here, where they bring you a small bowl of about 10 or so cloves.  You can eat them raw, you can cook them on your hot plate w/ the meat.  It's your choice.  It's brilliant.  I fear when I go back home I am going to have to be quarantined for an indeterminate amount of time.

 

Survival:  You have to learn rather quickly that everyone, I mean everyone, besides you has the right-of-way.  I doesn't matter if you are up against another pedestrian or a moving vehicle.  However, if you are on foot and up against a moving vehicle, you are at the bottom of the barrel.  I haven't quite figured out the logic behind this.  Just because you move slower?  Maybe?  Or possibly, because chances are, you're going to be the one to die if you come head to head?   I don't think there is a word for "safety" in Korean. When you are walking on the sidewalk you have to make way for motorcycles who often times come flying down the sidewalk when the street gets too congested with other cars.  Or when they are running red lights, sometimes they'll do it up on the side walk so technically it's not illegal?   It's pure madness.  I have been here for 10 months now, and I still haven't gotten used to it.  Every time I am doing the side to side jiggy trying to dance my way off the sidewalk when a motorcycle comes flying by, I am just as baffled as the first 100 times it happens.   In all my time here I have never seen a police man pull anyone over.  In fact, people run red lights in front of the police.  Per red light here, you will see at least 5-10 people blast right through them, right into oncoming traffic that legitimately has the green light.  Another funny thing about red lights:  If you are in the front of the line, stopped at a red light and the person behind you wants to go, they'll just start honking at you until you run the red light.  It's crazy!  I am such a nice Colorado girl when it comes to giving everyone the right of way and politely waving others to go first.  I would never cut it as a Korean driver.  Of course I don't think there is enough medication in the world to make me brave enough to get behind the wheel in this country.

SOS

One of my 3rd graders is far from being a good buddy of the English language.  She is very against "listen and repeat" drills or even tracing the alaphabet and/or simple words.  In fact, the only words she speaks to me are, "Teachaahhhh  movie" or "Teachaaaahhh game".  Her contribution to English class.   She basically speaks English like I speak Korean---purely on a "need to know" basis.  For example:  I need to know how to order coffee & food, along with asking a taxi driver to take me somewhere (Tae-young needs to know that English class will be fun for her).  Beyond that, I am admittedly a lazy, lazy Korean speaker and somewhere in between being barrelled down by scary, old ajumas and hacked on--I've lost interest in trying.    Not the point of the story though:  In class Tae-young was having a really, really hard time learning "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".  I saw her slumping shoulders and frantic look, wondering how she will ever, ever memorize this much English all at one time.    She calls me over and points to what she wrote on her paper which were to my surprise, 2 whole letters, I didn't even think she knew.  Her words to me were, "SOS".   She then spoke her third sentence, "Teachaaah SOS".  It struck me so funny.   I then sat down with her so she could phonetically write out the lyrics to Rudolph in her own language.  Her message was taken loud and clear.   Apparently I was doing a bad teacher thing, by assuming they knew more than they did.  As it turns out, with this particular class, there were many, many messages of SOS.  Hint taken.  Rudoloph is a VERY complex song when it is not in your own language!  I sometimes forget these things.  I have gotten so used to these guys, there are times that I completely space out we speak very different languages.  If someone stuck this song in front of me, printed in Korean, it would take an eternity for me to sound out...so in many ways they are much further ahead in their English than I am in my Korean.  Smart kids.

Another thing my kids love to say to me is, "Very, very good job".  They only say this when I have an easy class that involves coloring or a game/movie day.  However, when they say it to me, they speak it very fast and prounounce it like it is all one word: "belrybelrygudjob".  B's & V's are confusing for them at this juncture.  They also roll the r sound into a combination of an r/l (in Korean 'r' and 'l' are interchangeable).  And they pronounce "good" like the 'o' sound in "goofy".   It's actually pretty dang cute.  It never fails to bring a smile to my face.  BelryBelryGudJob!

TidBits:

Korean Motorcycle Police drive Harley Davidsons!

Commericals for Ramen noodles gross me out a little.  I know it is just one of many cultural differences, but the sound of people slurping their food is completely icky to me.  Anyway, I saw my first (and only) commercial for ramen today, and was really impressed with the 'in stereo' sound effects of people slurping the noodles in enjoyment.  I don't know why I was surprised to see and hear this on the TV.  Very realistic commercial though.   In case you wanted to know:  Ramen is pronounced "Ramyan" in Korean.

can't even think of a title..

There are often times when I go into my kimbap shop and there are "secret" messages for me.  I don't always know who is writing the messages, but I sure enjoy being the recipient of them.   Here are 2 pictures so you can see what I am talking about.

 

 

 

The other day I was at a bus stop and this car pulls up next to me and they began speaking quickly and in Korean to me.  I was somewhat alarmed, when they grabbed onto my arm and were trying to pull me into their car!  I am pointing to the bus that is just now pulling up and they were not about to let me get on it.  I finally recognized a few words they were saying, specifically "503" and "apartment".  It then occurred to me that they were saying "Elm House" (the name of my apartment), which in Korea is "Elm House", but they pronounce it very differently.  Phonetically, they say, "Eleeeemah Housah" with a rolling r/l sound on the Elm portion.  Once I established I was not about to be the victim of a Korean kidnapping, and these were actually people who live in my building, I started to relax and was most grateful for the ride home!  The commute home went from 45 minutes, to about 20.  I actually don't mind the bus system, but getting a ride once in awhile is most appreciated. 

 

I purchased my ticket home and have an exact time when I will be back in the US.  I have never looked more forward to home in my life.  Of course, I have never been away from home for over a year either. My last day of school is February 17th and I fly to Malaysia on February 25th.  Prior to getting back to the US, I am going on a month long trek across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.  The bulk of the time will be spent in Thailand though.  The first few weeks will be incredibly busy between catching planes, trains, buses & Tuk Tuk's :).  The latter part of March will be spent on a Thai island in a beach hut/bungalow.  I foresee much beer drinking and great Thai food while lazing about on the beach watching the world go by.  I have been stressed to some degree or another almost since my arrival here (hello new grey hairs, forehead creases and weight gain! Oh my!), so having a month to decompress prior to beginning the next chapter (which is full of uncertainties), will be just what I need.  Don't get me wrong, Korea has been good to me.  Incredibly good to me.  But, I want home.  I can't think about it too much, because I get butterflies of excitement in my stomach.  These butterflies hit me at an intensity level of Christmas Eve at age 8.

 

Speaking of Christmas:  I'll be spending this Christmas volunteering at an orphanage.  I am really looking forward to spending Xmas this way.  Think it will be good for the soul.  We will be doing a variety of activities & games, along with a nice dinner for 4 hours that afternoon.  Sadly, a lot of the orphans here come from perfectly fine families, but after a divorce many kids are sent to orphanages. Unfortunately, there is a lot of stigma attached to unwed mothers.  So much so, that it is not uncommon for them to have a difficult time finding a landlord who will even rent to them.  Obviously much of society looks down on unwed mothers, so it is almost better for them to leave their children there, rather than suffer the societal repercussions they can be faced with.  I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for many of them to make that choice.  I have a soft spot for one (of many) kids at my school.  I don't know what it is about her, but she just tugged at my heart strings from the very beginning.  Just a little angel.  A few months ago I was telling a story about how this little girl (E Min-ju) walked me home from school.  My coteacher says, "Oh, she has only a mother.  Her parents are divorced", in a tone that had a sense of finality to it. 

 

To end on a happy note.  Have I ever shown you a picture of Honey Butter Bread?  This is basically Korean magic (voodoo might be more like it--it is out of this world delish).  I had another one recently.  Each time one is placed before me, I am compelled to take a picture.  I can't help it.