Happy Thanksgiving--Korean Style

What a great Thanskgiving.  Rather than doing a traditional home-cooked meal (which was harder than expected to locate even the most basic ingredients here), we decided to go for an 'All American' meal of Burgers at this great little restaurant called the "Tool Box".  What a fantastic and memorable evening we had.  Not sure I could have asked for a better Thanksgiving!  Great group of people, that were so much fun, great food and great atmosphere.  It was a mish-mash of 5 different countries represented at the table--many of whom enjoyed their very first Thanksgiving meal (although far from traditional)...it was still a great holiday to share with new friends.  The man who runs the place topped off our evening with a complimentary shot of jagermeister mixed with some sort of energy drink.  I don't even remember the last time I had jagermeister, but it was another unique twist that added to the unusual (in the best possible way) Thanksgiving. 



This is the man who made it happen!
His nickname is "Tool Box".  Notice the
writing on his jumper, "My English Sucks!"
All part of the charm of the place.



This is the crowd I shared it with.

Part of the magic The Toolbox creates.  Every time we go there he gives us complimentary dishes.  They call it "service"--- so they set a plate at your table and say, "service"....  It's a magic word in Korea.   These chili-cheese fries are as good as they look!

My turkey burger.  It is supposed to come w/ cranberries, but they were fresh out.  Pineapple worked great!

"Service" chicken wings, courtesty of some unlucky chickens from his backyard.  There were about about 8 more of these, but they disappeared pretty fast.

All part of the charm!

http://ulsanonline.com/restaurant_guide/?p=948   If you're interested, here is a link to Ulsan Online, which has a nice article about this restaurant.   Cheers!

holiday cheer

It's the holiday season, but there have been almost zero reminders of it here.  It scarcely seems like Christmas is a month away.  The only sign of it I have seen so far, is one small holiday display in the store I shop at.  Otherwise--nothing.  Although I think American consumerism takes Christmas to the extreme, completely missing the point of the holiday, with commercials and decorations starting well before Halloween, I found myself somewhat sad today and missing the holiday cheer.  Underneath the crowds & the chaos and the pressure to spend gobs of money you don't have, there is a certain hopefulness to the Christmas season that is just not there any other time of year.  There is this magic that the lights, the smells, and the music have on you that can transport you back to the same exact feeling you had when you were a child.  Today I was walking past a starbucks and noticed their red holiday cups and a few stenciled holiday decorations on the window, so I decided to go in and have a warm cup of something to see if I could capture just a bit of the holiday.  I sat down at one of the tables, drank a few sips of my latte, and to my happiness, once I was able to block out the dull hum of the voices speaking a foreign language, I heard Christmas music playing--in English.  What a little piece of magic it was.  I have made a conscience effort to try and avoid the machine that is starbucks, instead trying to support the local coffee houses without fabricated character, served to you in McDonald's fashion.....  However, today, I was most grateful that I could count on Starbuck's to give me exactly what I needed at that exact moment in time.  Holiday Cheer.  Maybe there is something to their branding after all.

 After this summer, being sticky-humid hot, it was difficult to imagine it ever being cold again.  Well, the cold is officially upon us, and it is nothing short of miserable.  I grew up in cold weather, so I am somewhat surprised at my sissy-la-la reaction to korea style cold.  This is one seriously cold country!  It is that humid cold, from the misery known as the East Sea, seeping into every last part of your body.  What is worse about the cold, is that my schools seem very against using their fully-functional heating system.  It's terrible.  I am teaching class in my over sized sweater, down vest and wool socks.  It's just not comfortable and I can't imagine being a kid and actively learning in that environment, when you can't escape the focus on the miserable cold you feel.  When I am not teaching and at my computer, I hardly get any work done, because I have to take breaks to sit on my hands or get up and move around to regain feeling in my limbs.  

When one thinks, "school supplies", normally pencils, paper and the like come to mind.  Well, today I am going on a mission for school supplies, which include:  wool slippers, over sized sweatshirts,  fleece shirts/pants, fingerless gloves (so I can type) and more socks.  I hate to put this kind of money into this, but the next 3 months are the coldest of the year, and I just don't want to suffer any more. 

I know I have mentioned before that I am always laughed at.  And, well, nothing has changed in the slightest.  I am still laughed at.  All the time.  I only teach 5th and 6th grade at my main school, so the only time I have interactions with the younger kids is in the morning or on lunch/recess break.  Last week I was standing at the water fountain filling up my bottle, when I noticed around the corner a few kids peeping at me.  They were each pushing the other towards me, in a manner that can only be described as "daring".  I imagine their conversation went something like, "there she is--you do it--I dare you to go say hello--see what she'll say.." with a response of, "I'm not doing it, youuuuuuuu do it".  One of the kids, the boldest of three, marches over to me, showing off a bit for both mine and her friend's benefit and says, "Hello!"  I then say, "hello".  She then says, "Hi!"  I repeat it back to her.  She then looks over her shoulder for reassurance from her friends, and once satisfied asked, "How are you?"  I said, "I am fine" and then they lost it completely and busted up in this full-on deep, belly laughter, like I had just said the funniest thing known to man.  The girl runs back to her friends and they could hardly get control of themselves and just kept pointing their fingers at me and then ran away, in fits of hysterical laughter echoing in the halls, repeating the conversation and mimicking my voice.  I would like to say they were laughing "with" me, because, yes, I was laughing too, but I know better---I was not included in the joke, I was the butt of the joke, as usually is the case with elementary students.  Oh well, I am happy to be non-stop entertainment for these kids!  I imagine later in life, they will remember bits and pieces of these interactions with the foriegn English teachers and it will likely bring a smile to their faces.

About a month ago on the bus, I ended up sitting next to someone from another country as well and we struck up conversation about why were were here, how long we've been here etc (the usual conversation when you run into any other foriegner).  We chatted up until our connecting bus and then parted ways.  Today, I was in a store on the opposite end of town and saw him there.  We both did that awkward double take, of "hey I know you and I don't know why or how I know you".  Anyway, we established how we knew each other and I said, "small world".  And he got VERY serious, like I had just kicked his puppy and in an almost condescending tone of voice said, "Um, not really, there are actually 7 billion people in the world.  I don't think that constitutes as "small", as you say".      Me:  Shuffling feet, somewhat awkward---"Yeah..okay, good to see you again, byeeeee".      And that's how you end a conversation you no longer want to be in.  :)

candy...korean style





Mmmm... mentho-lyptus candy...







Dear Korea,
Someone lied to you.
It was not nice.
XOXO



closeness

This past Sunday, Son Miyung-ai invited me to her home.  I sat with her and her daughter in the living room watching a Korean singing contest on TV (similar to American Idol but on a MUCH smaller scale).  In most Korean homes they eat on the floor, with a very short table (it actually just occurred to me that my "night stand" is a dinner table heh heh), and you share everyone's food.  So Son Miyung-ai and her daughter ate off "my" plate and I started eating off of theirs too.  Not a lot of conversation took place and at times it felt somewhat awkward, but it was still incredibly special to be invited to her house.  It was the first time I have been invited to any Korean's home, so it was wonderful to see this side of the culture that I have not yet been privy to.  Her house is a very modest two bedroom apartment, which by American standards is incredibly small ( I had a studio one time that was about the size of this place).  It is very homey and you could tell there is a great deal of TLC put into her home.  It was just what I pictured her home to look like.


After dinner, Son-Miyung-ai and I went on a long walk.  We talked a bit and I helped her clarify a few new English words/phrases she recently learned from her tutor.  All in all it was a pretty special evening and I am very grateful that I was invited into her personal world.  I think I will have her over to my home sometime in the next month.   Possibly for a belated-make shift thanksgiving dinner.  I won't be able to get the majority of the fixins' here, but I will make do with what I can find (and able to cook, since I don't have an oven).


My contract is up in 3 months, and she is expressing a great deal of sadness at my departure.  My relationship and the close friendship I feel with her is truly inexplicable.  We just have this connection, that was obvious, from the first time I went into her store.  We just have a close bond/kinship that falls somewhere between mother/daughter and old friends.  I am incredibly sad to leave all my kids behind, but it will be much more difficult to leave Son Miyung-ai.  I am not sure why I am mourning my departure, when I have 3 months left!  I'll stop now.


I went in for my nightly kimbap fix this evening and she started testing out her new English words on me, somewhat surprised at the way they have started rolling off her tongue.  She then runs to google translate because she wanted to express more than her current English vocabulary permits and typed in, "It is like a dream that I am starting to speak English" and then she went on to say that she "always wanted to learn, but thought it would never happen for her"--given her age, I assume.  I gave her an open-ended invitation for her and her son to come visit me in the states and that I would be their personal tour guide (and hotel and friend and chauffer).

As always I am amazed at what a close, affectionate culture it is here.  There are just not the same hangups that you would find in many western cultures with closeness, particularly with boys.  Here, boys of all ages are very affectionate with each other (holding hands, giving each other shoulder massages etc), and it is very nice to see that there is not the same sort of hangups and name calling that would take place, even as young as elementary school, in many western cultures.  Today, one of my 5th grade boys was talking to me and then just started giving me a shoulder massage (a really awesome one, I might add).  It was not in a "weird" or "creepy" way either.  His friend was right there and they just seemed like they were just having a typical conversation, and it was no big deal that one of them was giving the teacher a shoulder rub.   One of my third grade boys has been giving me a high-five every time every time I see him for the past several months.  This past week the high-five was upgraded to a hug (surprised me in the best possible way).  It made my day getting a hug from the little guy.  I respect many things about Korea, but I think at the top of the list is the closeness and very open affection they share with their family/friends and people they accept into their close circle.


Tidbits:

I was given an incredibly kind compliment from one of the teachers at bad school.  He tells me, "I want to say to you--- that you look prettier than you looked last week".  It was a very sweet compliment--However, I am not sure what has changed so much since last week!  :)  Most compliments I get here, come with a little ding as well.  I have gotten, "Oh you lost weight.  You look better.  You don't look good with more weight".....   Either way, a compliment is a compliment and I'll take them....


My students current favorite past time to harass "Christine Teacher":  Stealing my phone and changing the language to Korean.   Ohhhh just endless fun!

Happy Pepero Day 11.11.11

Today was a surprise holiday (at least for me it was).  During my first class this morning, my kids excitedly ran into the classroom and began showering me with cookie-chocolate sticks.  More amazingly, is that they were ALL wrapped!  It was incredibly sweet and such a great way to start the day.  I got about 12+ of these chocolate sticks and 3 boxes of the smaller version as well.  Pepero Day is very similar to Valentines day.  Just a day of showering people with cookie-chocolate sticks and spreading a little bit of joy & love.  It certainly made my day a little more special.   Here is a picture of my gifts.

kimchi? it is too spicy for you.

I want to go on the record as saying, "I LOVE my fair adopted country".  With that said, sometimes you just have to poke a bit of fun.  There are things that happen here that I will likely never understand (and I'm okay with that).  Given that I will never, ever, ever understand it, I have no choice but to sit back, scratch my head, chuckle to myself and go with it.

The other day all the students went on a school picnic.  There were a small handful of teachers, the vice principal, and a few administrators that were left behind.  The VP ended up having us come down to the teacher's lounge for lunch this day.  He treated us to an amazingly lavish lunch of noodles, kimbap, mon-du and numerous side dishes.  In addition to the food, there were several bottles of beer and soju on the table.  The men were sitting at one side of the table, doing shot after shot after shot of soju.  The security guard, who is a nice older gentleman who gives me a military salute every day and makes it a point to wish me a good morning/afternoon, along with weather observations, ended up bringing the bottle of soju down to me and we proceeded to do a shot together.  Just one of those Korean moments that is so incredible to be a part of.   The entire situation tickled me to pieces...the kids go away on a picnic and those left behind get drunk.  Fair trade, I'd say!  I love how what I perceive to be as "normal" rules do not apply here.  In the US there would be a thousand and one law-suits waiting to be fought because of this sort of thing.  It is just another world here.  Completely.

Actually aside from occasionally drinking hard alcohol on school grounds, every day in Korea is a law suit waiting to happen.  You can scarcely walk 10 feet without seeing something that would easily be a law suit in another country.... it just amazes me.  In some ways I kind of like it.  That it is not a law-suit happy country, that is.  In many ways I respect the way they view it: "If you're dumb enough to do something to hurt yourself--then--you probably deserved it.  Get over it."  In other ways there are down right dangers, like complete open construction sites, with some pretty dangerous stuff going on...with children playing under foot, people walking on the busy sidewalk next to it (and directly under it), while the construction workers have a bit of a lunch break with a few shots of soju.  Maybe not the safest of environments, but I guess it works, because they sprout up new buildings here all the time.  Although, I don't know what the injury/fatality rate is.

Odd, repeat conversations plague many of us Native English teachers (NET).  I find myself having the same exact conversation with often times, the same exact person every day at lunch and other times it will be a different person, but the same conversation.  These conversations have spread and I find myself having identical conversations outside of the school with complete strangers as well.  I am not the only one who suffers these conversations, as many of us NET's, share alarmingly similar stories (so much so that there is a haiku website about these conversations), so it starts feeling like there is some sort of script being passed around amongst the Korean community--a sort of "how to mess with foreigner's" pamphlet.  Here are a few examples:

Kimchi is literally served at every meal.  It comes in varying degrees of spice and style.  No 2 kimchi dishes are exactly the same, although they are over-all very similar.  Anyway, here is the conversation that takes place with a person who I have had this same, exact conversation with twice a week for 8 months straight:

K=Them

K: Oh, you eat kimchi?
Me:  Yes
K: It's too spicy for you.
Me:  No, it is not too spicy.
K:  Yes, it is too spicy for you.
Me:  Not really.  I like it.
K:  You like it?  But it is too spicy.
Me:  Yes I like it.  It is not that spicy.
K:  No, it is too spicy.
Me:  It is not too spicy.
K:  It is too spicy for you.
Me:  I like spice.
K:  You eat kimchi?
Me: Yes.

Outside of the school:

K:  Kimchi. It is too spicy for you.
Me:  No, I like it.
K:  No, it is too spicy.
Me:  No it is not.
K:  But, you eat it?  It is too spicy.
Me:  I like it.  No it is not too spicy.
K:  It is spicy.
Me:  I like spice.
K:  You like kimchi?  But it is too spicy for you.

On Chopsticks (again with the SAME person)

 
K: (looks at me, as if it is the first time they have seen me all year long) "Ohh you can use chopsticks?"
Me: Yes, I have been using them daily.
K: Oh, you don't need a fork?
Me:  No, I can use chopsticks.
K:  You are good with chopsticks.
Me:  Thank you.
K:  You can use chopsticks??
Me:  Yes, I can.  I have been using them for 8 months.
K:  You are good with chopsticks.  Do you need a fork?
Me:  Thank you.  No, I don't need a fork.  I can use chopsticks.
K:  You can use chopsticks?
Me: Yes, I can use chopsticks.
K:  Do you want a fork.
Me: No, I can use chopsticks.
K:  You're good with chopsticks.
Me:  Thank you

On Rice:


K:  Do you eat rice in the USA?
Me:  Yes.
K:  Really?  The USA has rice?
Me:  Yes, we have rice.
K:  So you eat rice in USA?
Me: Yes, I eat rice there.
K:  Do you like rice?
Me: Yes I do.
K:  Did you eat rice in USA?
Me:  Yes I eat rice in USA.
K:  Really?
Me: Yes.
K:  Kimchi is spicy.
Me: Yes, but I like it.
K: It is spicy.
Me:  I like spice.
K:  No.  It is too spicy for you.
Me:  It's nice.
K:  Do you eat rice in USA?
Me: Yes.


Tid Bits:


When you buy eggs here, you know they are super fresh because they have bird poo & feathers on them.  I say this without sarcasm....I really like how fresh they are.  I appreciate that carrots are sold covered in dirt, among numerous other veggies and that the eggs are literally from farm to my kitchen.  It's kind of cool.

One of my teacher friends was told by her coteacher, "you should stop giving the kids crosswords because they don't like to use their brains".  (I am guessing there is a lost in translation in there somewhere, but it is funnier this way).

One of my facebook friends status updates:  "I miss the Halloween season.  I miss seeing costumes.  Well, I did see someone wearing bunny-rabbit ears, but in Korea that may or may not be a costume."          It is terrible, but it is SOOOooo true.  I see people wearing bunny ears and cat ears, for no apparent reason.  There is a cuteness to this society that I poke fun at, but I sincerely find it rather endearing.  I love that you can be a complete goof here and it's ok.   It's just expected.

bits

I am going to a house warming party at my Son Miyung-ai's home this week.  I am truly honored to get an invite to her house.  It will be a small group of people, 6 in total.  I am the only English speaker, so I suspect it will be a night of putting my miming & facial expressions to superb use.  Fortunately her son will be there, and his English is good enough to get a few more points across.  Not to mention he comes complete with his handy-dandy i-phone which translates all sorts of phrases and words.  I asked one of my Korean teachers what I should bring as a gift and said I was thinking flowers or a plant.  She said that is good, but something that Korean's commonly bring to house-warming parties is Toilet Paper.  It surprises me and yet it doesn't all at the same time.  :)  I think I'll stick to flowers.  I just don't think I could keep a straight face and hand my host a roll of toilet paper, even though it would be perfectly culturally acceptable.  Of course, my teacher could have been playing a cruel trick on me, in which case, kudos to her.

It is not common for people to neuter/spay their dogs here.  They say that, if you neuter or spay your dog (or cat) it is not good for their health because it changes their hormones.  Thus, you have tons and tons of stray dogs (and gazillions of alley cats) running loose all over town procreating their little hearts out.  Fortunately I have not seen one get hit by a car yet, but it's been a close call a few times.  It just kills me to see these dogs running in the street.  Especially in Korea, where the roads are filled with an abundance of not-so-sane drivers.  :)

On Fridays I work at both my schools.  I start the morning off at my close school and then take a bus up to my far school around lunch time.  This Friday morning I am in the middle of class and I heard my cell phone ringing in the other room.  Obviously I didn't run to answer it, because I was teaching class.  A few minutes later my co-teacher's cell phone rings and, well, she answers it and stands off to the side and has a conversation.  She comes back and says to me (while I was in mid-teaching), Jeojin (other school) wants you to go to the English center at 130, instead of going to their school.  She then says, "Da young said she called you, but you didn't answer your phone.  Where is your phone?"  I said it was in my bag.  She said, "But you don't answer it".  I said, "Well I am teaching class".  She said, "but you don't answer your phone".    From past experience, I know where this conversation is going.  It will be a back and forth of Korean Logic vs. Western Logic (I was teaching class. You didn't answer your phone.  Because I was teaching class.  Why don't you answer your phone?  I was teaching.  But you didn't hear it ring?).  I will lose.  I always lose.  :)  So I said, "thanks for telling me".        I don't know that I will ever get used to the cell phone usage in this country.  People will be in meetings with the principal and their phone rings and they proceed to have a loud conversation right there.  It's really interesting.  This would be considered so rude in the states, but here it is a no-brainer:  If your cell phone rings. Answer it.  End of story.

One of my students has been saying bad things to me under his breath for months now.  I have known all along what he is doing because he drops his voice kind of low and says something inappropriate, but naturally I have NO idea what he is saying and from my bag of tricks (faking them out), I say, "You better not say that too me". Sometimes I get a sorry, but with this particularly boy it really hasn't deterred him much.  This week was a really tough teaching week for me and I have gotten pretty fed up on numerous occasions at the insensitivity of some of these kids (again a really tough week).  He said something to me again and it just rubbed me wrong after I asked him not to do it and he did it again.  Fortunately I am able to better understand the sound system of Korean, so I went to my co-teacher and asked her what a few words were.  She about lost it, and went and gave that kid a stern talking to.  Oddly enough I felt bad for telling on him, but this week I have just really gotten sick of some of the disrespect and rudeness of these kids.  It goes in waves though.  Fortunately these really crappy weeks are much fewer and further in between and thankfully Friday is never that far away.  :)

I had my first burger in Korea the other day (a turkey burger, but a burger all the same)!!  There is a burger joint that opened up just around the corner from my house.  It is called the "toolbox" and the guy who runs it wears an automotive repair-man's jumpsuit.  Embroidered on his chest, where is name tag would go reads, "My English Sucks!".  It also had one of those yellow "wet floor" caution signs on the ground, with a picture of a person falling down.  However this one read, "Absolutely No Break Dancing".   He also brought our table some complimentary chicken wings.  We were raving about how amazing these chicken wings were and said that he should put these on the menu.  He said to us, very matter-of-fact, "they are from my chicken in my backyard.  i only have so many chickens you know".     He also does all day breakfast sandwiches with eggs from these chickens in his back yard.   The place is less than 2 minutes from my house.  So happy.  I just miss western food sometimes.