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.   

this and that...

I had my last and final, "open class" (principal, VP & parents sit in on).  I am so relieved they are over.  I watched my video and it is amazing how nervous I felt, but it does not show up in my voice, mannerisms or gestures in the least.  Very happy about that.  For these classes we are encouraged to get a little more dressed up for obvious reasons.  So I wore my basic, go-to black dress and a simple cardigan.  One of my students, Kim Min-ju (AKA double-handed happy waver) kept lipping out, "WOW" to me in the middle of class.  She then did a looney-tune's hour glass hand gesture, like when one of the characters is talking abut a sexy girl.  I just about lost it when I saw her do it.  She was very subtle (for a 5th grader), so nobody else saw her do it but me.  She did it a couple more times, and since this class was pretty important, I had to avoid looking at her for the rest of the class.  First time, I have ever had anyone make that gesture to me.   Only in Korea.  I love my kids.

 

My co-teacher at my main school (good school) sat down with me the other day and wanted to know what my decision was about staying in Korea for another year.  I decided against it.  I really, really miss home and I have a big giant home-sickness ache in the pit of my stomach.  I love it here, I really do.  I feel that I am fortunate to have had this experience, and would not trade it for anything.  At the same time, I just really want to get back home, to what is familiar.  Missing my "real life" a bit.  Also, when i think about going home, I get such a nice feeling of excitement.  When I think of staying in Korea for another year, I almost feel somewhat forlorn about that.  So that, in and of itself is a good enough answer for me.

 

I'm going to start bragging in this nex paragraph, so i apologize in advance and....well...bear with me!  :)   I am incredibly excited because I have tickets booked from Korea to Malaysia on the day my contract ends (Feb 25th).  From Malaysia we have a train booked to Singapore and from Singapore we are taking a plane to Thailand.  From Thailand I have not decided what will happen next.  After my travel partner (another teacher here) goes back to the states, I will stay behind in Thailand and either stay on the beach in a $12 dollar a night beach hut, I might take a $100 dollar flight to Bali and stay in a $20 dollar a night hotel, or I may end up journeying across through both Cambodia & Vietnam.  Right now everything is up in the air, after my travel partner leaves.  It is insanely inexpensive to travel around SE Asia.  The flights that we booked were less than $70 dollars per ticket (and just over $100 to get to Malaysia)....and the train (1st class sleeper) is a whopping $20 dollars.  I am looking at this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and since it is unlikely that I will come back this way, I really want to take advantage of my proximity and the inexpensiveness of this travel.  The expensive ticket (just getting to Korea in the first place) has long since been purchased and paid for, so this is now the easy part.  It will be incredibly nice to unwind and destress, without and agenda and without pressure or obligation, before going back home and getting on with my life.  Right now I plan on being back in Colorado mid March to early April.   Unless I am offered an amazing job in Bali or Koh Phangan, Thailand. 

 

pocket treats...

Just in case you thought I was exaggerating with my description of gross, gifted pocket treats from my little bundles of joy, I thought I would post a photo.  Today, my 4rth grade class showered me with gifts.  It was incredibly sweet.  They give me this stuff with such sincere enthusiasm and I can't help but smile and offer up an equally sincere "thank you".  They pull this crap out of the deep dark corners of their backpacks & pockets, place it in my hand and say, "teacher, eat" miming out the action of 'eating'.  I say, "oh yes, I will, thank you", all the while being eternally grateful for the 1 second attention span of kids!





It's rare to get something still in the plastic, so that was a pleasant surprise.  Also, in case you are wondering, yes that is 'ramen noodle' pieces.  yummy! 



to stay or not to stay...

Covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough is not a common occurrence in this country.  Today I was followed around by one of my students and he kept sneezing these full-on open mouthed sneezes on me and then as soon as I thought I was spared, I would turn around and get a big, fat, wet cough right in the face.  One of the ironies about this country is that general 'cold prevention' is done by wearing surgical masks, rather than from people not coughing or sneezing on you (covering your mouth when you cough/sneeze is purely optional).  If you don't want to get sick, wear a mask.  End of story.

My schools really want me to sign on for another year.  I am incredibly flattered that they like me and that I have done a good enough job that they are asking this of me.  I have to give them an answer by this Friday.  In exchange for me signing on again, they'll work with me on changing the class schedules, so that I won't have any more "after school classes".  ("after school classes" are basically supplemental/extracurricular classes that have a free-form structure (AKA chaotic & stressful).  All my classes at bad school are "after school".  These classes are taught w/out a coteacher so it is me against a roomful of kids who thrive on making me crazy).  I love these kids...all of them at both schools.  Even all the one's at bad school, but when a Korean teacher is not present they are terrors, particularly when they are in a group (which is all 10 classes I have w/ them at bad school).  On an individual basis, they are all good & respectful (even the 2 I just mentioned--minus sticking their tongues out at me when I pass them in the hall and such--but I can deal with that).  So the 'deal' they are making with me, would be a really good one.  My stress level would be a lot more manageable.

I had a class at "good school" today, where the school principal and VP sat in on it.  After it was over, they had to "rate" me in about 10 different categories on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best).  Being the sneaky person that I am, I snuck a glance at my scores and was very pleased to see that I was given, '5's' in all categories!  After this class, the principal and VP told my co-teacher to get me to stay.

I am really enjoying my time here these days and am sad and surprised that the end is so close.  As many of you know, it was very difficult for me the first few months, where I would call you up and sob my brains out because of the major culture shock and absolute loneliness that I felt.  But, now...honestly, I am loving it.  I love Korea and all it's crazy, quirky ways.  I am seriously considering signing on for another year, but need to take the next couple of days to think about it pretty seriously and weigh out the pro's and con's.  I may see if they would be willing to give me a 6 month contract, because I could do that, but not sure I am up for an entire year.  Not to mention, one of the reasons I am loving Korea more and more is because I have a couple of great, new friends here, who have really made my time here tons more enjoyable. Sadly, these people are all leaving in February.  Anyway, I will think it over and see what happens.

Son Miyung-ai (Kimbap lady) and I have started eating dinner together about once a week.  The first time, I was just ordering when her mom came into the shop and they all sat down at the table with me and we shared a wonderful meal together, speaking in very broken English & Korean.  It's hard to describe the amazing feeling of acceptance and also surrealness to find yourself in Korea sharing a meal with 2 older Korean women.  It was one of those moments where you look around and think, 'there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be, then doing what I am doing with the people I am doing it with'.  Tonight I had dinner there and she and this little girl (apx 4 years old), who is the daughter of the small market owner, right next door, both sat down with me and shared another meal.  Again, incredibly strained and almost impossible conversation took place, but yet another another very special Korean moment.  Getting accepted & invited into Son Miyung-ai's world has been been indescribably special to me.  I am very grateful to her, beyond words, for her and her hospitality. 

tidbits: 

They sell Halls cough drops in the candy aisle here.  They are even labled as "invigorating candy".    

As always, I love reading people's shirts here.  Here are a couple more that I recently saw, that just struck me funny.

Scream Blue MURDER (In HUGE letters, with MURDER written in caps across the butt)

Juror, Away from my Murderer (This one really confused me.  What could it possibly mean???)

Had my first burrito in Korea last weekend!  At a "real" Mexican food restaurant!  We went to this city called, Busan, (about an hour away) and I just about lost my brains when I saw a Mexican food place (the people I was with had no hope of eating anywhere else).  It was not what I would call a "normal" burrito, but it was close enough.  I have been craving Mexican food for months now. 

USA Kimbap

My wonderful kimbap lady, Son Myung-ai, makes me  incredibly happy.  It has been such a blessing that I have been fortunate enough to cross paths with her and develop this inexplicable bond through both language and cultural barriers.  She is like a Korean mother to me.  She took me shopping through the street market this past weekend, walking hand in hand.  This is very common in Korea, for both men, women & children of all ages to be walking arm in arm or hand in hand.  It is just a physically close & affectionate society (when they aren't barreling past you to get on the bus first).  Anyway, it was just really neat going to this market that I frequent with her and seeing it through her eyes.  I also bought some apples from one of the stands and was given the best apples I have had since arriving in Korea.  The woman went to her special stash, so I think it helped having Son Myung-ai with me.  She also bought me a pair of socks.  Here is a picture of them:

That's what Kimchi is made from.  It's called a Daikon, which is basically an Asian radish.

I spent about 3 hours with her that day, when I specifically went in there for some kimbap, before I went to the grocery store.  After we got back to her shop she wanted to know what I was buying at the store and I told her tortillas and named a few other things.  She wanted to know what 'tortillas' were, so I explained them, and then pulled up google images to show her.  She then wanted to know what I did with them, so I again pulled up images and showed her a few pictures of tortilla wraps.  She smiles and says in a really excited tone of voice, "Ohhhhhh USA Kimbap!!!!".   It tickled me.  I will never be able to make a wrap again, without thinking, "USA kimbap".

Son Myung-ai asked me to tutor someone that goes to her church, for no small amount of money.  I thought about it pretty seriously, but many teachers get fired from their jobs when they are tutoring outside of their contract.  Although Ulsan is about the size of Denver, it has a very small city feel at times, with the strong sense of community.  When I walk down the street in my neighborhood, I am certain the majority of the regular stores I pass and people I see know that I am the teacher at Bangeojin Elementary.  With this in mind, I didn't want to start tutoring and have word get around that I am tutoring this person and run the risk of losing my job this far along in the contract.  Also, not to mention I would like to honor the contract and not be in a position to question my integrity.  When I spoke to Son Myung-ai a few days later, she told me that he has a "big mouth" and she worries for me.  She is also worried because he is single and he wants someone to do many things with and she worries that he will get the wrong idea about me.  With that said, that was my non-existent stint as an English tutor.

"Teacher!!!  White hair!!!" says one of my students today in total shock and amazement.  From there a small crowd of students gathered around my chair each taking a closer look at my head and getting a little too excited for my liking when they kept finding more!   The sad part about this, is that once a week I let a small group of students have one guess at my age, and if they get it right I will give them a piece of candy (I've had to 'pinky swear' on this at least a dozen times).  We've been playing this game for a couple of weeks now and so far nobody has guessed the correct answer.  Right before the white hairs were discovered, I was feeling pretty good about myself as a round of guesses included "23, 18, 25, 22".  After the discovery I noticed an alarmingly drastic difference in the guesses.  Almost immediately, I got "40, 39" and one of the students who guessed "23" then upped her guess to "35", but I don't let them change answers.  I had google translate up at the time of the discovery, and I put in there "korean children gave me white hair".  They laughed and said, "sorry teacher".

I accidentally let a slug loose in my apartment.  I have been eating on some kale for a little over a week and this morning I was getting ready to put some in my eggs.  It was looking a little wilty and then there was this weird black, smooshy thing in the bag, so I decided against using it.   I pulled out the leaves to stick them in the compost container and on closer examination of the bag, realized it was a slug that was hanging onto life.  Being the softy that I am, I put the slug on the kale leaf, in the compost container and thought to carry it outside to set it free and give it a chance at life (yeah, i know....).   I go about cooking my breakfast and the slug is coming to and looking like it was going to make it, but--well, how fast can a slug thats been in my fridge for a week move?  So I decided to finish my morning routine before taking it outside (about 15 minutes). Well, needless to say, the slug was not where I left it or any where in sight.  Who knows....I just hope I don't discover it by stepping on it.    If you've ever wanted inspiration to wash your "pre-washed" vegetables though...

Tid Bits:

I took Son Myung-ai on a virtual tour of the house & street I grew up on and then through Denver as well, using google maps 'street view'.  She was really excited to see it and kept thanking me over and over for sharing this with her. 

"Teacher....me??...Rock Star?"

I accidentally trained my 1st graders to associate getting the answer right with, "Rock Star" (said in a very enthusiastic tone of voice).  It was not even registering with me that I was saying this until today!  But, apparently I have said it enough that my kids now think that "rock star" means "doing a good job" or "getting the answer right".  Today, when they correctly wrote out the word 'cat' one of them said, "teacher?? me?  rock star?", pointing at their correct answer.  Then, systematically the rest of my 1st graders wanted confirmation of their correct answer with me saying, "rock star".   Oops.   My contribution to the Korean Educational System. 

I have honestly never been more aware of my choice of words and how much or how little I say in my life, like I have been with working with ESL children.  The entire time I have been in Korea, I have been limiting my use of "extra" words or complicated words and trying to be as clear and concise as possible, because if you say something like, "It sure is nice outside today, with that nice warm breeze" they then have to pick through all the extra words to try and make meaning of your sentence.  But if you limit your words to, "The weather is nice" you have a much higher success rate at them understanding you.  My point in this is: I can't believe I have been concentrating this insanely hard on my vocabulary and delivery for 8 months straight, yet still managed to let "ROCK STAR" slip in without me being remotely aware of it.  Who the heck says that anyway??!!   Ugh.  Not yet sure how I am going to untrain them, even though it cracked me up to no end when I heard it.  I mean, who wouldn't love a cute little kid looking at you with wide, innocent eyes making inquires about their rock star status?

Korean children love to share their food with you.  Nothing quite makes my day like a small Korean child, fresh from the bathrooms, reaching into the bottom of his book bag, producing squishy food.  They get a look of absolute seriousness on their faces, looking from me to the food, while I silently panic thinking, "ohh sh**, please don't give it to me, please, please" and like all battles with Korean children, I lose.  They say, "Teacher, here" and smile at me waiting for my enthusiastic response, which involves gestures like rubbing my stomach, saying, "Mmmmmmmmm thank you, my favorite".  You can't say "no" to the food that is gifted to you, no matter how creepy it is.  I mean, you get lint filled chocolate treats dug out of their pockets and placed before you (pocket treats are the grossest of all).  Today I scored, chips that were fondled & sampled by three different 5 year olds, before finally being gifted to me; a 95% eaten bag of popcorn that lived in the bottom of a 5 year old's backpack for who knows how many days; and a somewhat warm lolli-pop.   It was a good day at school.

mish mash photos

I've gone through my photos and I've taken so many random pictures these past months.  I've decided to put all of them together, into their own little mish mash series. 

This is the logo for a very old and very much so closed down bar.  The building was in pretty rough shape and although you can't see all the detail here, the sign is peeling off.  I just liked the look of it.

They put pictures on a lot of the stalls here so you know what kind of toilet you'll be getting.  The proper name is called, "Traditional Asian Toilet" although it's much uglier stepsister nickname is called, "The Squatty Potty".  I call it the latter.  :) 

I like the demonstration. 

The next few are in Ulsan Ecological Park.  It was quite lovely. 

There were these incredibly long tunnels of gourds, galore.  It was pretty cool walking through them.

and more gourds...

and more gourds...

and more gourds...

and more gourds...

I can't remember what kind of bird this is.  A heron?  Maybe?

This was at a coffee shop near my home.  We ordered cocoa and after we finished that, the host brought us some tea.  It was very pretty.

This was the view from my partment a few months back. Very dramatic skies here...at times.

Freaky spider.  Unfortunately this is not a rare sight to see.  HeeBee-GeeBeez just looking at it!

Korean cemetary

I find the mound style very interesting.

This is a little more tradional burial mounds.  You see these all over the place.  Just unmarked burial grounds.  There is usually a path to them, so someone is doing upkeep on them, but they are pretty non-descript.  This one was located about 15 feet off of a hiking trail.

These were located at the base of the hiking trail.

Just a random photo of a shed.  We were at a bus stop just above it. 

The next few are photos that Dan took.  This was taken just a couple blocks from my house.  You see people down on the beach drying seaweed all the time.  I was really happy to see that he got a picture of this woman.  This is a very common sight here.  You see tons of women in this squat position selling vegetables, working etc.  I have not had enough guts to ask to photograph them (yet).

Seaweed... 

In case you ever wondered how the SeaWeed is prepared, you should rest easier knowing that it is laying in the street with people walking, spitting, stumping out cigarette butts and other gross things (public urination is not uncommon).  I've seen many things laying out drying in the street...veggies & fish most commonly. 

Unfortunate end to some fish...

We're still in the "Dan Series"... I think this is some sort of love bridge.  People write their names (theirs & their lovers) and lock it to this railing and it binds their love.  :)  It is kind of neat.  I haven't been there yet.

Great photo Dan!  :)

Now, back to me...   In Seoul...rainy day.

Rainy Seoul Nights

This is a walk through, that connects from Seoul Station (railroad/subway) to the other side of a very busy street.  In each of those dividers are homeless people.  It was very depressing walking through there (and a tad smelly).

Accidental picture of some side street in Seoul

Back to Ulsan.  Love Motel Alley.

Scurdy-Cat

This looks like it used to be a store or a patio area...but now is overgrown with stuff & junk.