We have some friends who say that Korea is just a little odd.
*Motorcycles drive on the sidewalk
*Koreans grocery shop on weekend evenings - the later the busier
*Dogs here have their ears dyed hot pink or lime green
*Koreans advertise using white people - there are so many ads with Caucasians!
*Rice is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
*Couples dress alike as a sign of their affection towards one another
*Koreans use umbrellas to protect themselves from the snow
*Everything in Korea is healthy for you - anything you consume, as long as it is Korean, is good for you
*Banks are open Monday to Friday, 10am - 4:30pm, but most people work Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm
*You need your ID card for everything
*Koreans know their blood type (they judge personalities based on blood type)
*Konglish - a mixture of Korean and English that results in quite an interesting language
While these things are definitely odd, I am able to take them all in stride. Today though, we experienced a part of Korean culture that was just a bit too freaky for me.
We went to the Paju English Village.
The village was financed by the Korean government in an attempt to improve the English skills of the Korean population. I was told that many Korean English teachers do not support the English Village. They feel that the village was a huge expense that does not pay off. This place is huge - and it must have cost a ton of money to create (and maintain).
The trip started off with us going through customs to enter the English Village - a fun activity, not too odd.
Next we visited a post office and a police station. The kids loved being locked up in the jail cell, though the programming left a lot to be desired. The hands on activities were sorely lacking - I could have taught a better lesson in my own classroom, but that wasn't the problem.
Walking through this village was just surreal. The village was designed to provide Korean children with the opportunity to speak English. Kids wander around the village (which is HUGE!) and participate in various activities with native English speakers (this could have been my job!) Throughout the village are speakers playing messages in English and English music - Pink, Britney Spears.... There are regular running coffee shops (we had coffee at Tom n Toms), pizza joints, and even a pub (though I'm not sure that they served beer... I hope not!)
The oddest part was the musical that we attended. The whole time that I watched this terrible show all I could think of was - this could have been me.... Think of the outrageous kids shows they have on TV in Canada - over the top songs, really uber energetic actors, and bad story lines. This was an attempt at that, but it kind of failed. The English was spoken too quickly, and the songs were terrible. Now, I love me a good show. I must admit, that even though I was appauled at the show, I was also intrigued. While some of the male teachers fell asleep, I couldn't look away...
I'm sure that I have not fully captured the oddity that was the Paju English Village. It was just freaky. Can't say much more than that... I wish that you could have been there to experience this oddity that is the English Village.
~Jen
So we've been out of touch for a bit. But it isn't really our fault. We lost our Internet for a week and it took three visits from two technicians to finally fix it. We had two visits from an incompetent technician who said that Mac computers can't connect to the Internet and that you can't have more than one computer connected to the Internet through a wireless network (incidentally, we've had our two computers connected to the Internet for the past four months). Anyway, we're just happy to have our Internet and our hot water back (did I mention that our hot water went AWOL again?!? Three days of no hot showers in the middle of winter!!!).
So aside from our home problems, Jen and I have been really enjoying the winter camp at her school. We have our fire back! Teaching normal classes at our schools has been tough, since we have hundreds of students that we see for only 45 minutes each week. But we get to spend our entire days at the camp, from 9 until 3, with the same students and we've been able to get to know them and form relationships with them. The students get three hours of English instruction each day and then they have activities like sports, drama, and cooking in the afternoons. So we're also a lot busier than normal and we don't have all the free time like we do during the normal school year. We come home exhausted after interacting with energetic students all day with few breaks, but at least we come home fulfilled and having enjoyed our days. We'd love it if we could teach camps all year long!
I teach 12 students and then run a sports club after lunch. This is where most of the boys from all three classes (Jen has 16 students, and Justin, another English teacher, has 12 students) get to run around and use up their energy. There are also three girls in the sports club too. I'm having a lot of fun teaching and interacting with these students. It's been a good week and I'm looking forward to the next week with them too.
These are the women I have been sharing an office with for the past four months. (We were at a noraebang - a singing room... so fun!!)
Two of them are my co-teachers who teacher English with me, the others teacher science and music. They are delightful women, however they don't speak that much English. I usually end up listening to Korean chatting at lunch time, and whenever we go out for a meal. Although I truly cherish these women, it makes it difficult to feel a part of the group when you don't understand what they're talking about. Every so often someone will lean over to me and give me a one sentence synopsis about what they're discussing, but that's not enough for me. I want to be able to participate in discussions and not sit there with a fake smile on my face, trying to act like I'm interested, and not bored.
One of the things I've struggled with most in this job is not being able to communicate with the rest of the staff. I am the only native English speaker at my school (which is not odd in the public school system). My principal and vice principal do not speak English which means that I rely on my co-teachers to help me communicate with them. I can't get materials out of the supply room without my co-teachers because you need to sign things out, and I don't speak enough Korean to do so. Even getting photocopying done here is a struggle.
Jeff and I both love Seoul. We have great friends here, we LOVE the subway system, and the city in general. But, we don't love our jobs. We don't hate our jobs, we just don't feel passionate about what we're doing. I don't get up every morning (or any morning for that matter) excited about the day. I would love to have my own class, and teach lessons that are no so regimented by the text book. I would love to be able to communicate with my students beyond "How are you?" And, I would love to know my students' names - I have 300 kids, which makes it difficult to remember all their names. I love teaching because of the relationships I get to form with the kids. My current situation does not allow for a lot of relationships to be formed. There are definitely some kids who are awesome, but I don't even know their names!!
I look forward to the weekends. It is for that reason that we are looking into other jobs for next September. Unfortunately Korea has recently changed their visa and immigration policies due to a Canadian pedophile who was caught after having spent time in Korea. These visa changes mean that we may not be able to work here next year. In addition to visa issues, there are not many (I've only found one) non-religious international schools we could work at. So, we're looking abroad.
Apparently New Zealand has a huge teacher shortage, and someone else mentioned Hong Kong having lots of international schools. A couple of our friends here are thinking about England (I LOVE England...)
So, our plans for the new year? Well, we're not sure. In some ways I hate not knowing what I'm going to be doing in less than a year, but in other ways I find it exciting. I would love to stay in Seoul, but who knows what the future will hold for us. (We'll let you know when we know...)
For now, I'd like to wish you all the best for the new year, whatever adventures it may hold for you.
I had my grade five class write letters to Santa as part of our Christmas class. I explained how to do it and gave them a sheet to fill in.
Let me share with you some of the final products.
He asked for a girlfriend.
After I took the picture I showed him, his reaction? "Ah, very handsome!"
What a cutie!
She called me over "Teacher, how do you say... um... push... push baby?"
As she was asking me this question both she and her friends were motioning giving birth.
The final product.... I can't help but laugh.
Notice what Santa is getting? Kimchi and pizza... mmm!
Just a few more pictures of my cute grade 5s. Enjoy!
This segment was on the local news. My school was featured because of their broadcasting program. Every morning the grade sixes (well some of them..) do the school announcements (it's broadcast on the televisions that are in each of the classrooms.
All the students in this video are kids I teach. The teacher who is interviewed (Yun) is one of my office mates. She's really kind and friendly.
You won't be able to understand any of this (unless you speak Korean...) but it's a good look at my school (they pan across the school yard), and a chance to see some of my kids in action. They recenly won an award for their broadcasts. Yun received a digital camera.
Enjoy!
~Jen
For the most part I would have to say that Koreans are fairly reserved people. They are not overly boisterous or outgoing. This is a huge generalization, but it is something that I've observed over the past three months that I've been here. In their jobs and daily life Koreans seem reserved. Throw some alcohol in the mix (mostly at the men) and that will quickly change - it's quite enjoyable! It must be worth noting too, that I don't have very much contact with "young" Koreans. I have heard that the younger ones (like my age or younger) know how to party, and that things in this culture are changing....
Koreans know how to laugh, but are not boisterous. This is something that I seem to struggle with a bit. I am not always boisterous, but I can be energetic, and I do like to laugh and have a good time. There has definitely been some adjusting here. (In Uganda I fit in well. The people there were joyous and laughed a lot despite their hardships.)
There is, however, one woman here who makes my day. She is the parent of one of the kids at my school (I'm not sure which one) and she has such energy. When I pass her on the way to school she almost jumps with excitement and greets me with a huge "GOOD MORNING". I love it. It makes me so happy to see someone with such a zest for life. On our school walking day she was one of the parents who was stationed along the route and when we passed by she was SO excited. Again, so happy and joyous. I think that's what I'm missing here - the joyousness (is that a word?! Maybe jubilation is a better word...) that I found in Uganda.
I am quite happy when I chance upon this mom in the morning. She definitely brightens my day. I just wish that there were more Koreans here who outwardly demonstrated their excitement for life.
~Jen
Attempt number two… Grr!
I would politely ask that if you ever make your way over to my house (and you are very welcome) that you remove your shoes before entering. I don’t like to vacuum, and taking off your shoes means that there is less dirt flying around my house (or in this case, apartment…)
Koreans believe the same thing. Many restaurants require that patrons remove their shoes (and sometimes even don sandals) before entering. Every morning I make my way through the children who have stopped at the front of the school to remove their outer shoes and put on their indoor shoes. I too am expected to remove my outdoor shoes (unfortunately I rarely do… I like my shoes to match my outfits and can’t be bothered to carry a different pair of shoes to school every day…. Shhh!)
Lesson 14 for my grade sixes utilizes the phrase “Don’t take off your shoes”. Now, I don’t know about you, but most of the people that I know (in fact, all of the people that I know…) request that their visitors remove their shoes before wandering around their homes. Upon teaching this lesson I proceed to tell my students that if they ever come over to my house they are required to take off their shoes. I try to instill in my students the idea that almost all “Westerners” will require that they remove their shoes when they visit – just like they are expected to do so in Korean culture. My co-teacher, however, doesn’t agree. She lived in Seattle for a year. During that time, her landlord came over to her condo and entered the house without removing his shoes. She also mentioned that there is no spot to leave your shoes in a “Western” home. In Korea there is a step down in the front hall, a spot for people to leave their shoes.I tried to explain to her that often times service people don’t remove their shoes, but everyone else does. Still, my co-teacher would proceed to tell the students that it depends on the family.
Now, I know that not everyone removes their shoes before entering their homes, but my feeling is that the majority of people do. So, I’m conducting a poll. Please leave a comment to tell me whether or not you (and your family… friends…) remove your shoes before (or upon) entering your home. Am I crazy (well, don’t answer that…)? Do Westerners really NOT remove their shoes upon entering their homes… ? Am I really not the norm?
~Jen
[edit: The girl who says "Oh, don't take off your shoes, we don't take off our shoes in the house" is white. She is clearly from America or Canada, hence my co-teacher's belief that this statement is true of all North Americans...]
A few weeks back (October 27) we went to the DMZ (demilitarized zone). It was a really interesting trip, and even after having crossed into North Korea itself on another tour the subsequent weekend, I'd still say that it was a worthwhile trip, since we were able to visit the JSA (joint security area) and learn about some Korean history. We've got lots of pictures here. But for those of you who are too lazy (you know who you are!!!), I'll post a selection of them here.
The blue buildings are the UN negotiation rooms and they actually straddle the border between the South and the North. You can see a horizontal line just beyond the middle ROK's (Republic of Korea soldier) head. That raised concrete is the actual border between the South and North. The two ROKs on the sides are half behind the buildings for cover if the North decides to do a little target practice and I guess the guy in the middle is just out of luck and has to take one for the team.
Vanessa, Becky, myself and Jen standing next to a ROK in one of the UN negotiation rooms. We're actually in North Korea in this photo! This guy's standing guard (see the door behind us?) so that soldiers from the North don't storm the room and kidnap any tourists.
A view of check point 3 (which is no longer in use) from check point 4. This is where the Axe Murder took place in 1976 (2 US soldiers and 1 Korean national were killed) when the UN tried to cut down a poplar tree that was obstructing view between CP 3 and CP 4, where we are standing. If you look closely at the very lower left of this photo, you can see the stump to the said poplar.
Also, to the right of the CP 3 in this photo is the Bridge of No Return, where Koreans at some point had to choose on which side they wanted to reside (decision was final - no further border crossing was allowed, hence the name).
Gijeong-dong in North Korea, a propaganda village. It used to broadcast propaganda messages over a loudspeaker system telling everyone in the South how great the North was. It no longer broadcasts. Also, the village is not populated.
The flag pole is supposedly the tallest in the world at 160 meters, and the flag is so gi-normous that it's dry weight is 600 pounds!!!
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Yeah, so lots of neat stuff. Go check out the rest of the photos. We had an awesome time and if any of you ever make your way to our neighbourhood, we'll take you for a look-see. How many times in your life are you going to get to visit a demilitarized zone where there are thousands of armed soldiers all around you ready and waiting to fight? Ok, it sounds more dangerous than it really was... though, we did have to sign a waiver saying that our tour operator (USO - United States Overseas) could not guarantee our safety and that we understood that we could be killed on this tour. Hmmm....
Jeff began to blog about North Korea, the restrictions and the things that we experienced whilst there. Although there were tons of restrictions with regards to what we could and could not take pictures of when we were travelling from one spot to another, when we hiked the mountain and around the lake we were fairly free to take as many pictures as we wanted. So we did.
Due to delays at the border on Saturday morning (there were 2,700 people crossing the border with us to visit North Korea. Our group had 80 foreigners, the rest of the people heading into North Korea were South Koreans.) we were late arriving in the North. So, the initial itinerary was thrown out the window and we all hiked Kumgansan Mountain instead. This mountain was gorgeous. After spending about 30 minutes in a small bus that drove us part way up the mountain (oh my, I thought I was going to die on this trek... narrow, windy roads and the driver taking the turns rather quickly, I expected that we would end up at the bottom of the mountain some how...) we got out and began the trek up to the top of the mountain. The view from the top was AMAZING!!! (Check out our pictures page for the link to some of our pictures.)
After climbing the mountain we went to see an acrobatics show. The acrobats were amazing, but as Sara put it, it seemed as though the equipment they were using came from Russia in the 1950s. It was old and didn't look very sturdy. There were quite a few times when I was scared for the acrobats. Most of the show was done sans nets... they were brave - or maybe just following orders... needless to say the show was very impressive.
After that we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night. We fell asleep around 8pm and woke up ready to hike at 6:30 the next morning. Sunday was a light hike around a lake. We also visited the ocean (it was GORGEOUS!) but were forbidden to take pictures of one of the cliffs for security reasons.
The rest of the day was spent in a Jimjibang - a Korean spa. Now, when I think spa, I think massage, pedicure, maybe a mud bath, cucumbers... Korean spas are very different. You must get naked, yes, stark naked, and go and sit in hot and cold pools/tubs of water. After much giggling and hiding in our lockers (don't worry, Jeff was in the men's area... it was just us girls!) we managed to drop our towels and run into the bathing area. After a bit of uncomfortableness we finally managed to overcome our embarassement and were able to thoroughly enjoy the spa experience. There were germanium pools, jade baths, hot baths, cold baths, baths outdoors (overlooking the mountains - it was beautiful!), dry saunas, wet saunas, and showers. By the end of the experience Kelly Sara and I were standing around the water cooler, naked, just chatting. Sorry, no pictures of that experience. Kelly and I did decide, however, that a jimjibang would be a great place to knit. It's warm and there are lots of adjumas (old ladies) around who would be interested in our knitting. Next Stitch and Bitch? In the jimjibang!
I will leave you with a picture of me and Kelly knitting in North Korea (this is knitting content for you Maja!) She is just learning how to knit (and doing a great job..) so I was helping her a new stitch - brioche, it's all the rage here!
Lesson 9 of my Grade 5 curriculum uses the key phrase "Whose ____ is this?" By the end of the lesson the students should be able to ask "Whose ____ is this? Is this yours?" and respond "Yes, it is" or "No, it's not mine".
Today, at the end of one of my fifth grade lessons a bunch of students huddled in a group close to the door looking down at the floor. Wondering why they were not leaving, I approached them to find out what they were looking at. "What are you looking at?" I asked. "Tooth" they replied. I looked down, and low and behold, there was a tooth on the floor. How it got there, I don't know. How I didn't notice that one of my students lost a tooth, I'm not sure. When I asked "Whose tooth is this?" no one replied. I asked again, and one of the weaker students replied "No, it's not mine."
I had to laugh to myself as I picked up the lost tooth and put it in the garbage (the tooth fairy doesn't bring money for teeth that are not yours!) - well, at least something that I've been teaching over the past 2 months has sunk in!
~Jen
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