My little teachers

Teaching in Korea has been a wake up call. I've learned that my patience is not as enduring as I thought, and that teaching is the best way to test it. I've also learned a lot about kids, more specifically, Korean kids. They have amazed me with their knowledge of world affairs, and of their capacity to learn. You'd think that most kids would only care about video games and what the latest pop band was. Albeit most of them do, but they also have their ears open at the same time. They take in more than you think or expect of them.

My elementary kids are my favorite. I'm always surprised at how much they know about their own history and about current political events. Although, probably 90% of it were from conversations overheard from their parents at the breakfast table. However, most of us at ten years old, myself included, did not even pay attention to such things, let alone have opinions about them. My kids have become my history teachers, my Korean pop culture gossip columnists, and my tour guides of Seoul. Yes, they have tested my patience in every way possible, but they also have shown me that respect and trust has to be earned by both authority figure and student.

It's the best feeling to see an old student in the hallway and have them greet you with a toothy smile. Sometimes they like to give you parts of their snacks (cookies, oranges, dried squid), and even after you politely decline, they insist by pushing them into your hand with their little germy ones. I love being able to have old students come up to me and want to talk, or show me to their friends as their old teacher that was "mean but nice". It's rewarding when you walk through the door on the 1st day of a new term, and you have an old student beam up because you're their teacher again. These moments help me get through the rough days and assure me that I might be doing something right. Teaching has been the most tiring, stressful, and challenging job I've had so far. At the same time, it's the one job I've learned from the most and I'm grateful for the experience.

Korean moments

I forget I live in Korea most of the time. I think growing up in a city might have helped. Plus, it's a developed country so some of the comforts of home are available. But, sometimes, when I least expect it, I have "Holy (expletive)! I'm living in Korea!" moments. These moments happen usually when I'm able to just be still and am not rushing to get somewhere.

Like, when I'm at a movie theater and I get to the counter to buy a ticket and instead of just giving it to me, I have to wait while the girl smiles and does a little hand twirling dance, as she welcomes me to the theater in a sing-songey voice. Or, when I'm walking around with my 6'5 caucasion boyfriend, and a 3 year old boy starts pointing at him in awe and calling his mom to see. Or, when I see a rag doll like leathery old man, propped against his cart weighed down with recyclables, smoking a cigarette like it's his last breath, while everyone else walks past him. Or, when I go to a department store and am able to order 6 pairs of prescription glasses, have them made within an hour and a half, and have to only pay about $230 for all of them. Or, when I see a Quiznos and excitedly run to it and order, not because it's amazing food, but because it's been a month and an hour on the subway since I've been able to eat something "American." Or, when I go to a fish market and am told that there isn't actual food in the restaurants because you're supposed to go into the market, pick out your (live) food, and then bring it to the restaurant so the cook can chop it up and make it right on the spot, duh! Or, when at the same fish market we watch a fisher woman reach in a tub of octupi and put two in a green bag, as they cling to her wrist. These octupi we would later eat live as they squirmed and suctioned all over our plates.

These are my "Holy (expletive)! I'm living in Korea!" moments. They're rare, but when they happen they stop me dead in my tracks. They're dramatic, colorful, and assure me that I'm in the middle of a ridiculously great time in my life.

When I first arrived in Korea I had no expectations. Even though I'm a Korean American, I had never been to Korea, and sadly, I didn't know that much about my culture either. I decided to come and teach in Korea because it blended two things I love, travel, and adventure. Being an English major guided me into thinking that teaching could be a career path for me. Everything was fair game to me here. I wanted to take everything in and learn whatever I could.

My new job required a week of training before getting placed to different branches around Seoul. As soon as I arrived from the airport I checked into the hotel designated by the company. Each training day lasted for about 6 hours. It was unpaid, the beginning of winter, and unorganized because our group consisted of about 150 people. Our very first day all 150 of us were taken to a hospital to get our blood tests, x-rays, and physicals. That day remains to be one of my longest. Looking back I don't know how I managed to survive training and winter in Korea without getting sick.

After training we were assigned to our branches. I got placed all the way up to the northern part of Seoul, in Suraksan. The other trainees teased me, saying I was going to be living in North Korea. It's definitely different up here. The air is cleaner, it's less congested, and most of the people living here are either senior citizens or families. Outside my balcony are several mountains that look majestic during sunrise and sunset. These mountains attract bundles of hikers from all over Seoul. These hikers, geared up in their boots, backpacks, ICE PICKS, and bottles of soju or mokgoli, take their hiking seriously. The surprising common denominator is that they're all middle aged or older. A sprinkle of younger people go hiking, but most are strong willed and hard working older men and women. I got the sense that all those saturdays that my dad dragged me and my sister at 7 am to go hiking were simply the Korean-ness in him.

Moving into my officetel proved to be a story all in its own. I left the hotel where training was at 9am, arrived at my officetel by 11am, and had until 3pm to get it cleaned before going to work. The apartment was a MESS. Dust filmed the floors, a faint smell of pee permeated throughout the whole space, and the toilet was covered in all kinds of stains. Apparently, the person moving out does not have to clean the apartment, but the person moving in does, or at least hires a cleaning lady to do so. This last bit of information was never told to me by my ditzy real estate agent my company hired. So, on hands and knees, I cleaned off a corner of my new home with toilet paper, the only thing I brought with me that could be used for cleaning. After work, at around 10:30 pm, armed with cleaning supplies from the corner market, I scrubbed and bleached, and dusted everything I could. All together I spent about 6 hours cleaning and I still hadn't touched the fridge or cabinets. Overwhelming is the perfect word for my first two weeks in Seoul. It was like an initiation. When my new co-workers would ask about how I was doing I'd tell them my apartment ordeal, and they would smile and say they went through the exact same thing. I was told that if I could survive my first 3 months, I was here to stay.

It's my 10th month here and I'm proud that I lasted this long. Coming here with no expectations and then experiencing life outside of my little Californian bubble was like a huge slap in the face. As difficult as that first month was, I learned a lot about myself and what I'm capable of. I learned what most people learn when traveling, your weaknesses and strengths. But Korea has taught me more because it has given me an opportunity to experience a different way of life, and so far I'm appreciating all of it.

Introduction

I have finally decided to join the blogging party. I've had some reservations. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe in actual letters you have to mail at the post office, and holding a newspaper in your hands and reading it. A blog to me went hand in hand with e-mails and reading newspapers online. I thought it'd feel impersonal and detached. Like reading your journal out loud in front of everyone you know and their mothers.

But, I've decided to sit down and give it a shot. Instead of writing 10 page e-mails to family and friends, they can read about my experiences day to day, on this blog. I will be sharing my journal with them, and in a way this will be a great way to chronicle my time here. I've realized that my adventures in Korea are too valuable not to share with my friends and family.