A recap

I apologize for the lack of posts as I know how much everyone anticipates them ;).  A lot has happened in the (almost) one year since I last posted. My last post was shortly before I boarded a plane to India and spent a little over a month traveling there. Since then, I've completed another semester and a half of teaching Business English at the university, completed my first High School kids English camp (more on that later), returned to the US to see friends and family in California, Gangnam Style happened(and is a favorite norae-bang/karaoke choice) and I was "promoted" (given more responsibility without a pay raise). I realize that's a lot to cover and if I was to write about it all I'd have to shut myself in my room for a long time but, come to think of it,  I'll be doing that anyway since it's now Winter here and time for me to go into hibernation.

I'm not kidding about the hibernation. It's now 39 degrees (F) outside which, in my opinion, is a good enough reason to stay in bed under the blankets until it's time to go to work at 6pm. There is nothing fun about Winter here-- even when we are going out for dinner or drinks, we have to suffer the long, cold walk to wherever we are going and then can't enjoy the experience because we're thinking about how cold it's going to be on the walk back. Not to mention that our office is an icebox and the government has ruled that the heat cannot be turned on until it is consistently 18 degrees (C) during the day, which is 64 degrees (F), which it hasn't been for the past two weeks now and still no heat. 

It's hard to think that just 3 months ago, it was so hot that we (the teachers) were complaining about having to wear our short-sleeved camp t-shirts because of the sweat-causing material, and wearing jeans was incredibly uncomfortable. I'm referring to our time during the high school English camp that the University hosted this past Summer. I have to say, I was dreading doing a kids camp because of all of the horror stories I had heard, but it turns out that high schoolers can be pretty fun to teach. I had a great class which included two very outgoing class clowns who were dubbed by the rest of the camp as  dumb and dumber and accepted those titles proudly, knowing that neither of them were actually dumb and it was really a term of endearment. I could go on and on about my experience with Korean high-schoolers but I'll just leave you with my favorite memory: one lunchtime (we were required to eat meals with our class), I was piling my leftover food into my soup bowl to make throwing it away easier, and was noticed by a couple of the boys. They began to make jokes about my "mix food" and daring each other to eat it. After a lot of theatrics during which 4 different boys and our camp counselor (University student/helper) made a show of almost eating a spoonful, I finally announced that none of them were brave enough and put the spoonful in my mouth. This got quite a reaction and started a tradition: at the end of each meal, a few of the boys would stick around and one unlucky loser of rock/paper/scissors would have to eat a spoonful of my leftover "mix food." If they refused, they would be ridiculed and told they were "not man." As disgusting as it was, it turned into quite the bonding time with some of my students. Now most of those students are leaving Korea for Australia, a prize for successfully completing the camp. I have to say I'm a bit jealous that they will be spending Christmas in warm Australia while I will be here, in cold, cold Korea.

That brings me to my final bit of news: This Christmas I had hoped to escape the Korean Winter and spend it with my family in Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, my plans changed once I realized that Papua New Guinea seems to be the most expensive place in the world to get to and I can't actually afford that right now. That plan is being put on hold. So, while I will be going into hibernation for most of December and spending Christmas at the University here in Korea, I have decided to leave shortly after and spend January and February in India (which seems to be the cheapest place in the world). Last Winter I went to the southern part of India and traveled for a little over a month. This Winter I will be going to the northern part and volunteering for a little over a month (possibly longer) at Sambhali Trust

( http://www.sambhali-trust.org/ ), which "provides underprivileged Rajasthani women and girls with educational, vocational, and social skills to help them to become confident and financially independent." I'm still in the initial stages of planning and am currently looking at tickets, but I was invited to join and told that they would like to put my international business degree to use :). 

I said that was my last bit of news but since I mentioned Gangnam Style earlier, I should at least tell the story of how this very song was used against myself and two co-workers for the entertainment of a dormitory security guard. Last weekend, we were searching desperately for a bathroom and ended up pulling a Johnny English-style stunt to get ourselves into the nearest (locked) dormitory. We found the bathrooms and after making use of them, tried to leave. The only problem was that, while we were able to sneak into the dorm behind some unsuspecting students, there were no such students for us to follow out. We were locked inside and being stared at through a glass box by a security guard that we hadn't noticed on our rush in. We looked at him and motioned at the door with pleading eyes and can you guess what he did? He pointed to us and then made the motion for us to do the Gangnam Style dance. He was going to keep us locked inside unless we danced for him. If you haven't seen the dance, you should youtube it...and then imagine us doing it per terms of our release. 
This is now extremely long and possibly boring so I'll stop here. Also, I apologize for the change in size and font...I can't seem to fix it. 

How To Get A Korean Boyfriend

According to this video (which I have seen posted and reposted a lot recently), there is a special art to getting a Korean boyfriend. It involves speaking a certain way, acting a certain way, looking a certain way, and playing hard to get. I suppose that could be said of men in any nationality, but this is the first video I've seen on the topic. Of course, it's a stereotype and I wouldn't assume that this is the case for all Korean guys, but it is very entertaining nonetheless. Enjoy :)

Lessons from students

The leaves are changing, the weather is slowly starting to cool off and I've reached the halfway point in my first semester of teaching at Gyeongsang National University. While I hope my students have learned a lot from me, I can say with certainty that I have learned a plenty from them. In fact, I've learned enough to put together a list for your entertainment.

Things I've learned as an ESL teacher at the university:

1. Human flesh tastes good-  I'm sure you are thinking this must have been one of those big language miscommunications, but my students are at the highest English level in our program, so I'm not so sure. Here's how this came up: I'm not sure what the topic was, but one of my students, for some reason, asked me what it is called when you eat "person meat." I told her it was cannibalism, and then the girl sitting next to her said, "oh yes, this tastes very good." We both looked at her, a bit bewildered, and I asked, "how do you know this?" She seemed to suddenly understand the implications of what she had said and, with a bit of panic in her voice, replied, "oh no, my friend told me!" Hmmm.

2. Korean couples celebrate 100-day anniversaries- Every 100 days they must celebrate being together by going out and doing something very sappy. The girls love it and the guys wish they were in American where this is not commonplace.

3. Their English classes never taught them, growing up, that the e's on the end of words such as "exchange" and "marriage"are silent- I was used to this when teaching elementary students, but I didn't expect it from my high-level college students. They say these words as though the "e" on the end is actually a "y" or "ie," for example, marriagie and exchangie. When I heard them doing this in conversation, I gave them an impromptu lesson on the topic, and they were all very surprised and slightly embarrassed that they had never been taught that before.

4. When you're not sure of a word, make it up- I have a student (our designated class captain) who is very sociable and doesn't let his lack of English language knowledge get in his way. He doesn't hesitate to answer my questions, but tends to use lots of words that really don't exist. The other day, the students were telling me about how he kept saying "digree" and that none of them could understand him. Turns out, he meant "disagree" and was just saying what seemed to make the most sense as the opposite of "agree." Needless to say, he is a very entertaining student.

5. If you are sick and don't have insurance, just use someone else's- I was sick for about 3 weeks straight and am just recovering. During this time, one of my students kept telling me to go to the hospital (as they do that for even the most minimal colds, scrapes, etc) and I kept saying that I couldn't because I didn't have insurance through the university yet. One day, he came into class and told me I need to go in to the hospital and get treatment using his insurance. He said he would give me his information and I would just have to go in and use his name instead of mine. He also said he had called his doctor and everything was arranged. I appreciate his concern, but I couldn't see myself walking in and introducing myself (obviously a foreigner) with a Korean male name. I thanked him but said I would be fine.

6. Telling your teacher that he/she is looking good or bad is perfectly fine- I never have to wonder whether I look presentable or not because my students are sure to inform me. I have on student, in particular, who never fails to let me know whether I am looking good or bad. Last week I walked in, feeling fine, and was greeted with "oh, are you sick? you look sick. your cheeks are very red." Thanks. Then yesterday I walked in and the same student greeted me with "oh, looking good!" Thanks, (more sincerely) again. They definitely don't hold anything back.

7. Following the theme of not holding anything back, presentations about bodily functions are also perfectly fine and apparently not embarrassing- I have a presentations class during which I ask my students to prepare and give mini presentations to the class. The topic of one such presentation was "my weekend." One student (female) stood up and proceeded to tell the whole class that her weekend was not very enjoyable because she had eaten some bad food, gotten sick, and was stuck at home with diarrhea all weekend. I don't know about you, but I would never have admitted that to an entire class of peers in college.

8. Coming to class drunk is...ok?- This week is the GNU festival. Students from the university work together with others in their major field of study and put together tents on campus where they can sell food and alcohol in order to raise money for their major. The area is filled with tents, all blasting music, and tons of people walking from tent to tent enjoying the festivities. It's an eventful festival complete with games, student dance-offs, food and lots of alcohol. That is normal. What I found to be not-so-normal was when I had a student walk into class, slam his head down on the desk and announce that he was drunk. My co-worker and I are convinced that between classes, the students go outside and pound a bottle of soju (Korea's popular, cheap alcohol), seeing as every time we get in the elevator to go back to class, it smells of soju.

I'm sure I will have plenty more to add as the semester goes on but for now, enjoy what is here!

Back to college..I mean Korea.

One year in this country was not enough. At times over the past year I told myself I needed to get away and never come back, but that was mostly during Winter or during times when I was getting hit by taxis or living with Korean grandmothers. Towards the end of my first year in Korea, though, I regained my love for the country while taking camping and climbing trips with other teachers I had become close friends with here. I also began to realize how much I loved my students, once it hit me that I would be leaving them. Needless to say, leaving Korea once my contract ended was a bitter-sweet experience, complete with missing my flight out and being stranded in Busan for an extra day.

I decided I would take a 3 month vacation, starting with a month in Ecuador and moving on from there to Florida, Tennessee and ending in California. Highlights of the summer include the 5-day intense trek with my dad to a remote and very active volcano in Ecuador, a family vacation to the jungle, experiencing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my cousins in Florida, hiking bits of the Appalachian Trail in TN, seeing my grandparents there,  and meeting up with college friends and family in California (and watching my brother play college soccer!). Needless to say, it was an eventful vacation.

Now, after a great summer vacation, I'm back to college...or at least back to living at college. That's right, I now have a dorm room and a roommate and I say things like, "are you ready to go to the cafeteria?"- something I never thought I would say again after leaving Vanguard. A friend of mine was just saying how she misses college life and I realized that I'm right back in it. I'm surrounded by students, living in a dorm room, eating in the cafeteria and spending time each day in class. The difference is, of course, that I'm the teacher this time around. My flatmate is also a teacher, my bed is a king-sized bed, and I spend a couple hours each day planning lessons. I'm fully grown up. I now teach Business English classes to Junior and Senior students from 6:30pm to 9:20pm every night, including an Interviewing class and a Presentations class. I have the higher-level students so their English is fairly good, and they are highly motivated to learn. The hours also leave me with endless amounts of time during the day to do with as I choose. Did I mention this weekend is Korean Thanksgiving? This means a four-day weekend. Life is good :).

Cultural difference or just plain rude?

The other day, my boss was driving my co-worker, Jesse, and I to our adult business-English classes in the next city over, as he does every Monday-Thursday. During this ride, I decided to bring up my departure, which is quickly nearing. I started like this,

"Mr. Lee, when should I start looking for a ticket to go back to the U.S.?"

In response, he burst out laughing and said "Oh, that is a really awkward question! A Korean man who doesn't know American culture would think you are being rude!"

I was a bit surprised and told him that I was not trying to be rude, just wondering when I should get my departure ticket for, since I will be leaving soon. He told me HE understood, but another Korean man might think I was saying "I want to get out of here!" Anyway, he went on to say that if I ever return to Korea, I should contact him because International friendships are important. THEN, out of nowhere (or maybe because we had just talked about friendships and he felt comfortable enough to do this?), he said:

"You know, Dana, you have been gaining and losing weight a lot recently. That is what happens when people take drugs."

Jesse then piped in with, "Now THAT is an awkward question!"

I was a bit shocked and flustered by that and started laughing and then going on about how I haven't noticed any significant weight gain or loss but who knows because in winter I don't exercise as much because it's so cold outside so it's possible I've gained and lost some weight but the scale has never showed more than a 5 pound difference, blah, blah, blah. I then realized that possibly more important than his opinion on my weight changes was his suggestion that I take drugs. I switched tracks and said, "Mr. Lee, do you think I take drugs?!"

He then started laughing and said "That never came to my mind, I was just surprised at how much weight you gained a few weeks ago. I know you don't take drugs but if you see on TV, when the actors lose and gain weight it is because they are on drugs." Then he went on to say that maybe it was because of how I was dressing (lots of layers seeing as its Winter!).

When I got to my adult (all male) class, I brought that up and asked if that was normal in Korea. They all had a good laugh, first, and then said that a man should never say that to a women in Korea, BUT if it's your boss, well then..what can you do? So apparently comments on your weight are OK as long as they are coming from your employer. Good to know.

Korean Winters

I blame my lack of updates on the Korean winter. It has been so cold here that I don't know what to do with myself. Up until now, my winters have been spent either on the equator or in sunny southern California. I didn't know what harsh was until I came here. Yikes.

Also due to the winter, I have fallen into a somewhat monotonous pattern of work, home, sleep and occasionally meeting friends for dinner. There was one sunny day in my memory since coming back from Ecuador during which I was able to rollerblade with my friend Christina, and there was a recent four day vacation during which I braved thechill and went on a four day hiking/camping trip. The hiking trip was well worth the time in the cold and we were able to summit a few peaks, as well as fight with a couple belligerent Koreans(one of them was a drunk elderly-ish man who ate our dinner, threw our stove around several times, and was just all around rude). I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see any of the infamous Korean girls hiking in their high heels (it really does happen!).

I'm racking my brain for more information to share, and the only thing that is coming to me at the moment is that my hair is bright red, after requesting a dark brown at the salon last week. I'd like to say it was a miscommunication, but when you point to a specific hair sample in the color that you want, it's hard to be misunderstood..no language barriers when it comes to pointing and hand motions. And if there was any argument, I'll add that I even learned my colors recently and backed up my pointing with the Korean word for brown. Twenty minutes in, I noticed the dye turning a very red-looking color, so I called my hair person over to me and said "brown, not red?" and she brought me the sample book again, pointed to the BROWN color I had chosen, and assured me this was the right color. Come time to take off the towel and there was no question that what I had was not brown hair. I pointed to my hair and said "RED!" and my hair person smiled and replied, "yes, but beautiful!" Thankfully I was able to convince myself that red isn't so bad and I actually enjoy it now :). (Pictures are more recent so the red has died down a bit!)

I might as well give an update on my work schedule, since it is constantly changing. I now spend my mornings teaching rowdy little Korean kindergarteners, my afternoons teaching lessons to elementary aged children at my hagwon, and my nights in a completely different city, teaching adult males business English for two hours. Apparently studying International Business in college qualifies me for this. Tonight was actually my first night. My co-worker and I each must take one of these classes every night, in a city 20 minutes away from Jinju and at a well-known engineering company that manufactures airplanes and helicopters. My eyes got visibly wider when I walked in (already nervous) and realized my class was made up of all men, all very smart, qualified engineers, and all older than me. I started sweating upon entry and was told by my students to calm down several times, mainly after I realized I was reading them answers for a certain activity from the wrong script and had thoroughly confused all of them. They were decent enough to laugh with me, though, and from there it went pretty smoothly. One man (late 40's maybe?) told me had had to leave halfway through class, but now that he has seen the teacher, he doesn't want to. I wasn't really sure how to take that. They all loved my red/brown hair story and used it in many of the practice dialogues I asked them to perform, so I guess some more good came out of that incident, too. By the end of the class I was fairly comfortable with them, but I don't know if I will ever be comfortable enough to reprimand my "elders." Tomorrow I will be there again, but with a new class of all adults. Maybe they'll throw in a female or two for me? I'll let you know.

The 3rd time's a charm...

...or so I hope, seeing as I've been in 3 car accidents now within the past 4 weeks (I'm really hoping my quota has been satisfied). It's a running joke among my co-workers that I have the worst luck of anyone, ever (one of them has even suggested taking me to her Seer). By saying that, they are not only referring to my recent car accidents, but also to everything else about my time in Korea - having moved 4 times in the past 6 months, having a constantly changing (and never desirable) schedule, being sick more often then not, issues with my boss not wanting to honor my contract and promising me things that were never delivered, etc. The kicker was when, after I got hit by a taxi and was in the emergency room, my boss started cracking up and saying that I have the worst luck of anyone he knows. Funny he would say that, since HE has been the reason for the majority of what people would call my bad luck (car accidents not included).

When I say it all together like that, it does sound like some higher power is out to get me, but it has all been delivered in doses and really hasn't seemed that terrible. In fact, as I've said many times, I've really enjoyed my time here and it's been a great experience. Given everything that has happened, I feel the need to keep reassuring everyone of that. Now, since I'm sure everyone's dying to hear the details of my most recent "bad luck," I'll share:

Car accident #1: About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I was in my friend Scott's car with him, his dog (Baker), and three other guy friends. Wewere in Busan traffic on the way back from a day of rock climbing. I was up front in the passenger seat with Baker, a big white husky, between my legs, and the other three guys were in the back. Driving in Korea is a bit crazy and we had already accomplished a series of maneuvers that should never be tried at home. When we hit ared light, one of the guys in the back noticed a box of rotting tangerines back there with them and decided that a grenade launch was in order. We had just so happened to have pulled up right next to a truck, so the guy decided to launch the tangerine from his window on the opposite side of the car, over the car and into the bed of the truck. As he was preparing to do this, the light turned green and a couple of us yelled at him to hurry up and go. Scott (thedriver), who was watching the launch, heard those words and thought they were directed at him, so instead of looking for himself, he pushed the gas pedal and we lurched forward...right into the car in front of us. Oops. His car was totaled but none of us sustained any serious injuries- just some whiplash and a bump on the head. No more car though.

Car accident #2 (about a week following the first one): This is the one where I get hit by a taxi. I got off of work around 6:20 pm, two days before I was supposed to fly home to Ecuador for Christmas vacation, and walked down the main street to a Korean restaurant where I like to get tuna (chamchi) kimbap. After eating, I decided to go to my bank to pull out some money. As I was walking a long the street (on the sidewalk), I noticed the pedestrian crosswalk light turn green, and decided to cross the street instead. Big mistake. I wrongly assumed that cars would stop at the red light, and was shocked to feel a sudden impact to my lower back. Before I knew it, I had tumbled onto the hood of the car, hit the windshield, and was flying through the air back towards the ground. The thought going through my head was, "this is not going to end well for me." Surprisingly, I hit the ground on my hands and knees and was able to stand up, very shakily. I was sure my back would be broken, or something like that, but when I realized I could stand, I then turned to the car (a taxi) and yelled very loudly at the driver (something that probably shouldn't be repeated). I then started gathering my things, which were scattered throughout the street. A number of people ran over to help me, and one man was trying to guide me across the street to the hospital when the taxi driver finally got out and took me instead into his taxi. I was still too shocked to make any decisions so I let myself be led to the back seat, as he had another passenger in the front. He then continued on his way, delivering his first passenger to theirdesired destination, while I was in the back wondering what was going on. When the other passenger got out, he turned to me and started asking me a string of questions that I didn't understand. I kept saying "chogum hongul" to him, which means "very little Korean," but neither of us seemed to be getting through to each other. I finally thought to call my Korean co-teacher and have her talk to him. He then took me to a hospital close by and she sent my boss over to meet me there. The taxidriver walked me in to the emergency room, explained the situation, and then gave his information. My boss got there and made sure I had ex rays taken and medicine prescribed, and then walked me home, laughing about my bad luck, which actually turned out to be good luck since he gave me the next day off of work (and that NEVER happens here).

Car accident #3 (about a week after #2, maybe less): This one took place during my Christmas vacation in Ecuador, with my family and family friend, Fransisco. We had already spent a couple days in the jungle, come back in time to spend Christmas day at home, and had been packing and preparing for our climbing trip to the mountain Altar. Kerry's friend Fransisco was coming with us, and my dad was going to drive his Chevy four -door truck. We left around 3 AM when the streets were almost deserted. At the start of the drive, someone made a joke about my dad's driving and Fransisco made a show of putting his seat belt on, while Kerry and Iignored ours. The three of us in the back (Fransisco, Kerry and I) fell asleep quickly andremained that way until about 2 hours later when we were awakened by my dad's voice telling us to wake up and brace ourselves. We all woke up in timeto see the taxi (what is it with taxis, anyway?) in front of us spin out of control and slide sideways. My dad slammed on the breaks but that caused our car to lose control as well and we went sliding (almost as if in slow motion) straight towards ANOTHER car which had already crashed into the side of a cliff and was surrounded by people. We all braced ourselves and our truck slammed into the little Fiat and all the people scattered. None of us were hurt, but it was shocking. We looked at the little Fiat, which was completely crushed, and saw a group of live pigs in the trunk that we had crashed into (which had been crushed open). Surprisingly the pigs all seemed to be alive and well. The cause of the accident? A mudslide in the road which hadcaused all of the cars to spin out of control. Try telling that to the Ecuadorian police, though. To make a long story short, since another car was involved in thecrash, my dad had to be taken in to the Ambato police station and was held there for the entire day and night, while the rest of us stayed in a nearby hotel. He would have been put in a jail cell had he not called a high-ranking official that he knows, who was able to speed the process along and keep him out of the very full jail cell. As it goes in Ecuador, you are guilty until proven innocent. Never mind the landslides and natural disasters. Needless to say, our climbing/camping trip was cancelled and we made the following day's newspaper (see picture). We ended up taking a lovely beach vacation instead, complete with beautiful weather and great seafood.