3 and a half weeks in...

I think it's safe to say I've more or less settled in. Work quickly became comfortable for me, and each day feels like the usual daily grind. I can navigate a taxi around town, I can explore downtown by myself, and know how to find my way home. I've made some nice friends who have been gracious enough to include me in all of their weekend activities, and I feel like I'm more and more becoming part of the group.

Like I mentioned, I'm very much settled into my job, so much so that it is already getting boring at times. I hate admitting that, but it's true. My kindergarten class keeps me on my toes, and we have fun, so I can't say that's boring. But my afternoon classes feel more like tutoring sessions than teaching, and it's all done out of the textbooks and workbooks. Some of the classes have a nice group of students who are lively, so we can keep the energy level up. But other classes have very shy students, and no matter how lively I try to be with my limited resources, they don't reciprocate that energy. It's especially hard teaching my last two periods of the day from 6:00 - 7:25pm. By that point, I think we're all ready to be done and go home. On the flip side, it beats working at Starbucks and I'm grateful to have a job that allows me to teach and work with kids. I'm also very grateful to have this experience teaching and working with english language learners, which should be greatly beneficial while teaching in the States, where more and more schools have large groups of english language learners.

I feel like I've already done a lot in my short time here. Last night I went to my second professional soccer game here in Pohang. They're called the Steelers, but the Koreans pronounce it "suh-tee-luh-suh". They have a hard time connecting consonant sounds without a vowel in between, hence the "uh" between the "s" and the "t" in Steelers. There is always a big group of fans sitting behind one of the goals singing, chanting and banging on drums throughout the whole game. I think I'd like to sit there during my next game and learn the songs/chants. I've already got a jersey, so I'll fit right in. After the game, my friends and I went to the beach downtown where we lit off fireworks and kicked a soccerball around. We then proceeded to the foreigner bar where all the English teachers congregate, dance, and eat American food. It was a 70s theme last night, so of course I danced like nobody's business. A friend asked if I go out dancing a lot. I said no, I just go to a lot of weddings. I have also gotten a lot of rides on people's scooters lately. It's much more fun than taking a bus/taxi around town, and of course, it's free! Below is a photo of me on a friend's scooter. Don't worry, I now have my own helmet, so I will not be riding without one anymore.

Today, I joined three of my friends in a 6.5 hour journey to Costco! We had to take a 1 hour bus ride to Daegu, and spent over 2 hours wandering the many aisles of Costco. It's identical to the stores in the States, including the delicious muffins and the wonderfully cheap snack bar. It felt like home, and it was great to stock my kitchen with comfortable American foods like sliced turkey! Most of the meat in Korea is beef, pork and fish. And the occasional duck, and dog. After 3 and a half weeks being out here, I already miss my turkey sandwiches! Cheese is another hard-to-find commodity, so I stocked up on some provolone. We each brought our gigantic backpacks and loaded them up with our groceries for our journey back home. It may seem silly to you thinking that we would be willing to waste 6.5 hours of our weekend to go grocery shopping, but trust me, it's worth it! I like Korean food, but there are certain things I reallllly miss. I'd kill for some good mexican food. And a donut.

One thing that's been hard for me to accept is the bits of sexism and racism that exist in Korea. I continually hear stories from English teachers about their school directors saying that they do not want to hire any African-American teachers, and they usually give ridiculous reasons like "We don't want to confuse our students." Of course anyone from America would say that having a black teacher will only expose students to something new, and they can quickly learn that the color of your skin doesn't determine the type of person you can be. Don't get me wrong, there are African-American teachers working here, and of course I don't mean to imply that all Koreans have a prejudice against black people, but it's clear that it is an issue in many schools. Being dark skinned is very undesirable out here. Many Koreans try to shield themselves from the sun as much as possible so they can keep their skin as light as possible. It's weird coming from American culture that appreciates the "tall, dark and handsome" and has a tanning salon on every other corner. I also repeatedly hear about school directors only hiring attractive female Korean co-teachers. I am certainly treated better as a male in the work place, and even just out and about. I feel guilty accepting better privileges as a guy, but I don't know if I can do much about it.

In two weeks, Korea has a four-day weekend to honor deceased ancestors. I have decided to spend that time in Fukuoka, Japan. I will be heading out there alone, and plan on staying in a hostel for two nights, and couch surfing for my last night (couch surfing is an online organization where people offer their couches for travelers, free of charge). My next blog post will probably be written immediately following that trip.

To my friends and family back home, I miss and love you all terribly.

Be well.

3-Day Weekend

Last night marked the end of a great three-day weekend here in Korea. Yesterday was Korea's Independence Day, so most schools were closed for the day, including mine. It gave me plenty of time to explore, have fun, AND relax!

On Saturday, I visited a park that is considered one of the top places to see here in the Pohang area. It's called Bogyeongsa, at the base of a small mountain. At the beginning, you get to walk through a beautiful old Buddhist temple, some of it dating back to the 1620s. I had never walked through a Buddhist temple, so it was certainly a highlight of my weekend. Architecturally it was wonderful, from the intricate wood carvings to the many colors, the statues, and the huge bells. From the temple, you can hike up a trail that cuts through a canyon and follows along a stream. All along the stream are pools where people play in the water, and there are a few waterfalls as well. It reminded me of Oregon in many ways, and was one of the most beautiful places I've been to in a long time. I went with two of my new English friends, and we had fun swimming and jumping off rocks (or in my case, slipping off rocks. Don't worry, I'm ok). Half way up the trail, we stopped at some benches to take a break. A minute later, a group of four Korean men sat with us and started conversation in broken English. After a few minutes, one of the men told me to arm wrestle his son, who was a very large guy. So being the good sport that I am, I accepted the offer, even though I knew this guy would win. Of course, he did (though I put up a good fight!). So I tried standing up, and the dad then told us to wrestle with our left arms, so we did, and I lost again. Then he told us to wrestle with our right arms again! So I did. And I lost. Again. I'm trying not to feel too bad about it though, his son was about 6 feet tall and had at least an extra 50 pounds on me. Not a fair match in my opinion!

On Sunday, I bought myself an acoustic guitar! I left mine at home to minimize the amount of luggage I would have to bring. I only had to spend $160 on the guitar, bag, strings, tuner, strap, and picks. You can't get a deal like that in America if you were buying the crummiest guitar ever made. I'm quite happy with my purchase, and it couldn't have come soon enough, I was going through guitar withdrawals! After buying my guitar, I met up with some friends downtown at a cafe where you can rent board games. They give you a menu of all the board games they have, and you order whatever game you want! So we played Pit (a fun stock-market game that requires lots of yelling) for about 2 and a half hours. We had a blast!

I spent Monday mostly relaxing, playing guitar, reading, and drinking coffee (my first trip to a coffee shop). I also saw Cowboys and Aliens with some friends. Luckily it was in English with Korean subtitles. Afterward we got some Korean pizza with a bulgogi topping. It wasn't half bad!

So far I've met some great people and see some friendships budding. Though I haven't discovered my core group of close friends yet, I'm very happy with the friends I have made so far. It's been fun hanging out with foreigners from all English-speaking countries! We have been exchanging our regional slang, and being the history nerd that I am, I've been getting some good history lessons from their home lands. Tonight I played soccer with a group of foreigners. I hadn't really played since high school, but was happy to find out I can still survive a game. I ended up scraping both my legs up pretty badly, so I guess that means it went well! I even scored a couple goals.


More to come.
Much love to you all.

Be well.

First week of teaching...

I just got through my first week of teaching in Korea. I was a little nervous going into it, not because I was worried about my teaching skills, but because I hadn't learned all of the routines and procedures yet. Monday was a little rocky. Kindergartners are great at pointing out every time the teacher does something out of the ordinary. On Monday, this occurred frequently! Luckily they were nice about it, and my Korean co-teacher helped me fix my mistakes. On Tuesday, I made less mistakes, and each day was smoother and smoother. One of my supervisors came in to my class to observe one of my lessons on Wednesday. I was expecting her to give me a laundry list of things to improve on. Instead, she complimented my loving and gentle demeanor with my kids and said I am doing a great job!

In the afternoons I teach elementary and middle school students a variety of subjects, like reading, writing, phonics, social studies, debate, and speaking. I find these classes to be more like tutoring sessions than teaching. Most of the class sizes are extremely small (around 3 or 4 students each, and just 1 student in a few classes). We just work out of the book, so it's pretty mellow. I decided to try spicing things up the other day, providing fun examples and whole-class participation. It was going great, we were laughing, the energy was up, and I felt like I was really taking control and channeling my creative spirit! Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could finish everything, so the students had a lot of homework to do! And now I see why the other teachers just stick to the bookwork.

Last Thursday and Friday we had to administer "level tests". Students take these tests every 3 months to assess their progress in the program. A lot of pressure is put on these students to do well, and their parents expect little short of perfection. The way my students were stressing out, it was as if they were taking the SATs. One of my third-graders hyperventilated throughout the whole test! Another third-grader was making weird wretching sounds. It broke my heart to see 8 and 9 years olds put through so much pressure! By the end of testing, I felt stressed out just watching them.

I must say, my kindergartners are pretty adorable. I'll be sure to record some videos of them to share with you all. Your heart might just melt.

To my friends and family, I love and miss you all.

Be well.

Not quite culture shock, but minor differences...

Here are some things I've observed about Korean life that is new to me as an American:

-To take a hot shower, you must turn on the hot water heater first, then turn it off after. Same goes for the gas to your stove.
-Apparently hoola-hooping is a normal morning exercise for ladies to do outside their apartment.
-NEVER tip your waiter, it's rude.
-Age is very important, so it's totally acceptable to ask people's age, and respect your elders!
-Korean age is different from westerners. When you are born, you are already 1 year old. Once the year is over, you become 2. So if you are born in December, you will be 2 years old a month into your life. So I am 28 years old in Korean age.
-Driving is kind of nuts here. Traffic lights seem to be more of a suggestion, and there are many many intersections without any stop signs, so you just roll through and hope nobody else is also crossing.
-Many people are addressed by their occupation. It's respectful for my students to call me Teacher (they actually call me Roman Teacher), and I call my boss Director.
-There are about 7 or 8 channels on TV that are in English. Unfortunately, most of the shows they play are CSI, Law and Order, and NCIS.  :-/
-When you hand something to someone, or accept something from someone, you should do so with both hands. If you hand something to someone with just one hand, put the other hand on your arm. The higher up your arm you place your hand, the more respect you are offering that person.

Today I went to the hospital to do my required physical check up (blood test, urine test, blood pressure, chest x-ray, vision, hearing, dental). Instead of getting all of that done in one office like in most American clinics, I had to go to a separate office in the hospital for each of those things. They used some equipment that was totally new to me, like when they had me stand on a scale, a flat, metal thing came sliding down from above and knocked me in the head. I was startled and jumped off the scale. Turns out that flat metal thing was just measuring my height. Color me embarrassed!

More to come, I'm sure.

48 Hours in...

Many people have asked me how I like it so far, or what my impression of Korea is so far. My answer continues to be "I have no idea." Not to say I don't like it, but to be honest, I have been so busy just taking it all in, learning so much, observing so much, EATING so much, that I can't tell what my reaction is yet. I need to explore more, learn more, eat more, and maybe after a week or so, I will be able to share with you all how I like it so far. Until then, I can tell you what I've learned and experienced thus far.

I live on the outskirts of town in a community that has only recently been developed with plenty of construction still going on. It's an odd neighborhood filled with studio apartments, random community crop gardens, construction sites, a small Buddhist temple, several Christian churches with giant red illuminated crosses, mini-marts, and restaurants. It's not exactly aesthetically pleasing, but it's not the pits either (although the streets are littered with trash since we have no trash pick up in this neighborhood).

I was feeling pretty overwhelmed when I first arrived. My apartment was lacking essential furniture that was promised in my contract, and not knowing where the heck I am was not a good feeling. I immediately missed all of my friends and family so much it hurt in my stomach. But after my first day at school, and now that I see it's not scary here, I'm already feeling much more comfortable. Don't get me wrong, I still miss everyone so badly it hurts, but I'm no longer freaking out.

I've already learned a fair amount about manners and etiquette in Korea, especially regarding food. It's important to finish all of your food at a restaurant, especially your rice! Food waste is frowned upon, and I got lectured by the dish lady during lunch today about not finishing all of my food. She was speaking in Korean, but I knew exactly what she was upset about, and all I could say was "Mee an ham ni da!" (I'm sorry) Lesson learned. It's important to pour drinks for your elders (and it's also important to know everyone's age, because your elder is ANYONE older than you, even by a year). Luckily for me I'm one of the oldest teachers at my school! Be sure to hand something to someone using both hands. And I think my biggest struggle will be the rule that you can not turn down drinks offered by your authority figures. Hopefully I won't be going out to eat much with my school directors, because being a non-drinker will cause some problems!

My fellow teachers have been great in welcoming me to the school and community. Some of them have gone out of their way to show me around town, take me out to eat, and supply my apartment with much needed furniture and accessories. It seems that the foreigner community in Pohang really looks out for each other and have a nice community. I've already met about 8 or 9 English teachers from other schools.

Today was my first day at school, and I spent the day observing the teacher I will be replacing. She is truly a great teacher, and I'll have big shoes to fill! The first half of the day is teaching a class of 10 kindergartners, who are of course absolutely adorable! And they can read and write MUCH better than most American kindergartners. This is probably due to the fact that they spend much more time studying than most American kids. They even spend their summer breaks going to academic camps. Sleep or playtime are not big factors in these kids' lives, and I find that unfortunate, but it's just how it is out here. The kids were excited to meet me, and seemed particularly fascinated by my "golden" hair, and especially my arm hair! Some kids were petting my arms. Luckily in Korea, teachers are encouraged to show physical affection to their students, so I can let them pet my arms and not be accused of being a child molester!

The second half of the day is working with several elementary school classes. These classes are all small, ranging from 4-12 students. Am I making any American teachers jealous? It's ok, be jealous! The curriculum is given to me by the school, so I don't have much planning to do, just following the books. It's not ideal, but since I'm teaching for 10 hours a day, I'm grateful I don't have to spend any time planning lessons.

The food has been quite an experience. To tell you the truth, I don't really know what I've been eating. Lots of kimchi, lots of beef, some duck, fish, and lots and lots of unidentified veggies. We sit on the floor at most of the restaurants, and the food has been cooked in the middle of our tables. Usually we have cooked it ourselves, the restaurant just gives us bowls of ingredients and we mix it all together in a big skillet. I'll be sure to photograph some of the foods and upload them to a blog.