Lessons Learnt from the First Month & Halloween in Korea

I will start this off by saying that sadly, Halloween is not a celebrated holiday in Korea. Little brown snack stick day is highly recognized by the various stores here, but rarely can you find the little Halloween accessories you need to create a costume, let alone an actual costume anywhere. I managed to put together a Zombie Ballerina costume after much thought and investigation (*cough, interrogation) at the malls and of Koreans on the street. My English school decided this year we would have our first Halloween party though! So director Steve not only spend a great deal of time and effort decorating the whole school, buying loads of candy for the kids, and creating a spooky haunted house in one room, but he dressed up in some dress with makeup, green hair, giant ball boobs and lots of lipstick. The kids loved it. He led us all in a costume parade around the neighbourhood, where to the kids delight, parents stood at each corner to load up the kids bags with trick or treat candy. The kindergardeners were horribly traumatized by the dark, spooky haunted house they were thrown into by the teachers - crying, screaming, turning over desks in their haste to escape; but in the end they have now experienced Halloween.

My friends and I went out that night to a great Halloween party, then worked all Saturday with parents and their kindergardeners for Sandwich Day. Although weekend working is the worst, the kindergarden director then invited a bunch of us out for a fancy sushi dinner because our director told her we liked sushi. Although we had plans to bus to Seoul (hostel already booked), saying no would have been beyond rude. So that is how I had my most fantastic sushi, sashimi, blowfish, jellyfish, tempura, multiple soups and side dishes dinner that stuffed me to the brim! After the long meal, we finally made out way to Seoul - face decorating myself in the dark on the bus to save time. Unfortunately, we missed out check in time for the hostel by the time we made it there at after 11. But what did the Korean employee I talked to arrange? He apologized and took us around the corner to their sister hostel, giving us the large apartment family area downstairs. 100,000 won a night (100$), but he slid me 60,000 and told us we just had to pay the 40,000 the original hostel was supposed to cost the three of us in total!

The bars highly populated by foreigners, which for us is Dolce and Banana Bar in Cheonan, both decorate and celebrate with a costume party, but only because we celebrate the holiday. Seoul on the other hand was full of costumes in the downtown! Hongik University Park is an area downtown that is always packed to the brim with foreigners and Koreans alike, all extremely friendly and socializing to just make friends and have a good time. Never once have I seen a fight or real argument break out, there or anywhere else in Korea for that matter. We're happy to just drink some cheap soju and save money at the bars.

Tidbits of Learning
Swastika's: not the hail Hitler kind. I was taken aback when I hiked to the giant Buddha and Gakswona temple to find the large swastika on the outer wall. I learnt that the symbol is actually pointed backwards, and that in Buddhism, the symbol means peace.

Eating dog: it's actually quite rare to find a restaurant that serves dog in Cheonan, and I've never seen it. But I learnt something gruesomely interesting about the way it's prepared. Traditional Koreans believe that dog meat tastes better when the blood is full of adrenaline, so some shiktang's (restaurants) hang the dog and beat it to death before quickly cooking and serving the meat as a form of delicacy. Enough to make you go vegetarian??

Garbage: why are there no garbage bins in Korean streets? Where does it all go? Something my foreigner friends and I have consistently wondered about. Mini piles seem to build up outside convenience stores, but other than that there's not a whole lot of garbage, yet no public cans to put it or recycling in. A mysetery...

Drinking in Korea: always something new I learn on this subject. One thing I've really noticed is the common number of drunk Korean adults passing out on streets and around subways in the city. They just lie there laughing or passed out. In North America that may be worrisome for passerby's, and they'll likely get thrown in the drunk tank. Not so much here, because heavy drinking is part of the culture. It turns out, a common question in job interviews is whether you drink or not. According to a teacher I talked to, she wouldn't hire someone if they didn't drink because it means they can't let loose. In addition, work conflicts and business deals are usually settled over supper and drinks. It's a common form of conflict resolution!

The Homeless: in any North American big city I'd say it's impossible to walk down the main roads and not be saddened by the homeless and beggars you see on the streets, trying to put together a bit of money. But one thing I've noticed in Korea is their absence. I have seen one homeless person in downtown Seoul, sleeping outside a subway station and that's it. No others, and none in Cheonan (my city) as of yet. I'm not sure why but it's definitely something to ponder.

First Week Teaching in Korea

I have officially completed my first week teaching at my Hogwan, Trinity Academy, in Korea. I teach all ages, from classes of twenty little 5 year olds to tiny classes of four 14 year olds. Usually I come home drained, try to go for a run or some sort of crazy exercise like that (nobody exercises here), but I usually think better of it and instead watch some tv and crash. Here is a typical day in the life of Jessica Teacher:

Wake up to alarm and grab a coffee from the convenience store with Ashley and Kasey, my friends from America who live below me. Walk 10 min to school. There are no shoes allowed in school, so you either walk around barefoot or grab one of the slippers. Sit around in the teachers lounge with the Korean co-teachers, and print off worksheets for the day. Have door constantly opened from little kids peeking in. Go through morning classes of little kinders downstairs, where they scream, run around, and sometimes the girls stroke my hair cooing "beautiful, beautiful. Yellow barbie." Sometimes I get a sticker from a girl, sometimes they just come smack me on the bum. Bathroom stalls in Korea don't have toilet paper, and instead when you walk into the bathroom you have to grab paper from the dispenser at the entrance. Many times I forget. But I never forget my notebook...which is now a few pages less. The school provides pretty good lunches that mostly consist of rice, kimchi, and other side dishes. In the afternoon I teach loads of classes, play games, and try to convince everyone English is a grand language. For a lot of kids, they have classes from 9:30am-7pm, followed by an instrument class somewhere else and tae-kwan-do. By the time we and the kids get home, we're totally wiped. In the coming weeks we have great events to look forward to: a field trip to the Bear Zoo, a Halloween party (most of these kids first), and Speech Day (every class has to sing a song or perform a short play. We have lots wanting Bieber or Backstreet Boy songs...but they neither know the words nor try very hard to memorize the lyrics).

Spicy, smokes, and soju. That is the shortest description of Korea by night. Street stalls are all over the downtown, and we usually hit those up for some spicy food and predrink with the liquor soju outside a convenience store. The Korean version of sushi is called kimbap, but it uses a variety of little veggies and sauces and meats that doesn't really include the delicious fish we in Canada usually think of. 10 pieces of kimbap is about 1$ at convenience stores and 3$ in the restaurants! A water bottle size of soju is about $1.50, but drinks in the bars are often $5 or more. Most nights we go out we begin the night in the old, main downtown of Shinsegae and meet up with foreigners in Banana Bar - the unofficial hangout. Then we often taxi to the new downtown, right by us. Taxi's are much cheaper here than in Canada.

Other New Facts I've Learnt About Korea....
- No houses. There are apartments and homes on top of stores, but houses are not common
- No running or exercise. In the time I've been here I've seen maybe 3 runners? Basketball courts and tennis courts go unused, and I haven't figured out the gym situation yet
- Churches here are big and look very church-like, with a giant neon cross on the top. It looks like the churches in movies where people go to elope in Vegas
- People love to hold hands. Whether it's a couple (which is the ONLY public displays of affection I have seen), friends, or even a group of 6 adults walking through the downtown drunk - taking up the street
- People are incredibly helpful, and will go very far out of their way for you. We've had people walk us to places 5 or 6 blocks away from the store we found them at, just to lead us there. On a bus when I asked the guy beside me where a location was and he didn't know, he went online on his phone to try and find it...then his friend started doing the same...and the girl beside them! 3 people!

Korea: The blonde has arrived

I think I had a sign announcing my blonde arrival to Korea on my forehead.

Four hrs after my flight was booked, I finished off packing and left our family home in Waterloo by about 3:30am. Freaked out all four hrs of my night, tossing and turning, stumbling downstairs in the middle of the night to pack some flax seed only to drop and explode it all over the floor. Flew from Toronto to NY where 20 min before my flight to Korea I got called over the gate loudspeaker, immediately thinking back to Greece and wondering what I could have screwed up this time. I understood there was some luggage and paper issue between the muttering in Korean and calling higher ups, but finally got on the 13hr flight.

Never take a that long a flight. Unless absolutely necessary. Or you're coming to see me. By the halfway point I was in a semi-conscious state of naps, tv and music. An employee got me onto a bus to Cheonan, and then the school director, or "Monster Steve," picked me up from the bus station to show me my apartment. Some English, but not much. Now Cheonan was built around a huge, brilliantly bright downtown area, but then a lot of people ended up moving to my area, and a newer, trendy downtown has been created around it. The apartment isn't huge, but it's definitetly big enough for me. Below me, I was introduced to an American couple, Ashley and Kasey, who started at Trinity Academy two days before me. Instead of catching up on my huge lack of sleep, they invited me out for supper and drinks since my first day in Korea was a national holiday! No school! There is an unofficial expat hangout called Banana Bar where I got to meet more English teachers. We all had a great night out, wandering the streets and eating out at one of the many windowless downtown restaurants. We are quite the spectacle in Korea, and as we walk down the streets it's nearly impossible to not be started at or called at in broken English. Discovered the shower that night. When I got home, trying to turn the cold water tap to hot, it turns out that the tap blasts the shower on, which hangs overhead. I was still in my going out clothes, now totally soaked.

Jessica Teacher started her first day of school with no training, no knowledge of my classes and no preparation. My first class was a group of little kindergartens who spoke absolutely no English. The best a few of them could do was robotically sing and bop along to the ABC's on youtube. And some knew BINGO. We played with flashcards and read an alphabet food book.... but I honestly think they've never seen or eaten most of those American foods. All the kids run around the little school like crazy, screaming and laughing. Some follow me around in packs, some hold my hands or run up to me and grab my waist, and some younger girls like to touch my "yellow" hair. Kids don't have much discipline in English classes I learnt after I followed Steve to his classes I'll be taking over, and co-taught a bit with him. On breaks, the teachers prepare for their next class, printing quickly and chatting.

The food culture is incredible to say the least. We frequent the millions of coffee shops or the 7/11's, and in the evening have gone out for suppers. Food is community oriented, so you order one dish for the table that ends up being a huge spread of god knows how many different kinds of foods. There's usually a stove top in the middle of the table for us to roast our veggies and meats on, or into a stone black bowl to boil it into a giant soup. Always with slippery, metal chopsticks. The coolest restaurant so far had the meat & veggies hanging in big chunks above our table by a rod. So when you want more goodies, you stand up and slide a few down the rod onto the pan below. Food is spicy, tasteful and delicious!

At school, our Korean co-workers invited us foreigners on a lounge night out. We jumped on the chance to actually go out with Koreans and bond with them. Ohhhhh boy. Korean drinking culture is similar to American binge drinking, since they don't generally do any other kinds of drugs. We started off by predrinking in the streets with soju (THE liquor there, smells like vodka, 20%) and then were hustled off to the lounge. Up high on a building, we opted for the patio overlooking the city on lounge chairs. When I commented on the chilliness of the evening, the waiter said "I give you blankets." Which I did not take literally, but sure enough he comes out with a stack of blankets for us. Again, community oriented, the co-teachers order a bottle of vodka and some juice for the table to share. Also, all drinks come with food. When we were predrinking, a family outside the 7/11 walked over and handed us 4 oranges, smiling at us. After the lounge, we were told it was clubbing time. NEVER have I been on a night out in this much style. We walked up a giant glittering staircase with security men all over, and the Koreans led us to one of the lounge booths. The entire floor is all divided into individual booths, fitting about 10-12 each. Again, bottle service, but this time some kind of gin. And 2 giant platters, one of fruit and one of beans and chicken that go along with the bottle. We danced to the live DJ and male dancing number, the girls asking me anxiously which boy I liked, and proceeding to knock me into one any time I glanced at one for too long. I also experienced my first, second and third booking!!! Ok so the way this works can be creepy or not. For us, it involved guys dancing with us and inviting us up to the 2nd floor. What looks like a lavish hotel floor with mood lighting is where the bookings are. Each room has a big circle couch around a table, tv, and lots of food and alcohol. The guys led us into their room where we socialize with them for a bit, and then out of the blue one of the co-workers says "OK, we're leaving now" and that's the end of it. The guys smile, say have a good night or nice meeting you, and the interaction closes. Two of the Korean girls and I were dancing together, and ended up going through three bookings in this way. Crazy night out, and not one I or my budget could handle for a long time again, but what an experience into Korean drinking culture!

View from the bus ride to Cheonan

My new apartment!

My bathroom turns into one giant shower stall...it's a bit strange

First day of school, first day of school!

Right outside our apartment

The only famous Korean the kids seem to know...Psy is all over