Well, I have a few half-written posts meant to fill you in on what I've been doing for the past few weeks, but it seems as though I've run out of time to finish and post them as of right now, as I'm heading out of Jinju for a bit to explore this country I currently call "home."
I don't have to be back in school until February 5th (more on my crazy, long, winter break later), so I'm leaving today for Busan, which sits on the southeastern coastline and is Korea's second largest city. Beyond arriving to a hostel in Busan tonight with two friends, and immediately heading to a place that supposedly serves good Mexican food (oh how I miss Mexican food), I have no idea what the next 10 days will have in store for me. I haven't opened my guidebook, I have no idea what I want to see or where I'd like to go, and I have not a single thing planned. I can't wait :)
I assure you that I will fill you in on things in the next few weeks--including pictures!
Sending love and happiness to all.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Week in Pictures
It's been a looooong week... A lot of thinking about what to teach in camp, a lot of planning for camp, a lot of changing my mind about what to teach in camp, a lot of preparing for camp, a lot of teaching at camp... Basically, most of my waking hours of the past week have revolved around camp. Having no experience teaching the boys in the classroom before creating a new lesson plan for every day of the past week was a challenge. BUT, I was able to get out a few times--and as you might notice as you browse though the photos below, everything else I've done has revolved around food. Hmmm... stressed, perhaps? :)
I met a few friends downtown on Wednesday and we took a mini-eating tour. First we sampled some of the street food:
Next was "pizza in a cup," as we like to call the dish. A slice of pizza in a dixie cup--ingenious! Well, delicious at the very least...
On our way back home that evening, Megan and I had a craving for wine. And chocolate. And then we also added to our shopping baskets beer, coffee, hot chocolate and cookies. We are keeping healthy here in Jinju... At the supermarkets, there are always these crazy 'huts' built out of boxes of various snacks. This one's made out of choco-pies, and then filled with various other treats. We felt the need for a photo:
When the weekend finally came around, Megan and I spent some time wandering one of Jinju's huge local markets. We were pretty excited to say the least when we came upon this amazing snack shack. We observed people for a few minutes so we knew how to appropriately gather--and sample!--the snacks we wanted. Then, we went to town and filled our red plastic baskets. Most of the snacks were sesame-, rice-, or peanut-related, but there was also some ginger, chocolate and pumpkin mixed in--as well as some fishy-flavor! (I'm not a fan of those).
At the market:
Then we stopped at a little coffee shop to meet a few folks. Instead of chairs, patrons get to enjoy nice swinging benches at the tables!
I met a few friends downtown on Wednesday and we took a mini-eating tour. First we sampled some of the street food:
Next was "pizza in a cup," as we like to call the dish. A slice of pizza in a dixie cup--ingenious! Well, delicious at the very least...
On our way back home that evening, Megan and I had a craving for wine. And chocolate. And then we also added to our shopping baskets beer, coffee, hot chocolate and cookies. We are keeping healthy here in Jinju... At the supermarkets, there are always these crazy 'huts' built out of boxes of various snacks. This one's made out of choco-pies, and then filled with various other treats. We felt the need for a photo:
When the weekend finally came around, Megan and I spent some time wandering one of Jinju's huge local markets. We were pretty excited to say the least when we came upon this amazing snack shack. We observed people for a few minutes so we knew how to appropriately gather--and sample!--the snacks we wanted. Then, we went to town and filled our red plastic baskets. Most of the snacks were sesame-, rice-, or peanut-related, but there was also some ginger, chocolate and pumpkin mixed in--as well as some fishy-flavor! (I'm not a fan of those).
At the market:
Then we stopped at a little coffee shop to meet a few folks. Instead of chairs, patrons get to enjoy nice swinging benches at the tables!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The True Legend Lives On... In Korea
This one's dedicated to a handful of people who know me well enough or have known me long enough to be in the loop of my "big head" jokes. In other words, you've probably cracked a joke or two in the time we've known each other and given me shit for having a large head--even if you didn't really mean it (yes, I do have trouble finding non-adjustable or non-elastic hats that will actually fit on my head).
But mostly, this post is kindly dedicated to my loving father... and next to Julie, my sister from another mother (with a smaller head).
During my first week at school, while introducing myself to classrooms full of 14-year old boys with short black hair, black glasses and black jackets, I received the following comment from one student (translated by my Korean co-teacher): "You have big forehead." As if I didn't already know...
It only got better when the kid sitting next to him followed up with "Yes. Very shiny." I'm not sure which is worse...
I then kindly informed the boys that my big head could fit a bigger brain. I don't think they got it. Language and cultural barriers are a harsh reality when making an attempt at humor--particularly sarcastic humor.
A few days later my confidence was slightly regained when, in a class with a different co-teacher, I was informed that one of the students had just told my female co-teacher that her head was larger than mine. Her response? "I'm Asian." And that was that.
Lucky for me there are Asians... I guess?
But mostly, this post is kindly dedicated to my loving father... and next to Julie, my sister from another mother (with a smaller head).
During my first week at school, while introducing myself to classrooms full of 14-year old boys with short black hair, black glasses and black jackets, I received the following comment from one student (translated by my Korean co-teacher): "You have big forehead." As if I didn't already know...
It only got better when the kid sitting next to him followed up with "Yes. Very shiny." I'm not sure which is worse...
I then kindly informed the boys that my big head could fit a bigger brain. I don't think they got it. Language and cultural barriers are a harsh reality when making an attempt at humor--particularly sarcastic humor.
A few days later my confidence was slightly regained when, in a class with a different co-teacher, I was informed that one of the students had just told my female co-teacher that her head was larger than mine. Her response? "I'm Asian." And that was that.
Lucky for me there are Asians... I guess?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Week(s) in Pictures
I invite you to take a break from reading my long, rambling, unexciting-for-those-not-actually-experiencing-this blog entries:
Here are some pictures of my apartment that I took on my second day here. Obviously I wasn't organized but you get the idea. Along the left wall sits my bed, television, desk and wardrobe. Along the right wall is my clothes drying rack, refrigerator and microwave. Then you see my "kitchen," if it can be called that, and my bathroom, shower and laundry room all wrapped into one. Yes, my shower consists of a shower head in one corner of my bathroom. And no, I do not have enough leg room to properly sit on my toilet. BUT, I do have amazing floor heat in my apartment.
These are a few pictures from our trip to Tongyeong on Christmas day. I will talk more about these amazing exercise parks sometime, but for now just know that these things are scattered about everywhere in Jinju! Along the river paths, along the trails in the hills, in the middle of a city park... they're great!
This is from a walk I took along the river the day after Christmas, looking across to the fortress--a similar view as the one in the photo at the title of my blog.
I have a feeling this will be the first of many photos taken next to large phallic objects; they seem to be everywhere here... In fact, there's an entire park dedicated to large stone and wooden phalluses somewhere in this country. This one's just at some random bar we went to in downtown Jinju.
I took quite a few pictures during the New Year's holiday. As previously mentioned, I went with a large group of other foreign teachers to Namhae, Korea's fifth largest island. There were somewhere between 16-20 people in our pension, which consisted of an entry room where one removes his or her shoes, a kitchen with a small table, a central room with a few tables (where you sit on the floor) and a sleeping room. Every room was divided by sliding doors, and our balcony looked out onto the bay. Oh, and there were two bathrooms--one for men and one for women. On January 1, we took a trip to another part of the island to a pretty popular beach called Sangju and on the way back stopped at a Buddhist temple. The surroundings of the temple--and the entire experience in itself--was quite surreal. We could hear chanting coming from the trees in the distance as we climbed up the mountain side to the top, which overlooked the mountains and the sea. Pictures never really do these types of places justice, but take my word that it was incredible.
Below are Megan, Chris and myself; these two arrived to Jinju only two weeks before I did, so we've all bonded and become fairly close as we navigate our new lives here in Korea.
Enjoying the abundant sunshine, beautiful view, and good company at Sangju:
A few of the crazy boys thought it would be a good idea to go for a swim; it was probably around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, if not colder!
We came across a food stand that sold corn dogs and couldn't resist!
Keep in mind that 13 of us piled into two small sedans that day to get to the beach. When we turned off to get to the temple on our way back, I had no idea what we were doing. In fact, I don't think anybody in my car knew where we were going because we were just following the car in front of us. Suddenly we were heading up an extremely steep road, possibly the steepest road I've ever driven up. The front tires slipped at a few points with all six bodies in the car, but once we started heading up it was an even worse idea to even think about going back down the hill. So up we went, and worthwhile the scare it was.
There were four of us who became the stragglers in the group; we hadn't even made it to the top yet by the time the rest of the group was already on their way down. We were taking our time, soaking in the surroundings, breathing in the moment. We couldn't seem to tear ourselves away from the place, so we decided to take a seat in some grass to soak it all in just a little bit more. For the 10-15 minutes that we sat there with the sun on our faces, inside was nothing but a feeling of pure serenity. During these moments I felt as though I could have sat there forever.
Finally, we stopped in a little town just outside of where we were staying to pick up some grocery items for dinner that night. Right next to where we parked our cars, we saw this on the window of a restaurant. Yes, people still eat dog in Korea.
I'll continue to post pictures when I can, or I'll post a link to the photo albums that I create on Facebook.
Tomorrow I start my Winter English Camp, which every public school teacher does for at least a few weeks. I think I got pretty lucky and only have two weeks of camp with the boys, who are divided into two groups of about 12, so it will be nice and small and intimate. I only see each group for two hours a day, so the afternoons should be mine to do with as I please. This will be my first real taste of what it's like to teach these boys over here in Korea (funny that I started right before the winter vacation), so I am sure I'll have more insight to share about that aspect of life over here on a later date.
In the meantime, happy 2010 to all!
Here are some pictures of my apartment that I took on my second day here. Obviously I wasn't organized but you get the idea. Along the left wall sits my bed, television, desk and wardrobe. Along the right wall is my clothes drying rack, refrigerator and microwave. Then you see my "kitchen," if it can be called that, and my bathroom, shower and laundry room all wrapped into one. Yes, my shower consists of a shower head in one corner of my bathroom. And no, I do not have enough leg room to properly sit on my toilet. BUT, I do have amazing floor heat in my apartment.
These are a few pictures from our trip to Tongyeong on Christmas day. I will talk more about these amazing exercise parks sometime, but for now just know that these things are scattered about everywhere in Jinju! Along the river paths, along the trails in the hills, in the middle of a city park... they're great!
This is from a walk I took along the river the day after Christmas, looking across to the fortress--a similar view as the one in the photo at the title of my blog.
I have a feeling this will be the first of many photos taken next to large phallic objects; they seem to be everywhere here... In fact, there's an entire park dedicated to large stone and wooden phalluses somewhere in this country. This one's just at some random bar we went to in downtown Jinju.
I took quite a few pictures during the New Year's holiday. As previously mentioned, I went with a large group of other foreign teachers to Namhae, Korea's fifth largest island. There were somewhere between 16-20 people in our pension, which consisted of an entry room where one removes his or her shoes, a kitchen with a small table, a central room with a few tables (where you sit on the floor) and a sleeping room. Every room was divided by sliding doors, and our balcony looked out onto the bay. Oh, and there were two bathrooms--one for men and one for women. On January 1, we took a trip to another part of the island to a pretty popular beach called Sangju and on the way back stopped at a Buddhist temple. The surroundings of the temple--and the entire experience in itself--was quite surreal. We could hear chanting coming from the trees in the distance as we climbed up the mountain side to the top, which overlooked the mountains and the sea. Pictures never really do these types of places justice, but take my word that it was incredible.
Below are Megan, Chris and myself; these two arrived to Jinju only two weeks before I did, so we've all bonded and become fairly close as we navigate our new lives here in Korea.
Enjoying the abundant sunshine, beautiful view, and good company at Sangju:
A few of the crazy boys thought it would be a good idea to go for a swim; it was probably around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, if not colder!
We came across a food stand that sold corn dogs and couldn't resist!
Keep in mind that 13 of us piled into two small sedans that day to get to the beach. When we turned off to get to the temple on our way back, I had no idea what we were doing. In fact, I don't think anybody in my car knew where we were going because we were just following the car in front of us. Suddenly we were heading up an extremely steep road, possibly the steepest road I've ever driven up. The front tires slipped at a few points with all six bodies in the car, but once we started heading up it was an even worse idea to even think about going back down the hill. So up we went, and worthwhile the scare it was.
There were four of us who became the stragglers in the group; we hadn't even made it to the top yet by the time the rest of the group was already on their way down. We were taking our time, soaking in the surroundings, breathing in the moment. We couldn't seem to tear ourselves away from the place, so we decided to take a seat in some grass to soak it all in just a little bit more. For the 10-15 minutes that we sat there with the sun on our faces, inside was nothing but a feeling of pure serenity. During these moments I felt as though I could have sat there forever.
Finally, we stopped in a little town just outside of where we were staying to pick up some grocery items for dinner that night. Right next to where we parked our cars, we saw this on the window of a restaurant. Yes, people still eat dog in Korea.
I'll continue to post pictures when I can, or I'll post a link to the photo albums that I create on Facebook.
Tomorrow I start my Winter English Camp, which every public school teacher does for at least a few weeks. I think I got pretty lucky and only have two weeks of camp with the boys, who are divided into two groups of about 12, so it will be nice and small and intimate. I only see each group for two hours a day, so the afternoons should be mine to do with as I please. This will be my first real taste of what it's like to teach these boys over here in Korea (funny that I started right before the winter vacation), so I am sure I'll have more insight to share about that aspect of life over here on a later date.
In the meantime, happy 2010 to all!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Mandarin Heaven
I have consumed more sweet, juicy, delicious mandarin oranges in my two weeks in Korea than in my entire 27 years of life combined. And I've loved every bite. They are the cheapest fruit I've found in stores. They sell them on the side of the road. They've been handed to me at workshops and at school on numerous occasions. I'm usually carrying a few in my bag when I go to school, and when I come home from school, and my fridge is full of them! It's utterly delightful!
It's New Year's Eve here now, and despite more sunny blue skies in Jinju, I'm soon heading to the beach to bring in 2010 with about 20 other foreign teachers, only four of whom I've ever met. Somebody did a very nice thing and reserved us a pension (like a condo) for a few nights and apparently it overlooks the ocean. Should be a New Year's Eve to remember!
In other news, Jinju continues to grow on me more and more by the day. It's an amazing combination of natural beauty and mass urban development. I can walk about ten minutes along any number of trails behind my apartment and be up in the hills, away from the noise of the city, surrounded by trees and bamboo peering down on Jinju or out to the layers and layers of mountains surrounding me. Or, I can walk ten minutes to the Nam River, which makes a nice S-curve through the city. Heading west along an isolated path, with no shortage of beautiful white cranes in the water, I end up at a large lake (reservoir?) surrounded by more mountains (or hills, depending on how you see them). Heading east I walk past a massive 16th century fortress, past downtown Jinju and over to the far east side of the city--a place I've not yet explored. Amidst all of the natural beauty Jinju presents, there is evidence of development around every corner. Bridges, highways, high-rise apartment buildings--they're popping up everywhere. Yet somehow, Jinju still seems like such a peaceful city and I truly cannot wait to experience this place to it's full capacity!
Sending my love and best wishes to everybody for the new year! Yay for 2010!!!
It's New Year's Eve here now, and despite more sunny blue skies in Jinju, I'm soon heading to the beach to bring in 2010 with about 20 other foreign teachers, only four of whom I've ever met. Somebody did a very nice thing and reserved us a pension (like a condo) for a few nights and apparently it overlooks the ocean. Should be a New Year's Eve to remember!
In other news, Jinju continues to grow on me more and more by the day. It's an amazing combination of natural beauty and mass urban development. I can walk about ten minutes along any number of trails behind my apartment and be up in the hills, away from the noise of the city, surrounded by trees and bamboo peering down on Jinju or out to the layers and layers of mountains surrounding me. Or, I can walk ten minutes to the Nam River, which makes a nice S-curve through the city. Heading west along an isolated path, with no shortage of beautiful white cranes in the water, I end up at a large lake (reservoir?) surrounded by more mountains (or hills, depending on how you see them). Heading east I walk past a massive 16th century fortress, past downtown Jinju and over to the far east side of the city--a place I've not yet explored. Amidst all of the natural beauty Jinju presents, there is evidence of development around every corner. Bridges, highways, high-rise apartment buildings--they're popping up everywhere. Yet somehow, Jinju still seems like such a peaceful city and I truly cannot wait to experience this place to it's full capacity!
Sending my love and best wishes to everybody for the new year! Yay for 2010!!!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate this day. To those of you who don't, happy Friday off from work or school :)
Today I'll be venturing out of town to a city called Tongyeong, which lies on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. It sounds as though there will be about 8-10 foreign teachers on this trip, organized by a Kiwi woman whom I've not yet met.
I've made a nice group of friends here thus far, as there are quite a few teachers here in Jinju, which has a population of around 340,000 people. Last night, for Christmas Eve, six of us went out for pizza at a local chain called Mr. Pizza, whose slogan is "Love for Women." (Someday I will dedicate an entire blog post to all of the amusing English phrases I read here, like "Thousand Ireland Dressing" on a bottle of dressing I saw at the grocery store). Two of my friends arrived only two weeks before me, so it's nice to have some fellow "newbies" to learn with, and the others have been here at least 4-5 months and they've got all the answers so it works out nicely for me :)
Enjoy your holiday!
Today I'll be venturing out of town to a city called Tongyeong, which lies on the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. It sounds as though there will be about 8-10 foreign teachers on this trip, organized by a Kiwi woman whom I've not yet met.
I've made a nice group of friends here thus far, as there are quite a few teachers here in Jinju, which has a population of around 340,000 people. Last night, for Christmas Eve, six of us went out for pizza at a local chain called Mr. Pizza, whose slogan is "Love for Women." (Someday I will dedicate an entire blog post to all of the amusing English phrases I read here, like "Thousand Ireland Dressing" on a bottle of dressing I saw at the grocery store). Two of my friends arrived only two weeks before me, so it's nice to have some fellow "newbies" to learn with, and the others have been here at least 4-5 months and they've got all the answers so it works out nicely for me :)
Enjoy your holiday!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Korean Shuffle
So much to catch up on...
Today is Christmas Eve in Korea, although it doesn't feel like that at all. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas! Jinju has offered nothing but sunny, blue skies since my arrival, and I love it. Although, until yesterday it was FREEZING cold and I was about ready to march into one of the many outdoor stores that line the streets here and buy one of the puffy jackets that nine out of ten Koreans wear every day. I'm starting to understand this trend... So far, though, I've managed with my fleece and multiple layers underneath.
This past week and a half, as I expect my remaining 50.5 weeks will resemble, was full of surprises. I feel as though I'm constantly shuffled around from here to there, summoned to go do this, or directed to go do that. I do what I'm told and go where I'm told to go, and it all seems to work out. I just don't ever know what's going on until I'm in the middle of it! (Actually, there are a few things I've done that I'm still not sure of).
I showed up to school Monday morning and my co-teacher H, who is a beautiful, young and very sweet Korean woman, came over to my desk and asked with her pretty smile "Where did you go yesterday?" I thought she wanted to know about my first weekend in Korea--what I did, if I enjoyed myself, that sort of thing. Nope. Before I could answer she followed up by informing me that she knew I wasn't home because a man had come to my apartment Sunday to connect my internet and cable. WHAT?! Nobody had told me that this was going to happen. In fact, I had been informed that I'd have to wait until after I got my alien registration card (which would be about a three week process), so I had succumbed to the disappointment of having to stay disconnected from my familiar world back home for quite a while. But, she then set up another appointment for that day, and now I am happily connected :) What a pleasant surprise.
Tuesday afternoon after the bell rang I headed to my assigned classroom (teachers always wait until after the bell rings to leave the teacher's office for their classes) only to find that it was not my co-teacher in the classroom but instead a teacher I'd never seen before. Confused, I went back to my desk to make sure I went to the right room, walked down there again just to double check that I didn't make a mistake, and then went back to my desk and took a seat. None of my English-speaking co-teachers were around so I just assumed this was an acceptable reaction. After the class period was over my main co-teacher came back to the office and I asked him about it. He just laughed out loud at me and said "This is the way of Korean School. We must be flexible."
Ain't that the truth.
Wednesday morning, before my first class was to begin at 9:10, I hurriedly changed the game that I had been playing in class to a Christmas theme. (Given the fact that I will be teaching the exact same lesson to 20 classes every week, I need to figure out how to keep things interesting for myself). The bell rang, I headed to class. The same thing that happened to me on Tuesday happened to me on this day. My co-teacher was nowhere to be found in my classroom. I returned to my desk and took a seat. When the period was over I found the co-teacher I was supposed to teach with and ask her about our next class together. She proceeded to inform me that I would teach no classes the entire day because students are taking national exams, and then ran off. I only found out that I also don't have to teach any classes today when I asked my main co-teacher about it later that day. Glad somebody told me this in advance... But hey, I got two days off from teaching!
On top of this, my main co-teacher came up to me in the afternoon and said "Stephanie, we will go to Immigration office now." Oh, okay then. As usual, I just grabbed my things and followed. In Jinju one can only apply for their alien registration cards on Wednesdays (this isn't as bad as applying for your driver's license here, which apparently can only happen once every three weeks, but only every other time is there somebody there who can work with an English-speaking individual--of course, we are in Korea).
And today, I wouldn't have expected anything different. Turns out we had a half day, a "teacher's lunch" and a third grade boy's soccer semi-final match to watch that I was completely unaware of until it was happening (middle school kids here are referred to as 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade, the equivalent of 7th, 8th and 9th graders back home).
This seems to be the norm here, finding things out as they happen. Suffice it to say, they keep me on my toes here in Korea.
The soccer match was great--and smell of sun-warmed turf made me happy and feel right at home. (Oh! Many times I am introduced by co-teachers as having been a soccer coach, even though it was one season for 10-year old girls. The boys are always so surprised when I tell them I play soccer. I've been invited by my co-teacher on the weekends to play with him and his all-male squad. And now, thanks to a kind male teacher at my school, I have my own pair of soccer shoes. Used and worn down they may be, but they're still soccer shoes!). This game was a big deal, as the principal and vice principal were there, along with a handful of other teachers. Team uniforms were pretty fancy and the refs looked sharp in theirs. We got to the game late and I didn't know the score, so you can imagine my surprise when at the end of the game the teams went into a shoot-out! The boys of Jinju Jeil lost :( There was a substantial amount of bowing that occurred after the game--each team to the other, each team to the other school's principal and vice principal, each team to their own principal and vice principal, and each team to the tent at the middle of the field that housed the people in charge of the games. (Don't be shocked if, when I come back home after my time here, I bow my head to you every time I see you! It's a habit I've already picked up).
I am kind of enjoying these surprises that occur on a daily basis, and am full of anticipation for the many more to come...
Happy holidays!
Today is Christmas Eve in Korea, although it doesn't feel like that at all. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas! Jinju has offered nothing but sunny, blue skies since my arrival, and I love it. Although, until yesterday it was FREEZING cold and I was about ready to march into one of the many outdoor stores that line the streets here and buy one of the puffy jackets that nine out of ten Koreans wear every day. I'm starting to understand this trend... So far, though, I've managed with my fleece and multiple layers underneath.
This past week and a half, as I expect my remaining 50.5 weeks will resemble, was full of surprises. I feel as though I'm constantly shuffled around from here to there, summoned to go do this, or directed to go do that. I do what I'm told and go where I'm told to go, and it all seems to work out. I just don't ever know what's going on until I'm in the middle of it! (Actually, there are a few things I've done that I'm still not sure of).
I showed up to school Monday morning and my co-teacher H, who is a beautiful, young and very sweet Korean woman, came over to my desk and asked with her pretty smile "Where did you go yesterday?" I thought she wanted to know about my first weekend in Korea--what I did, if I enjoyed myself, that sort of thing. Nope. Before I could answer she followed up by informing me that she knew I wasn't home because a man had come to my apartment Sunday to connect my internet and cable. WHAT?! Nobody had told me that this was going to happen. In fact, I had been informed that I'd have to wait until after I got my alien registration card (which would be about a three week process), so I had succumbed to the disappointment of having to stay disconnected from my familiar world back home for quite a while. But, she then set up another appointment for that day, and now I am happily connected :) What a pleasant surprise.
Tuesday afternoon after the bell rang I headed to my assigned classroom (teachers always wait until after the bell rings to leave the teacher's office for their classes) only to find that it was not my co-teacher in the classroom but instead a teacher I'd never seen before. Confused, I went back to my desk to make sure I went to the right room, walked down there again just to double check that I didn't make a mistake, and then went back to my desk and took a seat. None of my English-speaking co-teachers were around so I just assumed this was an acceptable reaction. After the class period was over my main co-teacher came back to the office and I asked him about it. He just laughed out loud at me and said "This is the way of Korean School. We must be flexible."
Ain't that the truth.
Wednesday morning, before my first class was to begin at 9:10, I hurriedly changed the game that I had been playing in class to a Christmas theme. (Given the fact that I will be teaching the exact same lesson to 20 classes every week, I need to figure out how to keep things interesting for myself). The bell rang, I headed to class. The same thing that happened to me on Tuesday happened to me on this day. My co-teacher was nowhere to be found in my classroom. I returned to my desk and took a seat. When the period was over I found the co-teacher I was supposed to teach with and ask her about our next class together. She proceeded to inform me that I would teach no classes the entire day because students are taking national exams, and then ran off. I only found out that I also don't have to teach any classes today when I asked my main co-teacher about it later that day. Glad somebody told me this in advance... But hey, I got two days off from teaching!
On top of this, my main co-teacher came up to me in the afternoon and said "Stephanie, we will go to Immigration office now." Oh, okay then. As usual, I just grabbed my things and followed. In Jinju one can only apply for their alien registration cards on Wednesdays (this isn't as bad as applying for your driver's license here, which apparently can only happen once every three weeks, but only every other time is there somebody there who can work with an English-speaking individual--of course, we are in Korea).
And today, I wouldn't have expected anything different. Turns out we had a half day, a "teacher's lunch" and a third grade boy's soccer semi-final match to watch that I was completely unaware of until it was happening (middle school kids here are referred to as 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade, the equivalent of 7th, 8th and 9th graders back home).
This seems to be the norm here, finding things out as they happen. Suffice it to say, they keep me on my toes here in Korea.
The soccer match was great--and smell of sun-warmed turf made me happy and feel right at home. (Oh! Many times I am introduced by co-teachers as having been a soccer coach, even though it was one season for 10-year old girls. The boys are always so surprised when I tell them I play soccer. I've been invited by my co-teacher on the weekends to play with him and his all-male squad. And now, thanks to a kind male teacher at my school, I have my own pair of soccer shoes. Used and worn down they may be, but they're still soccer shoes!). This game was a big deal, as the principal and vice principal were there, along with a handful of other teachers. Team uniforms were pretty fancy and the refs looked sharp in theirs. We got to the game late and I didn't know the score, so you can imagine my surprise when at the end of the game the teams went into a shoot-out! The boys of Jinju Jeil lost :( There was a substantial amount of bowing that occurred after the game--each team to the other, each team to the other school's principal and vice principal, each team to their own principal and vice principal, and each team to the tent at the middle of the field that housed the people in charge of the games. (Don't be shocked if, when I come back home after my time here, I bow my head to you every time I see you! It's a habit I've already picked up).
I am kind of enjoying these surprises that occur on a daily basis, and am full of anticipation for the many more to come...
Happy holidays!
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