I haven't yet done a post about the school system here in Korea. But after today I think I'll give a little bit of insight to the people back home.
Yesterday, I had my morning conversation class work on an activity about giving advice to teens about problems they have in their lives. We ended up having a really good discussion and the students liked the activity. So this morning when I got to class my computer wasn't working so I decided to build off of yesterdays activity. I told the students to write about a problem they were facing, present it to the class and we would discuss it and give each other advice. My first 3 speakers all were worried about going to high school (they graduate middle school this year). And they didn't have the usual worries that American kids have. Like "I wonder if I'll make a lot of friends" or you know just being nervous about the new environment. Usually American students are more excited than nervous, there are so many parties, and big football and basketball games, so many extra curricular activities and so many new people.
But all I heard today were things like "I'm scared because girls usually drop out of math in high school because its too hard. If I don't do well, all of my hopes and dreams will be gone because I won't qualify to be a diplomat when I grow up". So of course I asked what if anything they were excited about. You know, being more independent, more social activities etc....."Opsoyo" which means it 'doesn't exist or don't have' in Korean. When students don't have their work in class they say "opso". That's pretty much the status of their social lives as well. I mean you do have some students that don't care much about school or certain subjects but that's a pretty small percentage.
No wonder Koreans my age, for the most part don't do much at all and are not very social. I don't think they've developed the skills plus they're probably so tired from working so hard as students and finally have time to sleep and relax. Its good and bad I guess, we could learn to work harder and maybe they could learn to relax.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving
So today is officially Thanksgiving back home and I can't wait to take my lunch break so I can go home and call my family. Here in Korea, us foreigners had a celebration yesterday. The town was kinda far away so I wasn't planning on going. I have a class that starts at 8 a.m. But as usual I couldn't let myself miss out on the excitement. So when I got the call at 9:15 pm asking if I was going, I had quickly stop my movie, put away the kimchi dinner I was having, change out of my pj's and get to the bus station before 9:50, which is when the bus left. I don't know why I feel compelled to do such things.
The trip to Changwon (an hour away) was an event in itself. We had to haggle down the 60.00 cost of a taxi to 30.00....in a language we don't speak, because it's faster than the bus, but we managed to do it. Had to stall the taxi driver to wait for a friend who was late. We actually ended up having our taxi try to meet up with her taxi which was a mess because none of us could communicate clearly with the drivers and we only "sorta" knew how to get to the place we wanted to meet at. I don't know what it is but all of my trips seem to start off the same messy way.
I should mention that the only reason we were able to take the trip for half the price was because another girl was headed for a town going our way so we basically split the cost. Needless to say while all of this was going on she was getting more and more frustrated. At one point she and her little Ralph Lauren dressed dog were about to hop out of the taxi all together. My friend is like "We can't let her get out, our price'll go up". LOL.
Eventually we all were in the taxi headed to Changwon. The driver was so irritated he kept telling us SHHH!! He was pointing (and I know he was cussin in Korean). It was terrible. Once we actually got to the guys house everybody left because it was late and they had work. Nonetheless we ate turkey and sweet potato pie, watched some stand up and had a good time.
After the little celebration we had to figure out how to get back home since the bus station had apparently closed....back to the taxi's....same story.
I got home close to 3 a.m. went to bed and now am back at work. On sunday we will have a more relaxed thanksgiving here in Jinju. I hesitate to say that.
I had to write about Thanksgiving since its the first major holiday since I've been away. I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey day and had many reasons to give thanks.
The trip to Changwon (an hour away) was an event in itself. We had to haggle down the 60.00 cost of a taxi to 30.00....in a language we don't speak, because it's faster than the bus, but we managed to do it. Had to stall the taxi driver to wait for a friend who was late. We actually ended up having our taxi try to meet up with her taxi which was a mess because none of us could communicate clearly with the drivers and we only "sorta" knew how to get to the place we wanted to meet at. I don't know what it is but all of my trips seem to start off the same messy way.
I should mention that the only reason we were able to take the trip for half the price was because another girl was headed for a town going our way so we basically split the cost. Needless to say while all of this was going on she was getting more and more frustrated. At one point she and her little Ralph Lauren dressed dog were about to hop out of the taxi all together. My friend is like "We can't let her get out, our price'll go up". LOL.
Eventually we all were in the taxi headed to Changwon. The driver was so irritated he kept telling us SHHH!! He was pointing (and I know he was cussin in Korean). It was terrible. Once we actually got to the guys house everybody left because it was late and they had work. Nonetheless we ate turkey and sweet potato pie, watched some stand up and had a good time.
After the little celebration we had to figure out how to get back home since the bus station had apparently closed....back to the taxi's....same story.
I got home close to 3 a.m. went to bed and now am back at work. On sunday we will have a more relaxed thanksgiving here in Jinju. I hesitate to say that.
I had to write about Thanksgiving since its the first major holiday since I've been away. I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey day and had many reasons to give thanks.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
October 2
Mr. Bae picked me up at 10 o’clock this morning so that we could go to Jinju, the city I’ll be teaching in. I had a nice long morning to rest. My first great and tragic mishap happened this morning. I blew my very expensive high tech blow dryer while trying to use a converter. This makes me sad because without a dryer my hair is a mess. In Jinju I met up with my Co-teacher Mrs. Im. She is also very kind. Her, Mr. Bae and I sat and talked while we waited until 11 am when I had an appointment to verify all of my documents…contract, letters or rec, diploma etc.
As it turns out Mr. Bae is very worried that my income is not enough which sorta blows my mind since I'm supposed to be living the high-life over here. The words “not enough income” makes me nervous. So they suggest I fill out a tax exemption form and suggest that I teach additional lessons.
After all of this was done we bid farewell to Mr. Bae and head off to my apartment. On the way we stopped for lunch. We had Bulgogi, which is my favorite Korean dish so far. It is sooo much better here than it is in the U.S. I even had Kimchi and liked it. After lunch we stopped by the school and met some of the other teachers they are all nice. Then we went to Mrs. Im’s house were I meet her kids, ate fruit and talked.
My apartment is so nice. I really am surprised at the size of it. Its a two bedroom with a pretty large bathroom. It looks like a cabin...lots of wood and bricks.
As it turns out Mr. Bae is very worried that my income is not enough which sorta blows my mind since I'm supposed to be living the high-life over here. The words “not enough income” makes me nervous. So they suggest I fill out a tax exemption form and suggest that I teach additional lessons.
After all of this was done we bid farewell to Mr. Bae and head off to my apartment. On the way we stopped for lunch. We had Bulgogi, which is my favorite Korean dish so far. It is sooo much better here than it is in the U.S. I even had Kimchi and liked it. After lunch we stopped by the school and met some of the other teachers they are all nice. Then we went to Mrs. Im’s house were I meet her kids, ate fruit and talked.
My apartment is so nice. I really am surprised at the size of it. Its a two bedroom with a pretty large bathroom. It looks like a cabin...lots of wood and bricks.
October 1
Finally landed in Seoul and had to catch a connecting flight to Busan. It was really confusing and took a long time to figure out how to get my boarding pass. I had to wait in a line for foreigners after filling out some kind of immigration form. All of us foreigners were confused…Americans, Indians, Europeans and everyone else and asking each other what was going on. I had to go to baggage claim to get my luggage take it upstairs to my airline then check in to get my boarding pass, recheck my luggage, go through security and head to my gate all over again. Wouldn't it be easier for them to just transfer my luggage and have my boarding waiting for me at the gate...or is it just me?
I now sympathize with our immigrants in the U.S. Even the most simple things are difficult. I just wanted to scream, "I don’t have drugs or a bomb now someone take me to my plane"!!!
Once I got to my gate I was very thirsty and hungry. Mostly everything in the snack shop was Korean….of course b/c I was now in Seoul. I bought some tea that was made by coca-cola and it was absolutely repulsive. I couldn't even bare the taste…it tasted like it stank. You know like a bad odor. Since I have been in Korea I have yet to buy another beverage for fear of it tasting like that. (now that I am posting this 2 months later, I have had that same tea on several occasions and would like to note that it is an acquired taste. I now enjoy it somewhat).
Finally, I arrive in Busan at 9pm!! After I got my luggage I went out to a sea of people awaiting their family, friends or business associates. Their were lots of signs and none with my name on them but out of nowhere I heard my name, “Hello Jessica”. It was Mr. Bae…he’s the Director of foreign teachers in Busan. We drove for about 30 min to the next city were he rents a room from a hotel. I stayed there for the night so that I could save money which was quite generous of him. It was a nice place with leather couches and a flat screen TV. I bought food from the convenience store downstairs and then I was on my own till the next morning.
I now sympathize with our immigrants in the U.S. Even the most simple things are difficult. I just wanted to scream, "I don’t have drugs or a bomb now someone take me to my plane"!!!
Once I got to my gate I was very thirsty and hungry. Mostly everything in the snack shop was Korean….of course b/c I was now in Seoul. I bought some tea that was made by coca-cola and it was absolutely repulsive. I couldn't even bare the taste…it tasted like it stank. You know like a bad odor. Since I have been in Korea I have yet to buy another beverage for fear of it tasting like that. (now that I am posting this 2 months later, I have had that same tea on several occasions and would like to note that it is an acquired taste. I now enjoy it somewhat).
Finally, I arrive in Busan at 9pm!! After I got my luggage I went out to a sea of people awaiting their family, friends or business associates. Their were lots of signs and none with my name on them but out of nowhere I heard my name, “Hello Jessica”. It was Mr. Bae…he’s the Director of foreign teachers in Busan. We drove for about 30 min to the next city were he rents a room from a hotel. I stayed there for the night so that I could save money which was quite generous of him. It was a nice place with leather couches and a flat screen TV. I bought food from the convenience store downstairs and then I was on my own till the next morning.
Sept. 30 The day I left the US
Even at the curb side check-in my luggage weighed too much. I had to pack my purse and carry on bag with more stuff. On top of that I had to send my mom to the car with clothes in tow. Oh what a great help she was during this process. The flight was very nice. From Phx to San Fran I slept because I hadn’t gotten any sleep for 4 days. In San Francisco the international flights are in a separate part of the airport and that side alone felt like a whole new country. It was becoming less and less diverse with each step. Soon it was all asian workers.
The flight to Seoul was the longest I’ve ever been on. 12 hours total. Asiana Airlines is really good though. The service was excellent…they handed out warm towels before the meals. The food was delicious. You could choose between western and asian style and the food was served in real Korean style dishes. From appetizers to desert and coffee or tea. We got two meals like this plus the usual snacks and drinks. Oh yeah they served wine with the meals….I loved it. There were lots of movie channels and games to play on your own private tv. The stares started on the airplane so I already knew what I was in for once I got to Korea.
The flight to Seoul was the longest I’ve ever been on. 12 hours total. Asiana Airlines is really good though. The service was excellent…they handed out warm towels before the meals. The food was delicious. You could choose between western and asian style and the food was served in real Korean style dishes. From appetizers to desert and coffee or tea. We got two meals like this plus the usual snacks and drinks. Oh yeah they served wine with the meals….I loved it. There were lots of movie channels and games to play on your own private tv. The stares started on the airplane so I already knew what I was in for once I got to Korea.
So my first couple of weeks here I was writing up little tidbits about what it was like being in Korea. Eventaully though my work caught up to me and I stopped writing about my many adventures. Plus, I hadn't actually started a blog and kept putting it off. Alas I am publishing my entries and will continue to blog for my next 10 months in Korea.
Here is the first one.
Sept 29
For my birthday I was so busy getting ready to leave for Korea that I was too tired to celebrate. Plus I had so much to still do. My flight left the morning after my birthday. My mom and I spent the whole night packing then unpacking and repacking my luggage…well my mom did, really. I was too stressed out about not being able to take all of my clothes shoes, beauty products and decorative items. So I just watched and had mild anxiety attacks throughout the night. Gosh 50 lbs of luggage is really not much at all. I had to leave sooo much behind. It was upsetting.
Here is the first one.
Sept 29
For my birthday I was so busy getting ready to leave for Korea that I was too tired to celebrate. Plus I had so much to still do. My flight left the morning after my birthday. My mom and I spent the whole night packing then unpacking and repacking my luggage…well my mom did, really. I was too stressed out about not being able to take all of my clothes shoes, beauty products and decorative items. So I just watched and had mild anxiety attacks throughout the night. Gosh 50 lbs of luggage is really not much at all. I had to leave sooo much behind. It was upsetting.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
OMG
I finally figured out how to start blogging after 2 months of not really trying! LOL ok now I can let everyone see how I'm doing. I'm excited...no more batch emails!!
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