So you must speak Korean?

How to Find a Good Hagwon

2010-08-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

My hagwon experience has been one hassle after another. The lastest trash they're making me walk through is my return flight: 24 hours with a stop in Manila, thousands of miles south, when the goal is to fly north and across the Pacific to San Francisco. Does that seem logical to anyone? If it can save my hagwon W50,000 (approx. $45) they'll do it. They don't care at all about their staff. A number of other things also happened to me at this hagwon that were disappointing, unfair, and just plain rude. I've written up a few tips for people coming to Korea for the first time that will help ensure you're hagwon isn't a flop.

1. To Be or Not To Be Recruited.

My recuiter was terrible. Didn't realize it at first because they all had sweet voices on the phone and responded to my emails promptly. But now I know that they misrepresented my institution by telling me that there would be more than one teacher. They also offered no help to me--not even a response to a panicked email I sent--after I got the job, when no one at my hagwon listened to me at all. They threatened that I would get no other job offers besides my first one, so I should take it as soon as possible, no questions asked. It was about $200 less per month than I was hoping for, but I did as they said. If you've read Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics, they told a very similar story about realtors. Because they don't get paid anymore if a house is on the market, they push their clients to take much less than they would like for their houses. It's about turning more houses, not helping you sell your house as you'd like it. Same with hagwon recruiters: the more clients they can churn out, the better their profits are. BUT, Levitt and Dubner also stated that your realtor--or in this case, recuiter--is not going to dump a client immediately if they push a little harder for a better deal. So moral of this story: push your recruiter, or find a new one all together, untill you get what you want from a contract and from a hagwon. It's worth it.

You can find a job without a being recruited as well. I think if I come back to Korea for another year, I will not do so through a recruitment agency. There's lots of stuff on the web about job openings and they seem to give far more specifics about their company than the recruiting agency gave me. Dave's ESL Cafe is a great one. Most of the job offers are for immediate openings, but they usually list the phone number or address on the posting so you can call them with questions or do research on the area in which you'll be living/working.

3. The Contract

Like I said, seriously don't settle. There are certain things that I know are in some people's contracts that make their lives in Korea a helluva lot easier.

a. Make sure you have at least 2 sick days. This part is just kinda written out of contracts sometimes in Korea. Koreans work really hard, and by this I mean that "personal days" are not a thing. If you're not go-to-the-hospital-with-brain-swelling sick, you're expected to come into work. I have pink-eye right now, something that would not fly working in American schools, but I don't have sick days, so my boss will take the risk of me giving it to all my students. It's about the work that you output, not your physical well-being so much. Please know that before you come to Korea. :)

b. Ask that your flights--to and from Korea, always included in a hagwon contract--are the most direct flights available. I talked about my upcoming 24-hour journey above and with other foreign English teachers in my neighborhood. They told me that they all have a clause in their contract stating they get the most direct flight available. What I'm saying is that I know it exists and I wish I would have had the foresight to require it.

c. Your contract should have a clause about what is included with your apartment: furniture, kitchenware, other facilities. Almost all contracts say, and thus the apartments include, bed with linens, pillows, and a comforter, heating, air conditioner, hot water available 24 hours, a gas range, a clothes washing machine, sink, full-size refrigerator, microwave, rice cooker, a frying pan, a pot, dishes, silverware, a couch, a desk, a tv, a wardrobe, as well as cable tv and high-speed internet capabilities. Almost everyone has these things, but if they don't include them in your contract, you probably won't get them. Make sure they are each listed in your contract before you sign.

d. Lastly, ask your recuiter to reconfirm how many foreign teachers and other staff are working at your hagwon and how many students on average are in each class. This will give you an idea of the scale of your hagwon. Also ask what facilities your classroom includes (whiteboard, TV, projector, computer, individual desks, group tables). This information will give you a sense of whether the school is doing fine or hurting financially. If your recruiter can't or won't give you this information, call the school directly. Someone must speak English; it's an English teaching institution for f's sake. Once you get the school directly you can ask things about the dimensions of the apartment offered, how far it is from hagwon and if you can get some pictures of the place. I did this pictures requesting thing, got pictures of the hagwon, but the guy *forgot* to give me pictures of the apartment. Well, if was a dirty, small piece with no window. The smallest apartment I've seen to date, and the only apartment I've seen that doesn't have one entire wall entirely made of windows.

You can get these things! They are available! You just need to require them and make your hagwon sign on it.

3. You Took the Job! Now What?

*stay tuned for a my next blog post about coming entering the world Korean hagwon work!*

Something You May Not Know About Korea

2010-05-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

Something you may not know about Korea is that all the chopsticks are flat, heavy, slick, and metal. I had practiced using wooden, plastic, and bamboo chopsticks in the states before I came because that was all I had been exposed to. However, the first time I picked up the unweildy sticks in Korea, I was shocked at how most of my acquired chopstick skills faded away. Two wobbly strips of metal floating independently between my fingers is what I had.

Fatty Fatso McFattigan

2010-04-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this picture:

Now, please tell me: what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see this girl? If you said pop star, you're right. She's Tiffany from Korea girl megagroup So Nyeo Shi Dae, or Girl's Generation. If you said, she's pretty cute, I don't know if you're necessarily right, but I agree with you. Itty-bitty shorts, leather studded bracelet, hair in her face, etc. There are many things one could say about this girl. But, there is one thing that I thought I would never hear about this girl, let alone ANY Korean celebrity:

Two of my female students were talking today about a non-present male classmate, Raphael. They were giggling and saying his name, so I asked them what they were saying. "Do you know 티파니 (spoken, "TeePanee" using Korean English)?" I didn't. They explained who she was, and I knew her group. "Raphael likes her." *more giggles* Then they said something else in Korean, and puffed out their cheeks. "Are you saying she's fat?" "Yes!" they responded, and continued to giggle. Like I said, I have NEVER seen any Korean celebrity who I would consider fat, so I raced home to find a picture of this obese pop star I'd heard about. This was all I could find. Fat? Did that pass through your mind? It certainly did not for me.

Image in general seems very important to Koreans I've met and not met (on TV, heard about through friends), especially body image and otherwise appearance. I've heard multiple people assure me that 100% of Korean celebrities have had plastic surgery, and on many it is very apparent (like, they've gone overboard and their faces crinkle funny or don't move at all). Maybe chill out, Korea. I don't know; just sayin'. *^^*

Cherry Blossoms in Gyeongju

2010-04-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, April 10th and 11th, I took the KTX cross country train far south to Gyeongju to see a more touristy side of Korea. We arrived at about 11am, found a cute little hostel, rented some bikes to tool around the city, and viewed a ton of cherry blossoms and magnolia trees. I have a few highlight pictures directly on this page--please click to view a larger size--and many more located at this link.

2010-04-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

Kinda Miffed

2010-04-01T01:07:00.000-07:00

So I just bought a new camera--sweet, right?--but everytime I take it out at school the kids try to cover their faces and run away like I'm some kind of child-molesting freak. Today I had this great shot of three boys sitting in front of the plasma watching Cartoon Disney, eating the stinkiest dried squid tentacle snack, just dazing out, but as soon as I stopped in front of them they flipped out as if I was trying to murder them. It's not just that "most Korean students are very shy," as my coworker Katie says, because tons of my friends have really great pictures of their students posing, doing the cheesy two-finger pose, huge smiles on their faces. Maybe my kids think I'm creepy or mean and they're trying to punish me, unconsciously, of course.

Will I remember them if I don't have their pictures? Will they remember me? It makes me feel good to imagine my future with Korea in my distant past and still have some physical evidence that I existed in another country. Some tangible proof that I helped some kids make it to adulthood. *huff*

2010-03-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

What is a Seoulite like?

I recently read an article on the Korea Times that gives a statistical make-up of people living in Seoul. Here's my commentary.

"In Seoul, a city with a population of 10.4 million, the average resident is a 37.6-year-old married office worker with a bachelor's degree."

With huge companies like Daewoo and Samsung headquartered there, it's no wonder that most people work in an office. I also recently read in another article that Korea has the highest number of people in their workforce with degrees in post-secondary education.

"Six out of 10 households earn between 2 million and 4 million won monthly, which makes them the so-called middle class."

Hey! I'm middle-class! I'm guessing that another two or three out of 10 make a lot more than that because housing is very limited and extremely expensive.

"The number of Seoul residents in their 20s or under is on the decline while the population of the older generation is increasing."

This figure can't be read quite the same as it would be in the USA or Canada. Most post-high school students live with their parents until they get married. Some men move out of their family's home earlier than that, but not until they're like 30. It's also true that Korea's birth-rate is dropping, meaning more old ones around (see this stat below).

"Every day there are 264 births, 106 deaths and 197 marriages. In 2009, 91,000 babies were born in Seoul, around a 3,700 decrease from the previous year."

The woman that I tutor said that in order to turn this birth rate drop around the conservative party is suggesting making abortions illegal. Huh. Interesting reason supporting this ethical dilemma.

"More than 42 percent of Seoul's housing consists of apartments, while houses only account for 7 percent."

This is apparrent as you look at any horizon line in Korea. Beautiful mountains covered in green foliage surrounded by hundreds of identical tall, white buildings. I don't think I've ever seen a house in Korea, actually.

"About 47 percent of households are in debt, with the biggest portion being mortgage loans."

Oh, I BET! In order to change my apartment I had to pay a move-out fee of close to $200, and then a move-in fee for the same amount for moving within the same building! The cost of housing is VERY high in Korea. This runs parallel to the aforementioned fact that most people live with many family members, which is much cheaper than living alone. I wonder if the high cost of living alone is a means of keeping people together or just an end of people being together already.

"The subway is the most popular means of public transportation in Seoul with 7.2 million users a day, while buses have 4.6 million passengers.
"Seoul boasts of one of the world's most convenient subway networks."

Awesomely true. It's under W2,000 (about $1.50) to go one way anywhere within the subway network. The trains run on time and everyone and their mothers take it. Many people use their time on the subway to watch TV or movies on their cell phones or MP3 players, listen to music, read or doze off while leaning into the person next to them, most often with no discomfort caused to other Koreans. I've seen some foreigners flip out when nodders-off sway their heavy heads their way, and to them I say: GET OVER IT. Sleeping people are in no way malicious. Calm down. Love the subway.

"Over the years, Seoul has become much more expensive to live in.
"Bus fares have jumped 25-fold from 40 won in 1977 to 1,000 won today, and subway fares have gone up from 30 won in 1974 to 1,000 won as of now.
"Soju, one of the most favored liquor in Korea, cost 120 won per bottle in 1975, but is currently priced at 1,200 won."

Aw, soju. For the almost the same cost for your bus/subway ride to a friends party, you will not come empty-handed. W1,200 is like pocket lint. Pocket lint that can get some one pretty drunk.
As for the bus/subway fares rapid expansion, this whole country has had a 25-fold jump is so many things in the last 30 years: international business, GDP and standard of living (not the same), technology, producing Olympic athletes, superstructure, and education. It's changing fast. A friend of mine from Wisconsin who taught in Seoul in the late 1980s (sorry if I fudge the dates, Linda) said that Korea didn't really have many sweet or dessert-type foods, aside from red bean paste. I was surprised to see that almost every 4-blocks or so is a Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, Paris Baguette, or Tous Le Jours (two sweet bakeries in Korea).

I interested in coming back after this in 20 years and see how much more it has changed. One thing I hope for Korea's future is more trash cans and more inter-city trees.

Please leave your comments or questions in the box below. Remember, you can post anonymously if you'd like; I just wanna hear from you!

Such a Lovely Day!

2010-02-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

Korea,

How'd you get so gorgeous allasudden? It's 59 degress outside in February. That NEVER happens in Minnesota, and I'm not missing it at all at the moment. I bounced into work today, watched Korean figure skater Kim Yeon A win the gold medal on my coworkers DMB (television capabilities on your cell phone), and wanted to talk about how awesome I felt about the weather and up-coming weekend.

Vanessa: So, any plans for the long weekend?
Katie: -silence, while staring down at the ground-
Janice: -somber- No, nothing special.
Katie: -turning to me, looking like she decided to answer my question afterall- koreankoreankorean.
Janice: koreankoreankorean.
Katie: morekoreankoreankorean.

Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm, guys. You're real pals on this gorgeous spring day. Don't worry; I'll get over it you ignoring me. I always do. : /

After work, I'm going to take my kite out to Central Park in Pyeongchon, a huge open space in which I've seen young and old ones alike flyng their kites. I wish I had someone to take pictures.

New Apartment!

2010-02-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

Last week Friday, I moved my entire apartment in a flurry of bedsheets, stacks of clothes on hangers, and shopping bags of dishes aflyin' in about an hour. If my faithful readers recall, I lived in a jail-cell-sized one room apartment with a huge barricade over the window and no sunlight at any time of the day. Now, I've moved across the hall and down two floors to an identical apartment, only this time with an east-facing window. The minute I opened the door to my new place and saw the glory of the sun pouring into my new home, I knew I had made the right choice to change.

The room sat an utter mess for an entire week: suitcases still brimming with odds and ends along with my disassembled bed, mattress bare and taking up the dead-center of the floor. So finally, Saturday (yesterday), I took a weekend day off from meeting with friends for drinks, shopping, and dining to finally straighten it up. The previous tenant left an ABSOLUTE mess. Years of urine seemed to be baked into the tiles surrounding the toilet. The floor had muddy foot prints on it. Sweeping under the fridge, I felt like a detective of the occupants before me: I found (lots of dust,) several baby spoons, a package of baby wet wipes, cat food, a tiny photo album of a baby girl, along with a huge photo of a mom, dad, and the same baby in hanbok at what looked like a birthday celebration for the baby. What I'm thinking is, You mean to tell me that a baby, a cat, and possibly another adult all lived in this same tiny space? Wowza.

I literall spent the entire day cleaning, sorting, and rearranging. I want to post pictures of how it is now to show what a difference getting rid of some of the furniture made. I found out that in the little closet that holds my water heater and airconditioner, there's a ton more space to shove other things to get them out of the way. I decided that setting up the bed with the side railings and headboard would just take up too much space, so I set the mattress on its platform and called it a day. I moved my two huge pieces of luggage, side rails from the bed, my fan, and my coffee table into the closet and now I'm free, free, free. I feel like I may want to have guests over now! Getting sunlight and removing all that clutter has really made a difference in my mood. Yesterday was the first day that I actually felt comfortable just staying at home, by myself. A body needs that, you know.

This weekend is Seollal, Korean Lunar New Year. Many things were closed and the streets were pretty empty. It's like Christmas in America: women make tons of food, spending the whole time with family, leaving the city to visit relatives, giving gifts of money to children and grand-children. On Friday night, Ashley invited a bunch of my friends over to her place in Sanbon, where our friend, Gideon, made panang curry and we ate until we exploded. There was wine, ddeok (a kind of semi-sweet glutinous rice cake, see pic below), strawberries; it was the best!

Here are some more pics that Sean Han took of the event.

Purple wine teeth. Gross.

The girl with the long blonde hair is Ashley, blonde hair worn up is Meredith, super-tall guy at the helm of the curry operation is Gideon--he just got a suit tailored for him in Itaewon because he simply cannot buy clothes anywhere else in Korea--and making a very small appearance from the back is Steve, from Stillwater, MN.

Please leave your comments and questions in the comment box below or send me an email at vtieman01@gmail.com.

Mr. Lee x2

2010-02-03T05:22:00.000-08:00

I met my three clients today for the first time near Beomgye station. Like I said before, two older men, civil engineers, who said they need to improve their English skills so that they can make conversation with other foreigners when they have business trips in the United Arab Emeritus. They were accompanied by a younger woman, with whom I met before to discuss the goals and conditions of the tutoring. Her name is Chae Won, she's a shy, TINY thirty-something whose English is good enough for conversation with a patient listener, but needs some tuning on pronunciation and a few specific grammar issues.

Chae Won greeted me at the elevator and brought me into a vacant conference room on the fifteenth floor of a bustling office building in "downtown" Beomgye, if that really exists due to it being dwarfed by neighboring Seoul. A gigantic digital clock glared red in the elevator hallway, reminding people of how late they were to their 9 o'clock workday. She brought me into a vacant conference room and slipped on a pair or slippers at the door. Soon after, she came back with my two English beginners. They wore matching nylon coats and looked like building contractors, the ones you see on TV at building sites wearing clean khakis, hard hat, and holding a few rolls of schematics.

The suggestion from some teaching adult ESL internet sites was to ask them to choose English first names, both so they could learn English under a guise if they had anxiety about their level and so I could remember their names more easily. They wanted to keep their names. The first one said he would go by Mr. Lee. Easy enough. The second one gave me his full name, of which, condensed to last name, was also Mr. Lee. This made me a little nervous, but as class went on, it was just easier to address them as the same name and gesture to one or the other if I wanted them to speak individually. Most of the material I prepared was too low of a level for them and I started getting nervous that they would call think I was underqualified and quit before we had even begun. Not the case: I thought up some stuff on the fly and they were content repeating after me, taking notes and doing small role plays of, "What do you like to do? I like to golf," and the like. I then asked them to repeat, "What is your favorite food?" and the older of the two Mr. Lee's asked me if I like soju. I giggled, made a motion to my chest and said, "불" which means "fire." They both got a good laugh out of it, and I felt like I gained a little bit of respect because I took it well.

After I ran out of material at 11--half an hour earlier than planned--they said they would go back to work,* and I was left with Chae Won for the last half hour. We just shot the shit, as much as you can shoot the shit with a woman 17 years older than you who smiles and giggles as if she's half your age. It was fun. My second lesson is tomorrow, and after that we meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays every week. If you would like to know more about how my tutoring is going, post a comment below or send me an email at vtieman01@gmail.com.

*So I guess they take time out of their work day to meet with me and all "free dinners"--inquire within--they give me also come from their employer. Pretty rad. Sounds legit.

English Tutoring

2010-02-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

My week has been super busy. I've recntly agreed to give three Korean business people some English tutoring--free of charge--three mornings a week for a while. My first meeting with them is this morning and I spent a couple hours last night preparing. Rigid gender lines between younger generations are beginning to soften, but tutees are two older men and and that may be little bit weird for me. Since I've come to Korea, the only older man that I've met has been my doorman, Mr. Han, but he's one of the sweetest and most Westernized people I've met here (he was a KATUSA--Korean in assistance to the US Army--for two years and then a military cook for many years after, mingling with American soldiers and practicing his English for more than a decade in country). So I hope we can all be respectful to each other. :)

So tutoring this morning and tomorrow morning, and then on Thursday night, I need to finish getting my entire apartment packed and cleaned so my friend's Gideon and Diana can come and help me move early Friday morning. Well, none of us work until around 2pm, so early for us means 9am. I offered to buy them lunch after we finish--AND NOT A MINUTE SOONER! hehe. This weekend I need to go out and buy myself some apartment warming plants. OH, AND! while I was moving stuff around, I found W100,000 that I had stashed a couple of months ago in a secret hiding spot! Pretty cool, huh? I'm probably just going to to use it to pay bills, but whatev's. Kay wish me luck on my move!

New Bike

2010-01-18T06:52:00.000-08:00

I finally got a bike here in Korea. I bought from a guy living near Ssangmun station--almost an hour and a half from where I live--but I really think it was well worth it. Found it on craigslist: Seoul. It's a white Lespo Rally (Korean make) with a nice smooth ride and compact design. It cost me W280,000 (equivalent to $250) and it's definitely well worth it for how much use I'm going to get out of it. I'm going to get the handlebars adjusted tomorrow at a bike shop down the street and s/he is free to ride! Tonight it started warming up here as well, so a trip out tomorrow is in order! The amount I'm going to save on taxi rides is going to be very freeing. Tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be in the 40s, so I I better get some riding in before Thursday when it drops down in the 20s with a low of 3 degrees. ChillAY!

I won't have many pictures up in the coming month of two because, uh . . . I lost my camera. :/ Very sad, I know. I'm still going to steal some from my friends' facebook pages, though. Hehhe! Any questions or comments, please submit them using the comment link below.

False Korean History?

2010-01-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

While thinking of movies that I would like to see and download, I saw show on TV that looked like some black and white footage of Korean history. I wonder why I haven't gotten a chance to learn about Korean history before this point! I know about the Korean war and how the south became democratic while the north became communist, but that's really about it. My Korean coworkers don't talk about it. Most of the references to historical periods or past leaders in museums and temples have mental "hooks," no frame of reference, to to "hang" the new information I read.

So I googled "korean history, and I followed the video links. From there I found an 18-part series on the Korean war, but more numerous, however, were kind of lectures through text about how Koreans fabricated most of the major points of their history or stole them from China and Japan. The videos said, in not the best English, that Koreans claim Confucius as Korean, stole Chinese symbols to use on their flag, and Seoul was a grand slum before the Japanese occupation made it a successful metropolis. One video even claims "Korean cultural plagiarism." Wow.

With titles like, "Why Koreans Always Lose to Japan," and "All Your Culture Are Belong to Us (sic)," it's hard to just ignore such a great presence of this propaganda! Korea's so small, why would people feel such a need to pick on it? My best guess is their fantastic global economic image is causing part of it, but if anyone has any comments on this, please post in the box below!

Japan Drei: More pics

2010-01-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

Japan Deux: Pictures

2009-12-31T02:34:00.000-08:00

Japan

2009-12-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

Von came to visit me on Monday, and today, Wednesday, we flew into Tokyo, Japan for our visit our second Asian country. Our hotel is in Minami-Asagaya on the Western side of Tokyo, on the Maronouchi Line of Tokyo Metro.

Although I don't claim to know Korean language yet, I've gotten used to the sound and rhythm of it being spoken all around me. It's been a mental work-out to try to listen to a new, new patterns of speech to listen for the information that might be helpful to me in subway and in the stores. I'll most likely put up pictures tomorrow of our trip so far. First impressions of our neighborhood: the streets are very clean and very quiet, there's no smoking outside, and manga is everywhere.

Tomorrow I'm going to Harajuku, Roppongi, and lastly, Shibuya for a New Year's Eve party at club Womb in the evening. My mission is shopping, then partying.
Nighty-night.

Freezing!

2009-12-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

Definitely the coldest day of the season so far today! The daytime temp was -3 degrees! Okay, okay; that's Celcius, but still I feel like it's the dead of winter. There have been Christmas decorations up for the last two weeks, but it just doesn't feel like the holly jolly season I'm used to experiencing. I think it's because I don't have the people I love near me. Part of me is sad, but it's mostly just different. TV here isn't as saturated with Christmas-themed ad jingles and seasonal warm-hearted mini-series as in America, and it's the first time I haven't been fed up with "Jingle Bell Rock" by the middle of the merry month. I get a break this year! While I'm sure I'll start missing the exhaustion from all the Xmas glitz come March when I realize it's absence, for now I'm relieved(1).

But, please, don't think I'm forgotten about my family and friends from back home. I'm giving all my good cheer (presents) to Von when he comes to visit East Asia over the New Year. He'll bring it back with him on the plane and mail it to you all using USPS. So, even though you'll get some gifts a little late, I hope you enjoy. When else are you going to get some authentically cool crap from Korea?

If you're one of those people who can't live without Christmas, please continue to live it up and have a happy holiday season!

1. I am really missing Christmas cookies, however. :(

Korean Double Date

2009-12-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

Last night my friend Meredith--from Utah, living three subway stops away from me in Beomgye--were invited on a double date. I've been meeting one guy named Seong Jin about once a week for chicken and beer(1) and sometimes he brings his friends. His English is almost nonexistent, but we both have a sense of determination of communication that I think is uncommon for monolingual Koreans and certainly a rarity among foreigners here(2). Sometimes he invites his friends, who speak a little bit more English, and we always have a great time.

One of his friends asked if I had any other foreign friends that would be good for double or even triple dates. I've spent so much of my life hanging out with groups of guys (I think we more often mesh a little less awkwardly), so I said why not. There was one guy specifically that I wanted Seong Jin to take with us on a double date named Jim. He's a taekweondo instructor, very fit, and he's got a cute asymmetrical anime haircut that I knew would win over one of my lady friends.

We met last night at 9. The friend he brought along, I had never met before, was named Hong Gil. At first sight I was a little disappointed because he didn't have the same cute Korean style as Seong Jin and his friends--he looked more like an American guy, with a loose-fitting pair of light stonewashed jeans, an olive green jacket and a T-shirt. We went out for beer, soju, makolri and bar food, which, in Korea, is top-notch non-fried stuff. It was a little awkward at first since Seong Jin and I both knew two of the party and Meredith and Hong Gil only knew one, but the tension broke when they realized that HG lives in the same city that M trains in Moi Thai (a martial arts fighting style used in the Thailand army) and that HG also does martial arts--taekweondo and Judo.

This was an interesting experience. It's like regular dating, without having to txt message your friend under the table or having to go to the bathroom together to let one know what the other is thinking about their date. A "team"--divided by first language--can drop out of the group "conversation" and speak in a slightly coded version of the language to discuss more intimate things the other team doesn't need to know. The coding consists of a more complex sentence structure, more difficult vocabulary, and slang. Back in the group, it's like a language and culture workshop for both teams held over wonderful food and plentiful drink.

1. I might have said this in a past blog post, but it's worth repeating. Fried and barbequed chicken is one the most abundant and well-like foods in Korea and anywhere you go in a metropolitan area, a fried chicken place is not far.

2. It seems most foreigners band together with other foreigners and kind of cut off from what happening in Korea with Koreans. Many seem like extended-stay tourists to me, seeing the sights, but not wishing to really observe and go with the flow of the culture.

Please leave me your comments of questions in the comment box below or email me at vtieman01@gmail.com.

My First Korean Class

2009-11-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to announce that I have finally started (in)formal Korean classes with a book (intended for 5 year-olds), a teacher (my youngest coworker, volunteered to work with me for free by a senior coworker), and a regular meeting time of Monday and Wednesday mornings from 11:00-12:00. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I think it's going to be good. I just need to practice every day and use the phrases I learn in as many situations as possible during my day. This new gig sure beats trying to construct sentences using my very limited Korean pocket dictionary with the English-less guys I go on dates with, I can tell you that right now.

My teacher is Janice, a 28 year-old soon to be bride. She's very skinny, energetic, and enthusiastic about helping me learn. She asked me at the beginning of our time today at Dunkin Donuts what aspect of Korean was my priority to learn: writing, phonetics, speaking, etc. I said speaking, because it doesn't look like I'm going to be writing an theses or novels in Korean anytime soon, and I've studied the alphabet enough to know what sounds go with what letters. I mostly want to learn the language to form closer relationships with the Koreans I meet. On her command, I wrote out some simple words. She let me know immediately that I was doing it all wrong. Like in Japanese and Chinese, the stroke order for each individual mark in each letter is very important, and she suggested that I make writing my number one. Kind of bummed out by this, I agreed with her and went to making sure my stroke order was standard.

At the end of our hour, she showed me the pictures of her THREE wedding dresses, first picked out by her, then repicked out by her mother (who said that all her choices looked very cheap). Before she announced that she was getting married, the director, secretary, and two other coworkers had a serious discussion about how Janice should not attempt to marry the boyfriend she was with. Their reason: he works for a construction company and he doesn't make enough money. This was very sad for me to hear because the week before Janice had told me that, unlike most Korean women, she is looking for a kind and generous heart over money. And now these heartless bitches were trying to break up this sweet young couple! Since her announcement, I haven't heard anymore negative talk about it, and I won't probe for it either.

Anyway, I'll let you know how my lessons are going. The pictures in Korean book I bought are priceless. One says, "Circle the kids in this playground scene who are playing dangerously," and the picture is of kids laughing and playing, along side others who have malicious grins on their faces climbing up slides, grabbing hold of the next kid on the swing with their legs, or standing on the high end of the see-saw. The assailants has rosy cheeks and wide sparsely-toothed grins. Fantastic. I'm excited.

Please leave your comments, reactions--accompanied by a comment, please, and questions below or send them to me via email at vtieman01@gmail.com.

KPop

2009-11-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

When I lived in the US, I might have been able to say that I HATED most pop music. The first time I saw a KPop (Korean pop music) video was in a bar with Brenna and her friends in Incheon on a huge screen. I saw the glittery outfits, the cheesy dance moves, and the boy and girl groups topping off with eight or nine members each, I began to think that pop music wherever I went was not for me. Since then, I've changed my mind.
Walking past an outdoor dining area near a local hole-in-the-wall seafood restaurant, I caught a glimpse of what was on the TV. The following video spun my head so fast the centrifugal force sucked my eyeballs out and glued them to the screen:

I had heard the song before, but after I saw those delicious Korean men doing that dance, I was hooked. (Little did I know at the time that they were actually parodying a song and dance by a girl group called Brown Eyed Girls; nevertheless, I've always loved more femininity in guys than most girls, and, man oh man, Korea's got the guys I love. ;))

If you like the music or the guys, let me know, and I can def hook you up with more KPop.

I miss you, Schwinn Sprint!

2009-11-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

I really miss my bike. :( I didn't, really, for a long time, and then like jet engine screaming in my ear, I suddenly do. We did so much together. We went to work, we went out in the country, to class, we went to Mpls, to concerts, to parties, to birthdays. What a good friend.

Every time I want to visit my friends, the cab fare is 2500w there and another 2500w to get back (roughly $5 total). I could save that money and use it to buy a bike here and ride it over there when I want some exercise and a chat. The ride is scenic and most of the way has sidewalks that are wide enough for me to duck off the street if I feel like it's too busy. I'd want a pretty decent road bike, not too expensive, but something that's nice and light. People have told me that riding bike in Korea is very dangerous, but I do see people doing it. Not as often as in the Twin Cities, but a recognizable number. And they're mostly old people, which leads me to believe that it's really not that dangerous (they're the wisest and most experienced, am I right, Grandma and Grandpa?). And to help out just a little, I'll even tell someone special about my plans:

Dear Santa,
I've been a really good girl this year, and I've found the courage to do some things that I previously thought scary and insurmountable. I think I deserve a pat on the back. How is the Mrs.? Tell her she's a helluva woman. Santa, please bring me a road bike with ram handlebars and pedal cages this Christmas. I'll be sure to supply plenty of deokbeoggi (Korean children's favorite snack, made with pulverized-fish-bone cake, spicy orange sauce, and chewy rice logs) for when you come to leave it for me on Xmas Eve. Thank you!
Sincerely, Korean Vanny

Bites

2009-10-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

I was arisen at 2:05 in the morning by two intense itches on opposite arms. Oh, yeah: by the way: there's also a hole in my screen and bugs get in.

Update on the Living Sitch

2009-10-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

So as some of you may know from my recent Facebook status, I had a rough Thursday last week due to further discussion with my director about my room situation. I had asked before about what she could do to get me into a livable apartment (specifically with enough sunlight to tell what time of day it is). The first time she said she could do nothing. I went back to her again with a coworker as translator and she said yes, but I would need to pay W500,000 out of my pocket and would need to FIRST find someone to occupy my place before I could even begin to look for other places to live. This is a very different method than in the US where it's the landlord's responsibility to all their own legwork, so I was a bit shocked and unnerved at first, no to mention being worried about being homeless for a period in between.

But, at the end of the day, I really needed to assess whether over $400US would be worth getting some sunlight. I thought on it for about a week, and got a lot of input from other English teachers around me. Some said I should be very firm and insist that they pay for it or I would find another employer. Others said I should just put up with it and save the money because directors are there make the decision for you and wouldn't budge due to my low rank in the hagwon.

I was sick of not making progress, so I told my coworkers that I had made a decision about the room which was this: I would offer to pay 1/4 of the cost of moving. If she said no, I would bargain at 1/3 and stop at 1/2 and after that I would threaten to quit. What actually happened was that I did all the bargaining, but they still said no because my hagwon is losing a lot of money right now due to students dropping out and going to the brand new Gunpo Global Education Center (GGC) in the next town over, Sanbon, so they wouldn't have any money to do anything about it. When told my coworkers that I might quit and saw the look on their faces, combined with my stress of trying to drop this bomb, caused me to tear up in a major way, which I wasn't expecting when planning this all out in my head. I heard through third-hand conversation that a coworker spoke to my director about it, and she asked me to please consider the school's position in their tough economic times. At that point I really felt like I was doomed. :(

Then a coworker told me not to be sad later on, which made me tear up again, pretty terrible when you're around kids all day. So finally after all the students were gone and it was the end of the day, I asked my coworker to accompany me once more to officially give my director, face-to-face, my decision to leave. I just caved and decided to pay. Wow; did that ever feel terrible. Not only had I felt depressed all day long, but it got me back to square one. For realz? Whew, and it was a workout, let me tell you. So everyday I now leave my key with the doorman in the case that someone wants to see my apartment. Am I hopeful? Yes. And eager? Yes. Do I think that people will also be turned off by their being no window? OF COURSE, but there is hope.

I always welcome your comments and questions! If you leave a "reaction" below, please accompany it with a comment. Please leave one for me in the comment box below or send me an email at vtieman01@gmail.com.

North Seoul Tower (Namsan Tower)

2009-10-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Namdaemun Market: vendors selling street food.And granny-panties (with butt pads).Namsan Tower is at the top of the highest mountain in the center of Seoul and can be reached by cable car. The Sunday we visited, it was extremely busy and we waited in line for a while. We were right behind this cute backpack with some kind of laminated label on it (P.S. If you can read Korean, please let me know what it says!).The cable-car ride up to the top. We thought it would be maybe four people to a car, but it was more like 30 and we were crammed.There was a treacherously steep climb to the top. It was a beautiful set of stairs, though. I saw so many children falling that day, tripping over the last inch of each step their little legs couldn't reach. And for the 10,000 won fee, the view was worth it!At the top of the hill, there was a warriors-with-sword-staves demonstration. The man in front with a blue lower-half sliced though straw things cleanly in half with a single swipe. At the base of the tower we saw a sign for The Teddy Bear Museum. Diana said she loved Teddy Bears, so we did some photos near the specially marked "photo opportunities." And went inside. It was really just a very small gift shop full of teddy bears. These wire sculptures were awesome. These human forms were sculpted from chicken wire and hang above the outdoor walkways of Seoul Tower.I saw two places of art and memory installation: one, you can buy a tile to stick in a designated area to write a personal message on, and two, you can bring a lock (or buy one of theirs if you need spontaneity) and lock it to the outside railing. You can also personalize it with a message. The entire outdoor observation deck is covered with locks. From this picture, you can get an idea of how far away the US is from Seoul. All the major world cities were listed on the windows, and the direction you face out the window is the direction you need to travel to get there. Diana is from Washington, D.C., so behind her, yeah, she lives thataway. The river in the background is the Han River, which snakes through the city. While on the train, I've seen the Han and it looks beautiful. People fishing, jogging, pushing strollers, biking; the same thing people do on urban rivers in the US.

Please leave me your comments and your questions! If you give my post a rating, please also leave a comment telling me why!

Beomgye Trivia Night and Steak Tar Tar

2009-10-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

A guy I met treated me to dinner and we went to a beef and soju restraurant. Here's a picture of steak tartar--raw lean shredded beef steak--from a restaurant yesterday. Not my favorite, but I've heard beef is expensive, so I ate it down. Not with the best look on my face, I'm sure, but I'm happy I tried it.

Here he is: spent two dollars on two of these stupid claw machines while we were together. Snappy dresser though.

Last week, my team won trivia at a bar called Happydus in Beomgye--about fifteen minutes by taxi or train--so this week we hosted. This is not my team, but Azine (the girl) and I met these guys from Canada or someplace. They seemed nice.

2009-10-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! I think I know the weird ways of the blogger now. I need to type in a space that is not a box for text and after a few minutes, it appears in a non-active box below in HTML. Whatever.

So I started really putting the gym membership I bought two weeks ago to good use. I worked out on Monday and now again today. Woke up bright and early at 9, which was a killer for me because I usually naturally wake at about 11. But I got out, I started my day, and it has been amazing already. Jeon, my neighbor, gave me some tips about exercising, and I took them because he's pretty buff. He said to do a circuit--which I had heard good things about before--but include cardio as part of it. I start out by stretching and doing some crunches. The elliptical machines are really horribly non-ergometric, so next I do the treadmill for 10 minutes, all the leg machines, three sets each, then 10 more minutes of cardio, all the arm machines, and wind up with the ab machines.

This gym is really funny. First, it's called "Gold's Gym," but it's not the Gold's many people in the states know. I think it's just a high-class name they stuck on to get people to come. Most of the machines are either outdated or the padding is wearing down to where some of them kind of hurt. The second thing is that I am always the youngest person in the gym by a long shot except for the trainers. Old people (1) galore. And usually they aren't working very hard. They stand around and b.s. more than they do anything else. I've seen a guy benching 100 kilos (=220 lbs.) and he still had a gut. He was about 5'3", too. I get a huge kick out of every day is that they have two REGULARLY USED fanny-jiggler machines. You know, with the belt that should vibrate your fat away? But these ajummas and ajoshis (1) use it on everything: the butt, the waist, the legs, the calves, the arms, the back. Maybe they use it more like a massage than anything else. Could be. When I enter each morning, I grab a pink shirt (that means, "I'm a girl") and a shorts from the pink and blue gym clothes rack. When I'm done, I take them off, and they wash them for me. How wonderful is that?

I'm turning over a new leaf in my Korean life. I was beginning to miss working out, and I'm glad I'm back on track.

1) Ajumma = woman over forty, ajoshi = man over forty.

Blogger is being weird!! Please stay tuned!

2009-10-11T08:18:00.001-07:00

Race in the Hagwon

2009-09-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Please click on this picture to make it larger so you can see the details. This was in my kids' workbook. It's pretty apparent to me that this cartoon man looks very much like a characature of African descent. It might of been okay if the book said, "the black person has a big thorn/thumb," but it asks the children to recognize this image as a thief! Shocking to me, but the heterogeneous nature of my home country has influenced my thinking. The ethnic makeup of South Korea is (claimed to be) 100% Korean.

Wknd Bfr Lst in Pics

2009-09-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

J/BOTW

2009-09-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Joy of the Week: I finally got my alien registration card!!! That means I will have a cell phone and a bank account!

Bummer of the Week: Now I can't find it after having it for only one day. No phone or bank account yet.

And here's a picture of my most despised Korean dish yet. It is a cold soup with brown seaweed and onions in a vinegary broth. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Room Request

2009-09-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, the window in my apartment look out four feet to the side of another building. The sunlight that reaches it is equivalent to the light it receives from lamp posts at night. I spent one summer living in my boyfriend's father's basement, an I vowed never to be so light deprived again. I need houseplants, I need to see what time of day it is, I need to not sleep more than 11 hours a night because of it.
So today at work, I'm going to try something. I'm going to ask my director if I can move to the other side of my building. Neighbor Jeon lives over there, and it's perfect. From talking to other English teachers, I've gotten two reactions to how this might work out. Some people make their directors seem like curmudgeons who tell them what to do all the time and accept absolutely no thoughts, opinions, or input from them. Others have said things like, "Your director will probably do what s/he can to make you happy." So, from what I can tell of my director--this is not including any of the crabby teachers I have mentioned in my blog previously--I'll just have to ask. The only words she has really said to me were that my kids liked me and that I should have a good weekend. I'm also going (read: try) to iron out some things stated in my contract. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers while I do this. I will report back with the verdict.

Makolri

2009-09-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last night my neighbor Jeon and I went to a fusion restaurant that is along my extremely short walk to work. It doesn't really matter what it was called--and I couldn't tell you, if you asked. Jeon was the guy who stood me up in a past post, but as it turns out, it was due to a mistake in language and not him being a jerk. Not a jerk, and a wonderful Korean culture specialist at that! We ate a cajun chicken salad--a dish that I have seen before on Korean menus--which was breaded chicken on a bed of greens with a honey mustard sauce for the chicken and a creamy raspberry vinaigrette for the salad. I CANNOT justify calling this common Korean dish "cajun," but I will call it one of my favorite American comfort foods here in Korea. We also shared a meal that looked and tasted much like General Tso's chicken. Jeon said it was a traditional Korean dish that is sweetened with yeod, a sugar made in Korea, but made from something other than cane or sweet potatoes. He said the dish was made popular during the Japanese occupation of Korea. I've been looking for something similar in flavor to that here for a long time. Delicious. In the two pictures on the top, we are drinking rice wine called makolri (MAH-koel-ri). As you can see, it's a milky white color, which shocked me when it came out of the tin kettle. When I hear "wine," I think of Western wine that's transparent yellow or red in color, and when I think of "rice wine," I think of clear Japanese sake. The flavor is great; it has a light fizz and is very refreshing with no strong alcohol burn (unlike sake). After one sip, I knew what I wanted to buy my family and friends back home: makolri. But Jeon let me know that makolri is a Korea exclusive because it decays very quickly and needs to be kept cold continuously. Maybe I can't make it into a souvenir, but I do enjoy that my experience has been special.

(Please forgive the rotten formatting.) The restaurant had old posters that were interesting, most featured children. One has children tying up what looks like a general or maybe government leader with a length of rope and looking cheery, another with a man with a stack of paper currency on scale and children stuffing money into a piggy bank. Another appears to worn children not to gorge themselves on candy, picturing a hunched over silhouette of a child grasping his stomach while devils holding a fork and knife look tormentingly at him.

More Flight Photos!

2009-09-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you enjoyed the few pictures of the flight I posted earlier, you're in for a treat! Following this link will take you to photobucket where you can see all the pictures I took in the airports, on the plane, and from the plane window. If you've never flown internationally, this slideshow may be informative!

J/BOTW

2009-09-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

Joy/Bummer of the Week, COMIN' ATCHA!

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I always pick the bad news first so the good news softens the blow.

BOTW: The immigration office said that the photo I submitted to them for a foreigner registration card is too big, even thouh I took it at a passport-photo-taking location. I resubmitted a new Korean-taken photo, and I hope that works. This is really only a bummer because without it, I cannot get a cell phone--currently I'm sitting with no way to call anyone. This is my third weekend with no cell phone. :(

JOTW: I finally found out how to switch on the hot water for my sink and shower. Up until now, it's only been cold, so I'm truly joyful.

Oh, yeah, I'm a teacher!

2009-09-04T05:18:00.000-07:00

Upon completion of my first week as an English teacher in Korea, I grant my readers with a blog! (CHEERS!)

As my very first entry of this blog states, my school's name is Reading Town in Gunpo-si, South Korea. Only a five-minute walk from my cozy apatu (pronounced as if you were French), Reading Town is located on the fourth floor of some high rise (they're everywhere!) across the street. Convenient.

At my doctor's visit with my school director--who, by the way, speaks almost no English--I asked her when she should expect me for my first day of work. She said, "Friday (August 28). Teachers come at 1:30." This job has been advertised to me as working from 10-6 every weekday from the first time I saw the posting. Since she said "teachers come at 1:30" and it was a Friday, I assumed it must be a teacher's day only: maybe a kind of teacher prep day for the upcoming semester or an orientation for me, both of which would be very normal for a first day of working at a new school.

Friday morning came, but I decided against wearing a tank top and jeans, even though I knew it would only be teachers. I actually went back an forth about it a few times--common for me--but finally decided to err or the side of "good first impression" for my fellow teachers. I trotted to work a few minutes early, and took the elevator to "FF," meaning "Fourth Floor," but without using the number 4.* The doors parted to a reception desk with four smiling Korean faces milling around it, dressed in extremely feminine professional attire. Well, all except one (you'll see what I mean below). I really dodged a bullet with my clothing choice that day! They introduced themselves as Katie, Janice, Erin, my fellow English teachers, and Lucia, the receptionist.

We did a little chit-chat, then Janice led me to work area, a desk at the end of a line of desks. At 1:30, they all sat down at their own desks and spoke in Korean to each other every few minutes. I noticed a schedule titled "Vanessa" above my desk and started copying it down, waiting for their turn to give me a briefing on the school. The schedule went until 8pm, which was odd, I thought. It wasn't long after that I heard children's voices outside of the teacher's office. Ms. Kim told me on medical exam day that the students had been waiting for me and were excited to see me. This was evidenced by the vibrating group of kids huddled around a strip of unfrosted glass, looking in on me with wide eyes. "Wait. Why are there kids here?" I asked first in my head, and then out loud. "We work in a school," said Katie, a snappingly. "Your first class starts--," she got up out of her seat and pointed to the written schedule in front of me, "--in ten minutes. They're taking an oral test. We'll send in one kid at a time, and you'll ask them these questions." She handed me a sheet with four questions and acceptable answers on it. Here was the first one: Q: What's this? A: A yellow bus. "So am I supposed to point to something and say 'what's this?'" She said, "Yes, you can point." Trying to be deduce what she might have been talking about, I suggested, "So the thing I point to must be in the room, and then I just point to the picture?" "Yes, you can point if you'd like." What? But I kept it cool, and headed to the room.

At this point, I'm thinking, are they going to tell me what to do for the rest of my classes today? Are they going to tell me what to do for next week? Will they tell me any school policies, grading procedures, expectations, ANYTHING? The teachers and Lucia seemed friendly, except that one: Katie. The snappy one. When I asked questions, she looked at me as if to say, "Hello? Don't you know what you're doing?" My answer, Katie, is no. I did not know what I was doing. Remember? Does "first day" ring any bells?

So I got to my classroom with only enough time to notice how bare it was with no picture of a yellow bus before Ms. Kim aka Helen, the director, sent in one very young student at a time. *Gasp!* My heart melted when I saw them with their sweet little eyes peering through too-long bangs and little sloppy mouths casually chewing on little fingertips! My frustrations and anxieties about the not knowing a damn thing vanished--if only for a moment. (okay, moral of this snippet: I freaking love kids.) What I did, in the end, was just ask the kids the question. Surprisingly half the kids knew what I was talking about and somehow answered correctly. The other half was like, "Does it look like a speak English?"

As the day went on, more situations like this--where I had no idea what I was doing--arose. Nothing was told to me. Before every class, I had to ask what to do, where to find what to do, or how to do things. As the number of questions increased, snip-snap Katie became more aggravated with me. I thanked her when she answered, to which she responded, "Yeah." What's with that? Erin and Janice, however, remained smiling and helpful, so I focused my asking on them. The day was so-so. And now that my first full week is over, I should say that it was definitely the worst so far.

Over the course of the week, I cannot count how many times I was asked questions like, "You know you need to [fill in the blank with something I did not do], right?" or "Why didn't you [fill in the blank with something I did not do]?" If I were in America, I would have said, "I didn't have any training, so the answer is no," but I wanted to remain respectful to them because I was new and didn't want to seem condescending. I think they made a bad choice in not informing me of my job duties, but employer/employee relations may--and most likely are--different in Korea. So I just replied with a sincere, "Oh, no, I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me." And wouldn'tcha know: my days got easier and I have been feeling more confident every day.

On about Wednesday, Ms. Kim told me that students had been telling her, "We like Vanessa-teacher! She is fun!" On the lightness of a feather, I floated through the rest of my week. I had finally managed a daily routine for preparing my lessons, was getting through all the material, and if, in addition, the kids were pleased to have me as their teacher, I was going strong. I am going strong.

This week I will take a post pictures of my kids, the other teachers and my classroom. As always, I welcome all questions and comments, no matter how short or long. Post them here, or write me an email at vtieman01@gmail.com.

*Korean superstition says that the word for "4" sounds too much like the word for "death," so the numeral is often omitted on buildings. Like "13" in the US.

When you look at me, I hope you see a friend

2009-09-02T04:42:00.000-07:00

Friends are few and far between here in Korea. Acquaintances, I have made a few nearby. Here's my list:

Mr. Han--the door man
Mr. Oasis--the man who works at the Oasis Mart below my apartment (I don't know his name)
Jeon--the guy I met two days ago in my hall who stood me up for dinner last night

Seriously.

Okay, but here's the good news.
EMart--the Wal-mart of Korea--carries a bottled beverage called "Hooch." So I can drown my sorrows at home, if need be. And,
I found some bread that actually helps me with lawn work. Finally.

Please post your comments and questions!

Koreans Love English

2009-08-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Koreans really love the English language. I know this because I see English everywhere: used in product names, company slogans, three English channels on basic cable (more on premium, I would assume), on stationary, and most widely on people's clothes. I met a guy who was visiting Korea--from the US--and all he wanted to find for someone back home was a shirt with some Korean writing on it. He couldn't find anything in the mall, but finally came upon what looked like a school uniform store. He stepped inside to the screech from the woman behind the counter to get out. English may be ubiquitous, but it correct grammar is only sometimes used.

I saw a man working at an outdoor display of cell phones, and the back of his shirt said, "Cover yoor fase before I fomit." That was really wonderful. I also saw a shirt at the outlet mall (Newcore Outlets at Sanbon Station) with some birds, saying, "Bird Need Safe" and something below it using the word "endangered," so the designer still asserted their message.

With English everywhere, I'd assume more people who be able to communicate with me. But in the words of a friend, "Don't assume: accept." Wise, I think. The prevalence of English may be because of Korea's interested in or desire to be more Western-like. There are English schools on every corner, but even so, I need to remember that I'm not in the US, and I can't expect to talk like I'm in the US. P.S. Korean night clubs are wild.

Diana and I Explore Itaewon

2009-08-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

My new friend, Diana, invited me to come with her to Seoul onaccoun'a it being her last day before starting work. I recommended Itaewon because of all the shopping and the surplus of foreign faces (for a change). We took the subway. She's a Washington D.C. native, so subway navigation comes easily to her.

I know we don't look that much alike by American standards, but I kept wondering if the Koreans we saw thought we must be twins, at least sisters.

Left: Many subway stops serve these tasty little molded pastries. They smell Delicioso!
Right: "Long-Love" condoms in the vending machine. Be safe, people, and love long, for christssake.
We got lost and had a great patchworked view of clay-roofed houses.
I was in freaking shopping heaven. I realize the cliche of an American woman loving bag and shoe (below) shopping, but I really love browsing this stuff. More great rip-off brand names: Parade=Prada, The Redface=The Northface, etcetera. Lots of leather goods and furs in the market.
If you feel the buzz from looking at this many hot, unique shoes in one place, please comment and let us share:)
Itaewon must seriously be the city of ugly dress shops, because this was only one of like six on the same block.
Two ladies had a little (tiny, like a phone booth) room on the street, painted pink , from which they sold kimbap, which is like a sushi roll, but with ham and other good vegetables in it, not raw fish. Salty, crunchy, cool, like a soft-textured mouth spritz. Best lunch I could imagine.
Corn ice cream treat. (as with all images, click to enlarge)
I'm looking at some New Zealand made ice cream in a coffee shop called Rotiboy Bakeshop (the sweet smells and A/C beckons us in).
After Itaewon wore us thin, we travelled back to Sanbon Station, our home base. The "breadou" you see above is a piece of toy bread. Check out what it claims (click to enlarge):
Freaking weird. And it's $3. Would you? Not I.

Definitely a Korea exclusive (meaning not including the US): A male model used in a pink makeup and bath store's marketing. I'm all for it. A cute, clean guy who looks like he may run a 1950s candy shop in the window: I'm definitely down for that.
We ate at a place there recommended by Diana. These two dishes, plus soup for $10. Very good. And each table has a pull-out drawer with silverware and napkins inside! Bonus!

What is this thing? Any idea? It came with the apartment.

And I came home that night to this smiling face, keeping my place . Thanks, Von. :0)

Diana's positive attitude and assertions like, "I love Korea!" scattered about reminds me to look on the bright side of my stay here. I'm happy I found her, and since she's so close, we'll probably see each other the majority of days of the week. Looking forward to more good times avec mon Diana nouveau!

New Friend (Maybe)

2009-08-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

I found out that I won't have internet until Friday. I still don't have a power converter, but I should be able to get one today. There's a store called EMart in Sanbon (next town over), and I might go there today. I might have a new friend! She lives in Sanbon and her name is Diana. I met her at the doctor's office today doing the same thing I was (medical exam). My blood pressure was killer high, the nurse said. 167. I wonder why? All I eat is tuna and peaches. Heheh.

Whoa.

2009-08-22T20:51:00.001-07:00

Okay. So I don't have internet at my house; I don't have a power cable adapter for my laptop. I can't put pictures up yet, but I have some lovely ones. Korea is full of lights and signs, fashion and food. As soon as I figure out how to say, "Can I take your picture?" I'll post a Look of the Week. As soon as I figure out how to say, "I'd like to order some food," I'll (eat, first of all, and) post Food of the Week. For now, I'm a little hungry most of the time, and a little lost most of the time. My senses are definitely on overload. Until next time.

Tomorrow

2009-08-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

As many of you have heard, perhaps from Facebook or by phone, I will be leaving for Gunpo, South Korea tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19, 2009. I will be flying into the Incheon International Airport at 6:45pm on Thursday. Looking up pictures of the port, I found an article boasting its rating among international travelers as the world's best airport for customer service. (And look, Grandma and Grandpa Orpen: Kuala Lumpur was rated third!) I will post pictures of the inside and my new lovely home as soon as I get there and as soon as I get internet service. Perhaps there will be a PC Bang--internet cafe, pronounced "bong"--around the corner from my place.

On the plane, I plan to wear a t-shirt and jeans, but I've packed a blazer. Once I get done traveling by air, I'll be on my way to my school via "limousine shuttle bus." Don't worry, I'll let you know exactly what that means once I see it. A two hour ride. Whether I'll be wide-eyed for the scenery blurring by the windows or sound asleep, I will soon know. The blazer is to dress up my crumpled clothing and dark under-eye circles. "Boepgessuemnida!" Pleased to meet you! Away I go.

Haechi, New Symbol for the Soul of Asia

2009-07-31T18:33:00.000-07:00

Today, while looking through top articles at http://www.koreanherald.co.kr/, I ran across a new campaign by the city of Seoul to encourage community within and global recognition . . . uh, among. What the city sacked was, "Hi, Seoul; Soul of Asia." A little weak, if you ask me (yeah, I know: nobody did). Its new slogan goes, "Haechi Seoul." And here's Haechi, their new "mascot," "cultural symbol."

Kind of like a St. Bernard. But it's actually a guardian lion animal/force with horns that protects against catastrophe; fires, in particular. I've also read that Haetae, as it's usually called when not named by it's chummy diminutive, has the power of determining good from evil. The mythical creature has appeared in Korean texts since the mid-1500s. Seoul has taken up Haechi as their new city symbol because cities of its size, population, and gross regional domestic product (kind of like its "wealth") usually have one. I think it's cute. Here's some more pictures.

Oh, and Seoul's official website has changed from the "Hi Seoul" to a Haechi Seoul web page. And the promotion is huge. The new website features pictures of the statues, Haechi promotion through graphic design--featured below, as well as language summoning the strengths of Haetae to bless and guide the city.

Browsing the new city site is a bit bothersome for you who may be reading my account: it's not yet available in English. But check out yet another side of our beloved Haechi to get the kids on board.

Look at that cutie. You better believe I'm getting a t-shirt with that loveable face on it (please leave me a comment if you'd like some Haechi promo junk too). And now I leave you with a song. Listen and see if you can hear the gurgling water sound (symbolizing ability to keep fire at bay?) The children chanting Haechi! in the background makes me long for my future students.

Peace friends,
Vanessa

I get by with a little help from my friends

2009-07-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

My birthday's coming up (July 25th), and my trip to Korea sneaks its nose a little further through the mouse hole into my secure American bedroom. In the midst of planning for my move, people have been asking how they can help me. So! I made a wish list of some things that I could use if you would like to aid me in the process! All you have to do is visit this site:
http://www.yourlistonline.com/showLists.php?listID=6024
Pick an item from the list by clicking on the "(Suggested Link)" and buying it through that site. Once you've bought it, send Von an email saying what item is gone from the list (more surprising that way!). I've been feeling your support through this whole thing and I love it. Thanks for everything, family and friends!

Summer bugs and nice warm hugs,
Vanessa

Seoul Restaurant, Milwaukee, WI

2009-06-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

My friend Pete (who used to live across the hall here in Whitewater) suggested we go to a Korean restaurant to help me get more in the swing of living a Korean life. We decided on Seoul Restaurant in Milwaukee, the only Korean restaurant in the Mill. It's in a swank part of town, Lake Michigan a few blocks to the east and directly across from the American Apparel/Urban Outfitters building.

The place had a quaint 10 tables, full bar and what sounded like Korean pop music (K pop?) accompanying our menu browsing. When the waitress came to our table, I told her that I was moving to Korea in August. I came to start enjoying the food as soon as possible! She reassured me that living in Korea would be fun. "Korean food is the best food in the world," she uttered with great seriousness and confidence. We ordered a bottle of soju (a sweet and smooth vodka-esque spirit made from sweet potatoes) and in Korean custom, only filled the glasses of each other and not our own. The menu was extensive and featured lots of seafood: squid, seaweed, eel, fish, and shrimp. Not what I'm used to, but I've been getting adrenaline from facing the challenges of acclimating to Korean ways. Challenge on!

Here's Pete with his eel. It was fried with a sour kind of brown sauce. Creamy and delicious is all I can say. There's no comparison I know. It was wonderful. He's had it before, and dove right in.

Here's Brez (aka Jason Brazil), one of Pete's friends. I met him for the first time over this dinner. He lives in Milwaukee and drove over to meet us for supper. It seemed like he was a little overwhelmed by the menu too, so we suggested what the waitress suggested for American palettes: Korean BBQ. The waitress served him a sizzling iron platter of juicy marinated chopped beef with onions. Wrap that with a bit of rice in a cool, crisp lettuce leaf and shove it down the hatch! Another winner of a dish!

Now check this out. I heard and smelled this dish sizzling from another table and asked what it was. Dol Sat Bibimbap--not my picture--is served in a hot stone bowl and keeps cooking while you eat it. There's vegetables, your choice of any meat or tofu, rice, mushrooms, and lots of some kind of fermented sauce with a lot of heat. And that shiny yellow thing on top in a lightly cooked egg. Our waitress stirred it all up, cooking the egg and mixing in the sauce.

And here I am enjoying it! And it stays hot through the entire meal. The coolest thing was that our bottle of soju beared the torso and wind-blown hair or a beautiful young Korean woman. Our waitress said the woman was probably a pop star.

Our meal was served with side dishes, all to share. From the top and going left to right, we had dried seaweed, green beans, spicy cucumber salad, kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage), cooked spinach, and, last but the BEST BY FAR, dried squid. It was like jerky with a mild fish taste: salty and delicious!

I definitely want to go again before I leave. My boyfriend, Von, and I are planning a day to go to the Milwaukee Zoo and to Seoul Restaurant. Love is what I have for all the dishes I tried. Brenna, I don't know what you're talking about when you say you don't like kimchi.

I feel welcome already . . .

2009-06-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

The agency I'm working through is Teach ESL Korea (www.teacheslkorea.com). For anyone whose been to the website, you know how inviting and friendly it looks. Much of the language is focused on the happiness, income, and benefits of the jobs for the teacher. THAT'S ME. In my application to JET, it was much different. The hiring process was a mysteriously dark and unkown world with more than a half year of waiting and wondering what our fates would be. The income is publicized no where, and was only found out through rumors from other applicants at the interview in Chicago. I feel like Korea is beckoning for me. They have a spot for me, WAITING! I cannot say the same about Whitewater. I have lost count of the times someone has asked me at the middle school, having worked with them for months, "so is your student teaching done after this semester?" Or, "What class at the university are you volunteering here for?" There is no place for someone who is young and who has finished college in Whitewater. It's as if people don't quite hear me when I say I don't attend the university. Let me belong Korea! Let me belong!

"So You Must Speak Korean?"

2009-05-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Every time I speak with someone new about moving to Korea to teach English, I undoubtedly hear, with some variations in phrasing, "so you must speak Korean!" The answer is no. Right now I do not speak Korean beyond the survival phrases like, "annyeonghaseyo" (hello), and "shillehagessumnida" (excuse me). I'll probably quickly learn "where's the toilet?" and "Do you speak English," but that will come soon . . . .

I was hired as an English teacher in the satellite city (to Seoul) of Gunpo-si, starting August 11, 2009. My phone interview went very well, was comfortable, and included lots of praise for my responses to questions--never a bad thing in a stressful situation!

I'll be working with 8-13 year-olds in a school on an upper level of an office building. When I told my grandma that, she said, "that's odd." I had a good laugh in my head, but agreed with her unconscious statement that schools in buildings without a football field and room for a wood shop aren't typical in rural or suburban America, at least. Talking with her also brought me face to face with the fact that this is the most radical move anyone in my family has made since my ancestors, the Tanems and the Anensens arrived here from Scandinavia 200+ years ago. One small step for Tieman; one giant leap for Tieman kind? I honestly LOVE to think so!

Here are some pictures of my school, Reading Town, taken by my replacee, Adam.

I like how new everything looks (not like most schools I've taught in). Korea has been rapidly modernizing in the last 20 years, so many buildings--from stores to apartments to schools--look very new.

Now would you look at those little moppets. The one with the black belt on the right can be my body guard. I don't know if I'll have these students, but I hope I get some cuties like these.