Quirky Korea

I thought we would share some of Korea's quirkiness we've grown to love in our short time here.

First, although we are teaching English, it seems it does not always reach the right person. Grammar/ spelling mistakes are fairly common like "esopresso" on a coffee shop sign and "sprinkle to pizza..." as seen on the parmesan cheese bottle. But regardless of the grammar, seeing English is always a breath of fresh air!!

Another cute Korean quirk are the melodies you hear everywhere. Whether it's the school bell, rice maker, elevator, washing machine, or even the subway, where there are "buzzes" in the states, there are quaint melodies in Korea. Here is one such melody that tells us when our clothes are done click here ----> Clean Clothes Melody

On another note, Koreans are extremely serious about exercise. Not only do they have weight machines and badminton courts everywhere outside, they also look the part. Regardless if they are walking along a bike path or hiking on a mountain trail, they look as if they're ready to tackle Mt. Everest. Quick dry long sleeve shirts, hiking pants, and vests are musts as well as visors, gloves, fairly large backpacks, and trekking poles. Face masks are often seen as well. Really. We felt INCREDIBLY underdressed in our shorts and t-shirts while hiking. There are also outdoor gear and outfitter stores everywhere yet they MUCH more expensive than in the US because of the demand here. You can see Aaron's undercover camera shot above--notice the masks in the background. Swine flu? Mosquitoes? Dirt? Air pollution? Bad kimchi breath? I guess we need to investigate exactly what they're trying to protect themselves from...

Just as all countries and cultures have quirks, when we get a glimpse of Korea's quirky side, all we want to do is smile.

-Callie

Pig Skin, Octupus, and Sea Urchin--OH MY!

We finally have internet at our new apartment and are able to give an update. The past 10 days have been full of new experiences, realizations, raw octopus, and pig skin to say the least.

EPIK Orientation

Our orientation experience left us anxiously anticipating our own classrooms. We had 4 days of lectures on lesson-planning, teaching strategies, culture, classroom management, and Korean tourism. The presenters exceeded our expectations and really prepared us for our adventure ahead. Orientation came to a close with lesson plan presentations and a farewell dinner complete with more Korean dances, drumming, and an EPIK teacher talent show.

Similarly, our field trip to Keumsan Buddhist Temple and Hanok Cultural Village left us hungry for more cultural experiences. The temple was set up on Moak Mountain, about a 20 minute hike through pine trees and over streams. It held many buildings with statues of Buddhas including a gigantic gold Buddha that was probably 3 stories tall. When you are standing on the side of a mountain and all you can hear are birds and the rustling of the leaves it becomes clear why it was chosen as a spiritual place. At the Hanok Village we made our own Korean fans and ate the famous Jeonju bibimbap—a Korean dish consisting of rice, chili paste, vegetables, and beef all mixed together. It really was delicious and one of my favorite dishes so far here in Korea.

Off to Busan

On Friday we headed to Busan to meet our co-teachers and move into our new home. We arrived at an elementary school where we would meet our co-teachers for the year. Essentially, these are the teachers that we teach with and who our “mom’s” for the year so it’s an important relationship. We feel quite lucky as both of our teachers are incredibly kind, welcoming, and motherly.

It turned out that the saying “Korea is Dynamic” reigned true for Aaron and me. We were not placed on the island as told before. Instead, we are living in Hwamyeong, a northern “neighborhood” of Busan. Busan and the surrounding area is more beautiful than I ever imagined. The apartment that belongs to my school overlooks a beautiful river as well as the mountains. It’s a front row seat to a beautiful sunset.

School

Aaron and I are actually in very different teaching environments. I am in Doechonli Middle School and teach 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd grade (like 7, 8, 9^th grade in the US). I also teach a conversation class, a teacher’s workshop class, and am going to teach a Newspaper Club! One of my favorite moments from the first week was when I asked students to write three things they knew about the United States. Among the best were: crazy cow disease, NAFTA (I know! Wow!) and Bread Pit.

Aaron is in a vocational/industrial high school and his students are very low level English speakers. It is challenging but he is extremely optimistic and is doing a fantastic job at capitalizing on his creativity. On his first day he was given a pair of sandals which were made at his school. He will later receive a pair of running shoes. I must ad that in order to fit into Korean culture, he also purchased his first pink shirt...I was so proud.

Schools here are extremely different from those in the US in a few main ways:

1. You change your shoes upon entering the building as floors are very important in Korean culture.

2. The students clean the school! After the bell rings, students mop, sweep, and scrub the school top to bottom. It truly makes a lot of sense as then they are more prone to treat it with respect! Ingenious I think!

3. Corporal punishment is prevalent in the classes. I had students who came in late to class and the teacher slapped their cheeks!

4. Teachers go to the students’ classes. My office is in a large room with all of the other teachers. Our desks are right next to each other and the vice-principal is in the middle overseeing all of the teachers. A little different than having the privacy of your own classroom!

Adventures

Our first weekend here we took the subway downtown and spent Saturday exploring Busan. Our apartment is about a 30 minute subway ride from the actual city of Busan (we are not on the island we had thought we would be on). We basically got on the subway and just took it to a random spot. It was a lot of fun! We managed to find the UN Cemetery which honors all those who died in the Korean War from the UN. It looked very similar to the Vietnam Memorial actually. Then, we were on a mission to find the ocean and FINALLY found it. It's a beautiful rocky coast, and we found a park where we could hike.

This past week/weekend we managed to cook some friends a Korean style dinner, eat pig’s skin (as a result of simply blindly pointing at the menu—I had one bite and stuck to the spicy lettuce), go to Jagalchi Fish Market and eat live sea urchin and octopus(they took it out of the tank, chopped it’s tentacles up, and they were still squiggling and sucking while going down your throat!!), come upon a gorgeous park that allowed us to overlook the city, and go to the International Museum of Musical Instruments (I took pictures for you Jake!). All of these adventures were shared with amazing new friends who we feel SO lucky to have met! Tomorrow it is off to see the Lotte Giants for a good ‘ole game of professional baseball (and maybe a Korean hotdog?).

For those of you who didn’t stop reading, you’re champs! ;) We will write more frequently now that we have internet so these won’t be so long.

Love to all!

*Click here to check out our online picture album.

-Callie

The Honeymoon Stage

Annyeonghaseyo?---the standard greeting in Korean which literally translates to ”Are you at peace?”

We made it!

Our traveling went quite well! On the way from SanFran to Korea we sat by many other EPIK (English Program in Korea) teachers, which was exciting and comforting. We arrived around 5:00pm, grabbed our luggage, and proceeded to wait in quite a long line to go on our 4 hour bus trip to Jeonju University for our 10 day orientation. Upon arrival to Jeonju University (which is "the place for superstars" as written on all of their buildings!) we were given our room assignments, checked for swine flu, given a thermometer so we can check our temperature everyday (to make sure we don’t get swine flu--ha), and given a goodie bag with treats and 2 manuals for orientation.

We woke up early early the first morning here as we’re getting used to the time difference (it is 14 hours ahead here). Our first breakfast was buffet style and included kimchi (their famous dish consisting of spicy, fermented cabbage), bean sprout salad, French fries, eggs, cream of broccoli soup, croissants, fried spam, cornflakes, and basically liquid sugar with a little bit of coffee mixed in. Needless to say, Aaron loved the spam, I loved the cornflakes, and we walked across the street to a little place that has real coffee. Fantastic!

Our first full day in Korea consisted of a welcoming ceremony with traditional drumming, pensori (a traditional type of opera), and a woman who did a traditional fan dance. This was all followed by a huge welcoming dinner. We ate a variety of foods including kimchi, octopus, shrimp with the head still on it, barbeque ribs and sweet potatoes. It is clear that the university is making an effort to somewhat cater towards our Western taste buds, however, the Korean food is fresh and delicious!

Our second day was filled with medical check-ups and a fascinating class on culture and culture shock. Much like the grief process, there are various steps one goes through when experiencing a new culture (we are currently at the honeymoon stage when everything is still new and exciting). Therefore, in order to make our transition a bit easier, we learned quite a bit about Korean culture. One of the main points made was that Korean culture is based in Confucianism. This philosophy promotes social harmony through putting feelings first and logic second. This is evident in all Korean relationships regardless of context. Also, there is not necessarily an absolute or objective truth. For example, in the US we have set policies and rules that are strictly followed in the business and social world. Here, truth is situational and meaning is indirect. Koreans put what’s best for the individual first rather than the policy. I will only touch on these cultural ideals briefly now as I assume we will have MUCH more to say about them once we are actually teaching and experiencing more of the country.

One of the really neat parts of this orientation is meeting people from all over the world. We’ve met fellow EPIK teachers from England, Scotland, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Oh, and of course, the US! We are both excited to make new friends from all over the globe.

Today we began our lecture classes. We spent the entire day listening to lectures about teaching strategies and how to work alongside Korean colleagues. Tomorrow is our field trip day to a traditional village and Buddhist temple!

I’ll end with a quote given to us during our culture class. “The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.” –Wade Davis

We appreciate all of your thoughts and support! We are enjoying ourselves and adapting surprisingly well thus far. Love to you all!

-Callie

Finding inspiration...

As many of you may know, handling transition is not a skill at which I excel.  I tend to cry (a lot), meditate on the details, and make lists. On the other hand, Aaron suavely embraces it with open arms, goes with the flow, and tends to worry more about if there will be coffee, cheese, and climbing walls at hand than anything else.  Needless to say, I'm glad we're making this transition together.  :)

While going through my countless books, papers, and relics of the past 24 years of my life, I stumbled upon this poem.  It is extremely appropriate for our transition ahead, and I have been reading it continuously as a means of inspiration.  I thought I would share it in hopes that a part of it may connect to your life.

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the deduction of safety, 

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then, the delight when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home to a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

-From To Bless the Space Between Us by John O'Donohue

-Callie

Korea here we come!

Welcome to Aaron and Callie's blog! We will be using this as a means to share our adventures, surprises, ponderings, and, most importantly, Korean kimchi reviews. :) Bear with us as this is our first venture into "blogdom."

After a few hiccups, we finally received our teaching placement. We will be living and teaching on a small island off the coast of Busan called Gadeokdo. Just this year they finished a bridge connecting the island to Busan as it was only accessible by ferry in the past. Following Seoul, Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and is the fifth busiest seaport in the world. We are looking forward to being close to this bustling city yet distant enough from the din to experience the natural beauty for which Gadeokdo is known.

Click here to get some more information about Gadeokdo.

We leave August 18 for Seoul and have a two week orientation before traveling to Gaedokdo. Prior to our departure, we will be between Minnesota and Illinois visiting family, friends, and attempting to learn Korean (which may just be more difficult than our 10 years of undergraduate classes combined!)

Until we speak again...