Chuseok!

Last week Eric and I had Tues-Fri (21-24) off of work for Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving holiday. Chuseok is one of the most important holidays in Korean culture; second only to New Year’s Day. Chuseok is a time when families travel to their relatives’ house and eat traditional foods such as: bulgogi, galbi, and songpyon (a special type of rice cake). This meal of meat, vegetables and rice cake is usually eaten for breakfast. After breakfast, families travel to the graves of relatives who have passed away to deliver gifts and to maintain the grounds. Upon arrival at the grave site, the first order of business is to clean up the grounds; this includes; weeding, cutting crashing, and cleaning the tombstone. Once this is done, offerings of food, drink, and flowers are placed on the grave and the family bows down in respect to honor their relatives’ memory.

While the rest of Korea was eating traditional food and honoring their relatives, Eric and were eating a super-sized Big Mac meal from McDonalds. The reason for this was twofold: 1. we had a strong craving for a burger and fries and 2. McDonalds proved to be one of the few things open during the holiday. After filling our stomachs, and arteries, we treated ourselves to a few days of relaxation and movies. However, at the end of the week we met up with our friend Jimmy, Rachel, Matt, and Chantel and headed to Busan for the weekend. This marked all of our second trip to Busan and we were determined to relax. This time our agenda did not include running all over the city taking in the various sites and landmarks of the city. Rather, we all staked a small spot on Haeundae and on both Friday and Saturday took in the sun’s rays and a good book. I am happy to say when our beach time was over, I not only gained a small sunburn but I finished my book as well.





Once the sun went down, we would grab dinner and then ultimately drinks at a few bars not too far off the beach. However, on Saturday night we were invited by our hosts, Jae Hee and Chan, to join them and our fellow guest for chips and salsa, cheesecake, Makoli (traditional rice wine), soju, and beer. It proved to be quite a potent mixture of food and drink, but I really enjoyed hearing the funny anecdotes of our new friends. Once the food and Makoli was gone, we (as a large group) headed to a pub nearby to finish the night of with a beer and some popcorn. It was superb! However, in my slightly altered state Rachel and I were convinced to wake up early to go on a walk with our hosts. Now, I like walking as much as the next person, but getting up early to go on a walk after a night of eating and drinking is not ideal. Regardless, Rachel and I set an alarm, got up, and made sure to fill our stomachs with as much coffee, toast, and eggs as possible before our journey. When all was said and done, the walk proved to be quite beautiful; it was along the cliffs which overlooked Haeundae beach.





When our walk was finished, we all packed our bags and made our way back to Gwangju. We made sure to grab a greasy lunch of McDonald’s before we left (yes, I had McDonalds 3 times within a 5 day period) and then settled in our bus for the three hour ride home. Eric and I had so much fun relaxing and reading. We don’t do that enough here. It is really easy to get caught up in exploring everywhere because we want to see as much as possible. In hindsight, I am really glad we just sat on a beach for two days.

The Joys of Public Transportation in Korea

After months of bottled up frustration and using an excessive amount of English swear words, I have made peace with Korean Public Transportation. I still roll my eyes, a lot, but for the most part it stops there. In fact, I even find myself laughing at some of the eccentricities I encounter each day.

Case and point: yesterday’s morning ride to work. As usual I catch my bus around 7:35, I shuffle in line behind the five elderly ladies in front of me, and I assume my position at the very back of the bus (I sit in the back because the seats in the front and middle of the bus are taken up by the bags of lettuce, cabbage, and other produce which belong to the said five elderly ladies). I am minding my own business, gazing out the window in a groggy state and BAM! Our bus was just hit by another bus. Before I go on, let me tell you that I and everyone else on the bus is fine. In typical Korean fashion, my bus driver parks our bus where we are, in the very right lane, and puts on the hazard lights. The other bus parks itself, in the center lane. So of the three lanes available for morning traffic my bus and the other bus are blocking two of them. Brilliant! Both bus drivers meet on the sidewalk where my bus driver proceeds to point, shout, and wave our broken mirror in the other driver’s face. Well the other driver just won’t stand for it and the next thing I know these two bus drivers are in a full blown fight; a wrestling, flying fists type of fight. Realizing there is absolutely nothing I can do, I just watch. I am sure this will come back to bite me in the butt later, but what could I do? Meanwhile the five old ladies on my bus have opened their windows, and are screaming at both bus drivers. While I don’t know what they are saying, I’d like to think it is along these lines, “Hey you, other bus driver, you hit us, it’s your fault. Stop fighting we have places to be, things to sell. Stop it!!!!! We are very angry!” I feel bad, but I cannot help but laugh to myself. Sure had this happened when I first moved here I would be terrified, annoyed, and pissed off, but now I can see the ridiculousness of the situation and have a hearty laugh. After ten minutes of brawling and elderly man gets himself involved and the two bus drivers return to their buses and get on their way.

Oh Korean Public Transportation, you never cease to amaze, surprise, or entertain me. Who knows what my next bus ride will have in store!

Singing Room Sensation

Since living in Gwangju, I’ve noticed it’s easy to get into a redundant routine. We tend to eat the same food each week, go to the same bars each weekend, and partake in the same post-work activities each day. However, in an effort to break our routine of going downtown for a few beers the other weekend, we and our friends decided to head to a new area of town.

Our determination to part with the familiar brought us to Sangmu. Sangmu is home to Gwnagju’s city hall and May 18th Memorial Park. In the last few years, businesses have come into Sangmu, allowing a large number of new apartments and buildings to be built. This new influx of commerce and housing is making Sangmu the second downtown of Gwangju. Unable to decide on a bar at first, we opted for the money-saving and classier option of grabbing beers from the convenience store and hanging out on the stores provided benches and tables. Before you pass judgment on me, there is no ‘open container law’ in Korea and drinking in front of convenience stores is perfectly acceptable (and commonly practiced) behavior. After catching up on the week’s happenings outside Family Mart, our group meandered its way to a real establishment for a few more pints.

As the night wore on and the liquid courage grew stronger, we were feeling bold and rebellious. We decided to take our outing for drinks up a notch and take it to a Noraebang, aka a karaoke room. In Korea, karaoke houses are divided into private rooms which you ‘rent’ buy purchasing drinks or food or by paying a flat rate. Together, a group of eight of us locked ourselves away for three hours, I am still uncertain how we spent that much time there, and sang the likes of The Beatles, Rihanna, the Spice Girls, Chicago, and too many others to name. I was worried everyone would be shy and hesitant at first, but we all got really into it. Our not-so-angelic voices combined with the constant echoing of the microphone and Korean music videos made for a fantastically fun experience; one which didn’t end until 5 am! While my voice was sore the next morning, it was all worth it. Eric and I are already planning our next visit to the noraebang.

Matt Comes to Korea

For the past six days, Eric and I have been hosting and out-of-town guest—my brother. Matthew arrived late last Thursday and left early this morning (Wednesday). His brief stay here was filled with family jokes, comfortable silences, and Christmas gifts!

Judging by the size of his suitcase when Eric and I picked him up from the bus terminal, I could tell my parents sent him over with some goodies. When we got back to our apartment, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, waiting to see what goodies were waiting for me inside my brother’s luggage. Piece by piece, my brother unloaded: 5 boxes of Kraft Mac n’ Cheese, three jars of peanut butter (1 chunky, 2 creamy), 7 Skor bars, one can of refried beans, burrito seasoning, Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies, Starbucks Via, and two bottles of my cherished Philosophy face wash. In addition to these much missed items, my parents sent over our Christmas gifts, so we could use them while still here. For me, there was a thick, knitted ivory wrap, a necklace, and a pendant and for Eric, an ipod touch. I found all of these things extremely overwhelming; with them we received not only a little piece of America, but a little piece of my family as well. After delighting in our Christmas goodies and catching up, we called it a night around midnight, giving into that day’s fatigue.

Friday night kicked off our fast paced weekend. To start things off, we met up with our friends for some drinks downtown. It was fun, but Matt was still jetlagged so he and I excused ourselves early to catch up on some sleep so he could have energy for the remainder of the weekend. Saturday was spent showing Matthew around Gwangju. We explored our local bakery, the busy streets of downtown, and the memorial park out in Sangmu. Saturday afternoon, we were treated to lunch by my friend and colleague, Sue. Sue took us to a restaurant, new even to Eric and I, where we ate roasted pork with a multitude of side dishes; it was delicious. After allowing our large lunch to digest through a movie and a wii room visit, the three of us made our way to Ilgok where we met our friends, Luke and Holly, for samgyutang, a popular soup composed of a whole chicken, rice, ginseng, and other natural goodness. We all struggled with de-boning our chickens with chopsticks and a spoon, but it made for some laughs.

On Sunday morning Matt, Eric, and I got an early start to head out to Jeonju. There we wanted to show Matthew the traditional hanok village and the old royal courtyards of the Chosun family. Unfortunately, the heat and humidity did not let up so for every hour we spend walking around, we spent an hour drinking cold coffees, sitting in the shaded courtyards, or eating toast (a toasted egg sandwich). Regardless, it was nice to catch up and show Matt some sights outside of Gwangju. However, as we were ready to leave, we happened upon a traditional drum performance. A group of ten kids treated the surrounding crowd to a multitude of traditional songs. It was a nice treat before our departure. Upon our return to the city, we caught dinner at VIPS, a western-style buffet with western offers. We gorged ourselves on Caesar salad, caprese salad, pizza, quesadillas, and a bottle of chardonnay (do we know how to be classy or what?).

Unfortunately, Eric and I had to work the remaining two days of Matthew’s visit. On Tuesday, Matt was a good sport and came to my school for a visit. I introduced him to one of my seventh grade classes and needless to say they were excited. They asked him an array of sincere, funny, and invasive questions, but I expected nothing less. Since my seventh graders had to take a listening test that day, Matt and I were free to grab lunch off campus. It was nice to have this one-on-one time to discuss family, work, and love.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and I had to say goodbye this morning. I was so thankful to have my brother visit, even if only for a short while. His visit, combined with the thoughtful gifts from my parents, has given me the boost I’ve needed. Thanks for a great week big brother!

Food Poisoning

Never in my life have I suffered from food poisoning. Sure, there have been the occasional meals which didn’t agree with me, but my feelings of discomfort always vanished by sunrise. Well the Saturday before last, my discomfort didn’t vanish and to be perfectly frank, these feelings are still around over a week later.

The Saturday before my brother’s arrival, Eric surprised me with plans for a date night filled with Italian food, cappuccinos, and a few hours on the town. The evening was fantastic, the food was delicious, and it was nice to do something outside the confines of our tiny apartment. However, towards the end of dinner I began to feel sick. My feelings of illness intensified quickly and we were forced to end our evening early. Knowing it was too early to be the food we just ate, I thought back to what I had that day that Eric hadn’t to find the culprit; a ham sandwich. In order to spare you the details, I will just say I spent the rest of the night and the entire next day rolled in a ball due to extreme stomach pain, only to break this position to shuffle to the bathroom.

Monday came, and despite not feeling well, I went to school. Why, you may ask. Well, in Korea there are no such things as sick days or substitute teachers. So if a teacher is ill and chooses not to come it, all of the other teachers must take over his/her classes, paperwork, and other school time duties. Needless to say, it is always advised to come in, do what you can, and spare you co-workers the added effort. As lunchtime rolls around on Monday, the vice principal makes an announcement, one which I don’t understand, so I ask my friend Sue what’s going on. Well apparently the cafeteria is closed for the remainder of the week due to many students reporting cases food poisoning. So it wasn’t the ham sandwich which had me keeled over all weekend, but rather Friday afternoon’s lunch. Missing lunch for that day, and the rest of the week, was not a big deal since I could hardly stomach anything other than a few pieces of toast. In fact, it has been over a week since initially getting sick and I still cannot eat a meal without getting ill. I am hoping this changes soon because I am tired of being tired as well as I am running out of holes on my belt to hold up my jeans and trousers. Obliviously I need to get my hands on some medicine to help me get better, but you tell what the better option is: explaining and motioning my symptoms to a colleague and have her write my symptoms in Korean or motioning my symptoms to a random pharmacist. Oh the joys of not having enough language skills to verbally communicate my situation! It’s a good thing I don’t take myself too seriously!

Frazzled on Friday

I am two weeks into my first semester and I am already getting the feeling that this semester will be much busier than the last. An array of schedule changes has provided me with less prep time and more lessons to write. The first, of many, changes which were initiated this semester was a change in co-teachers. Last term, the majority of my classes were taught with Hana or Sue. By semester’s end we had worked out a planning and teaching schedule that worked with our prep periods and personalities. This term, I teach with Hana only once and Sue twice, giving me two co-teachers with whom I have never worked; it feels like I am starting over again.

In addition to teaching my regular seventh and eighth grade classes, I have been given the added responsibility of an extra four after school classes. There I am in charge of 30 students ranging in grades from seven to nine. It is my job to write my own curriculum which helps students work on reading, writing, speaking, listening and grammar. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much warning on the class, so I have been spending hours writing curriculum, lesson plans, and putting materials together. In addition to these four extra classes, I have been assigned three workshop periods where I lead weekly meetings for the English Department. It is my job to bring up topics to discuss and to address issues in the classroom and/or department. This is hard for me because as the new person, I don’t feel it is my place to nit-pick everything. I find it really intimating and I feel like I am walking a tightrope between not doing a good job and insulting my co-workers.

With all of these changes, I find myself up to my eyeballs in worksheets, attendance sheets, and word lists. My desk is a mess, my brain is frazzled, and I feel like I am week’s behind, despite only starting two weeks ago! I don’t know if my school is expecting too much of me, or if I am expecting too much from myself. Regardless, I am feeling the pressure to step up and prove myself worthy of these new-found responsibilities; tune in to see how it all turns out…