Sick days in Korea

In my 9 months in Korea I have had to take 2 sick days from school.  both of these times i have been reminded of the cultural difference between the US and Korea.  As the video above shows, Korean students and teachers (and i assume most people in the workforce) do not take sick days unless they have to go to the hospital.  

The first time i took a sick day i had a bad cold and decided to take one of the sick days i knew were in my contract.  So i called my mentor teacher that morning and informed her that I wouldn't be able to go to school.  That evening She called me and asked me if i had gone to the hospital and how i had communicated.  I had not thought my cold serious enough to go to the hospital so i hadn't gone and i told that to my teacher.  I had just gotten some medicine from another TaLK teacher who lived across the hall.  Even so, the next day all my teachers asked me if i was ok and i was given uncountable cups of tea, as well as my mentor teacher taking me to the nurse and taking my temperature and giving me vitamin C tablets.

The more recent time (this past week) my throat had been bothering me for a few days and when i woke up on Wednesday and i could hardly talk. i decided to take another sick day.  at 3 one of my students called me (it was during the class that i would have been teaching), and asked me where i was if i was ok and "where i was sick".  

In all my time at my school, only one teacher, besides me, has taken 1 sick day and she went to the hospital for stomach problems(?), but even she was back at school the next day though she clearly hadn't fully recovered.  other than that there have only been three instances where teachers have not been at school for non-school related reasons.  Both my mentor teacher and the preschool teacher had family members pass away this year, so both of them missed a few days (2 in both cases i think), and the 5th grade teacher  just had a baby so she is on maternity leave until December.

It is pretty much the same story for my students.  I have had a few kids be in the hospital, but i have also had many instances of my kids being, or at least seeming, to be sick in class.  in Korean culture it is better to go to school sick so not to fall behind in their studies.  I'm not saying this is good or bad, it is just how it is.  Must stay diligent.

Luckily, my immune system hasn't suffered too much for this, and in fact it may have become more resilient because of it :)

Weekend in Daegu/Busan

i meant to post this on Monday.  whoops.  i guess i have been busy and not updating like i said i would.  oh well.  better late than never.   Thankfully I have Sophia (another TaLK Scholar) to remind me to update.

Last Saturday I went to Daegu to meet a friend and go to and English club.  Basically it is a place where native Koreans who want to practice English can speak with foreigners about various topics.  afterwards we all went to dinner and talked more and just had a good time.


After dinner I, and my friends Hamid and Cathleen, took the KTX (the fast train line) to Busan.

Busan is the second largest city in Korea, and it is really famous for Haeundae Beach.  There, like Seoul, many people speak English.  Anyway we got in at around midnight  then went to noraebang (karaoke) for about an hour then wandered around downtown for a bit and ate some street food before retiring to the jjimjilbang we decided to stay at.

I don't think i have blogged about it yet [and i will do so more comprehensively later (probably)], but a jjimjilbang is a public bathhouse.  they are open 24 hours and you can stay there for 12 hours so many people sleep there since it is much cheaper than getting a hotel/motel room.

The next day we wandered around Busan then went to the Busan International Film Festival, which is the largest film festival in Korea.  I also found out that the second largest one is in Jeonju (the city I live in).

The movie we watched was called The Rambler Rides Again.  It is a Japanese movie, and the title probably sounds better in Japanese.  the entire movie had both English and Korean subtitles.  It was pretty much a western movie.  It had a cowboy, a saloon, a coal mine, and even Indians.  I very much enjoyed the movie. 

but yeah i had a lot of fun.  it was kind of an awesome weekend.  i want to do more things like that while i am here in Korea~

Revamped! + Why I chose to stay

Well the blog kind of ended up failing last six months.  and by that i mean i didn't post anything for 4 months.  but that will change.  i hope.  i will try to post either once every week or two.

My original contract was from February until July 31.  however, by May, i was having such a great time with my kids and friends that i was thinking of extending.  by the time applications were due i was still undecided, so giving myself a bit more time, i submitted my application just in case.  At the end of June, i got my acceptance, but i was still not sure whether i wanted to stay or go back home.  In July, i was perusing a bookstore in Seoul when i came across The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. 

I first read this book in freshman year of high school. It is still one of my favorite books.  I ended up buying the book in Seoul and on the bus back to Jeonju i began reading it.  When i was reading the preface, it convinced me to stay.  maybe it was just my subconscious finding meaning where there was none.  idk.  but yeah.  that convinced me. 

In an unrelated note, I bought the book on a Thursday, and that weekend following was the best weekend i have had in Korea so far :)

but yeah, hopefully i will be more consistent with this blog from now on~

The Bet

Today, I am starting a two month long bet with two of my friends, who are also teachers in the TaLK program, Jane and Richard.  Well actually, the bet is actually consists of two parts.

THE RULES:

When the bet starts:

You must take a full body shot of yourself

Part 1

For one month:

Jane and Reuben cannot consume alcohol (with one exception) and Richard cannot consume chocolate or coffee (with one exception).

Part 2

In two months, all members of the bet must take another full body shot of themselves without a shirt.  It will then be decided (by another third party [or since there are three people in the bet is it fourth party?]) who has improved physically the most, middle, and least.

PENALTIES:

If anyone breaks Part 1 of the bet, he/she must treat the other two to a day in Seoul.  This includes bus tickets, hotel, dinner, etc.

Whoever has improved the least physically at the two month mark must, in Hongdae (a college drinking area in Seoul), perform a dance routine on the street.

THE ONE EXCEPTION

In order to not be disrespectful, Jane and Reuben are allowed to consume alcohol at hweshik (faculty dinners) and Richard is allowed to take chocolate/coffee, when his teachers are unrelenting in giving it to him.

Richard doesn’t have the alcohol part in Part 1 because he already doesn’t drink.  On a similar note, I already do not eat chocolate or drink coffee, so in reality, Jane is getting the best deal since she can still consume coffee and/or chocolate.  Even though the penalty for Part 1 is steep (I would much rather lose Part 2), there is a chance that no one will lose if we all make if to the 1 month mark.

The bet originated, because I wanted to stop drinking for a bit while I worked on getting in shape.  I had told Jane about it, and she said she would do it too.  We had another friend in on it too, but she ended up backing out, so Jane said we should find someone else.  That’s where Richard came in, though since he doesn’t drink we had to change the rules a little.  At this point, it became a bet, and Richard came up with Part 2.

Jane wants to lose weight, and Richard wants to lose weight and gain muscle.  I’m not sure I can afford to lose that much weight, so I guess I am trying to gain muscle.  I don’t really want to be muscular, but being toned wouldn’t be so bad I guess.

Motivation might be an issue though....

Changes in Korea

It is to be expected that, while in Korea, things about me will change, both because I am in Korea and the culture is affecting me, and because I am a person and like everyone else I change over time.  At the three month mark, these are the ones that I could think of:

I love socks.  Since you take your shoes off in many place (including school) in Korea, socks are a big deal.  Socks are sold everywhere, and they range from boring regular socks to super cute socks.  I have bought many socks in Korea.  I think my favorites would either be my MBLAQ socks (five pairs of socks that each have a cartoon version of one of the members of a popular boyband here) or my penguin socks (socks that have a picture of a penguin)

Guys holding hands no longer surprises me.  It is just Korea.  I’ve never had a problem with guys holding hands, but I never realized how little I saw it until I came to Korea.  But in Korea, it has no homosexual connotation.  Holding hands is just a way to show friendship.

I am shocked whenever I hear English (from someone that I do not know).  Pretty self explanatory, everyone speaks Korean here, so to hear another foreigner speak English always make me do a double take.  I will have to readjust to understanding everyone when I go back to the States.

I have gained an affinity for Coke.  The soda kind anyway.  Back home I didn’t really drink dark sodas.  At all.  But since then it’s changed.  I’m still not really sure why.  Maybe cuz there are really only 2 sodas available everywhere, Coke and Cider (like sprite) and I want variety every once in a while.

I like buying CDs.  Though it would be more cost efficient to just download the songs illegally, I have come to a point where, if it’s an artist that I like, I don’t have a problem spending $10 to support them and make their number go up.  Though one extra CD sale won’t really make a difference, I feel like I should do my part (like voting)

Let’s go out generally translates to drinking.  We do other stuff too like bowling, playing pool, karaoke, etc., but at some point in the night we will drink if we are hanging out.  that is just the way Korean culture is.  Drinking is a large part of the lifestyle here.  A Korean recently told me that most important decisions in the business world are made over dinner and soju.  In the US, if you do business you need to golf.  In Korea, if you do business you need to drink.  But that doesn’t mean we always drink a lot.  Many times we will only have one drink.  But nearly inevitably we will drink at some point during the night

I now have a (ESL) teacher voice.  Since my students wouldn’t understand me if I talk at full speed, I have developed my teacher voice.  I speak quite slow, use simpler words than my usual diction, and change the beat of usual speaking so that they understand more fully.  I also use this voice when I talk to locals.  The problem is when I accidentally turn it on when talking to friends ^.^

I don’t hesitate to buy stuff for people younger than me.  In Korean culture, it is the responsibility of the older person in a friendship, even if they are only acquaintances, to care for the younger person as an older brother or sister.   So if I feel that this relationship actually exists between a friend and myself, and that person is younger than me, I will pay for stuff of that person.  Nothing big, but maybe a drink when we go out, or coffee, or dinner or something.

There are also some things that haven’t changed.

I still don’t like Chocolate or coffee.  Which is weird, cuz those two things are really big in Korea, for both kids and adults, so many times my kids will give me chocolate, or my teachers will ask me if I want coffee after lunch (everyday), and I always have to say no.

I am still not comfortable in a car without a seatbelt.  In Korea, the law says that only the two people in the front seat must wear a seatbelt.  So normally, people in the backseat do not.  However, I still always put my seatbelt on just as a safety measure.  Not that I don’t trust the driver, it just makes me feel more comfortable.

I don’t smack my lips when I eat.  That’s acceptable in Korea.  But I can’t stand it.  I guess my parents have rubbed off on me.

I am pretty sure I old my brother I would upload this almost 2 months ago

It's a taekwondo performance I saw at opening ceremony.  He's doing Taekwondo now so I thought he might like it.  This group is called the K-Tigers.  I don't know how good the quality is since I took it with my camera camera and not my video camera though...

So basically my life was boring for 2 weeks, and then it was so interesting that I had no time

But I finally have some free time (or I am making some) to blog to catch myself up.  Last you heard form me I was leaving Jochiwon for our Provincial Orientation.  Basically we all went the to the main city of the Province we were assigned to, mine was Jeonbuk, and we had a second, shorter orientation.  so the main city on Jeonbuk is Jeonju, where I actually am living, but I'll get more into my living situation later.  Provincial orientation was not nearly as much fun as Jochiwon orientation.  There were not supplementary activities to keep us occupied at night.  But it was also shorter (only about a week) and we got to meet many 5th Generation, and even a couple 4th Talk Scholars, so it was nice to talk to people who had been teaching for at least six months already.

Following this I finally moved into my apartment.  I live in Jeonju, but my school is in a small town of Kamgok (감곡) so every weekday I have to take a 45 minute bus ride to my school.  but it is ok, because since my classes start at 1:30, I still get to sleep in.  So I wake up, get ready, walk to the bus station, buy a ticket and catch the 11:35 bus.

That is the bed, blankets, trashcan, ironing board, rice cooker, desk and coat rack I was provided.  and my suitcases in the middle.

There's my kitchen and fridge.  and a window.

Well that was my flat when i moved in.  as you can see It's not awesome, but I like it.  I got really lucky and there are four other Talk Scholars (three 6th and one 5th gen) live in my building, so I never get lonely.  From the pictures above, not a lot has changed, except that i put my desk together.  The biggest problem is that i don't have a place to hang my clothes.  Other scholars had some pipe thing in their room to hang their clothes, but my school didn't provide it, so whenever I wore clothes, nice clothes especially, I had to wake up early and iron them.  I also don't have a dryer, but I have a clothes rack, and I actually like letting my clothes air-dry :)

So unlike many other teachers, I did not have to go into school the first week, so I had a couple days to chill out and get used to my apartment/city.  as it happened, Richard, a friend from HS that is also a TaLK scholar,  also had the first week off.  He has an uncle who lives in Seoul, and his uncle had procured him a phone, but Richard had not had a chance to pick it up, so he asked me if I wanted to go to Seoul with him.  It wasn't like I was doing anything better so of course I said yes.

Richard had told me that we would stay in a hotel (paid for by his uncle) and we would meet some of his family.  he also told me that his uncle owned a couple restaurants so we would go to dinner with him.  So I guess he is doing well with his restaurants, because the hotel he got for us was super nice.

So that was our hotel.  After we met up with him, we went to dinner (well what i thought was dinner).  It was a really nice buffet, so Richard and I decided to eat a lot.  Well we actually decided to see who could eat more.  Though I am thin, I can eat a lot.  This is my eating schedule.  little to no breakfast.  normal sized lunch.  I can eat dinner forever if I have to.  or so I thought.

This was my first or four or five plates.

Dessert.  or course i didn't eat it (chocolate) but I thought it was pretty.

another dessert.  Yummy!

At dinner, there was me, Richard, his uncle, and a mutual friend of his uncle and his parents.  Anyway, leaving, Richard and I were pretty good on food.  and we had also tied for number of plates.  We thought that was the end of eating.  Apparently not.  after this we went to a sake bar and ate ramen.  Richard and I were both in shock that we were eating more.  it didn't help that we were also getting lots of different kinds anju and I had to try them all.  Anju is food you get at bars.  but yeah I'll talk about that soon.  But alas!  The face stuffing was not done yet.  after this we went, via Richard's uncle's personal driver, to the actual restaurant he owns.   He owns a Korean meat place.  I don't quite know how to explain it, so I will show you a couple pictures.

You start out with raw meat and you put it on the grill that is at each table

and it ends up like this .  you cut it up and you can eat it up.  

There was so much food this night.  I felt like I would be full for days.  but I was hungry again the next day.

On a side note that I know will be applicable to a future blog post, drinking alcohol is a big part of Korean culture.  When Koreans go out to dinner, they drink alcohol.  when Koreans hang out with friends, they drink alcohol.  drinking has much less of a social stigma than the US, and the US  doesn't really have one either.  Anyway, this night I didn't feel like drinking much, but it is Korean custom to also never leave someone with an empty glass, so i knew as soon as I finished I would be poured more, so I had to take small sips all night long, or just put the glass to my lips when a toast was proposed (which was often).  but yeah.  This post is already too long so i'll save the rest of what's happened for the next post

Richard's uncle (the master peer-pressurer) and my nearly empty glass.