I'm Grateful To Have My Job

Today I read an article from The Grand Narrative, "Advice to Women Looking for Work: "Say you like to sing and dance." It reiterates the story of one young lady who has gone through so much in her life just to find herself not getting a job. This story highlights how students these days are filled with ambition and the desire to get a quality job, but come out to a world that doesn't match.

I want to talk about this aspect of Korean society because I think it might help those living here or who are considering it. As for me, I got a dose of this part of Korean life when dating two Korean men. So I also think it is important for the ladies to hear about how dating Korean men will likely mean you come to know this aspect of Korean society very closely. More importantly it can end up shaping your relationship and future with said person.

My first encounter with how the hiring process goes in Korea, came with my first Korean boyfriend. After I moved to Korea for the first time he followed suit from America after he finished his English studies. This was the summer time and we enjoyed a fruitful time together. But then came the Fall season and he prepared himself for interviews, by getting the typical Photoshopped resume picture and then trying on suits. Throughout it all I was supportive, but I didn't know just what he was really in for. After he got his job at a corporation (not a major one but was large enough) he went on field trips with the company which were meant for bonding and also seeing their offsite locations. During this time I didn't see him much, and communication was starting to run dry.

As he began his work at his new office things seemed to go downhill from there. He had to work late and attend after-work dinners. Our lifestyles began to clash. I got off work and was home by 5, had dinner and enjoyed my evening. The weekends were my time to get out and explore. Yet he worked late and started to view the weekend as his time to rest.

At one point the phone calls stopped coming and eventually we broke up. It wasn't a good break up because he found someone who he said, "...could have drinks with after work." It was at this time I realized how separate I was from this aspect of Korean society. Yet I moved on and found my second boyfriend.

Before I continue, I want to comment here a little on that experience. Definitely, for sure he changed after getting a real job and one that was quite typical of Korean work-life society. But our relationship had other issues and that is likely why we broke up. However, the point is that a Korean person doesn't simply just a get a job here and goes to work on a set schedule and la-di-da. They become a part of a team, tooth and nail, and it seems if you start to look like someone on the outside then things can go differently.

My next Korean boyfriend already had a job for some time and so was use to the work life. Plus his job was different. He worked for a small company selling and importing tiles. So he wasn't a slave at some office downtown.

Yet by the end of our time together he was certainly a tired man. Because he is the only employer for his company he handles everything. Clients call and treat him like an unintelligent slave and if they beckon his presence he usually goes there right away. The man lived a daily life of stress from client demands and also having to drive around the country. I was always supportive of him and let him have his time to rest. But in the scheme of things it started to eat away at our relationship.

The thing is, though, people like him work so hard because they know they need to for their future. I know this because we would have reoccurring conversations about our future together and the topic of "work" came up. His vision of the future included us sending our children to hagwons so they can be on a competitive edge with everyone. This would lead me to (in that foreigner arrogant way) talk about how I wish my children would grow up without cram schools so they can learn to be themselves, and that is what is most important in life...not test scores.

Even though he knew what I was talking about he put me back on point by telling me that this was Korea and in the end our children would have to fall in line with everyone else. I would always sit silently after these conversations and contemplate a sad future as he had envisioned.

Again, my break up with him was for personal reasons and thus shouldn't be blamed on Korean society. But I can't help but be honest and say that the troubles of Korean society were weaved into our relationship. It certainly depends on how strong people are attached to what is "right" and "wrong." But you can't escape it.

Thinking about it all I can't help but feel sorry for young Korean people who want to have beautiful rich lives for themselves in the future. But at the end of the day have to make due with what they can get and give over their bleeding heart just to not fall between the cracks. In that same sense I get a bit annoyed that, from the appearance of things, I can't see anyone or persons taking the pitchfork and rebelling. This brings me to something I'm No Picasso said:

When young Koreans start turning their noses up at jobs with bigger salaries, weightier company names and longer working hours, and turning instead to more average jobs that allow them more free time to focus on their own lives and their families, then that's when the ship will start to turn around. In his mind (and mine as well), realistically, you can't have both.

She continues to point out how some Korean people wonder why they need to work so hard in the first place. Korea is doing well economically these days, so it seems slowing things down might not hurt. I would mention this to my ex during one of our conversations, that Korea is up to speed with the rest of the world. He merely laughed and said it was impossible.

I don't really expect Korean people to suddenly change and mimic other nations in their happier work life. Yet I do sense that slowly, the structures that be today, will eventually melt and mold itself into something that functions in a way that serves Korean society for the better.

Personally, what it comes down to is this question. Do I want to marry a Korean man and live with him here forever? Possibly molding me into this troubling aspect of Korean society. That is where I agree with INP and her point of having a big weight on her shoulders. Definitely, as I became close to marrying my ex that weight became heavier and heavier. So it is for future Korean residents and current ones if you plan to stay here longer or involve yourself with a K-man...eventually all this will be yours to really deeply think about.

Finally, I want to say that after reading both those articles I couldn't help but feel grateful for my work status here in Korea. I have a good salary, a free house, pension, severance and health insurance. All was simply obtained because I'm a native speaker and have a few degrees. I suddenly became grateful for what I have, compared to what so many young Korean people are starving themselves to find. I truly do wish Korea transformed itself and let people have a break more often.

What Happens When Public School isn't the Dream Job

I have been reading the blogger, "What Would Eve Do?" and noticing that she has been having a hard time at her Public School. It reminded me how when I was working at a hagwon (my first job here) I thought that Public Schools were a lot better. I quit that school after 5 months and moved to a Public School. Indeed, many improvements were felt and life was somewhat less stressful. But the fact that I was working in a Korean work environment never transformed.

Today I am addressing the allusion some people might have that Public School jobs are somewhat more magically better than hagwons. However, at PS jobs you definitely get paid on time and have solid vacation.

But the real difference, I feel, is that you are very close to a close-knit part of Korean society. What I mean is that PS's have a lot of bureaucracy within them, and they function in a way that is practically different from how one would imagine a school should be run. More often than not the Principals reign as Kings (sometimes Queens) and the people working below them do everything they can to please. Because of this your experience at a Public School highly depends on the quality and generosity of your Principals.

Take Eve's experience, for example. Her Principal apparently disapproved of her and would spend at length yelling at her in Korean. Now this was not helped by a coteacher who didn't like her as well and so would boast this to make her image look bad. (Same thing happened to me last year.)

Now not everyone's experience at a PS are bad, and for the most part are very good. A school that is good would be one that nurtures the foreign teacher, accepts differences and shows a lot of concern for their well being. Sometimes there are Principals who speak good enough English to have conversations with, and some who care extensively about the English program.

So in the end, I want to say is that no matter what job you take in Korea be sure you know that it's not going to be perfect. It will depend on the people you work with and most importantly your attitude towards strong cultural differences. Unfortunately for Eve she is making her way out of the job and country. But her struggles show us how not all PS jobs are perfect and there are still a lot of obstacles from both the Korean and Native Teacher side that need to be overcome.

Noksapyeong

For some reason, I never bothered to ask, I have Monday off tomorrow. Yesterday,  I went to Noksapyeong with the goal of going to an art and music event. When I got there I was very hungry and took the photo above.

I thought I would eat at the place called, Fat Panda, but couldn't find it. I ran into someone familiar and they told me it had closed down. So instead I ate at Buddha's Belly Take Out. A smaller version of the real thing over in Itaewon. It was good, but a bit too salty.

My goal was to go to the Laughing Tree Lab's musical and art event. I got to the door and was told I should give 10,000 won to get in. I didn't have any cash on me, and said I gotta go to the bank. But I wasn't really feeling it. I'm a shy gal and going to a gig with loud music, lots of people and drinks makes me really feel like a geek. Who knows, maybe if I were having a super confident day I would have gone in. My goal was to blog about it, so sorry folks!

Instead I went into Itaewon and got the new Haruki Murakami book, "IQ84." Which, by the way, is very heavy!

I headed home and cracked open my new book.

Recently I made a painting reflecting upon the wonder of Fall. I gave it away to a friend so all that remains is this photo...

 Maybe I'll make another one.... I kind of enjoyed using that color palette.

Maybe Next Week

Today our school held our usual monthly meeting. On the agenda "contract renewals." When I saw this I got excited and thought something along the lines of, "If you put down 'yes' as your response, then you folks got the job" was going to be announced. Instead, they just announced that people need to make up their minds by Nov. 8th and someone will be coming to you around next week to talk about the contract.

So it wasn't what I wanted to hear, and of course it got me all nervous. After the meeting I approached the homeroom teacher (the one who speaks English well, and throughout the semester helped us) about this. She said I should be okay and that the homeroom teachers got a survey to answer. But then she started to give me input on a few things. For one the Song teacher (the main homeroom teacher) wasn't too pleased with the Drama Festival performances. This was my first news of hearing this since last week so I said, "Really?" And then she went on how it could have been better. I didn't tell her how it was really difficult teaching a group of kids a huge drama production, considering they kept on changing the movements and gestures. Sigh

The other thing she mentioned was that they are really grateful that I have put a lot of work into lesson plans and materials, but that I could be more loving with the students. Now, I'm not a mean teacher in the class but I have strict rules and stand by them. I've given the kids plenty of love, especially in my lesson plans. I do yell a lot and that could go down a little, but the homeroom teachers told us to yell at them.WTF!!

In all of this I am reminded that no where along the road do the homeroom teachers sit me down and we discuss my weakness and strengths. It's been this way at every school I worked at in Korea and I suppose I am use to it. Yet it still baffles me that if you have an employer and you want them to do specific things or change, then you go to that person and address the issues. In the end, there isn't much I can do about what the homeroom teachers think, as I know it is all based upon predispositions.

So now I am at the point of thinking "Plan B", what will I do if I don't get to renew this contract? I didn't send in a request for FBI fingerprints so if I have to find a new job it will have to be a transfer. I really don't want to have to pack up and move again or try to find a suitable job for next year. The whole thought of being rejected by this school really gets me blue. Makes me think maybe I really have failed as a teacher here in Korea.

I was really sick yesterday and feeling somewhat better today. Trying to find some positive light in all of this...trying.

Who is this guy?

Ever since I moved in to my new place here in Nowon, I have on occasion heard a sound outside my door. It's a "Unnnnnnnnnnnnnnn" drowning sound with a lot of reverberation. It sounds like a fire alarm toned down a little bit. I thought that is what it was, the building ahjusshi testing our fire alarms every week. But what was strange was hearing this sound occur at other buildings throughout my area.

Today, as I was heading to the elevator I heard the sound very close by. The next thing I knew a man opened the hallway door while saying, "Ahnyeonghaseyo" and then went down my hallway. The sound was coming out of him!

He was going floor to floor making this sound as he went. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why. I don't even think JH knows. My suspicion is that he is Buddhist and he is chanting for some reason. Perhaps, to bless everyone?

But it must be considered a normal thing if he has been doing it every week and in every building in this area.

Does anyone out there know what this is about? Otherwise, I will just pass this off as another "strange-Korean thing."

How To Unclog Your Drain in Korea

Have a clogged up drain somewhere in your shoe-box of a house in Korea? Find yourself standing in a hairy-watery mess in your shower? Or perhaps you were like me finding the water in the bathroom sink not draining and making it hard to keep up on cleanliness.

Have no fear for the 배수관청소기, or as I like to call it the, "Korean Hand Drain-Snake." Well, you can call it whatever you want but this thing really helps in this situation.

Where to Find:

•  I found mine at the Daiso shop inside Lotte Mart. So you can find these inside a Daiso, which are located around Korea. Also I hear that folks sell them on the subway, so if you see someone peddling them it might be your easy chance to get one. This one cost just 1,000 Won.

How To Use:

•   It's pretty straightforward. 
• Shove this thing down the clogged drain and then pull it out.

 EWWWW!

CAUTION: Be prepared to be grossed out by what comes up. Out of mine came hair and clumps of very dark mud. To help yourself from not getting too dirty wear gloves and have a bucket ready to scrap off the excess into. (JH helped me in this picture and he opted not to wear gloves.)

TIPS:

• Put the thing in and out a few times.
• Before pulling it out make it go up and down, trying to scrap up many particles. 
• After several times give the area a rinse and you will notice the water going straight down, unlike before.
• Clean everything up.
• You can save the "Snake" for another time or recycle it. (Usually meant for just a couple of uses.)

There you have it! Anytime you wonder how to fix your extremely clogged and smelly drain, here in Korea, this is the solution. 

Cultural Difference: The First Bite

As JH and I were served our meals at an Outback Steakhouse today something happened that made me realize an interesting cultural difference between us two. First let me say that I generally do not like going to Outback Steakhouse, Fridays or any of those chains here in Korea. Mostly because they are expensive, but also due to that the food is often really greasy and too salty. With that said, we usually just order salads since we have found they are the freshest thing on the menu.

There I was ready to take my first bite when JH shoved his fork (with a piece of meat on it) in front of my face asking, "Do you want to try it?" I leaned back and exclaimed, "No!"

This isn't the first time JH has done this, and I always reject his attempts to feed me like that. I think today I got a little peeved because I would have figured by now he got the message. But then I realized this must be some cultural difference hoopla. As far as I know, back home we don't usually try to feed each other. If we do want someone to taste our dish I think we usually take a small portion and put it on the other persons plate. But rarely was I taught or had the experience of a bite being rapidly put in front of my face.

Immediately, I discussed this with JH and pointed out the cultural difference. Certainly he didn't know about it and figured it was normal. Also, he remarked on how it is something couples do.

I just have to wonder if this is something shared by other cross-cultural couples in Korea, or am I just the only one? hmmm

Back on Korean Soil

My flight back was pretty good and I have to say Singapore Airlines is up there with Korean Air as my favorite. There was one slight issue during the flight, that was my cough. I couldn't help but do it while on the flight and apparantly the woman sitting in front of me did not find it amusing. Yet she alerted me of this towards the end of the flight. She asked me if it was contagious and I gave her an honest answer that I didn't know, since I didn't visit a doctor. Well, she didn't like that and expressed this quite forwardly. I didn't know what to say to her accept I was sorry.
JH picked me up from the airport and I have been staying at his house ever since. I will move in to my new place tomorrow around 4pm, and I am very excited. From what I gather it will be kind of spacious and in a good neighborhood.

In the meantime, I am visited a doctor. He said that the cough probably will take a while to go away but take the meds he recommends and if it persists to come back for x-rays.

Staying at JH's house is interesting because for one it is the size of a shoebox. His mom is staying at her boyfriend's house just to accomadate me. Yes I know how nice this is of her and should think of a way to genuinly thank her. (BTW if there are spelling errors it's because I am using my bf's computer and the spell check doesn't seem to be working.) His sister lives in his house too and she has been sweet with me here. Even helped me clean some of my sweaters and hang them up to dry.

Coming back to Korea after a 3 month stay at home, was long enough for me to feel like I hadn't been here in a while. Although I feel like I am having that "first time here" culture shock it is being blanketed by "oh yea...Korea is like that" feelings. I did miss Korea and all its greatness and pitfalls, though.

I am looking forward to starting the new job, but feeling nervous for the start of the semester with first graders. I know I just need to be myself and take things as they come along. But I am going to be really busy with moving in, unpacking and getting ready for work real soon. Actually I want to get busy with all this as I like to organize and prepare myself for stuff. Also I would like to get to the point where things are settled down so that I can start seeking out a Korean study group along with everything else I want to do.

:) Glad to be back.

Oh Crap! It's a foreigner!

Waking up this morning I went over to Roboseyo and found he posted a funny Japanese anime that highlights meeting a foreigner.

I was inspired after this and found one of my own to post. Everything is pretty much on point when a non-native English speaker attempts to make contact with you in public. Especially the "targeting" and running away bits.

The Great Vacation: Cornish Pasties

The next day I decided to take JH around one of the historic downtown's in the area. Already I could tell he was mesmerized by the houses and lawns.

We made our way into downtown Grass Valley, where JH first purchased a box of cigarettes and then we headed over to a used bookstore.

JH found a food book that he liked and then we looked around more at the city's buildings. 

For lunch we stopped at Cousin Jack's Pasties, which specialize in a local tradition of Cornish pies or pasties. These are pronounced past-ies...like in the past. Not to be confused with those tantalizing pasties. 

The history goes that back in the mining days companies started to move away from river mining and into the underground type. They needed a big workforce for this and knew that miners from Cornwall, England were really good at it. So they brought these men and their families over here. Their wives would cook them these pasties, which were basically like a meat pie, and place them in tin canisters to take down into the mines. The canister was tiered and had about 3 levels, in the middle was the pasty and on the bottom and top were either soup or tea. Inside the mine the men would place the canister on top of a lit candle and the soup at the bottom would heat up, essentially warming up the pasty. 

I shared all this with JH as we enjoyed the local delight.

Sometimes you hear from Korean folks how they traveled to America and ended up not liking the food. Well, pardon me, but if you end up going to McDonalds and other pretty commercial type eateries than of course you are going to come back unsatisfied. That is why I took JH to this local place that had both history and a delicious menu. Accompanying the pasty was a home-made lamb soup. Yum! (I wonder if I can make these out in Korea...they seem very simple to make.)

After lunch I took JH over to my high school to not only walk down memory lane but let him see the difference between American and Korean public school institutions.

 He was extremely impressed with the football field and track, remarking how very few schools have such an item. I couldn't help but think how I took all of this for granted when I was there.

Of course I showed him around the art department...

Visiting the high school was fun and we checked out a little neighborhood nearby where I knew there was a point where you could look out over the foothills.

Then we headed to a grocery store to pick up a few items for the week. JH enjoyed the shopping and I showed him some eggplants.

That night, for dinner, I cooked up Tofu Jorim and this time made some jiggae soup. Although I think I didn't get the most flavorful of jiggae pastes for the soup. hmm

 The jiggae cooking...

But the family enjoyed it and I think JH got a kick out of eating a somewhat Korean meal at an American home.

Is Seoul Ready for the G20 Summit?

source

The G20 Summit is coming to Seoul and that means a lot of important people will be sharing the air here. This also means that a lot of foreign visitors to the summit will be arriving as well. Therefore, is Seoul ready to accommodate these Western people?

I have noticed on the Seoul City Blog job opportunities of the sort that reflect this nervousness towards being a host country. I can't say for sure whether these job postings are directly related to the G20, but I have a gut feeling they are. Just what are these specialty jobs, you ask?

What are the most important aspects of making your city accommodating? Apparently, thus far these things include hygienic facilities, efficient and clean buses along with legible and accurate signs in various languages.

COEX Hygiene:

Take for example the hygienic one.

Hygiene inspection of restaurants at Coex , a venue for the upcoming G20 Summit
Job Descriptions :
 -Date & Time:  September 30 (Thursday) 13:00~17:00
 -Seats available: 10 foreigners (first-come first-served)
 -Inspection method: inspecting restaurants with a team of 3 persons (2 Koreans and 1 foreigner)
 -Details: writing a restaurant hygiene inspection report from a  foreigner’s perspective
-Payment: 40,000KRW
- Meeting place: in front of Bandi & Lunis’ Bookstore, Coex mall

For those who don't know, COEX is a large underground complex with shopping, a movie theatre and many restaurants. It also has large exhibition halls adjacent to it along with the Intercontinental hotel. I can't recall how many times I have been to COEX, but I think I can safely vouch my opinion of it's hygiene levels.

COEX Hygiene Report: (from past experience)

• The level of cleanliness inside restaurants is pretty good. Tableware never seemed to be spotty or dirty. Tables were cleaned before sitting down, and floors were acceptable as well. As for food I have eaten I would say that they usually came out without any debris such as hair or other such foreign objects. 
• As for the food court I would say that area is pretty clean, however tables seemed a bit messy and not cleaned up often. That would be an area to consider improving.
• Overall COEX's restaurants are pretty well kept up with and I don't see any need for improvement.

Bus Monitors

That job seemed like a fairly easy one and wouldn't yield too much criticism. But then came the next request for bus "mystery passengers."
 “Mystery Passenger”

· Seat availability: 10 persons (on a first-come and first-served basis)
     · Qualification: Any foreign resident in Seoul
               *prefer those who have Korean proficiency
     · Payment: 70,000KRW per day
     · Working hours: 5 hours anytime during the day
               *One person can work for up to 5 days.
The Seoul city government is seeking foreigners residing in Korea who can monitor the conditions of buses in Seoul (e.g. safety, hygiene, and convenience of the buses)

Ah, public transportation. Is it safe? It is easy to use? Is it fast and efficient? Is it clean? I can tell you this might be the most important factor for the city as far as this is issue is concerned. Why? Because not only is it difficult to adjust to being in a land where you don't know the language but even more challenging to figure out your way around it all. I think being able to use a public transportation system in a foreign country is a great accomplishment.


Having visited New York City and resided in San Francisco I have some background here on judging public transportation (especially buses) in Seoul. The buses in San Francisco would rate poorly on my scale. Typically, they smell bad, difficult to figure out the route and have a plethora of service related problems. I have read articles in the SF Chronicle of people getting stabbed on the bus. The bus drivers tend to ignore unruly behavior, but they take a lot of heat from riders who have angst against the public transportation system.

To sum it up, Seoul's bus system looks very good when compared with San Francisco's.

Here's my breakdown:

• Seoul buses are generally clean and well kept. But there are all different types of buses going around Seoul. There are the village type buses that go short distances, then there are the ones that go from one dong to the next. I can't say whether this makes for different types of hygiene. But in my experience the village buses tend to be a little more dirty, but not too bad.
• Safety on the buses doesn't seem to be a problem. However, there have been reported incidences of foreigners being treated poorly on buses. As for safety in general, whether your ride on the bus will end up causing you to get hurt or not, that is another story. Let's not forget when a Seoul bus blew up recently. I hope they have gotten that under control. 
• Safety in regards to your ride on the bus and whether you feel like it is a death trap, well that is questionable. For one bus drivers make very sharp turns, and they hit the breaks quick and hard. A traveler who has little experience in this might find themselves falling over. Also there is the unsafe feeling of having to head towards the middle-back of the bus to make sure you get out in time. Bus drivers tend to stop for very short periods of time to let passengers on and off. 
• This takes me to my next point, which is the bus passenger system. Having ridden the bus in Japan I can say that if I didn't know to board in the back-middle first I would have been lost. Seoul's riding system might be tricky to the newcomer. They need to know to board in the front. Knowing where to put the money is another thing. Also the use of a T-Card can make it all better. Do people know this right away when they are at a bus stop? Not really. Also do people know that if they use the T-Card they have to "beep-it" on the way out? Are signs at the bus easy to understand? (Not completely)
• This might make you think that Seoul buses are not convenient. However, once you know how to use the bus they become a great form of transportation in your travels around the city. Due to the bus drivers driving fast you can get from one place to the next quickly. Also there are dedicated bus lanes to help them get through heavy traffic. They also go practically everywhere in Seoul. In San Francisco, with recent budget cuts, there are some places that would take hours by bus to get to because there are no direct routes. 

As you can see Seoul already has a really good bus system and doesn't need much room for improvement. However, the only improvement I would see is passenger etiquette towards each other and hopefully that Korean citizens will treat foreigners with respect (same with the other way around).

Street Signs:
Finally, we come to the last request for inspectors that of "Street-sign monitors." These job titles sound more and more fun, and I wish I could do them if I had the free time during the week.

The Seoul city government is seeking foreign residents in Seoul who can monitor the use of the English, Chineses, Japanese languges on signs (e.g. detecting spelling errors on road/traffic signs) on the strees in Seoul.
*Seat Availability: 3 persons (1 native speaker of English, 1 Chinese, 1  Japanese)
         **prefer those who have Korean proficiency
*Working Hours: October 14 (Thursday) starting from 1 p.m for 3 - 3.5 hrs
*Payment: 50,000KRW

Since I am an English speaker I can only judge on the quality of the English on street signs in Seoul. My verdict is that as far as major tourist and directional signs go they have done a good job. Road and traffic signs offer typically both English and Korean, however I have seen here and there Chinese and Japanese too. But mostly it is just English and Korean. Have there been any spelling errors? Well not from what I can remember but I can bet that they are out there.

On the contrary, if one were to inspect any kind of sign in Seoul for it's English usage than that would definitely end up being a full time job.

The conundrum:
Is Seoul ready? Well I think the city as far as these items are concerned are ready. However, when you ask yourself whether Korean citizens themselves are ready for a high influx of foreigners into their land then you can get the jitters. Just reading Scribblings of the Metropolitician's post on Korean's treatment and attitude toward foreigners you will start to see that Korean people are not quite ready to embrace a global society.

American GI's have been stabbed and murdered by Koreans -- never hits the news.
Foreign women raped by Korean men? Hospitals won't even examine them unless they prove they're not a "Russian prostitute." Never gets in the paper.
Beating and stabbings on foreigners?

Yes, it is pretty grim but real. The problem many people are going to have with the G20 coming to Seoul is that the Korean media are going to hype it up to the visitors that their city is a place of "peace" and "globalization." When in fact, yes it is globalized, but in a very asymmetrical kind of way. I would say that Korean people see globalization as a coat they put on to show off to other countries. But they don't really plan on wearing it all day.

What I wish Korean citizens and officials would do is take in for a moment what their behaivor looks like to outsiders. As the Metropolitician exemplifies:

You want to know the REAL problem people in this society? The asshole old man who came up the the table next to me in the coffee shop yesterday, where a girl had been sitting alone, and they all sat in the empty seats around her. Because they didn't want to sit at an inside seat. It was the smoking area. Then the asshole old man started yelling and cursing at her about smoking in front of men. She told them she was there first and why are you cursing at me? He stood up, called her the English equivalent of "crazy bitch" and all kinds of threatening speech. Then he told HER to move. When she spoke back at him more -- in polite honorifics -- he wanted to HIT her. Sound familiar?

The Metropolitician wrote this in discussion about violence against women and the hyped up media in Korea. But it shows an extreme example of some of the behavior that one could witness here. You don't see this stuff everyday, but you can come across more subtle varieties. Of course, all of it has a reason and meaning behind it, but unfortunately the new traveler to this city will just see the ugliness and not really the history behind it. This goes for travelers in my own country who see the kind of behavior on the streets (such as junkies shooting up or people yelling at each other). In other words, we all should reflect on how our social behavior looks to others around us.

My opinion is that as the younger generation grows up it is possible for Korea to look more like what a globalized and "peaceful" city would look like. And as foreigners stay here longer and make roots that our role will look less pedestrian and more meaningful.

So is Seoul ready? Let's ask it again in another 10 years.

Sports Day 2010

Last week was Sports Day at my school. The teachers and students were busy preparing for the two days of fun and competition out on the field. I enjoyed seeing sports day last year at my other school and so looked forward to watching this one.

I was excited to see the decorations and overall happy expressions on the kids.

Since my students were participating I had the day off from classes. I watched as they went through the usual routine of singing and then exercising. Last year one of the students fainted while this happened. But seemed like these kids pulled through.

They played the usual games such as relay races.

I really had a good time just spending it with the 6th grade students. They can be a lot of fun to hang out with.

One fun game they played was a kind of piggy-back race. Students would hold up one student on their back while a few others guided them around. On the head of the hoisted students were a hat with a balloon on it. The hat had powder inside. The goal was to pop as many balloons as possible on the other team.

Certainly a game I never played in elementary school, and looked like a lot of fun. However, though they left this game to the boys and the girls sat this one out.

Apparantly, one of the classic items of Sport's day in Korea is pets being sold to the children near the school. I found this out as I checked out the street vendors selling soda, snacks and toys. Along with such pets as mice, hamsters and rabbits were chicks. Yes baby chickens!

I asked the students about this and inquired why someone would want a pet baby chicken. Making the point that it grows up to be an adult chicken. They told me that they are sick and usually die after a short time. What was more shocking was the way the sellers handled these animals. When moving them from one carton to the next they just dumped them in or picked them up and threw them. Even the students were gasping at the sight of this. Although I wasn't sure kids would really buy them a lot of them did. 

After talking with my coteachers I was told selling chicks was a common thing during sports day and usually they just die after a few days. 

Interesting! Back to the sports. The 6th graders were at it again, this time playing a 8-legged race game. From the looks of it this was reserved for the girls.

At the end of all the games a large crate was brought out. Inside were gifts and the Mom's and Grandma's of the students were able to "fish" for a present. The truth is there was a small student inside hooking the gifts. I know all this because the English dept. got stuck wrapping all the gifts and preparing them. 

Sport's day was a real hoot and the best part was not only the chicks but spending quality and relaxed time with my students. That's the hard part about teaching 6th grade, no matter whether you stay at the school they end up leaving for Middle school.

Till next year, I guess (wherever I will be).

**Check out the video**

Student's Perspective on Seoul

As the semester started up this week we have been discussing what we did on our vacation. For me I showed them the video I made of my America trip and had a little discussion. When it comes time for the kids to voluntarily share their vacation the answers have been pretty typical. "Went to my Grandparents house." "Went to Mt. Chiri." (This one being quite popular...with the following response of, "It was boring.")

In one of the 6th grade classes a young girl told us about how she went to the Aquarium in COEX. Her most important point was her reflections on visiting Seoul. I have always wondered what the kids in my area thought of the "big city up north", since they live down here in Gyeonggido. Sure it isn't exactly the country side down here but compared to Seoul there is cleaner air and a lot more leg room.

She commented on how she couldn't believe the number of cars and how dirty the air was. The look in her face was of amazement. It proved to me that most of these kids have spent little time in the "big city" of Seoul, compared to the amount I spend up there. To them it probably seems like a far away and expensive trip. I can understand since getting there, parking and finding your way around can be difficult to the new person.

Similarly when I lived in Berkeley, which is across the bay from San Francisco, making a trip out there seemed like a big deal. Sure I went to college out there, however it was on the outskirts of the city and I usually never went in. I recall when I made those first journeys into the city and the rush I felt staring up at the skyscrapers. Similarly when I went to New York City for the first time, I couldn't help but feel so small. Maybe it's the same for these kids out here when they go into Seoul. I bet when they get to the age where they can go out on a trip to Seoul by themselves that they really must find it to be exhilarating and liberating.

Post Air Travel Rambles

The past 24 hours have proven to be both tiring and inspiring. First off my flight to SFO was delayed due to waiting for other people from other flights to connect to mine. Then while in the air we were delayed landing because SFO was having a traffic jam. When I looked at the mini-map on the screen in front of me I saw a loop-de-loop shape over Oregon.

The flight itself was pretty good, which was Asiana Airlines by the way. I think, however, that because I have regularly flown Korean Air that I have been spoiled. Let me just say that Korean Air has their butt together, and the food tastes better.

Yet once the lights turned off I put in my ear plugs and put on my eye mask and made myself a comfy little corner near the window and tried to get some sleep. I kept on waking up to adjust myself and  move my neck around.

Before they turned off the lights I think they tried to entertain us to compensate for leaving an hour and half late from Korea. They did this by parading around the plane in traditional Korean clothes, like it were a show at a folk festival.

The rest of the flight was pretty smooth. Then came landing and I made my way through the immigration maze.

Yes it was great to see English all around me and hear it being spoken too, but this was still the International side of the airport. It felt as if I was at the delta of a huge melting pot river ready to burst out.

As I waited outside for my hotel shuttle I had a view of the mountains, houses and freeway.

It doesn't look like much but concrete and blue sky, however to my eyes it was like seeing something for the first time again.

First off if you have never been to San Francisco and the Bay Area then you might not know what I mean by all this. The air smelled fantastic! It had the distinct sea smell mixed with eucalyptus. It was home in every sense of the word from scent to sight.

I nearly cried as I looked out over this imagery. Sure I had been in America last year on my summer vacation but this time around something struck a nerve in me.

I checked in to my hotel, called family and took a long hot bath. It had been since last November when I took bath, which was in Osaka at the hotel during my visa run.

Then I watched a little TV to chill out, which was interesting as I had somehow forgotten that American TV has a lot of commercials.  My hotel room...

After vegging out I decided to go look around the neighborhood.

This is the suburbs of San Francisco, which is up in the more Northern parts on the peninsula. It is suburbia, quiet and quaint. Soon many things felt like a novelty, like having to push the button to cross the street.

Yet as I walked through the neighborhood my emotions ran high. This was just a typical street on any here in Northern California, but to me it became so special.

It brought back memories of when I lived around Northern California in various places. The quietude and sharp contrast to a Korean neighborhood started to get to me.

Seeing the American flag people had put out to decorate their lawns or houses felt so symbolic.

Of course, it was recently July 4th.

I have been trying really hard in my tired and fatigued head to talk about this experience without painting Korea as this god-awful place and America as the ultimate utopia vision.

What I realized was that it wasn't really about that Koreans live in tall apartment complexes while Americans (in most areas) live in houses. No, this was personal and was touching on the emotional roller coaster I have been riding since I have been working at my current school.

I can't tell how many times I have cried, crumpled my forehead in anger and lost all hope over what are probably trivial occurrences at work. Last February when I was having the worst of it I felt so desperate that I wanted to just pack up and go home.

Seeing these houses with their comfortable curtains and green lawns made me become aware of what I value so much in life. That is comfort, both in work and home. A sense of peace and comradeship at the workplace.

It feels like every since I went to Korea all I wanted to do was get it right. To do the right things and not disrupt their culture. To learn and accept the differences and be a perfect little diplomat. Yet ever since things messed up at the hagwon my faith in myself to accomplish this has always been shaken.

For some reason coming back to America and seeing the suburban houses I felt a sense of relief that it is all still there and solid. But, most importantly, everything here revolves around a different society, one which is familiar and like a soft pillow.

Before getting on the plane, yesterday, I ran into these two very crucial aspects about Korean culture, that of Kibun and nunchi.

Kibun – The word kibun has no literal translation in English, however, as a concept that permeates every facet of Korean life, it can be described in terms of pride, face, mood, or state of mind. In order to maintain a Korean’s sense of Kibun, particularly in a business context, one must show the proper respect and avoid causing loss of face. In a culture where social harmony is essential, the ability to identify another’s state of mind, often referred to as nunchi, is crucial to successful business ventures. For this reason, you must be aware of subtleties in communication, observing non-verbal and indirect cues that often suggest the true sense of what is being communicated. 

After reading up on this a lot of the broken pieces started make sense and would fit into a focused puzzle.  One example from my experience is asking my coteachers in a direct manner about matters at work.

The point I am trying to make is that Korea has this kibun and nunchi society, whereas America mostly and practically doesn't have it. Sure Americans are perceptive to each others moods, but our values are elsewhere.

Seeing these houses reminded me of how hard Korean life has been and how much I strive to understand yet seem to always come out even more confounded.

To move on with my return-to-America story I then went on to find a Walgreens (Pharmacy) and went inside to see what they had. Then I moved on back towards the hotel to have a bite to eat.

While I did so I saw a Korean tofu house restaurant.

Tomorrow I will get back on another plane and fly out to Florida to visit family. I know my initial reaction to coming back to America was emotional. Inside I don't feel it is really negative, but something that will allow me to asses better the past 2 years in Korea and see more clearly into my future. 

If anything what I really know is that my biggest battle with living in Korea isn't with accepting the different scenery, rather is the experiences I have with my Korean work-relationships. So, if I desire to make a life in Korea then that is one area I truly must grow in.