A Culture of Convenience

When deciding upon coming to Korea and upon arrival, I wondered how I'd get around without a car. Sure, I heard of something called a "subway" or "bus" but in California, these things are myths, heard of but never seen, like the fabled black albino. I was sad, not only because I'd be gone from my car, but because I'd actually have to carry things, like in a back pack (or goodness gracious, some sort of bag). I wouldn't be able to use my car as a massive storage locker that I could hoard things with. I'd leave water in there just in case I needed some, I'd leave a snack or two, an umbrella perhaps, and a lot of other things one might need in a day to day venture.

Little did I know that I wouldn't NEED to hoard because in Korea, things are EVERYWHERE. I used to think it was a little ridiculous to have two Starbucks in close proximity to each other but over here, there are some places that have three or four in a block! Not only will there be Starbucks but there would also be Dunkin Donuts, Coffee Bean, and an assortment of smaller coffee places and the strangest thing of all is that they'd all be full!

And that's just coffee.

Seoul is abounded with large quantities of almost everything. I could be walking down the street to my friend's apartment and if I just so happened to be a little be parched, I could just walk and a few meters (because Korea uses the metric system) later, I'd be able to walk into a Family Mart (or Seven-Eleven if you prefer) and buy myself a nice refreshing drink.

Instead of being just a bit thirsty, suppose that you're HUNGRY and fiending for some KOREAN BBQ! (just called BBQ here in Korea) Those places are very abundant in Seoul. One would probably stumble upon at least three traveling to any given location. Also, these places typically would also be filled with older, drunk Korean men. You don't really get the Korean experience without the loud, old men in the restaurant.

What's also nice is how quickly delivery comes. One would be able to call almost any sort of food service (McDonald's delivers here, Chinese, Korean food, pizza, it's all good) and it'll come rather expediently

Now let's suppose you're a girl, because that's key for this next example, and you need a scarf to complete your outfit. Fear not! There are PLENTY of shopping areas pretty much everywhere. Subways are filled with inexpensive shops and booths that sell all these random accessories and outfits. A female friend of mine once remarked, "Shopping should be illegal here. It's so cheap and it's everywhere. That's why I'm always late to things! And OMG the shoes! SO MANY STYLES!"

Now only if I can find some clothes that actually fit, then I'd be in business.

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Student-isms: 7 Commonly Encountered

Kids say the darndest things, as they say. Now, if you change up some cultural considerations and mix around different social mores here, kids will then say some pretty funny stuff.

The following quotes are all true.

1. I'm fine, thank you, and you?

Remember how most of us took Spanish as the foreign language requirement in high school? Well, I didn't because I took French because I wanted to be a non conformist for some reason. To this day I only remember how to count and how to say cheese omelette. In any case, you'll remember the answer to "Hola, como estas?" is always "Bien, y tu?"

When you study English, the correct answer to"Hi, how're you?" will always be "I'm fine, thank you, and you?" It's a running joke amongst the teaching community here.

2. Mr. Thai, do you have a gun?

We get much of our perceptions, however wrong or right, from movies and televisions nowadays. Many Americans think that Amsterdam is a place for drugs and hookers (yay Eurotrip), Vietnam is full of hookers that will love you long time, and that Jamaicans all get high all day and all night.

Due to American programming where shows such as CSI, 24, and anything Fox can come up with , reign supreme many people outside of the states have a perception that all of America is dangerous and we all have guns for some reason, JUST in case there's a gang fight in the middle of the street so we'll all start shooting each other.

3. Show me the money

You know how we all know a few words of a foreign language from certain films here and there? Many Americans have learned "di di mau" from various Vietnamese War movies, "omelette du fromage" from Dexter's Laboratory, and how every Austrian speaks like Arnold.

I'm assuming some of my students just saw Jerry McGuire because it became one of the only phrases my kids say to me outside of class.

Typical conversation

me - "Hi ______, how're you?"

kid - "I'm fine, thank you, and you?"

me - "Great!"

kid - "SHOW ME THE MONEYY!" *holds hand out for money, I laugh and walk away, they chase me shouting, seeing this, about 8 more kids start chasing me shouting the exact same thing."

4. Mr. Thai, do you have a wife?

Remember when you were in middle school and how everyone over the age of 20 was considered old? I imagine that's how my kids view me. One of the first questions I was asked by my very first class I taught was, "Do you have a wife?" Now, this struck me as odd because this never happens back at home. My first thought was, "Oh shit, do I that old? I knew I should've gotten botox when I had the chance!" Turns out, Korean men about my age get hitched about...my age.

What's funny in the regard is not only do students ask me if I have a wife but other coworkers do as well. When I respond that I don't have a wife they always say, "Why not? Go get married...now!" I just can't win.

5. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Korean middle school students have the maturity of your 8 year old cousin. They chase each other around, call each other names (like ugly face), and play fight with tennis rackets and ping pong paddles. Often these actions cause these students to scream bloody murder and go "TEACHER! HE'S HITTING ME!" or the ubiquitous "HE'S TOUCHING ME!!!!" or the best "(to another student) I'm not gay. (to me) Teacher! Make him stop touch (sic) me!"

6. She's ugly

My female students have no problem voicing their opinion on any given person's attractiveness. When I play music videos for them before class often times they would either say "no!! ugglyyy!" or "oh my gawd, so beautiful!" In fact, there have been many times where a group of female students would stop me in the hall to tell me this, "Mr. Thai! You know what?" "What?" "She's ugly!" *points to another female in the group, at which time random Korean words are then spoken and they start chasing each other around and I go on my merry way to wherever I was headed*

7. Mr. Thai, you are handsome. Give me candy!

Students like to be suave and tricky.

Many times, they would simply skip the whole flattery thing and go for the main goal - chocolate. They'd walk right up to me and say "cho-co-late!"

To which I say, "chu-gu-lay?" (do you wanna die?)

"No no teacher, CHOC-CO-LATE!"

"yes yes, CHU-GU-LAY?"

"choc-co!"

"chu-gu"

"chocolate!"

"chugulay!" *repeat for another five minutes, student walks away in failure, I do the evil teacher laugh*

It's similar to that one episode of The Simpsons where the family goes down to Australia and Marge tries to order coffee at a bar.

Marge - "A cup of coffee please" Bartender- "One can of beer coming right up"

"No no, coffee." "Be-er"

"Cof-fee" "Bee-eer"

"C-o-f-f-e-e" "B-e-e-r"

Bonus! Teacher Quote 8. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

I was in the little English teachers office and we were talking about some school related stuff. A co teacher told me after talking about it, "Oh please don't tell anyone about what we just talked about." I then told her, "It's okay, we have a saying back home 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.'" We all laugh.

She then asks, "Wait, what happens in Vegas?"

I giggle and walk away.

FAN DEATH and 9 other funny things about Korea

Korea's full of fun, quirky things.

1. FAN DEATH - This is something that I've never heard of until coming here. Supposedly, if an electric fan is left on over night while you sleep, you will DIE. The reasons for this range from hypothermia (because the fan keeps cooling you forever and ever) to asphyxiation (because the fan sucks out all the oxygen). In fact, this belief is so widespread that all electric fans come with a timer so if you forget to turn off the fan, it'll do so automatically! More information could be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death.

Conversation with a co-teacher about it -

Me: "Hey, if you leave the fan on at night and sleep, what will happen?"

Her: "Well, you DIE! Everyone knows that."

2. YOU'RE A LOSER - Some months ago, a girl at a local university here (Hongik University for anyone who knows), was on a nationally broad casted talk show and caused quite an uproar. Now, Korean talk shows are different from American talk shows because instead of having one or two guests and a host, it's about 20 guests and maybe a few hosts.

The girl was asked about guys and what kind she prefers. She responded that she likes tall men, which everyone could probably agree is pretty normal with the "dark and handsome" archetype. Now, she continued to say that she only likes men who are 180cm or taller and considers those under that height requirement to be "losers" and only those deemed tall enough to be "winners".

The station and the girl caught a lot of bad press for said incident, the station for not editing the footage out before broad casting and the girl for...well you know. Word on the street has it that she left school because no one likes her anymore. This incident is so famous that two jokes came out of it - Kim Jong Il attacking the South Korean navy just days after that event and when college students are drunk they'd go around saying "hey! you're a winner!" or "hey! you're a loser!" to other drunk college kids. I'm a loser. =(

3. WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR WORK DONE? - When talking to Koreans, I notice that they stare at me often, not because I'm a foreigner or anything like that, but because apparently I have facial features that are considered to be desirable in contemporary Korean society.

Image is HUGE in Korea (and so are tissues...if you know that joke) and thus so is plastic surgery. Subways and buses are loaded with advertisement depicting numerous before and after photos and how this clinic or that clinic will enable you to look your "best".

Oftentimes, they would ask, "Wow, you have eyelids!" I would then respond with, "Yeah, you do too, how else do people blink?" Then they'd giggle and said "No no, you have the fold!" "What fold?" "You don't have that fold?" "No!"

4. THERE IS NO FOURTH FLOOR - the number four has the same connotation in the East as the number thirteen in America. Sometimes, instead of the 4th floor, it'd be Floor F. This can be traced to Chinese in that the word for four sounds like the word for death. The same reasoning is used for the number eight as it sounds like the word for prosperity in Chinese. Just to clarify, eight is lucky in Chinese, not Korea.

Seven's lucky in Korea and in America, that is, unless you're playing craps after the point has been made.

5. KIM YUNA - They love her here. I love her. She's awesome. She's to ALL OF KOREA like how my friends ruv Kobe back home.

6. DO THE MACARENA - Americans have special bond with "audience participation" songs, these include such classic hits as - "YMCA", "Crank That (Soulja Boy)", and the quintessential "Chicken Dance".

That same connection can be said of the youth here in Korea, except instead of a few select songs, it's ALL the songs. Almost every popular song here also comes with a simple, repetitive, yet super catchy dance. I'll throw a song on Youtube for the kids to listen to between class periods and if students come in early they'll almost always start dancing to the song.

A theory on why these dances are easy to replicate is due to the Korean culture of noeraebangs (karaoke) in Korea in which kids would go to hang out and dance away the afternoon/night with their friends.

7. KARAOKE - On that subject, awhile back a student saw me on the street and she waved hello. She was rather excited to see me so I made some small talk. I asked her where she was going and she simply stated that she was going to the noraebang. Now, "no rae" translates to "singing" and "bang" is "room". So to the untrained foreigner, that's simply karaoke to us so I simply restarted to her, "Oh, you're going to karaoke?" She then shook her head and clarified "Oh NO Mr. Thai, I don't drink soju. Karaoke is for adults." Apparently, you can also order girls at these places.

Not that I'd know...or anything.

8. DO THE CHA-CHA - In Korea, people tend to walk on the left, it's how they've been taught to their entire lives. Rumor has it that it's due to Japanese influence because back in the day, Japan had samurai who wore their katanas on the left. Walking on the left apparently would enable these warriors to respond quickly to emergencies, like slaying dragons and stuff.

Anyhow, it's always funny when you're walking and a Korean is also walking directly into your path and you have to do the whole side stepping business.

9. FEAR THE CAMERA - Koreans LOVE to take pictures, love love love love to take pictures, be it pictures of food, people, places, or multiple pictures of themselves in different poses. One caveat: they love it if they're ready. If they're not, they run for the hills. When I have a mob of students mobbing me asking me questions or requesting candy all I have to do is take out my camera and threaten to take a picture of them (I usually do) and they'll scurry along or hide their faces.

10. HYORI TOLD ME TO DRINK SOJU - Koreans love soju. That's just as fact as the sky is blue, the moon is cold, and you shouldn't swim in the Han River. One of my first nights in Korea at my school, a few PE teachers took me out on like a teacher dinner/bonding thing. We ordered samgyupsal and soju. Now, I was told by one of my littles that if you're offered a drink in Korea by an older gentleman...YOU MUST DRINK IT. So drink I did! Also, in Korea, if your glass is empty, it must be refilled, no matter what.

As you can see, this caused a bit of a conundrum. They would pour, I would drink, and the process would begin anew. As anyone who has consumed alcohol beverages with me knows - I'm quite a bit of a light weight, so thus is soon became apparent to my Korean co workers that I was slowly but surely becoming drunk. Whilst on this road to un-sobriety, a PE teacher remarked to me, "Slow down! It's okay.*" What I wanted to say was, "No no, YOU slow down." What I said was "Oh it's okay, I can handle it." Obviously I couldn't.

I came in the next day to work, with news already spread somehow, my coteacher greeted me with, "So...I hear you like to party."

BONUS! 11. WELCOME TO BACKWARDSLAND - Pizza and spaghetti are considered "girly" foods. In fact, Mr. Pizza and Pizza Hut are popular date destinations and popular hang outs for young women. Actually, Outback Steakhouse is also considered to be "girly food" over here because of their service, lunch platters, and delicious bread. Man food, as always, is meat and alcohol, or samgyupsal and soju as everyone knows around here.

Valentine's Day is the day where GIRLS get to stress over what to get guys. Muahahahahahaha.

White Day (3/14) is what we know of as Valentine's Day in 'Merica.

Black Day (4/14) is a day where singles go out and eat black noodles. Everyone gets their day!

*I later learn that what he meant was that I didn't have to take the entire shot. Apparently in Korea, it's okay to sip or go halfsies on shots. Only when the words "ONE SHOT" is shouted at the table must the drinker down the entire cup.

The Cultural Difference Cow

Know how there's the awkward turtle? There's also the cultural difference cow. The former comes into play during socially awkward situations and the latter is there in culturally different situations.

In my brief time in Korea, I've come to realize a differences between American/Western and Korean/Eastern cultures. Some are funny, some are more sensitive.

The other day I was chilling in my office chair all spread out and taking up all sorts of room and my co teacher had to kinda squish between me and the wall a little bit to get to her side (whoops). It was when a gender related cultural difference occurred to me - growing up in America as males, we're taught to take up as much space as possible with our body language. When we cross our legs we have to put ankle to knee to use room, whereas girls are taught to take up as little space as possible. When I just sit and relax I'll automatically sprawl out. Perhaps this is a reflection of America having TONS of space and land and Korea barely having any.

Like any other male raised in the good ole US of A will tell you, when we get surprised (or scared from a crazy zombie flick) we'll curse up a mutha. In fact, if we haven't seen a good friend in awhile we'll probably also curse up a mutha calling our friends all sorts of mean things that are perfectly acceptable because both are good friends. In Korea and at least with girls, in surprise they'll say "Oh-ma!" which literally translates to mother. I have no idea why they say mother when they're surprised.

Expression of feelings it something else that I've noticed that is different. In America, whenever we ask "How are you?" The correct answer is always "Good" or something similar to that. Over here though, despite the stereotype that Koreans are more stoic than most, they seem to be much more expressive when asked personal questions like that. When I ask my students "Hey, how are you?" They'll always say how they feel - sad about a test, mad at classmates, happy about other things. In fact, I think one day I was asked, "Mr. Thai, how come you're always 'good'?"

The male students are really touchy feely with each other. For instance, one student will sit on another student's lap. The one on top will then tell me, "Teacher, he's gay."

My students don't seem to understand Asians not from Korea. I know I've said it before but I just want to say it again.I think their logic is, "Hey, he looks like us. Eats like us. Black hair, brown eyes like us. Has glasses like us. Duh, he's Korean!" When I tell them I'm not Korean, they remark, "Wait, are you adopted?"

One thing that I didn't really prepare myself for were my students' misconceptions of America as a whole. Everything I knew about Korea was from what my friends told me and what I saw in movies and dramas. Some of it was true, some of it was not. What I do realize is that America, if you've never really opened up a book, is full of violence and sex if you just watch tv and the movies. The other day one female student asked me if I had a gun. I asked my co teacher about this and she told me how they watch too much tv and stuff. Then I realize, in some movies, for no apparent reason, everyone just seems to have guns and are trained in utilizing them to their full potential.

Other random things -

If you speak English on the subway, people will STARE at you.

When called, instead of saying "What" or "huh?" here they say "why?"

When I first got here, I did a lot more bowing. Now I just do a lot more long head nods because I'm lazy.

My students call me evil because how I laugh at their pain.

Realities of Being a Teacher

It goes without saying but I still have to say it.

School in Korea is different than school back home in the states.

The pressure on the students is huge. They would go to academy after academy after school until the wee hours of the night. Sometimes I'd be coming home from shopping around 10pm and I'd see kids with books looking all tired running to catch the subway. Sometimes, the pressure is too much. Awhile ago, my main co teacher and I had a discussion on adolescence and their feelings. She brought up depression and how it affected students' performance. I remarked that, at this age, kids hate everything and because they have so much pressure in Korea, they hate everything even more. She told me how she talked to the student as much as possible and even referred him to the school psychologist because it was out of our expertise as teachers.

A week or so ago, my co teacher told me one of her students committed suicide. I think it was the same student that was depressed but I didn't want to ask. I know of the pressures that Asian kids face, that in Japan it's huge and that the suicide rates are so high, but I never realized it would hit so close to home.

When I first started teaching, I thought I was some sort of novelty simply because the students haven't been exposed to many native English speakers before and that the novelty would wear off. Maybe it will, maybe it won't but what I found interesting is when students talk to me outside of class.

Students always talk to me outside of class but there were two occasions when I was walking to school that stuck with me. I was walking and one of my students recognized me so he ran up to me and started talking. I asked him the basic stuff, how he was doing, what he did yesterday, etc. What I didn't expect was what he said next. He told me about how the day before he was talking to a friend of his from another school. She was very depressed and actually was talking about suicide. I was a little worried so I asked him what he did about it and he said he pretty much talked to her on the phone for hours. A few days later I saw him again while walking to school and we talked about it and we discussed how he was helpful was his friend.

A week later his main English teacher told me how those two conversations meant the world to him, simply because he could use what he was taught and communicate with me. He told the teacher he was so happy.

You know, the saying goes that you don't really know your affect on others but it really hit me when she told me that.

Some people say that some people are born with the ability to do something. Other people say that people work to acquire the ability to do something. I used to be part of the latter group but as I get older a part of me is drifting toward the former. Growing up, and as banal as this sounds, people would tell me that I would be a good teacher. I told them "Naw, I don't have patience for kids." We'd laugh about how I'd probably beat up the kids (I actually whack them with a toy hammer, that's a story for later). I've had quite a few jobs since my senior year of high school, everything from working at Disneyland to retail and foods. The dirtiest I've felt after work was when I was working at a sales-type of environment where I pretty much sold lies to customers. It was from the job that I realized that I was just making money for the man on top of me, and he was making money for the man on top of him and so on.

What's amazing to me is that, after a long day of work, after not sleeping because I spent way too much time online the night before, after dealing with problem children and students that were too cool for school, when I come home I feel... fulfilled. I feel that I did something good in the world. I could be almost falling asleep at work before class but when the bell rings I'm in full gear. There's just something about teaching, about being in front of the class that is so intoxicating and exhilarating.

Korea-isms

Korea is like Disneyland -
It's really crowded around Seoul. And the rail way system, to me, feels a lot like the mono rail system at Disney for some reason.

There are "lands" to go to for the things you need or want. If you want to party you go to Hongdae, if you want to shop you go to Myoungdong or Dongdaemun, if you want foreigners you can go to Itaewon.

Also often times, there are a lot of things to take pictures of. Just like Disneyland!

Korea is a big game of hide and seek -
When I'm waiting for people or chilling on the subway. I like to play "Local or Foreigner?" I like to look around at the crowd and see if there are other Asians that aren't native Korean but are foreigners. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't. Heck, there are some of my Korean American friends who totally blend in some times when they dress like the locals.

Korea is like the Drew Carey Show -
People will randomly break out in coordinated dance.

Everyone here knows every dance move to every popular Korean song. Sometimes before or after class I'll put on some youtube music vids of some songs, like Wonder Girls or Girls Generation, and AUTOMATICALLY many of my students will bust out in the dance steps of the music video...step for step.

Just the other day I was shopping in Dongdaemun and I randomly came across this stage where the host were simply calling up random people from the crowd to come up and dance to these songs, like that one G Dragon song, and they'd come up and dance PERFECTLY to the music.
Korea is a learning experience -
I've learned to look over my shoulder to change lanes...while walking. No joke. There often would be times where I'd just kinda drift over to get around people and people would bump into me and give me the stare of death. Or vice versa. Actually, old Korean ladies push me out of the way to get somewhere all the time.

Korea will set you up -
You're not allowed to be single in Korea. Generally the first thing locals ask one another when they get acquainted is "Where are you from?" The next thing is "Do you have a girlfriend?" The follow up would usually be something like, "You need to find yourself a Korean girlfriend." or "I'll find you a nice Korean girl, she'll be pretty!" Heck, even my friends back home are telling me to do it.

Actually, couples in Korea are quite funny. They have this Konglish term, "couple tees", in which both couples would wear the same outfit. Now I understand how couples match and all but over here they take it to another level with same outfits. It's like same pink polos (for guy and girl) jeans, matching chucks, the works.

Finding comfort in the familiar

Being displaced from the familiar, I feel, results in feelings of excitement, nervousness, astonishment, and maybe a little bit of anxiety and insecurity thrown in there for good measure. It's not unlike that of a child, where everyday feels brand new for him because he's so young. That's why children watching the same thing over and over again and that's why they make you read the same story over and over again, it's to comfort them. Since everything is always so new, they need to seek comfort in the familiar.

I also find myself trying to find things that put me at ease. To try to find that familiarity in such a different culture and area. Even though the Vietnamese food here isn't that good, sometimes I just indulge into that nostalgic craving. The other thing that brings me back is the simple act of going to the gym. Such a simple thing but it helps put me in an area where I'm very familiar and comfortable.

Remarking off of what a colleague said her in her blog, every time I see someone who I don't is Korean I want to just run up and greet him or her.

Stuff that I've been doing -
Today my main co teacher and another co teacher went to Daebang Middle School near Daerim for a class observation thing. I thought it was pretty cool. I'm always down for things where I can learn a bit more. We saw how a Korean English Teacher conducted class and then we had a little discussion of it afterward. I saw my homie Matt from orientation there, he actually teaches at that school.

After work a fellow anteater invited me over to her area to work on our lesson plans. Unfortunately I was unable to find her due to miscommunication. Instead, I did some shopping and got some food.

On the way back, in the subway near home, I noticed this random Caucasian girl near me. I looked up and simply asked, "Excuse me, are you from SMOE?" just to make some conversation. Turns out she was but she had already been here for a year. We discussed our positions, how she likes teaching high school and how I feel about middle school. We exchanged contact info, turns out she lives in Guro Digital Complex, which is about four stops away from me.

I've also have been trying to reconnect with friends from the states that are in Korea for one reason or another. I managed to hang out with Esther the other night, I met her in Writing 39B my freshman year. I think I'm going to hang out with some APHIO people in Gangnam on Friday. They were Korean international students studying at UCI. Also, there is a girl, also an international student, that was a part of my APO family whom I never met that I contacted. I sent her an e-mail and I might meet up with her soon. Oh, and last but not least, one of my spoppers goes to a university here. Hopefully I can hang out with her too.

Random experiment of the day -
When I went to the pho place I left some tip. As I went up to the cashier to pay, the waiter brought me the money back.

Social Observation of the day -
I notice sales people treat me differently depending upon my dress when I go shopping. Sometimes I'll go right after work so I'll look all fancy schmancy. Sometimes I'll wear some flip flops and shorts. The days wear I'm all dressed up I have to beat them away with a stick; the days where I'm just casual I can't get any attention. However, I think this is something that happens everywhere.

Things that cross my mind -
I remember this lady would always come into Guppys at night on either Mondays or Tuesday, almost every week. She'd come with her friends. She was a little bit older and it was pretty obvious she wasn't married. I remember her trying to say hi to me one day when I came in to pick up my schedule but I was in a hurry and it didn't register until later. I remember overhearing that she has/had a boyfriend or something when she was talking to her friends. Yet, every so often when I'd look at her direction I'd catch her looking at me and she'd quickly turn away. I mean, the food at Guppys isn't THAT good. I wonder if she realizes that I'm gone.

I wonder how my family is.

I wonder how Chewie is. I miss that little fuzzy guy. To be honest, I almost cried the other day when I saw a dog that resembled him.

I wonder how my best friend and his family is doing. On that note, I wonder how all my friends are doing. There are a lot of people I wanted to be wasn't able t properly say good bye to.

I hope my brother remembered to pick up my last paycheck from Guppys.

I seem to eat about the same amount now that I did back at home but I'm losing a lot more weight now. My best friend and I discussed how, because of the excess of corn in American farms, there are corn by-products everywhere. You can find it in anything from soda to beef. Ground beef, actually, is mostly corn and stuff, not meat. That's why it's so cheap. Maybe that's the difference.

The First Week and Half of Work

I don't think anything couldn't really prepared me for my first day. Sure I have a piece of paper that says I'm certified to teach English as a foreign language. Sure I've taught before. But that first class where the students looked at me and where I just looked back at them...that was something that nothing could really prepare me for.

Sure, people have told me about it but I feel that unless you actually experience it for yourself, you can't really describe it. I was, to borrow a term from norcal homies, HELLLLLLLLLAA nervous. My first period co teacher asked me. "Have you taught before? You seemed okay." I told her, "I was really nervous but I couldn't show the kids." So many things didn't go according to plan but I just had to play it off like it did.

I progressively gained a bit more confidence with each passing class period and day. Toward the end of the week I felt pretty good from a teaching stand point and I realized, for me at least, the best way for me to teach is to yell. It helps me slow down my speech and get the point across. I think I got it half from a certain AP US History teacher in high school, and half from being in military school in 8th grade. And maybe a little bit from R. Lee Ermy from Full Metal Jacket.

My students' reading ability is actually pretty good. I don't know whether they understand it or not but they can read it aloud. Speaking ranges from below average to actually pretty good. Listening is pretty good too. Writing, however, is below average to average in most of the students. It's something I should work on.

Friday night, my friends and I went to Myoungdong for some dinner. Went shopping for a bit after the food. I tried to get a cell phone but it was such a hassle. I didn't get the cell phone until Saturday and it didn't work until Monday. Such a hassle. It started raining later in the evening so we quickly made our way home. Rain in Korea is supposedly acid rain. Not like in the movies or anything but it's not that clean so it's best not to be in it.

Saturday night, a bunch of homies and I hit up Gangnam. First we went to an apartment to meet up and then made our way to Club Eden, a house music club. It was the most expensive cover I've paid - 30,000 won. Now, the exchange rate is roughly 1200 won to a dollar but I just equate 1000 = 1 dollar just to make things easier. The club started off slow but became pretty exciting. Now, I absolutely hate clubbing but the past few times that I've been out here in Korea has been really, really fun. This time a bunch of us foreigners made our way up to the front of the club and danced all night in front of the DJ steps. It was crazzzzzzzzzy. Afterward, a couple of us hit up Itawon, the "foreigner" district. We had some fun there and got lost. While lost, we went down some alleyways. I noticed some cute girls wearing bikinis in small shops. They made the motion for us to come...then we realized we weren't in the right part of town and high tailed it outta there. Oh, on the way out of there we also got our first look of transgendered men....woman? Anyhow we quickly made our way back to the main area of Itawon.

I have to say, it was a pretty crazy night.

Things that are more expensive than soju here -

Water, any juice, food, snacks. Actually, almost everything is more expensive than soju here.

Things that I have noticed here -

I've yet to come across any sort of big dog. I've seen a few medium sized ones here and there but for the most part it's all been really small toy poodle dogs. Actually, even Chewie would be a bit bigger than the average dog over here.

Clothes ARE cheap...for girls. I've seen a few sales here and there for guy but for the most part the good stuff is a bit more expensive.

In the states, we walk on the right, drive on the right, and all that good stuff. Over here, they drive to the right...but walk to the left. Like for instance, we walking pass people on the left when we walk toward someone, not the right.

Traffic signals are merely a suggestion.

With my glasses, I blend in. I kinda feel like a spy. Without it, I look a lot less Korean apparently. In fact today while in the elevator going to the gym, this little 2 year old Korean girl just stared at me. So I waved at her. I remember this one chick once telling me that I look more Chinese and evil without my glasses.

Korea does not believe in paper towels. You don't find any in public bathrooms. On that note, you generally find soap on a stick, not the liquid or soapy kind.

Korea also does not believe in having actual showers. I have a bathroom, standard toilet and sink...and the shower head is attached to the sink!

Korean girls wear heels everywhere. It's just amazing.

Somehow, people still recognize me at the randomest places. I was at this random ass bookstore in Gangnam. This dude comes up to me and asks "Hey, did you go to UCI?"

If you're single in Korea, people will set you up. Case closed. My hyun neem, one of the PE teachers, asked me what kind of girls I liked today.

Dude, people will stare at you.

Also, when I'm with a group of non-Asian foreigners, locals always look at me and speak to me in Korean.

My students don't understand non-Korean Asians for some reason. They try to speak to me in Korean...and I just kinda look at them. And they go "wait, but..you LOOK Korean...why don't you speak Korean, Mr. Thai?" "uhhh I'm not Korean kids." "Oh wait, are you adopted?" "No kids, I'm not Korean."

I learned not to hug people in public and not to ask what university that person is from.

In Korean culture, they say that a good indicator of character is one's choosiness over food. If one is less choosy, that person is considered to be of good character. At least, that's what my co teacher told me after I devoured plate after plate of Korean food. Well, since I've been here almost everyone has asked me if I like Korean food.

I've walked more in my first three weeks of Korea than probably all of summer ...and maybe spring too.

Orientation + First Week

For the most part, orientation was more or less your average high school welcoming speech but drawn out over a better course of a week with not too much excitement. I spent my time trying to meet as many people as possible to try to have a sort of a support network over here.

A couple of notable things did happen at my time at orientation though. The first being that a couple of my buddies and I befriended a local undergrad at the university by the name of Shin. Actually, it seemed as if he was the ONLY student that actually wanted to talk to us. His English is actually pretty good and he gave us a tour of the super high tech library that they have. For my Irvine homies, it puts the Science Library to shame.

Orientation ended on Saturday with a lunch buffet of sorts. It was actually really good but we didn't have time to eat it since we had to get on the bus to our respective areas. There we met our co-teachers and their families. My co teacher is really nice! She brought her husband to help lug around my luggage and stuff. I was shown my apartment which, I think, is called an "office-tel" or something of the sort. It's rather tiny. It's sooo different than what I'm used to at home.

I may have mentioned this before but Korea has this massive widespread fear of swine flu. Ever since we got here we were tested, retested, and then tested again. Rumor had it that the reason our tour to Seoul was canceled was because one of us tested with a fever. And actually, some of us, myself included, are not allowed to work just yet just to be sure we're okay. Actually, one of the first thing my co-teacher asked me was what Americans think of H1N1 and I simply told them the facts that I've read on the papers, that the reason why it's so deadly is because no one has an immunity to it and in fact when it was winter in the southern hemisphere is like the normal flu.

First week

My first regular week outside orientation was rather crazy trying to settle in and everything. After my teacher left me at my place, I spent a few hours trying to acquaint myself with my new living quarters, spent a few hours exploring my immediate vicinity, and then met up with some friends in Hongdae at the Hongik University station exit. Needless to say, I got really lost but managed to get myself there. We ate this really good chicken stew type of thing then met up with some other SMOE, did the usual thing, did some singing room stuff, and then we went back home.

Sunday I did some more exploring and got things taken care of, like my Alien Registration card, going to SMOE Head Office and taking care of things there, I actually had to go twice because I forgot my TEFL Certificate the first time around. Once I got my medical clearance, I was THEN allowed to go to school and meet the teachers, get shown to my desk, and all that. On my first day there I was given a tour and I met most of the teachers, many of which I hardly see now that I sit in my office or classroom all day. Friday was when it finally hit me that I'm WORKING and not simply on holiday (I've met a lot of British people since I came here, some words have rubbed off on me). I spent most of the day lesson planning.

Friday night was a night of uninhibited crazy fun on Hongdae again. Saturday I signed up for a gym near my place and went out again at night. Sunday was some good wholesome fun in Gangnam.

SMOE Arrival at SSK University in Suwon

So SMOE finally picked us up around 10:30 and we arrive at our new home for a week a little while later. I really wanted to shower but decided to post pone it because lunch ended in half an hour and all of us who got to the airport early were starving. We had some meat loaf thing, some soup noodle thing, some potato salad thing, rice, and KIMCHI!

After that we hung out for a bit, I met my room mate, took care of some stuff, and then most of us went on bus to check out Hwaseong Fortress. We went on a little tour and it was okay, it felt like a little family vacation that the parents wanted us to go on. Everyone back home said that it was going to be HOT and HUMID and boy, were they right.

We get back from our little tour, get some dinner, I head up stairs intending to take a nap, next thing I know, it's 5am. Whoops. But man, that little nap was real good.

Monday was when we start the madness. We had our opening ceremony and our first few orientating classes. Also this entire time, I was able to meet some pretty cool people from everywhere, such as all over the US, New Zealand, The UK, and a few here from Australia. I have to admit, though, it kinda feels like high school all over again just by the sheer amount of people here and how we all congregate into our little groups during meal times.

Tuesday was class all day.

Quick Hits -

There are no drying machines here, we have to dry our clothes the old school way. Years of being an American have left me wanting instantly dry clothes.

I've made friends with the security guard that we pass on the way to lunch. He doesn't speak a much English and I don't speak much Korean but we manage.

For some reason, maybe only at this university, the left elevator is for odd numbered floors, the right one is for even.

Internet is super fast.

People are shy but nice over here.

The humidity is killing me.

For some reason, almost everything I've seen is very IKEAish, most everything is very bright and clean.

Small fish in the big sea

I'm in Korea! This is my first time out of the states.

Quick hits -

They have a coffee bean here. I tried to order, but she looked confused, so I just walked away.

After getting off the plane, we were ushered like cattle to this checkpoint where we handed off these information cards describing if we had any medical condition and they used this tricorder type thing on us. We passed and now we're chilling.

The airplane trip was 12 hours. Bad - cramped seats, I have wide shoulders so it was kinda awkward doing the elbow thing on the arm rest with the two people to me, soo hot so couldn't sleep too much. Good - had The International, the food was one of the better airline foods I've had, service was pretty cool.

Myself and other SMOE people from two flights set up base camp at Terminal F or something at Incheon, we're currently waiting for the buses to take us to our orientation center, which apparently was moved from the Hyundai Learning Center to....some college campus?

I'm hungry.

Things I need to do -

Find a bank.

Do the immigration thingy.

Find a gym.

Meet friends.

Two pieces and a carry on

It's interesting trying to fit my life into, more or less, three pieces of luggage. I've procrastinated on it long enough.

This entire last week has been so busy. So many people have called me left and right wishing me safe travels and all that good stuff, people have also been so amazing in taking me out for food and drinks. In fact, I know I've gained a few pounds because of it and lack of time for the gym. It's the last time for awhile that I'll be able to do it, so why not.

It's very endearing to me to see people take time out of their lives to just come out to see me. My friends and families have went out into the late hours of the night just to hang out, even when they have work the next morning, in fact, my fraternity little bro lied to get out of work just to hang out. I read a quote once that stated, more or less, that the most expensive thing anyone can ever give another person is time, because time can never be bought. Next to that is my friends paying for my expensive dinners at all these random places like Benihanas and Ra Sushi.

Everything is just so bittersweet. I'm finally talking to my mom and dad a little bit more because I know and they know that I'll be leaving soon so we have to. It's so sad to say goodbye to everyone, hugging everyone for the last time in a long while, wondering when the next time I will see them will be. I have to admit, I'm a little bit awkward with goodbyes.

I'm going to miss everyone and everything and I'm excited for everything at the same time.

Yet, I think the thing is, everything won't hit me until I step into my home away from home and my dog Chewie will not be there to run up to the door and greet me.