August 2011
29 posts
The lengths that I will go to get my low-level...
I entertained a conversation about armpit hair colors.
“Teacher, you- *gestures to armpit* brown hair?”
“Yes. You all have black hair?”
“Yes yes! Yes, black!”
One student: “My grandmother..uh… she.. *points to armpit once more*.. white hair!!”
-Students shriek-
…Well. At least it was in English.
Success, I’d say.
:]
My new address... I think?
Elizabeth White 892-5 Dong-cheon, dong Kyong-ju, Kyong-Buk Korea
We’ll see if that works… haha ((Host mom wrote it for me. :]))
Oh. I forgot to tell you.
Last Friday, as I settled down at my desk in the morning, my coteacher came up to me to inform me that a photographer would be coming to the school to take my picture.
”..Oh..okay?” I said, super confused.
“Yes. It is good publicity for our school to have foreign teacher. It shows we are English very much. Maybe two of the prettiest students will also picture.”
...
Bongsunghwa
So this weekend, when my host mom asked if I wanted to dye my nails, I thought that was a cute mistranslation for nail painting. I said sure, and next thing I knew, I had a gloopy brown substance on my nails. I was told to wait for 20 minutes, then wash it off. Sure enough, 20 minutes later, underneath the brown goop was a set of orange nails! Pretty cool.
I spent today thinking about how I need...
This is Korea.
So tonight was just another example of the randomness of my life now in Korea.
Tonight, my host mom asked if I wanted a cucumber face mask treatment. Now, I may be awful at insa-ing, but my cultural training has taught me well to always say yes to offers.
So 9PM rolls around, and my host mother is busy peeling cucumbers at the kitchen sink. She tells me to go to my room and lay down on my bed....
Fork you.
I think it’s pretty remarkable that in the 16 classes I’ve taught so far (each with about 34 students… I’ll let you do the math, because I still count on my fingers), I’ve only had one (what we Americans call) “bad seed.”
You know the type. Disrespectful, attitude, … probably something at home or in their life that we don’t know about. Today...
Day three (...I promise I won't do this for every...
Things continue to improve! :)
Today was a slightly different schedule because today was the principal’s last day. Too bad. I liked him. After you travel in a car for three hours and share walnut cakes and coffee together, it’s basically like you’re best friends.
…Anyways. This meant two ceremonies, one in front of all the teachers and important people (during which I was...
Second day: check!
Day two is over and it’s already getting much much better.
It’s nice to know the little things. Things like… which door is the one to the teacher’s office. Where your classroom is. That you need to bring your own toilet paper to the bathroom. Things like that.
Classes are getting much better, too. I am getting an idea of what works and doesn’t work. My co-teacher...
First day. ... hahahahah.
….Bahahaha!
Well. First day of school is over.
Yiiiikes.
I was SO nervous on the way to school. It made me think of the drive to Pepperdine freshman year, when I told my parents that I was going to be sick.
I was awkward all day today. ALL DAY.
Possible highlight #1 of the day: finding a bag full of letters that Jessy had her students write to “the new teacher.” …Some...
Welcome cards from my students: a few gems.
The ETA before me had her students write welcome cards for the future ETA. Here are some of my favorites:
-“Hi! My name is Lee Ye Won. My favorite is food. Because I’m pig. I’m fat. You see me not surprised. Who is my new English teacher guess? I don’t know who you are pretty and handsome. Anyway. Come here soon. We together playing. I’m waiting for you....
Tomorrow's the Day!
Just got this email from my coteacher:
Hello. I’m Yeonsun Lee, your coteacher. I’m very sorry that I didn’t pick you up on August 18th. So I couldn’t meet you in person. I heard about you from Mr. Kim, English teacher in my school. He said to me you are very good and nice. We can meet each other Monday morning at school teachers’ office. It’s okay you to come...
Life at the Homestay
((Homestay mother “Sunny” and brother “In-seo” lead the way through a lotus blossom field))
Life is going well.
In the past 48 hours, I’ve:
*Watched a couple Kdramas with the host sister
*Helped the mom cook two meals
*Played with the baby cousins
*Went to the movie theater and saw Planet of the Apes
*Eaten my body weight in meat at a restaurant
*Gone to...
Cultural Observation Number Four: Public Restrooms
In Korea, one does not wait in a single line for a stall at a busy public restroom. Instead, you choose the occupied stall of your choice and stand RIGHT in front of it, nose almost touching, and wait. Super awkward. My host sister had to literally herd me in the restroom because I kept trying to make a line by the door. Hahaha. Oh culture.
First Day
Well. This has been quite the life transition. :]
Before I knew it, I was being escorted out of the marble palace by two middle aged men to embark on a three hour car ride. I thought I had a serious problem when, for the first five minutes, my principal thought I spoke fluent Korean. I told him “nice to meet you” (thank you, Korean Language Class) and he lit up and kept asking me questions in...
Departure Day... tomorrow.
“Reader, though I look comfortably accommodated, I am not very tranquil in my mind. I thought when the coach stopped here there would be some one to meet me; I looked anxiously round as I descended the wooden steps…
It is a very strange sensation to inexperienced youth to feel itself quite alone in the world, cut adrift from every connection, uncertain whether the port to...
DMZ reflections
I figured it’d be easier to just copy a brief entry from my journal to give you a (admittedly superficial) glimpse into the DMZ area. Here ya go:
“Going to the DMZ was an enlightening experience. At first I thought it was slightly anti-climactic, but after reflecting a bit and talking to others, it’s beginning to sink in. We were arranged in two straight lines for the majority...
Cultural Observation Number Three
Koreans are very big on Blood Types. Everyone’s facebook lists their blood type, people will ask you what type you are, and stores sell little couple keychains that show the compatible blood types.
((Wish I knew what type I am, oops!))
Korean movie poster from 2005:
Interesting, isn’t it? :]
5 tags
Daily life.
Popping-su and Korean study time! The Korean version of fro-yo. Colorful, isn’t it?
Fabulous meal with lovely people. (Rib stew with ramen and potatoes… one of the best meals I’ve had yet!)
Actor who plays “Gu Jun Pyo” in the Kdrama “Boys before Flowers.”
Random drawing of Gu Jun Pyo (with his name and an arrow) drawn by our male teacher on...
