Musings about some of my experiences in Korea:
- A few months ago I had my first encounter with a bidet. You know, the toilet thing that squirts water to clean your bootie. Well, Dusty and I were at this restaurant enjoying drinks on a date. I had to use the bathroom. Ahem, I had to go number two. I put on the special bathroom slippers (weird) and went ahead and did my thing. Then I went to flush. Hmmm! There were several buttons with pictures (no words) and no obvious flusher. So I took a guess. As I pressed the button, I leaned over the toilet to make sure it was would flush. But instead, I heard a bell-like noise and water started to squirt up at me. It hit me right in the face. "OH, NO!" I thought to myself. Frantically, I started pushing buttons until the water stopped. Then, I tried another button thinking maybe it would be the magic flusher button. Just in case, I leaned up against the side wall of the stall so any water would miss me. Wrong again. This time, the water squirted out in all directions drenching me even more. Aah! Why would it ever be necessary to have water douse your entire bootie after using the toilet? Finally I managed to hit the stop button again. I looked in the mirror (that was in the stall) and realized that I was pretty drenched (in toilet water). Gross! I took one more look at those buttons. "CRAP!" No pun intended. I couldn't bring myself to push another button so with wet floors and walls, I quickly left the bathroom, found Dusty, discretely told him what happened, and we left that place. Now whenever I see another one of those toilets, I always think twice before going. I still don't know which button to push to flush but so far, I've been able to avoid another shower.
- Earlier this week I wore a long peasant skirt, a short sleeved shirt, and chacos to work. It's the first day I've worn sandals since we've been here and my feet were so excited to finally get to breathe again. When I walked in to teach my English Land 5 class, one of my students exclaimed with great excitement, "Teacher, your outfit is fantastic! You look beautiful." Well, it's not often you get a compliment like that let alone from a 10 year-old.
- Then I went to my English Land 2 class. When I walked in the room two or three of the kids squealed and laughed. They said, "Teacher, your arm muscles are very big." Now, I'm not sure if this was a compliment or not but they made the motion with their hands like I had two big humps on each arm. I took it as a compliment since they just as easily could've told me I was fat. Then I tried to explain that I rock climb but I'm not sure they got it. Side note: People here have no problem telling you you're fat. Luckily, nobody has said such a thing to me since we've been here.
- I went for a walk a few days ago down by the river near my work. It wasn't as nice as I had hoped. The water was nasty and smelly and... I saw two men pee in public in broad daylight. Yes, that's right. TWO! Can't you get arrested for that in America? I almost couldn't believe it when I saw the first guy. I looked around to see if anyone else noticed. Everyone seemed oblivious. Then, on my way back I saw another guy peeing in the exact same place. What the heck?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Long overdue update
Hello. Well, life has been really enjoyable for us lately. I started a new job a few weeks ago. I now work at Nowon English Village which is approximately 5 miles away from Suyu English Village where I live and Dusty still works. It's been such a great change for me. This job suits my strengths and personality much better plus, I've got tons more free time. Yay! Nowon is a much smaller school and is run more like a hagwon than a camp. A hagwon is just a term used for a specialty school. I generally have three, forty minute classes a day. Though I have to go in to work around 2pm, I typically teach from 4:30 or 5:00 to 7:25pm everyday. I'm back home by 8pm every night. Some days I have to go in earlier and teach situational classes but even then I'm only teaching another one or two, thirty minute classes which is a sinch. So, I've got a lot of time now to do other things. I've started studying Korean and I can already read and write. It's the speaking and understanding that's going to really be a challenge. Also, I'm FINALLY starting to study for my National Counselor's Exam that I'm going to have to take when I get home in order to get a job as a counselor. There are lots of other great things about my job that I love. I have the same classes every week with the same kids. This means I get to develop relationships with them even if they are 'little turds' sometimes. I know how to lay the smack down by now. I also work with far fewer people. There are four of us foreign teachers and four Korean teachers here. That's it. So I get to know the people I work with much better. And, having my work be away from my home is much better for me psychologically. I can come home and relax and know that I'm away from work. I also love having more freedom, independence, and time away. I get home and realize how much I've missed my husband and friends. I appreciate them all so much more and actually want to spend time with them versus always wanting to get away like before.
Also, the weather is warming up. I can't express how much better I feel in every way. I feel mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally healthy. FINALLY! The winter was rough on me. It was so dark and cold everyday and I was sick the majority of the time. Plus, being away from family and friends over the holidays and working my bootie off was no fun. I'm so glad that time is over. The longer I stay, the more I feel adjusted to life here... not home, but at peace and relaxed. I know how to get around, I'm used to the food, I'm learning the language, I'm educated about the culture (though I still don't always understand it or think it makes sense), and I get to spend time with my husband and good friends everyday.
With the weather warming up, I get outside to play and exercise as much as possible. We went climbing outside last Saturday which was my first time to touch the rock here. I had such a great time. We took a train down south to a place called Ganhyeon. We met our climbing friends from Arkansas who live about 20 minutes away from there. We all climbed together and had a blast. It was warm and sunny and the air was so fresh and clean compared to that of Seoul. It was the first train ride I've ever been on and my first time seeing Korea's rurual country which actually reminds me a lot of Northwest Arkansas. I feel like myself again. I'm realizing that I really struggle with mild depression in the winters. Looking back, I can see a similar pattern that keeps repeating itself each year. As Dr. Lampton (my psychopathology professor) would say, "It's kind of a low-level yuck". So yeah, I experienced that from about November to February this year. Four months of yuck and now I'm ready for some yipee-eye-aye. My energy level and mood seems to go up with each passing day.
So... Dusty and I have talked a lot lately about future plans. We've been bouncing around ideas for awhile but the latest one has me the most excited. Keep in mind this is only an idea, not a definite by any means. We've been thinking of spending the winter this next year at home in the states. Our contracts finish out at the end of October. Perhaps we'll stop in Greece for a couple weeks on our way home and visit our friend Erin Rowe. Then spend the holidays at home with all our friends and family. Then come January, we would probably take off traveling for a month or so to somewhere cheap and warm. Then return to Korea in the spring for another year of work. Our financial goals keep us comitted to working here two full years. The money is just so easy. I mean seriously, I work like 2-3 hours a day and get paid pretty dang good. And then we have next to no expenses. I'm often astonished that this is legal. There's no way we could achieve the same thing in the same amount of time anywhere else.
Anyhoo, the possiblity of coming home for awhile gets me really excited. I'd love to be able to skip the winter here. It's so cold every day. For someone who loves the outdoors, it can feel like a prison sometimes. The weather in Arkansas is much more mild plus, even if it gets cold, we'll be spending time with those we love most. And, perhaps I can bypass getting sick so much. I've learned not to cling to things too tightly so we'll just have to see what God has in store for us.
Also, the weather is warming up. I can't express how much better I feel in every way. I feel mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally healthy. FINALLY! The winter was rough on me. It was so dark and cold everyday and I was sick the majority of the time. Plus, being away from family and friends over the holidays and working my bootie off was no fun. I'm so glad that time is over. The longer I stay, the more I feel adjusted to life here... not home, but at peace and relaxed. I know how to get around, I'm used to the food, I'm learning the language, I'm educated about the culture (though I still don't always understand it or think it makes sense), and I get to spend time with my husband and good friends everyday.
With the weather warming up, I get outside to play and exercise as much as possible. We went climbing outside last Saturday which was my first time to touch the rock here. I had such a great time. We took a train down south to a place called Ganhyeon. We met our climbing friends from Arkansas who live about 20 minutes away from there. We all climbed together and had a blast. It was warm and sunny and the air was so fresh and clean compared to that of Seoul. It was the first train ride I've ever been on and my first time seeing Korea's rurual country which actually reminds me a lot of Northwest Arkansas. I feel like myself again. I'm realizing that I really struggle with mild depression in the winters. Looking back, I can see a similar pattern that keeps repeating itself each year. As Dr. Lampton (my psychopathology professor) would say, "It's kind of a low-level yuck". So yeah, I experienced that from about November to February this year. Four months of yuck and now I'm ready for some yipee-eye-aye. My energy level and mood seems to go up with each passing day.
So... Dusty and I have talked a lot lately about future plans. We've been bouncing around ideas for awhile but the latest one has me the most excited. Keep in mind this is only an idea, not a definite by any means. We've been thinking of spending the winter this next year at home in the states. Our contracts finish out at the end of October. Perhaps we'll stop in Greece for a couple weeks on our way home and visit our friend Erin Rowe. Then spend the holidays at home with all our friends and family. Then come January, we would probably take off traveling for a month or so to somewhere cheap and warm. Then return to Korea in the spring for another year of work. Our financial goals keep us comitted to working here two full years. The money is just so easy. I mean seriously, I work like 2-3 hours a day and get paid pretty dang good. And then we have next to no expenses. I'm often astonished that this is legal. There's no way we could achieve the same thing in the same amount of time anywhere else.
Anyhoo, the possiblity of coming home for awhile gets me really excited. I'd love to be able to skip the winter here. It's so cold every day. For someone who loves the outdoors, it can feel like a prison sometimes. The weather in Arkansas is much more mild plus, even if it gets cold, we'll be spending time with those we love most. And, perhaps I can bypass getting sick so much. I've learned not to cling to things too tightly so we'll just have to see what God has in store for us.
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