Settling in

>> Stories from Yongso Elementary School <<

- Volleyball Wednesdays
Every Wednesday, all the teachers from Yongso Elementary School get together in the gym and play volleyball. It's a lot of fun. I don't know if it's just been too long since I've played group sports or if it's really just the cute Korean style, but the vibe was so cute. Each time someone served, people would shout out 'Fighting!' which is a Konglish word to be 'Good luck, you can do it!!!!' After making a good play or a mistake, everyone crowds around that person to give them high fives and words of encouragement. I was definitely feeling the love. Especially when I tried to impress everyone by jumping high and kicking it over with my foot...and I totally whiffed the air. #embarrassing. Another embarrassing moment took place while I was practicing some volleying with some other teachers and our principal before the match began. The principal returned the volley so high and everyone just gave up on trying to receive and laughed. Where, among the large surface area of the gym, do you think the ball fell? If you guessed my head, you'd be right.

- Hweh-shik (회식)

These are outside-of-school outings with one's co-workers. Generally, there is lots of food and alcohol involved. Here, the principal held a special hwe-shik to thank some of his hardest-working teachers for their help and to welcome me to the school. It was also his farewell hwe-shik, as he was retired the following Monday.

Got to see another part of Cheonan. This was where the restaurant was!

- Retirement ceremony
There was a lot of gift-giving and honor recognition at this ceremony. After a while, it became clear that in Korea, when you are receiving praise or a gift, you look down and wait as the person talks about you. You don't smile or make any eye contact. I also thought it was interesting that people didn't move their chairs around to watch the speakers speak. They just kept their chairs facing away and their backs to the speaker. Do people do this in the U.S. too, is it just me? 

There was a fair amount of crying. It was a sad, but sweet event. What are retirement ceremonies like in the U.S.? I don't really know. Is it mixed emotions?

 Banners galore. Almost every function I've been to in Korea has incorporated a welcome banner. The hotel we went to during orientation had prepared a 'Welcome Fulbright Teachers' banner at the entrance. Jungwon University had a banner for us as well. Even one of my fellow Fulbrighters received a banner from her homestay when she arrived. This one says the teachers' names at the top and in bold it says Thank you, Be happy, We love you.

Here's the schedule of the party. It's probably not that interesting to any of you, so feel free to skip ahead. It was just exciting for me to learn all these words. 1) Opening speech 2) Career introduction 3) Retirement gift and flower giving 4) I forget what this ones means?? hehe 5) Retirement bow/recognition 6) Retirees' farewell speeches 7) Sing the Teacher's Appreciation Song 8) Cake cutting and 9) Closing remarks and group photo

Some of the teachers made a cute farewell video for the retirees.

The retirees cutting the cake!

Faculty group shot

- English class with Emily Teacher!

1) Student surveys

So, I decided to end my first class with the students telling me about themselves. I did this in the form of a survey. At the end of the survey I asked students to tell me what they know about the U.S.A. and/or its people. The results are in. Among my 500+ students, the most common associations were as follows: rich, powerful, people can have guns, Statue of Liberty, hamburgers, the movie Frozen, the movie Iron Man, Major League Baseball, Obama, blue eyes, blonde hair, beautiful big noses, 9/11 (they call it 9.11 Terror), steak, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, L.A., Hollywood, Disneyland, Thanksgiving and turkey, good-looking people, fast food, 50 stars, Steve Jobs, Facebook, Google, and freedom. 

- Interestingly, a lot of students think that Paris is in the U.S. Many drew the Eiffel Tower or wrote 'Paris.' I think this might be because there is a huge bakery chain in Korea called Paris Baguette. Maybe when a store's name is not written in an Asian script, it's generally assumed to be English and thus, from the U.S. Also, when I told them I'm from Pittsburgh, a fair amount of the students knew about the Pirates and steel. I was impressed. I've included some photos of the student surveys. 

Phonologically, this is especially interesting because he spells Babe Ruth 'Babe Ruse.' In Korean there is no 'th' sound, so any English word or name that contains an 'th' sound becomes 's' when transferred to Korean. So, he's listening correctly to how other Koreans say it and he's transcribing it in English accordingly, but of course the real pronunciation is 'th.'  

I am impressed that he knows Mount Rushmore. And I love that he calls the Statue of Liberty the Free Girly Statue. (In Korean, they translate the Statue of Liberty as "Freedom Goddess Statue").

I personally love this Obama.

2) So, that time when my student taught me a new phrase...

I am always learning new Korean words. It turns out that even my students are good resources for picking up Korean phrases. For example, during my self-presentation, I had the students guess who of the 4 pictures on my PPT slide was my boyfriend. So, I had a picture of Bryan and 3 other guys. Once I revealed the answer and explained that Bryan lives in South America, one student raises his hand and asks me바람 피워요? In the literal sense, this means "Does the breeze smoke?" But once my teacher translated for me, I learned that what it really means in this context is, "Does he cheat on you?"

 

- OH NO YOU DIDN'T! 

Upon entering school grounds, you take off your outside shoes, put them in a shoe cubby, and slip on your indoor slippers. Only yesterday did I realize that some of the cubbies had position titles written on them, like 'Principal' or 'Secretary' for example. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've been occupying the vice principal's cubby for the last week or so. Talk about stepping on someone's toes...whoops.

>>>On the home front<<<

- Cheonan Grape festival

We went to the annual Grape Festival last weekend. There, we samples free grapes, rice cake, grape juice, and we snacked on some silkworms. I kind of wish they hadn't told me what it was. I probably would have enjoyed it a little more if I knew less. There was a Taekwondo dance routine performing while we were there. Overall it was pretty neat.

- Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...
Ate my first chestnut. I wasn't sure what it was, but my homestay father offered my one. It's like no nut I've ever tasted before, but pretty good.

- Work off all that kimchi and rice 
My host mom helped me sign up for the health club in our apartment complex. It's nice, clean, and a short, 3-minute walk from my apartment. The first time I went, my younger sister came along. They have some things I've never seen in the PSU gyms before. There's one that clamps your ankles and lets you invert yourself upside down. It's for ab work and/or back relief. If you know me, you also know that I love massages. So, it's great that they have these self-massage machines to use before and after you work out. And that's not to mention the shake-machines. It's such a thing here. I'm not sure if it's supposed to help you exercise or loosen you up. But for one of them, you just stand on the platform and it shakes you like crazy. There's a lot of unnecessary butt-jiggling that goes on. The other one is like a belt and and you can put it anywhere on your body that needs loosened up. That one I like because it doesn't always make you booty shake.

- Reality TV shows
My homestay family really likes watching dramas and reality TV shows. I've already kind of talked about the dramas, so I'll now introduce the Korean reality TV show concept, as it is a widely viewed media form.

This one is called "Dad, where are you going?" It stars male celebs (actors, comedians, singers...etc.) and their kids! So, it's a lot of cute to handle. They do activities and games with the kids. One of my favorites!

This one is called "Running Man." It's maybe the most famous Korean variety show. Again, it stars celebs and challenges them to complete missions in order to win the game. There is a fixed cast and also some rotating celebs that join in from time to time. Korean variety shows really capitalize on watching celebrities do silly things. It's interesting because we don't put on programs like this in the U.S. At first I thought, "Who cares about celebrity reality shows?" But, for Koreans, it's really interesting to see how the different personalities mesh and what the celebrities real personalities are like outside of their normal star-status roles. I think it'd be worth a watch to see Tom Hanks, Beyoncé, J Leno, and Sofia Vergara battle it out on a game show. Why not?

- Gyu-hwan's stank face 

Today at dinner, Gyy-hwan says '5.' I say '5 what?" 5 people. 5 people what? 5 people in our family. Dawwwww, he counted me as a family member! So cute! And then today after school I was feeling tired and so he promptly left my room and came back 30 seconds later with a snack for me. He wanted to give me something to re-energize me.  

- Baby's First Birthday Party  
Like in most cultures, the 1st birthday is a big deal. But one interesting thing that Koreans do to celebrate is have the child pick his/her future. What's that look like? Well, they place the baby at a table and they place a select amount of varying objects. Perhaps a pencil, money, a microphone, a paintbrush, dance shoes, a baseball..etc to represent what their future will bring. So if the baby picks a pencil, he/she will grow up to study hard and be smart. If he/she choses money, he/she will become very rich. Anyway, it seems like a fun way to celebrate.

Here's my little host brother's 1st birthday party pictures. Dressed to the nines.

Misc. Notes

- Indecent kimbap


Traditional kimbap (Kimpbab is the Korean version of what we call sushi) is wrapped on the outside with seaweed. This kind is the opposite. So what do they call it? Nudebap! Yes, that's how they prounced it. A little Konglish for y'all.

- Have you eaten?

  In Korean, this phrase is used interchangeably with 'how are you?' If you've eaten, it's assumed you're doing well. If you haven't, something's up.



- Where's the toilet paper?

If you ever find yourself asking this question, it's in a dispenser near the entrance of the bathroom. I've been bitten too many times.

- It's a trust thing

It seems that there is a lot more community trust around here. First-graders walk to school alone. If you're grocery shopping with the kids, you can let them run around and get lost - even if it's a big store. You just keep walking and they hang back and play. Eventually you call their name and they come running. But you don't worry about any strange people taking them. And computers...I have been trained to never leave my computer unattended. But, this past weekend, my host mom and I went to the library to study and she told me to leave my bag and computer at the library while we went to a restaurant to eat. I felt so weird about it! But it's just something you do here. Now, maybe you wouldn't leave your computer in a crowded bar or shopping mall, but there's definitely a significant level of community trust.

- Meet the Kakao Talk characters

Kakao Talk is an app for smart phones that everyone in Korea uses to communicate. They use it to sent texts, to call, to share picture...everything. They hardly ever use their phone number to dial or their text messaging plan. As long as there's an Internet connection, Kakao Talk is their go-to form of talking to one another. But sometimes, simple texts are simply not enough to convey how you feel. If you can’t find the right words, there’s always a right character for what and how you feel. The characters above are the all-famous Kakao Talk emoticons used to convey a variety of emotions. But, not only are they symbols through which you can express yourself to your friends over texting, they also have their own backstories. And I think they're pretty hilarious.  

Groovy Jay-G is the mole with the sunglasses and the afro hair. He always makes it a point to get his afro done fresh and his suit crisp. He is a secret agent who finds inspiration from his largest idol, Jay-Z. Although Jay-G tries to portray an image of a calm, cool-headed and professional dude, he is actually as clumsy as a bear, has the heart of a pussycat, and is hungry for affection. Have you used Jay-G stickers to cry out for love?

Apeach, on the other hand, is a mischievous peach overflowing with energy and emotions! This adorable peach, always full of pranks, ran away from the orchard in search for something fun and exciting. Apeach’s sexy behind is its charm, while its violent temper is its harm. Are words not enough to express the strength of your emotions? Let Apeach help!

Frodo is a wealthy and spoiled city dog with a small inferiority complex about his mongrel background. He tries to put on a chillax attitude and enjoy everything life has to offer, including taking time to savor a cup of coffee every morning. Beside Frodo is Neo, the love of his life. A prim and self-oriented cat who cares for no one but herself, she is obsessed with her bob cut wig, which is the source of her confidence. Frodo and bossy Neo despise yet love each other. You can always find them together but they are usually fighting- like your daily dose of cats and dogs! But at the end of the day, they always find ways to settle things, no matter what.

Feeling weak hearted or a little cowardly? Tube, the warm-hearted duck, is the character for you. He may seem like your regular feathered friend from afar, but when faced with fear, his alter-ego, the monster duck takes over. He is embarrassed of his small feet and makes sure his flippers are on to cover his feet. Supposedly, the ugly duckling is his distant relative ;).

Always full of curiosity and fun ideas? Muzi loves dressing up in cute bunny costumes, but the truth is - he is actually just a yellow radish! His costume boosts his confidence. The playful veggie is as shy as a child without his costume on. Con, on the other hand, is the tiny and mysterious crocodile with an agenda of his own. He has created Muzi from a radish, and keep an eye on Muzi at all times. Guess your babies can really outgrow you.

-Found me some American breakfast!

Hung out with some of my U.S. comrades and ate some good ole-fashioned brunch. This place is run by an ex-pat and his wife.

- Japanese colonization
Comfort woman are the Korean women who were forced into prostitution during the war to travel with the military. In most cases, they were told they were going to a textile factory. Additionally, these women were often submitted to forced sterilization. In Korean, they refer to comfort women as '할머니' which literally means grandmother. I think this name came around because grandmothers are a comforting force but I'm not quite sure. To this day, Japan has made no reparations and it doesn't seem that they plan to. In the Korean-Japan Treaty, it is explicitly stated that Japan doesn't need to appologize to comfort women. But every Wednesday, the comfort women, accompanied by advocates against sexual slavery, meet at the Japanese embassy in Seoul to protest and demand reparations. There's also a museum all about the subject; it's called the House of Sharing. The Wednesday demonstrations are actually the longest rallying on a single theme. I really want to visit and learn more about it.

- March 1st movement (samil, meaning 3-1)
This is a memorial day I've just learned about. It's not till spring, but I figured I'd share anyway. On this day, the leaders of Korea drafted and declared independence from Japanese. In response, Japanese massacred all the protesters.

- Koreans impression of U.S. military
- Some identify the U.S. military presence as a great source of help that helped build Korea as it is today.
-However, depending on their personal experience and the stories elders have passed down, some see them as rapists/pillagers/trouble-makers. This stereotype carries over from wartime memories to the present day, especially in cities where the U.S. military presence is still strong. Members of the military often go out drinking at night and a fair amount of violence, rowdiness, and/or inappropriate actions take place. For this reason, some bars and clubs don't even admit foreigners anymore. It's a reputation that Fulbrighters, as cultural ambassadors, are trying to diminish.

- Teacher, teacher! 

In Korean, you don't have to be a teacher for people to call you teacher. Here, anyone who holds a title of respect is called teacher. You call the doctor 'teacher,' someone who is older and wiser 'teacher'...etc. My family also calls me teacher pretty often. When my host parents are talking to me, they call me Emily. My younger sister calls me Emily Teacher and my younger brother just calls me 'older sister.' But when they're talking about me, it's usually Teacher. And I also am getting really used to all the bowing at school. It's so adorable when my students stop in their tracks, bow to me, smile, say "Hello Emily Teacher," and continue on their way.

- Calf reduction surgery

 Calf reduction is a relatively popular surgery in Korea. In the U.S., we have a pretty negative stigma attached to plastic surgery. But here, it's actually viewed as a rite of passage, a sign that a young person is investing in his/her future (appearance often plays a big role in one's professional ascendency). Like braces or hair removal is in the U.S., plastic surgery is a physical alteration with no negative moral implications. One interesting thing that Korean beauty culture promotes is the 1:7 body ratio. Your head should be 1/7th of your height for you to be proportionally beautiful. I've seen my own students estimate my ratio. While sitting in their seats, they close one eye, use their fingers to measure. 

- Are you Russian?

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian women have been brought to South Korea in droves for prostitution in red light districts. If a Korean asks if you are Russian, they are likely indirectly asking if you are a prostitute. 


- The shoes you wear still matter even though...
you take them off at the door to change into your school slippers.  Last week I decided that it was too much work to wear nice work shoes to school when I didn't even wear them all day. So, I slipped on some flip flops and went for the door. Luckily, my host mom stopped me and told me that wasn't really school-footwear. The benefits of having a homestay.

- Ajuma power

Although Korea is traditionally and more or less remains to be patriarchal in nature, it's got one great source of girl power: ajumas. Ajuma(ni) is the word used to describe an older (typically, but not necessarily) married Korean woman. To overgeneralize, they wear these  visors, they sport the refrigerator pants, and they can do whatever the hell they want - and NO ONE will question them. If an ajuma wants to elbow you to beat you to the bus, you let them. If they want to ask you a question, you answer. If they ask you a favor, you do it. They are both awesome and intimidating. I would never dare cross an ajuma. It's such an interesting dichotomy in Korean society and I'm really glad it exists. However, I'm still never comfortable calling any of them ajuma(ni) to their face. While it is actually a term of respect for an older, married woman, it can be offensive if they think they are too young to be called as such. There's a saying in Korea that goes something like: the first time a woman gets called ajuma(ni), her heart skips a beat. In English, I guess it's kind of like getting called ma'am for the first time.

- We're more alike than we are different
One of my readers, a friend I met in Goesan who regularly went to the Coffee Shop on the Hill, gave me some interesting perspective on my blog. Much older than I am, he told me that my writing reveals my young age because in my blog, I look to discover and talk about the differences between my culture and Korean culture. He says he was like that as a young man too, but nowadays when he travels, he looks for commonalities between the two. "We'll all more similar than we are different," he said. That stuck with me because as different as things seem sometimes, I realize that parents always want the best for their kids, kids want to have fun...etc. What changes is how people from different cultures express themselves. In Korea, for example, when parents wants the best for their kids they make them stay up late to study. In the U.S., when parents want the best for their kids, they tell them to do their best and to just relax and get some rest. When a kid in Korea wants to have fun, they play Korean games, whereas we play American games. It's a fun way of looking at the world because it makes me feel more inherently connected despite the cultural differences.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!