The Kids are Alright

The middle of the road is a good place to be, or so I hear. In Korea, the middle of the road (literally) is a very precarious place. Figuratively, its the same... a better position than a downward slope, but not quite to the top of the hill. I want to put out there, that, now that the adjustment period is starting to come to a close, I find myself being happy here in this new world. The main reason for a lot of my happiness is this:

Yes, dear readers, I came to Korea and had 6 children. From left to right that's Albert, Dana, Alex, Jefferson, Amber and Grayson. My babies. Everything I do, I do for these kids, from the time I get up in the morning to the time I go to bed at night. I work 9-14 hour days to make sure they are happy at school, and its worth it because I have fallen hopelessly in love with them. Is it gonna make going home more difficult? Yes. Is my heart going to break a million times over? Absolutely. Will it be worth every second? Most definitely. Because if it weren't for these kids, I would be absolutely miserable here. Coming to a new country and learning to live in it, being sick all the time because of new germs and new pollution, having to deal with constant cultural and communication issues, a Korean work ethic of "you'd better be working 14 hours a day!", helicopter parents, a change in diet, all of that and more is no picnic. I work a a Hogwan (private school), iSponge, and they can do whatever the heck they want because their paying the rent on my Husband's and my apartment. They feed us, provide for us and if they tell us to jump, we say how high. Independence is limited and close to non-existent.

But these little goobers make me like the long days and stress, all of it, worth it. 

So yeah, I've found out that the middle of the road is a good place, and It's because of these little lovelies that I can be okay here so far from home. I kiss their booboo's, I wipe their eyes, I settle their little arguments, I treasure their artwork, I clean them up, give them their food, listen to them, tell them stories, coo and cuddle them. In Korea, the teacher is considered a second mother. I take that job very seriously, from 9:30 when they get off the bus until 2:30 when they go home.



Then... These kids come in....

 

Clockwise: Jason, Elly, Julia and Bella are my 8-9 year old advanced English class. I'm lucky enough to have them for a 2 45 minute period block during the day, and I work super hard to make sure that they get the full honors treatment. That means art projects to supplement their books, videos, special play-time and added curriculum i've written personally. At my granted request to the director, we are reading Charlotte's Web and focusing on reading and speaking. These kids are smarty-pantses and it shows. They are my glory class, my true all stars. I get them 3 times a week (not enough in my opionion) but I'm a happy teacher when they come into my classroom. 

 

Twice a week, I also get my awesome middle, who, as you might be able to tell, won't let me take pictures of them. These kids (unshown) are 12-13 and I spend a lot of my time just trying to get them to keep up. I've been told though, that I've past their teacher test and that they like me, which I consider a good sign. More on them in later posts. 

Other days of the week, I get these little ones... 

 

From right to left, Andy, Sarah and Elise are my youngest kids, and the most work! They are 6 in Korean age, In american age they just turned 4. They are small and sensitive and a huge handful, but I get candy from their pockets and sticky kisses at the end of every day I work with them, so it works out pretty well. I actually was the one to give Sarah her English name. Her mother wanted a common English name and she liked it very much, I'm quite proud of that fact.

Korea gives me a new opportunity to stretch my limits as a teacher. I'm currently hooking my old students up with Jason, Bella, Elly and Julia (above) for a pen-pal program in order to help the kids with their writing. I get to teach the way I want, and I love the challenge. Every month I build curriculum for international day, Think and Tell projects and Circle Time. This months theme was Africa, and I was able to pull together great material which made me both proud and excited to come to school every day. With the help of my Co-workers (and husband), I get a lot done in this new and exciting evironment.

 Liz, Pete and my husband Curtis pictured here, are the Foreign teachers working at the school. Liz is from Ontario, and Pete hails from Virginia. The Korean teachers we work with are Karen and Joy, who are from here in Pohang. I couldn't ask for better co-workers.

 That's my life right now. I hope you like it. I'm starting to. I think that now that I can settle in and really focus on what makes me happy, which is teaching, I can realize how good I got it. I know I live in a crappy apartment, I work crazy long hours and Korea can sometimes not exactly live up to my expectations, but, regardless of all that, I'm starting to find a way here so far from home.

I'll leave you then with some more pictures because I know that's what you came to see, and talk to you soon!

The "Settled In" post

To my Readers:

I didn't write because I didn't know what to say. Now though, I think I can. Everything in the short term seemed to be so frivolous in the beginning... "oh hey, here we are at this place with the stuff". But really, when it comes down to it, we aren't tourists. My husband, Curtis, and I came to Korea not only because of the adventure but for the opportunity. We are teachers, that is our degree and our vocation. I personally have decided to commit to working with children young and older because it is a good fit for me. We have spent the last four-ish years of our lives pursuing this field and no sooner did they release us from our career program than we hopped on a plane bound for this country. We are here to be teachers, we are here because there are little to no job opportunities in California. We are here to see sights that we haven't seen before and find adventure in our first year of marriage. So here we are, newly weds with not much but what we brought with us in our suitcases. We read the blogs, studied the books, and tried to prepare ourselves for something, we knew not what.

Now we know more. And it changes the tone of the blog not for better or worse just different. Because... this isn't vacation, it is living life in a new and strange place. It is working and surviving and getting along where we have very little grounding. What before was novelty has become simply life, but harder than before because, in many ways during this period of adjustment, we are blind and deaf at once. Everything is new... the language seems insurmountable at times, the food quite different, the grass much greener where we once were. It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that the sky and moon seem different here, because they do. It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that we might have grown a little older since the end of February when we got on the plane bound for South Korea. What we read and expected ironed out differently, for better or worse. What they don't tell you before you arrive is almost more important than what they do. All the blogs, books and blather can be regarded or disregarded according to each person 's experience. 

What They Don't Tell You:

Work is hard.

When your about to leave many recruiters will say that the hours are short for good money. This is actually the case with some schools. However, We have been placed at a very prestigious school here in Pohang. No simple hours for us...We work from 8-6 everyday. Our workload is heavy, the hours tiring and the expectations of us never-ending. Here at iSponge English Institute, we have overweight expectations required of us which, given the hours in the day, cannot always be met. To counter this, however, we have bosses who are kind, helpful and caring. They try as hard as they can to make sure our adjustment is relatively easy and our needs met. In this way, we are almost coddled. I was sick a lot this month, and though I was unable to stay home from work, my director took me to the doctor and let me go home early. There seems to be a give and take here that balances some of the discomfort associated with the new work style and ethic we are yet unaccustomed to. We make 2.2 million won which is a little over 2 thousand dollars each per month. Its good money, but carries a lot of stress.

It's anything but picturesque.

I spend a lot of time trying to take pictures of the pretty things here in Korea. The older buildings, the palaces the cherry blossoms. But what I don't stress is that these buildings and landmarks are many times surrounded by slums and impoverished neighborhoods. There is a lot of dirt too, and garbage. In places like Seoul, this is less prevalent, but here in Pohang, the streets are dirty and dusty. It smells strange because the sewers are open and there is smelly garbage, often too many people and fish.... so many fish... just out there. There is mystery trash everywhere, spit on the ground and a fine layer of age and dust. And because of this...

Nothing lasts.

From the shoes on your feet to the clothes you wear... everything wears out twice as fast. We have been here for two months and so far I have worn out 2 pairs of shoes and ripped quite a few things. One of the problems is that everything must be hang-dried. We tend to take for granted the magic of a dryer where all elasticity is returned to clothes, most if not all lint gets removed and jeans become soft and pliable. Our clothes now are stretched out, hard as cardboard and covered in lint and other debris. We have to wait a day or two for our clothes to dry fully and have to be very strategic about how we go about doing our laundry. Results are wearing clothes too much, wearing them down, and being sad about it.

Being a pedestrian is more dangerous than being a driver.

When it comes to travel, there is really no safe way to go. Cars have the right of way. There are no turn signals and stoplights mean very little to the average driver. Close calls are multiple times, every day. There are few seat belts in cabs. Safely is second to getting where you need to be. I will never drive here. Ever. And I will always be careful where it is I step.

Some things are just... troublesome.

For example... we are video taped every second of the day. In school, outside, in shops, in our apartment hall. Everywhere. This is just how it works here. Everything is recorded. Parents come in and watch your class on a screen in the waiting area of the school and we as teachers may not even know.

Here's another: Korean parents are helicopter parents to the extreme. They complain if a child's hair looks wrong in the photos you take of them. Bumps and bruises from every-day 4-5 year old's are considered personal assaults on their children. The children are coddled, squeezed and gentled so badly that they are many times spoiled and undisciplined. I laugh at the way people remarked back home that "the children will be so well behaved". Its not true. It never was.

The culture here is fairly bigoted. They have one image for how a person should look and act and follow that. They have a view of the world they received from media images. To listen to them talk about "indians" and people of color is appalling to the western teacher. Even westernized bosses and directors have a vision for how things should be. This goes too for people with disabilities and mental disorders. They are avoided, scolded, chastised and of course "the mother is to blame" for their "issues and troublesome behavior"

There are ideas of how things should be. Korean culture is conservative. Nothing is wasted. Our apartment complex manager turned off the Internet for the whole complex (going on 4 days now) because he believed everyone is using too much Internet. There is little to no waste of anything, which is great, if not revolutionary... but it means that...

Everything is miniature.

Since nothing is wasted things are cut and drawn at exactly the size, shape or amount believed to be needed. Tiny cups of water are served with meals. Napkins are the size of one toilet paper square. The biggest bed size here is a little larger than a double. Clothing is sold in "big sizes" mostly only on the Internet, at least where I live. XXL means a large at the most. All food is shared so portions are medium sized compared to American size. Small cans of soda, small fries and burgers, small everything. You never realize how much opulence you live in until your husband is elbowing you off the bed or your trying to squeeze into a tiny pair of "plus sized" leggings.

Altogether, I have to try and express that the way things are here lies in our ability to expect the unexpected and get over ourselves. I have learned from long experience that many times I make things worse for myself by not accepting the way things are and adapting accordingly. We simply have to do just that, adapt. This blog won't be only woes, but it will have some. I wont just give you the niceties, because if anyone should come here later, its important to know what your in for, not just the goodies. 

After all of that... Welcome to Korea. Thanks for taking this journey with us. 

Jessie

Seoul Crazy

Yeah, I couldn't help myself...

So, I'm backed up a bit because we literally just got wi-fi. I've been totally caught up in trying to keep up with the Korean lifestyle, which, apparently NEVER STOPS MOVING. To the point that I'm always either in the way, trying not to get hit by cars, or tripping over things because I am a slow American in a very kind, but very impatient society.

So anyway, we've finally landed in Pohang, which is where we will be living, but incedently, because of the wi-fi situation, I have to back up a little for these next few blogs. This being the first REAL blog, I'll be doing this in segments.

The Video: 


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That'll take some getting used to...

Some things are just different here, and its a little strange to my American sensibilities...

Heated floors: Korean houses and apartments are heated by running hot water under the floor, this results in boiling floors that burn your feet when you get up in the morning... Its best to sit or sleep on the floor especially in winter, but it also suffices to hop up and down all the time to try not to blister the soles of your feet.

Showers are also toilets and sinks: One room + shower = wet bathroom all the time. No I'm serious, you have a propped shower that takes up the entire bathroom. And EVERYTHING gets wet. More to the point, I think they hose the bathrooms down at my work because I walked in, and slipped hard. It was so slippery in my little house slippers that it took me like, three minutes to get up.

Cars have the right of way: I'm amazed that more accidents don't happen here. Its ridiculous. Cars don't ever stop, they squeeze by, they don't let you merge or get over and they get REALLY angry. Walking is less dangerous, but still a hazard. Ain't no way I'm riding a bike.

Mispelled English words:  I saw a "Hair Shalon" today. And got some stuff for my "Baff"... it was super cool.

No Public Toilet Seat Covers:  eeeew....

Konglish... 
  Strange Korean/American cross overs.
  like barbecue Doritos and Korean Nesquick. Mmmm.... 

The Good, The Bad, and the... Ummm....

 The Good: Sweet Potato Lattes EVERYWHERE!!

 

 

 The Bad: Emergency stations everywhere... just to remind you how close you are to North Korea

 

The... Ummm...: Apparently this is how the South Korean Department of Security thinks you will carry a bomb onto a plane. :-S



And yet, so far, I do love Korea. Despite my cold, and many hours of work and having to not get run over by cars, the food is good, the kids are great and I like my appartment. Welcome to Korea!

Trying Not To Crack Too Many Cheesy Seoul Jokes...

So,  haven't been able to switch my blog account from Korean to English, so until I actually learn Hongul, Im pretty much blogging blind. Bear with me.

Arrived here last night at 10:45, somewhere in the 5:00 am range California time. We boarded from San Francisco at 1:15 California time (monday), had a 15 minute layover in Nerita, Tokyo Airport at 7 pm (tuesday)...not nearly long enough for me.. and got to Seoul at 10:45.

 The flight was long, but fun. Curt and I both love airplanes, so despite the sleep deprivation an crowding, we did pretty well!

Met this little lady going to Tokyo. She played with us the whole trip. I think she liked Curtis more than me, but I had the better iPad games. So HA!

This was all we got to see of Tokyo when we arrived. We'll go back this trip, but until then, I will settle for a bathroom and a vending machine. :-P

So we arrived late at night by Seoul standards...

And BOY WERE WE IN TROUBLE!

Mr. Joe, our contact, was very upset that we were so late, and as we couldn't find the Arrival Store kiosk (which turned out was closed) and had to grab our luggage and go through immigration, he was not happy. It wasn't a very friendly first minutes in Seoul and required the best of my Korean abilities and Curt's imposing white male stature.

Mr. Joe: "Something in Korean that probably means 'how dare you make me wait!" *taps watch and glares, shakes head and clucks, then promptly  walks very quickly to the door as we protest that our package is still in the airport and it has our phones etc. in it*

Me:  ANIYO! (no!!) *follows Curt outside, who is following a fast-walking Mr. Joe. (bear in mind, I am carrying a 40 lb bag on my back and 2 rollers, plus purse and jacket)

Mr. Joe: *now across the street at the absolutely freezing airport, waving furiously to us* "Something in Korean that probably means 'hurry up you western barbarians! You are making me late!"

Us: "ANNNIIIYYYOOO!!! (Noooooooo!!!!) *waves him back, trying out our best sign-language to tell him we still have things in the airport.*

And after a lot of this, he finally helped us in the airport, to little avail because everything was closed. Oh, and we still managed to forget a bag at Incheon which we will be going back for this morning.

After the all time scariest taxi ride of our life, we landed here at Cloud 9, where Mr. Joe left us with the English speaking hotel clerk. Come to find out, our coordinator booked the wrong day for us to check in, so luckily, to keep the peace, the clerk gave us a free night. The floors are hot, the bathroom is small and the plugs are wierd, but altogether, a good place to stay.

So here we are in Seoul! The weather is gorgeous, sunny and cold. Curt got us breakfast at the 7eleven next door....

Today we will go fetch the rest of our luggage and go have lunch near the river Han (the same park where they filmed "The Host". Tomorrow we will be taking a city/palace tour and most likely having dinner with a Sac State Union friend.

Signing off for now!

Korea Here We Come!

Off we go! Talk to you soon!

Countdown To Korea

Greetings from Jessie and Curtis! We will be heading to Korea on Monday and want to invite you to our blog. Help share in our great new adventure...

COUNTDOWN CLOCK WIDGET