What I Learned in Korea

Well, this is it.  Probably one of my last posts from Korea.  My mom will be here in 13 days, and we start our trip in 20 days.  I might do another blog post after my farewell dinner with friends and the first few days with my mom, but I'm not sure.  I suppose I will take this opportunity to write a post about what I have learned in Korea.  Or at least where I publicly pretend to have learned something,  Harhar, just kidding. 

1. It doesn't matter how much you empty out of your suitcase, you will still bring way too  much crap for one year.  There's really no way to avoid this one, short of showing up with the clothes on your back which isn't a good start, either.  My advice to anyone doing the teaching-for-a-year gig is to bring one big suitcase and one small suitcase.  Bring mostly the clothes you'll wear to work--you're going to be there five days a week anyway.  You don't need five pairs of jeans.
2. I used to just shrug off the idea of "architecture" when building things.  Now I miss it!  Somedays I wake up, walk outside, and wonder if I'm on the wrong side of the DMZ.  Although this is a trend that slowly seems to be disappearing in Korea, which is a good thing!
3. "Western" men, even from my generation, still have a long way to come in their view of women.  Sure, there are Korean men whose behavior left much to be desired, but the real sleazes were more likely to be from the other side of the ocean.  Of course, not every expat man, not even the majority, is like that.  There are many factors that go into why there seem to be an above average number of men of questionable character here.  But there is still much room for improvement here.  I am not an object.  I am not your sex toy.  Deal with it.
4. China will not become our master.  At least from an educational standpoint.  The systems in China/Japan/Korea are quite similar, in that they favor rote learning and memorization and long hours in school from a very young age.  Many of my elementary aged students are in school for over twelve hours.  This does not make them better educated.  It makes them good at taking tests and putting in the minimal amount of effort possible to make the teacher happy.  Most of the students are unable to apply the material.  These societies are doing a good job of making employees, but not such a good job of making creators.  I hope that in twenty years the educational system will look different in Korea than today.  I hope that these children, when they grow up, will realize that there can be a good balance between students who work hard but are also allowed to have a childhood. 
5. Cheap taxis and transportation are amazing! Coming from the fourth largest country by land area, it's nice to be able to get on a bus and be anywhere in three or four hours for under $40.  Even though Korea has an east/west divide--want to cross the mountains forming the "backbone" of the country?  Good luck!--it's still much easier than in the US. 
6. Anything can be made tasty if you put enough chili powder and/or paste into it.  This can be a pro or a con, depending on your tastes!
7. Not everyone is your friend.  No explanation necessary.  Not everyone in this world is a decent human being.
8. Children are disease ridden germ factories.  This isn't news, but until you're sick for the 10,000th time, you don't realize the full soul-crushing nature of it.  It doesn't matter how often you wash your hands or how many times you teach them to cough into their elbow and not across the table your hands your face and how on earth did it get on the whiteboard?  On the flip side, some people have crappy immune systems, and that poor guy is you.
9. Public trash cans and water fountains are the best inventions ever.  But mostly the trash cans.  Imagine a world without trash cans.  Smell it yet?
10. Mountains are beautiful, partly because they make you appreciate a horizon.  Going to the coast was amazing because you could look out and see...nothing.  Definitely reminded me of home more than once.
11. Children are built with a switch that goes from "bright eyed youngster" to "don't talk to me" immediately at the age of 11-12.  I've seen it happen in some of my own classes, sometimes overnight.  Oh, puberty.  Which brings us to our next item,
12. Teenagers are the same no matter where you are.  No explanation needed here, either.
13. Work/life balance isn't just a buzzword, it's a necessity.  Definitely something I will be looking for in the future.
14. The world exists in a grey area between where and what is has been, and where and what it wants to be.  I encountered this in Egypt, and again here in Korea.  I'm sure those who come to the US for a short time and return home probably share a similar opinion of us.  In Egypt, their very currency exposes this duality:  on one side is the Arabic script with Arabic/Hindi numerals, and drawings depicting their Islamic heritage.  The other side is written in English showing tourist sites (Sphinx, Pharaohs, statues, etc.).  They protest the invasion of American/European culture, while wearing designer clothes and sitting in a McDonald's.  Korea has a similar story.  The government allows foreigners to come and teach English, and parents pay for their children to study for a native speaker, and yet an uncomfortable number of them seem to prefer that we exist only inside of the classroom.

Although some of these things may sound negative, I don't regret coming to Korea.  As the adage goes, "Twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do."  And who doesn't love one less regret?  I've met some great people here (and some not so great), and I'm thankful for everyone who made this place a home away from home.  I'll certainly never forget my time and the people here. Korea is a dynamic and quickly changing country.  I'm sure in another twenty years it will look very different, and it would be interesting to come back and to see that change.  But for now, it's time for me to have one last travel, and return home.

Next post from an undetermined location at an undetermined time!
Karin

It's the Final Countdown

Here we go.  The final months of my time in Korea.  I am officially leaving my job on August 31st, and my mom and I will return to the US on September 26th.  This is later than I had expected, and I suppose hoped for, but it is good to have a definitive date.  My plans for after I return to the US are still slightly muddled.  However I am very excited to see all my family and friends back home, and to meet my new nephew Levi!

When I came home from the hospital, I slept in a drawer.  Levi has a crib though, don't worry, it was all for show!

I received an e-mail the other day from the State Department, alerting interested applicants that the language bonuses and process has changed again.  However, this time it's at least somewhat in my favor.  They have reduced the knowledge requirements for Arabic, and have increased the bonus for if you do well. You are able to take the language assessment after you pass your interview.

I still don't know if I can get to the interview this time.  I hope my year in Korea will help distinguish me from other candidates my age who have only spent their lives in school.  But I definitely will need to do something to get my speaking up to par.  In DC I'm sure there would be a tutor or a class somewhere.  However, I have also always thought about returning to Cairo or even Beirut for an intensive summer course.  So do I do it this summer, or wait until next?  Or self study?  I'm not sure at this point, but hey that's why I have 3 more months in Korea plus a month traveling with my mom to forget that I actually have to make choices about my life.

The last month I have visited Gyeokpo Beach, which is about an hour west (as the crow flies, but not as the bus drives) from Jeonju.  We also later in the month for Buddha's birthday visited Busan (my second time).  We went to the aquarium and hung out on the beach.  The weather was very warm and nice--much better than my first trip to Busan--but the water was still cold.

Gyeokpo Beach

If you want to check out the entire "Gyeokpo Beach" album, click here! 

 It was a cool and cloudy day, but the outing was just what we needed!

 

There were many interesting rocks and cliffs on the beach.



And of course great views!
 


Another great view!

Busan

If you want to check out the entire "Busan" album, click here! 

The water at the beach was still very cold!

 

You could actually see horizon!


Of course, there were many pigeons to be found.
 

We went to the aquarium in Busan on our second day.  I was really impressed with it! I got to see penguins!
 

A worker was transporting a baby penguin. It's very blurry, I luckily had my camera on at the right time and it took my brain a minute to process what was happening.  The guy was running so he wouldn't get mobbed by the crowd screaming "baby penguin" I suppose.
 

What a massive fish.
 

Sea anemones!
 

Dun dun..dun dun...

My favorite part of the whole aquarium visit however would have to be the two baby beluga whales they had.  I took a video of them for two minutes on my camera, I'm quite impressed how well it turned out.  Don't worry about the shark you see occasionally, they were separated by a transparent wall.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Baby animals always cheer me up!  I will see you all soon.  Only 88 days until vacation!

Best, Karin

Busan and Making Plans

A few weekends ago, I visited Busan.  I wanted to get out of Jeonju for a weekend, but it was still cold weather and I didn't want a repeat of Seoul, so I went south!  Unfortunately while the KTX serves Jeonju now, there is no easy way on the train to get to Busan, so that meant an express bus.  "Express" is a relative term, as it takes 3 and a half hours to Busan, plus another hour on Busan's subway to get from the bus terminal to downtown.  By the time I checked into my hostel, it was 2:00 p.m.  Since I only had about a day and a half in Busan,I wanted to do two major things:  visit Yonggungsa temple and go to Spa Land.

 

First, though, the view from my hostel was amazing!

Anyway. Yonggungsa Temple from my hostel was about a 40 minute bus ride away.  So again, by the time I actually got to do anything in Busan, it was already 3:00!  This is a reconstructed (as with almost all things in Korea) Buddhist temple.  I'm not very interested in "temple hopping" in Korea, but this is a unique temple in the fact that it's on the coast, and not secluded in the mountains. The view was beautiful.

To view the entire album, Click Here.

Some of the highlights are below!
 

 

After the temple, the next item on my list was Spa Land.  Spa Land is a massive jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) attached to the World's Largest Department Store, Centum City's Shinsegae.  It takes up three floors and is fed by natural hot springs.  It was the most relaxing thing I've done in Korea!  I went early enough in the day that I got a discount and also enjoyed less people at the facilities, it was starting to get busy by the time I left.  After that, I headed back to Jeonju with one of the craziest bus drivers I have ever ridden with in Korea (and that's saying something).

The weeks since have been mostly uneventful.  I have told my school this, so now I can comfortably say it in a public forum, but I am not renewing for another year.  My last day is July 27th, which means almost less than four months! I still have a few places to go before I leave. 

My mom is coming at the end of July, and we have a big trip planned!  We are going to visit Korea, Japan, (hopefully) take the trans Siberian railroad across Russia, and then spend some time in Moscow and St. Petersburg before visiting parts of Eastern Europe.  I also hope to meet up with my German host sister.  I stayed with her family in 2005 when I visited there with my high school German class.  Considering all of this, I will probably be back in the United States around mid-September.  I will be around the Midwest for a little while, before hopefully moving out to Washington, D.C. and searching for a job there.  I think what hindered my job search the most after college was the fact I was applying for entry level jobs from half a continent away.  I think if I try again with a DC address and be available for interviewing the next day, I will have more luck. That's my hope at least.

For now I hope to enjoy my last months in Korea, visiting a few more sites, and then enjoying my trip with my mom before coming home to all the faces (and wet noses) I have missed!

Until then,
Karin

Update

Hello, everyone.  While my attempts at blogging about my experience has been pretty lackluster, but I'm doing much better than I usually do.  So it's time for another longer update!

I've been here seven months this coming week.  It's a huge accomplishment, but then again I tell myself that at the end of every month.  It's the simple things in life you treasure. 

The last few months have been a very stressful time at the school and in life.  We changed classes in January and also changed our scheduled teaching hours.  I moved apartments in January along with three other foreign teachers.  I said goodbye to a friend whose time in Korea was all too short.  With the beginning of March also brings a new school year in Korea, so each afternoon we have wide-eyed kindergarten and first grade students dropped off at our door.  Most days this has been an exercise in futility, but eventually I'm sure they'll get into the swing of things (probably in time for me to leave. Har har.)

Travel wise, I rang the new year in not in Jeonju but in Nagoya, Japan with my former roommate from U of M.  It was a short but nice break from Korea and school.  I am eagerly awaiting going back to Japan and touring more of the country!  Most of the pictures didn't turn out super well (owing to the fact that it was freezing and we were all bundled up, most attractions were closed, and my batteries died after half a day because I didn't have the right adapter), but I am thankful just for the break the trip gave me!  I also learned the important lesson that you must reserve the bus going to the airport, even if you are leaving at 2 in the morning, because everyone else in Jeonju has the same idea!

We spent New Year's Eve at a theme park just outside of Nagoya.  The lines were short at the beginning of the evening but after midnight we waited 2 hours to go on a roller coaster.  But it was an exciting one!  We also had a great time right as the clock struck midnight.  We screamed the English numbers in a sea of Japanese as loud as we could. We may not have been this obnoxious if they had waited to sing Auld Lang Syne until after midnight, and not before.  Nah, who am I kidding, we probably would have yelled just the same.

Crepes are delicious!  Even when it takes forever for the employee to make them when they're not doing anything else.

 

Like a boss!  Yes, that is Tommy Lee Jones.

I found out on my trip I am allergic to rabbits. But he was so cute and fluffy. Once the allergy medication kicked in I just couldn't resist!

Not long after I returned from Japan, we moved into our new apartment.  The owner of the school built a building out on the edge of Jeonju (seriously, there's a mountain in our backyard and after that it's just fields).  There is a cafe on the first floor, then we're on the second and third floors, and he built a penthouse on the top. I am much further away from school now.  It's a 15 minute walk as opposed to about 5.  I am no stranger to walking to work, I walked to my call center job in college for about 3 years, rain, shine, or -40 windchill!  But I still miss the convenience of being close by.  The apartment itself is a tradeoff between being all new furnishings and appliances, but being immensely smaller than even what I had in the old apartment.  However I am thankful for a roof over my head.

After the debacle of moving (it was January and we had no heat for a few days because of a wiring mixup), it was time for the Lunar New Year. As you may recall it is the year of the Dragon.  Being born in 1988, and turning 24 this year, I am a dragon as well.  It's our year, Dragons!  Anyway, we had a Monday and Tuesday off, so I went to Seoul.

Bad choice.

It was the coldest week in Korea during the winter by far.  Official temperatures ranged from about 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit.  With the wind (which comes from Siberia...) it felt below 0.  Needless to say, after the first day and a half, I spent much of my time in Seoul partaking in indoor activities!  I am anxious though to return when the weather warms up and stays warm consistently, which hopefully should be by the end of March.

A common sight in Korea: modernity and history together.


What sucks about traveling alone is not having anyone trustworthy to take your picture for you! This is Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.


Still at Gyeongbokgung. This artificial island was man made around the 1800s, which is still impressive. Even though it was January, fall leaves still clung in defiance. This must be beautiful in the spring and summer. I hope to return then and go to other palaces when the scenery is greener.

On the grounds of Gyeongbokgung is the National Folk Museum and National Palace Museum. This was the Folk museum, and on display was a cute little design for stairs (I don't think you can go up the stairs even when the banner/mosaic thing isn't there, anyway).

The next day I went to the Namsangol Hanok Village.  'Hanok' just refers to a traditional Korean style of house building.  It was completely underwhelming mostly because I feel Jeonju's Hanok Village is more extensive, beautiful, and interesting.  Perhaps in the spring I will give it another chance.  This was also one of the coldest days!  And trying to walk around and enjoy the scenery while a 25 mph wind is blowing in from Siberia is difficult, I learned.

The one interesting thing near Namsangol is the time capsule.  You have to know what you're looking for, but it was buried in 1994 for Seoul's 500th anniversary, and it will be opened in 2394 for it's millennial anniversary (assuming anyone is alive on this planet anymore). 

Maybe in 500 years when it is opened, and the internet is a medium that historians use as our own version of a near-infinite time capsule, a descendant looking for information about his/her ancestors will find reference to me somewhere.  Therefore, dear descendant, I present to you:  A PICTURE OF ME AND MY JEONJU-FAMOUS FRMUPY HAT in front of a time capsule.  And dear future reader, I really do have hair, and no I know that I am not pulling of this hat at all, but it was the cheapest thing I could find at Home Plus.  Sometimes we must make sacrifices.

The time capsule is that cement thing, with Seoul Tower in the background.

That was the last outdoor thing I did that weekend.  I spent the rest of the weekend in museums (the National Museum of Korea is a must if you ever find yourself in Seoul!) and shopping malls to keep warm.  Unfortunately the rest of Korea also had the same idea!

February as I said was a busy month at work.  We also held a contest at the school which required a little extra effort as far as planning and helping students went.  Now that the first week of the new term is over, I am heading to Busan on Saturday where it will be at least a little warmer than Jeonju for a nice relaxing weekend with a lengthy spa visit and going to a temple by the ocean!  It will hopefully be a 'zen' weekend, as one of my coworkers is fond of saying.

Until then, I hope everyone is having a fantastic beginning (almost?) of spring. 
Karin