October 7, 2014

Hola familia!

So things have been crazy lately and probably won't slow down til next week since we've had a lot of holidays and Korean surprises in a row. 

Last week was Kaecheonjeol - whatever that means - but we got Friday off so had a long weekend. Some friends came to visit my town so we went out to dinner and a noribang (Korean Karaoke). At some point during the night, they'd had quite a bit to drink and found some rollerblades in the trash. They fit me perfectly so I wore them the rest of the night (I was surprised the Noribang owner let me in with them on). All my friends were really impressed with my rollerblading skills but, then, I was the only one who was sober so they probably weren't as great as they thought. I did do some fancy spins when we were singing in the noribang.

The next day I went to visit my friend, Eilidh from orientation, in Gangeung over on the coast. There was a coffee festival that day so we went to check it out. Lots of cool latte art - I guess there was a competition, it would have been fun to try to compete. Then we went to see the beach at night. It was all lit up and people were running around lighting full blown fireworks in their hands. Crazy people. We met up with our friend David and his wife - she's from the same town as one of my favorite UK bands, Arctic Monkeys, so we bonded over that. We're besties now. David and Lauren are such a fun couple. They're both hilarious but constantly keeping each other in check. It was a good time. We went to a bar that had a record player and just about any record. We played a ton of Arctic Monkeys. The bartender spoke really good English so he let us have our way with the music selection. Then we went to another bar where we saw that singer I posted on Facebook. She was adorable and kept hiding her face after every song when we would clap. I think she was nervous having foreigners in front of the stage. She sang "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 too and a few Korean songs that she might have written herself. Afterward we met up with more expats from the UK - I was feeling seriously outnumbered and couldn't understand half the conversations. I'd missed the last bus back to Chuncheon at this point so I had to crash at Eilidh's apartment and missed church the next day :/ I know we had church like normal Sunday but don't know if it was going to be a recording of conference or what. I'll have to find out next time. I barely made it back to Chuncheon in time for my Korean class. 

Monday I wasn't aware but we had a short day so the schedule was really different. I didn't find out until 2nd period but the teachers had a field trip that day so they were sending the kids home early. The Korean government is really invested in people having healthy lifestyles and since teachers are held in such high regard, their provided activities. Monday the government paid for us to go to a national park to go hiking (last month I think they provided badminton equipment). I kind of wish I'd known we would be hiking because I wore a skirt, tights, and some really uncomfortable boots but I went hiking anyway. We hiked up a pretty steep little trail and, at the top, we came to a little farm/restaurant that served food made from vegetables they'd grown and acorns they'd gathered at the waterfall. It was all vegetarian and really tasty. Their homemade kimchi was amazing too. After that, we saw the waterfall and headed to a restaurant for dinner. More kneeling - my poor legs! There's a 4th grade teacher at our school who has never spoken to me and I've assumed was shy and doesn't speak English but he came over at one point and gave me a Sprite and struck up a conversation. He told me he's afraid to talk to me at school because I talk too fast and he doesn't want to look bad in front of his students when he doesn't understand me. But he said he wants to practice his English with me and have me show him how to buy things on Amazon so he can get a laser pointer. I also got to officially meet our new gym teacher - a girl about my age. I went up to her after dinner and asked her her name in Korean and welcomed her to the school. She got really excited and started rattling off in Korean - from what I gathered she was glad I spoke Korean because she'd assumed I didn't so hadn't talked to me. I gave her a blank stare and I think one of the other teachers told her I was yanking her chain because she looked a little disappointed. She still grabbed my arm and walked with me to the Noribang though.
The principal dragged most of us to a noribang and forced me to sing first. I guess the older generation is more into it because the younger teachers didn't seem too excited. It was really awkward, I sang "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 which was a pretty tame song but I still sounded awful. I don't know what it is but I think Koreans must all aspire to be famous singers. They all had these great voices and crazy dance moves. Our head custodian was doing some kind of traditional dance that involved lots of crouching and spinning and everyone had tamberines. I got in pretty late that night and got zero lesson planning done since I had been dragged around since 2PM. 

Anyway, teaching's still good. I really love the kids and they're always super sweet. I have one little 3rd grader who reminds me so much of Hazel and never hesitates to give me feedback on my lessons. I had an after-school lesson where I taught a little bit of the haka and afterward she said "Teacher, next time - no dancing! Very very don't like!" then got on her knees the next time around and begged "Please please please no dancing!" And then when we played four corners she told me "Good teacher. Very very very thank you!" She's super animated and always leaves class doing a little chant that's something like "Bye-bye see you bye-bye thank you!" 

Today I was teaching a big class of 6th graders how to tell what they are "going to" do and opened it by asking what they were going to do this weekend. One boy said he was going to see a movie and I asked him which one, he said "Maze Runner". I got excited and told him I'd seen it and it was very good. When class ended, I walked out into the hall and he came rushing out after me to show me his Korean version of "Maze Runner" that he was reading. We talked about it for a minute and I was amazed at his English level - this boy was really shy and never really spoke in class. I love finding common interests with the kids because it always gets them really motivated to use English even if they're not very confident. I think I earned brownie points with that kid too. 

The principal at this school (it's my Tuesday school) always calls me out for being rude or not following Korean customs so I've been trying to find a way to get on his good side. So at lunch today, he'd brought in some skinny peppers and some kind of sauce for the teachers. They were all eating them like they were no big deal so when the 4th grade teacher offered me one I said sure. The other teachers were all shaking their heads but I ignored it because I was determined to compliment the principal on his treat. Misun dipped it in the sauce and handed it to me. It turns out the sauce was straight Gochujang (red-chili paste) and the pepper was already extremely hot. I took a huge bite and had chewed and swallowed before the heat hit me. It was like swallowing acid, I swear I'm missing a layer of skin off my tongue now. I tried to play it cool but then tears started streaming down my face and I couldn't breathe. The other teachers thought it was hysterical but I think I've done permanent damage to my stomach lining. The other teachers took pity on me after a minute and I suddenly had about 5 cups of water by my tray. The principal simply nodded his approval at me. I taught my next class with mascara smudged all over my face, a raspy voice, and the sniffles. But I think the principal likes me now!

Oh and I found this really awesome art supply store and may have gone a little nuts. Their canvases were on sale for incredibly cheap so of course I had to buy every single oil paint supply they had in stock and spent more money than I should have. The shop owner seemed amused by my arm load but I couldn't really understand what he was saying. I'm psyched to get painting again though, it's been ages and for the first time in a long time I have lots of spare time :) 

Anyway, we have Thursday and Friday off this week for Hangeul day so I'm planning a trip to Seoraksan National Park for a 10-mile hike and then might explore some caves or hot springs if my legs aren't completely dead. I'll try to post pictures! 

How are things with you guys? What's everyone been up to? I heard Haley's crazy boss lady fired herself so that's exciting news! Keep me posted on everything!

-Whit