Eating.Crying.Eating

"It's a kind of a fermented fishy, like kimchi, but fishy."

"...and the bones? Should I be careful about those?"

"No, you can eat them. They are soft. And this soup, it is a kind of a seaweed."

My co-teacher, Younga, always kindly describes each menu item to me in the school cafeteria line. While the daily options vary widely, everyone in the school eats the exact same meal. As I watch students pile their metal trays high with kimchi, white rice, rice cakes, seaweed soup, apple slices, and dried anchovies with peanuts, I scoff at the memory of brown bagged lunches. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is so uninspired.

A note on my ability to eat the food: I like that I can count on flinging at least one item across the table during each meal, thanks to my infantile skills with metal chopsticks. My coworkers are generous people, who smile knowingly and tell me that I'm improving a little every day. The muscle development in the chopstick-using regions of my hand has seemingly made some strides since I first arrived. While my dexterity remains questionable, I've nearly moved beyond the highly inconvenient hand cramps.

The same goes for my spicy food tolerance. Earlier this week, Younga laughed and said, "You cry one time at every meal!" It's uncomfortably true; and, no matter how confident I feel while munching on a mouthful of unidentified vegetables soaked in red pepperish sauce, the tears inevitably come. I've never been one to cry openly, but perhaps the school cafeteria is the place to practice a bit of vulnerability. It's not an ideal location, but I did come to Korea with a commitment to embracing new experiences. So be it.

I Was Warned...

"YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!" "WHY IS YOUR NOSE SO BIG?" "YOU ARE PRETTY!" "WHY ARE YOU SO PRETTY?" "HOW LONG ARE YOU?" "ARE YOU MARRIED?" "WILL YOU MARRY ME?"

thank you, uh... i'm not korean (?), thank you, next question, how tall? 172 cm, no, no way.

90% of the student population at my middle school is male. Their favorite adjectives? "Pretty" and "Beautiful". My first introduction to the students involved 10 boys pointing through the classroom window and screaming those two very complimentary words, followed by a stampede through the door which led to the line of questioning listed earlier. While I was warned that all western teachers are subjected to the same overt enthusiasm, with the same adjectives, the novelty has yet to wear off. I giggle constantly :D

Regarding the obvious gender imbalance, I asked my co-teacher, "How the heck did this happen?!" (I was a bit gentler, of course, but really??) Her response? "Most of the girls are sent to girls school until the school is filled. The rest of them are sent here." I asked whether any of the girls find that to be, uh, upsetting. She said, "No! They are always happy!" I try to remember that when I look across my classrooms of 38 boys and 2 girls. I'm sure they're happy.

Wonderfully, my students' enthusiasm is not limited to giving compliments. In fact, they exhibit their zest for life by careening through the hallways between classes, wrestling, punching, holding hands (boys with boys, girls with girls), punching while holding hands, stumbling, and shrieking. LOUDLY. They also enjoy a full ten minutes between each class, which allows for a considerable build-up of energy in the halls. I'm in full support of the chaos. As long as nothing breaks and they sit quietly after the bell rings, I think it's healthy. American school kids could benefit from a little MMA between classes.

On the topic of athletics, I was asked to feature sports in my home country to break up the monotony of textbook work. Each class appeared to thoroughly enjoy listening to the first 30 seconds of Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" and viewing photos of infants wrapped in Terrible Towels. "Repeat after me, students: Terrible Towels". Students, "Terriber Towrers!" Uhhh... they're working on it. The same goes for my name, since the Korean characters that most closely spell "Bethany" are pronounced "Pesany". My co-teachers gave me a heads-up that the students might find it a bit humorous, since "sany" is a bargaining term. It means, "how cheap?"

wonderful.

I, also, am working on my language abilities. I have officially registered for a free Korean language class that will meet at Chonnam University twice a week for the next three months. Yes I'm intimidated. I've found that, while I'm spectacular at parroting, nothing sticks. I've also devoted virtually no effort to making any phrases stick, so there may be hope for me yet, provided I put in the effort and so on and such.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress :)

Love,

How Cheap Hazelnut

"Haizlett? Like the nut?"

Annyeongehaseo, everyone!

After nearly six months of announcing a plan that, admittedly, sounded a little outrageous even to me, I'm settled in Gwangju, South Korea. It feels like an amazing dreamcometrue! :)

To answer the most frequently asked question I heard prior to leaving: No, I don't speak Korean (yet). It is, however, surprisingly simple to navigate sans common language. For example, at restaurants, I point to any advertising with an image. Yesterday, that method resulted in the waitress ripping a large poster off the wall and carrying it back to the chef. It was a generic noodle image, so I'll assume she didn't feel at liberty to guess exactly what it was.

On the topic of food, it's time to squelch any rumors that I've eaten dog. I know I did start the rumor, but the scene followed something like this:

Shortly after arriving in Gwangju, three nervous Americans sit at a table with their Korean co-teachers. Eager to impress the people who will help them to navigate every important detail of the next year, they sample from the wide variety of food placed on the table before them.

Bethany: This looks nice. What kind of meat is it?
Co-teacher: Ohhh it's really good meat! It's "da".
All Americans: Dog??
All co-teachers: Yes! Da!

The Americans, not wanting to feel rude or miss this special opportunity, proceed to sample the meat. They shyly admit to LOVING it, and feel really weird about it for nearly a week. That is, until an enlightening conversation takes place between Bethany and another Korean teacher...

Korean teacher: What food have you tried?

Bethany: I've sampled all kinds of Korean food! I tried dog for the first time, and I was surprised to think it was very delicious. We don't eat dog in America.

Korean teacher: Really? You do not? But you have the turkey? It is like "da".

Google images are referenced, and it quickly becomes apparent that "da" is DUCK, not dog. Not dog at all.

Korean teacher: (laughing) We do NOT eat those! I have never eaten dogs!!!

OOPS.

So, yes, the language barrier does occasionally result in confusion. For opening a bank account, obtaining a bus card, setting up internet in my apartment, initially locating my apartment, and learning how to find the school from my apartment , I've relied completely and utterly on my co-teacher, Younga. I can't imagine arriving in Korea for the first time without her support.

Younga will share a classroom with me at different times throughout the week, and there are four other teachers who will do the same. This afternoon, we will learn the exact order of classes for the upcoming semester. While they will each see the students every day, I will show up to one of their classes per week, totaling 22 classes in all.

The Korean English teachers are pros at reading and writing, but one of my EPIK orientation instructors described the situation like this:"If you took a group of students and made them study every last detail of basketball: the history, the rules, the physics behind throwing, and put them on a court with a group of students who had been physically practicing the game for the same length of time, the first group wouldn't have a chance of winning the ball game. It's a very different skill set." I've been told that it's my job is to get the students talking!

One last note on the language confusion (haha, ok, who am I kidding? This entire blog will likely be dedicated to it). When I introduced myself to the other English teachers, they were delighted to learn my last name. After some giggling, Younga said, "Haiz-el-lett. Like the nut? Are you offended? I'm sorry, it sounds the same!" I assured them all that I wasn't offended in the slightest, and promptly returned home to resurrect the haizlnut blog that I'd used to post photos pre-facebook.

I'll end today's story time with a few quotes for your enjoyment:

- "When you want to brush your teeth, you can use the teacher's lounge. There is a nice place to keep your toothbrush."

-"Since we don't have personal space, we don't have problems with the touch." (Referencing the western habit of apologizing when we accidentally bump into each other in crowded spaces. We've been told to drop that, unless we plan to apologize constantly)

- "When you enter a building, you take off your shoes and wear slippers. Here is the place to put your shoes when you enter the school..."

annyeonghekeseyo! :)