The joys of teaching ESL

When you're teaching kids who are learning English as their second language, you tend to see your native tongue in a different light.

For example,

I never knew how much I love the word "prairie."

The best tip for expats in Korea and other sundries about living in Seoul

• I wanted to get to a dog cafe that I knew was somewhere around Yeoksam and Gangnam, but that was all the information I had.  Thankfully, I remembered something one of my friends had told me.  There was this magic number you could call to get in contact with someone who could help you with anything.  In English, no less.  With some minor internet digging, I found it. 120.  I called and, within 5 minutes, I had directions to and the name of the place I was going to, the physical address and phone number of the cafe, and a picture of the map that the awesome lady on the other line sent to my phone!
  If that's not being excellent to someone, I don't know what is.
  
  
• The dog cafe was pretty great, by the way.  An excellent fix for my severe pet separation disorder.  (I just miss her a lot.)  I'm planning on posting pictures as soon as Holly uploads them to facebook.
  
  
• It still makes me feel uncomfortable when I catch people staring at me.  I guess dark hair and fair skin isn't enough to blend in here.
  
  
• I am in awe of the Korean women and of how the wear high heels all the time.  It doesn't even stop them from running to catch the subway trains and the busses.
  
  
• Service.  Korean service.  This is getting extra things for free when you didn't pay for them.  Like the set of mandolin strings I got with the violin set I bought.  Like the pajeon* with the bibimbap* we ordered.  Like the beers with the sushimi we ate.  Or like the cotton pads with the nail polish remover I purchased.  It's always a nice surprise when it happens.
  
  
• This awkward interaction shown below still happens.  I don't really like it.

Comic by Luke Martin
via ROKetship, my  favorite source for humor about the expat life in Korea

 ---------------------------------------------

*pajeon- (파전)A delicious Korean dish like a fried pancake with green onions and other vegetables or meats mixed in

*bibimbap (비빔밥)- A Korean dish of rice, dried seaweed, carrots, beansprouts, egg, and other vegetables.  It's all mixed in together, and it's delicious.  My favorite is the dolsot bibimbap that brings the dish out in a hot stone bowl.  The egg isn't cooked all the way in this variation, and, when you mix it in with the rest of the food in the piping hot bowl, it finishes cooking while also running its buttery taste over everything.  It's my favorite Korean food.

Andong Maskdance Festival, Part 3: Myanmar tree bark sunblock and pineapple with doughnuts for breakfast

And here's the second day of our Andong Maskdance Festival trip!  We decided to go back and hit up the festival again.  I wasn't sure there'd be much more to do, but we had a full day and enjoyed every minute of it.  Also, there was a much better breakfast to be had there than the ramyen* from the jimjilbang*.  I had pineapple on a stick and Korean doughnuts filled with red bean paste.  It's so good, guys, I wish I could share some with you.

Kyla liked my aviators and how reflective they are.

On the way back to the Maskdance festival, we noticed lots of these large spiders.  Yes, that's my hand, and yes, I did touch it, just to say I did.

This was the large mask kite.  I thought there should have been some ceremony for its unfurling, but there were just a few camera men and us watching.

We found many, many large international masks to take pictures with.  This is Holly and I with the mask from Thailand.

Here are Kyla and Holly with the Native North American mask.  We were pretty sure this guy was from Canada, like Kyla.  She was pretty excited.

The Little Prince is rather popular here.  I've seen stationary and journals with his picture on them.  Here he is appropriately masked for the festival.  (Shrek was there, too, with a mask.)

I was enthralled by this lengthy choreographed Taekwondo performance.  These kids did so well!  I was very impressed by their energy and their excellence.  I could have watched them for hours.

Guess who else has a mask?  My hero!  I don't know why he's making the duck lips, though.  Oh, Korea...

This was a station where you could write messages on pieces of crepe paper and leave them in the breeze.  I'm not sure why, but I like the concept.

Andong Maskdance Festival, y'all!

I'm starting to worry about taking pictures again when I get back home to the States.  Will I be able to restrain the new reflex to make the peace sign?  Only time will tell.

There were walls of masks made by other people.  We were able to pick them up and play with them.  Holly and I make a lovely couple, no?

On our way out, we met an interpreter from Mannam International.  She took us back to their booth where we talked with other volunteers.  They are always so nice, these Mannam people.  They asked us about ourselves, gave us free temporary tattoos, took pictures with us and of us, and they had us write our names on this large map to show where we are from.

Holly put Colorado on the map.

Kyla's from Ontario.

Awesome possum!

"When lights unite, there is victory."  Mannam International rocks face.

These were some of the Korean foods for sale on the way out.  I'm pretty sure that's a shark fin sticking out of that one package above the others.  I do my very best to be a good guest in this hospitable country that has been so welcoming to me, but, I gotta say.  That kinda weirds me out.

And this reminded me of Puerto Rico.  "Yes, I'd like some pig on a spit for the road, please."

Here at the end, I'd like to highly recommend this event to anyone who's in Korea near the beginning of October.  It was so nice and refreshing to get outside of Seoul, and we had a great time meeting people and goofing off at the festival.  This was an excellent vacation, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  Also, on a more personal note, it was wonderful getting to know Kyla and Holly better, too.

 ---------------------------------------------

Ramyen - Koraen ramen noodles: These things are SO much better than their American counterparts and there are so many different varieties!  A popular food, ramyen often has an entire aisle devoted to it in the supermarkets, and there is always some for sale in every convenience store.  I find them particularly delicious when an egg is mixed into the broth, egg drop style.  Yum!

Jimjilbang - A Korean bath house

Human Moment #72

This photo of my friend Ashley and I was taken at a Buddhist temple in Insadong.  We met the photographer, Craig Woods, just an hour before at a Buddhist English library.  We were there to see if Ashley could settle into the Buddhist community there.  She and I were perusing the books when this other gentleman finished his conversation with the Korean secretary, turned to us, and said, as if we were already friends, "How are you ladies today?"

The three of us chatted for what felt like an hour and only stopped when we realized the library closed 25 minutes ago.  We walked out and continued our conversation until our paths diverged.  Craig Woods had been so kind and helpful and friendly, I gave him a hug when we left.

We ended up bumping into his twice more as we wandered around Insadong, and he took this picture of us at the Buddhist Temple there.  I've gotten to see him a few more times since then at Korean class and other expat events.  We're always glad to see each other.

If I didn't have to work, I'd spend so much of my time walking around Seoul and talking to strangers.  There are so many!  I love Seoul, and I starting to think that I love cities in general because of all the people there are to talk to.

Andong Maskdance Festival, Part 2: The jimjilbang of which I have no pictures

Via Wishbone Clever

The is the second installment of a three part retelling of our Andong adventure.  Unfortunately, this part won't have much  for pictures, but there's an excellent reason.  See, this part takes place in a jimjilbang.

This was my first time in the Korean public bath house. Holly loves them.  Kyla isn't too keen on them.  I have mixed feelings.  On our way to the jimjilbang, Holly was talking about the soaking and the scrubbing she was looking forward to.  I had to start explaining why I wasn't going to get naked that night, and I clung to the excuse that I haven't shaved my legs in over a week.

So, no bath sharing for me, but here's what did happen.

We signed in in the ritzy lobby after we locked our shoes in a cabinet by the door.  The receptionist gave us each a set of loose pajamas, and we set off to explore the 5 storied building.  We needed to put our things away, but neither of us are particularly good at reading Korea.  We gingerly krept to the door we hoped would lead to the women's floor.  Thankfully, we chose right.

We first walked into an open area with a small store, two large rectangular benches, a TV, and a large mirror.  The store sold underwear, sandals, candies, and small things like this.  A few yards away from the story (and its cranky tender) began the rows of lockers on one side, and the bath-prep area on the other.  Going into the bath-prep side, which was just an open area covered in astro turf, you could choose to enter the bathing room or head to the post-bath room.  This area had blow dryers, fans, Q-tips, and counters.  Beyond that was the bathroom.  Throughout these rooms, yes, I'm going to say it, there were naked Korea women.  "Everywhere" sounds extreme, but, you'd have to close your eyes not to see any.  After the first 10 seconds, though, it wasn't awkward at all.  It's quite easy to keep your eyes averted, and Holly, Kyla, and I didn't have much business in this room anyway.

We headed up to the large open room where people slept on mats and block shaped pillows. There was a small restaurant off the side, and there was a small food shop inside the room.  There was also a large TV which didn't seem to bother those already sleeping.  I was quite tired after the festival, and I felt like I could have gone to sleep at 10, but we brought out the Dutch Blitz cards and got the energy flowing.

A few Korean men stopped by to watch us play, and one small girl asked in a very good American accent, "Is this a card game?"  After about 10 minutes, an American guy showed up and asked how the game was played.  We invited him and the three girls he was with to join us, and we went on for probably 45 minutes before we decided to get some sleep along with the rest of the 100+ people in the room.

Kyla, Holly, and I went to another floor where there were smaller, darker rooms.  We settled in the DVD room with probably 10 other Koreans.  I had brought a sweater to cuddle and my headphones so I could use the white noise app on my iPod.  Even with these niceties, I got only one blink of sleep by the time 3 am crept up.

You see, when Korean men fall asleep, they turn into dragons.  They snore incredibly loudly, the jabber in their sleep, they roll onto your mat, and they kick.  Even with my iPod turned as loud as I could stand, I heard their breathing and their snoring.  It also got very hot in the room.  I was miserable.  I did everything I could to calm my mind.  I prayed a lot.  But still, I was awake.

I gave up.  I pulled my mat out of the room and into the cool, quiet hallway where I set up camp.  Then, two Korean men walked into the hallway using their outside voices and making me groan.  No sleeping was to be had for me.  I got up, offered my spot to a man who had been looking around for a place to sleep, and went down to the women's room.

I hunkered down in the post-bath area with my journal and wrote about the day until a Korean lady started speaking to me.  I couldn't understand her, but I had been taking Korean lessons, so I threw out the only phrases I knew.

"I am an English teacher."

"I am American."

We shared our ages and our names and then she motioned to another lady who had just come in.  (Both of these women were wearing clothes, by the way.  I was extremely thankful.)  This second lady knew very much English, so we were able to communicate a substantial amount.  Besides sharing personal information, she gave me an hour long Korean lesson.  She taught me the parts of the body, how to count, and some other words.  "Sun" is "Heh" in Korean.  I'm not sure why, but that makes perfect sense to me, and I'll never forget it.

The time was around 6 or 7 am when this new friend left my company.  I wrote a bit more before I felt sleepy all over again.  I knew it would have been a hopeless cause to try to get some shut eye, though, so I picked up Wuthering Heights and read almost 100 pages before Holly came down to say she was ready to begin the day after a good soak.

 ---------------------------------------------

They say the baths are luxurious and the scrubs are divine.  It's going to take a lot of gumption, but I think I want to put the full jimjilbang experience on my Korean bucket list. 

On being a Christian, being nice, and being happy

I am tired of being known as a good person.

Because being good isn’t good enough.

Being good isn’t what I am after.

I am after a life lived to the fullest. A life lived to glorify God.

And you get that by laying your life down for others. You can’t pick that up in a bookstore, and you’re not always going to get it in church on a Sunday morning .

When we are redeemed, we are called to righteousness, not to merely being good.  If we were around when Jesus walked the earth, I don't think "good" is how we'd first describe Him.  His example includes (though is surely not limited to) speaking love and truth, doing what's right, calling out the pharisees who were leading astray His loved ones, and harshly rebuking those who were deceiving His children.  There was also that one time when he made His own whip and ran out the traders who had turned the temple into a flea market.

As Nicole puts it so well in her highly recommended post, The Dangerous Christian,

"Niceness is not a command."

We aren't called to be sweet, we're called to be like Christ.  We're called to love to the point of dying for others, and, sometimes, that can be brutal, cussin' difficult, and straight up insane.  "It is a radical, risk-taking, unconventional, challenging, hard-to-swallow-at-times love that brings people to Christ." 

May this be the love I live. 

Andong Maskdance Festival, Part 1: My first Korean festival

 Last weekend, I hopped on a bus and rode 3 hours south to Andong to hang out at the Maskdance Festival for two days.  I went with two of my coworkers, Kyla and Holly.  We slept in a jimjilbang* and ate on the cheap as part of our awesome-yet-budget-friendly master plan.  The girls both have cameras, so I'm able to share pictures of our adventure!  Here they are!

Welcome to the Andong Maskdance Festival, a celebration of masks and culture!

Our first order of business at the festival was to find where we could make our own masks.  I looked around for someone to ask, and this one volunteer and I made eye contact as he and his friends started to get the cranes ready for the parade.  He shouted to me, "Here!  Take a picture!"  He posed and pranced and made us laugh.
We never made our masks.

Here's one of the choreographed traditional Korean dances.

These lanterns were beautiful.  There was a booth where you could make them yourself.  I believe they are usually set up for Buddha's birthday, I believe.

Out in the country, I was able to see my most beautiful Korean sunset yet.  Add the lights for the coming parade, and it looked pretty magical.

And here's the parade!

These cranes looked really neat.

More of the parade

There were the tall cranes, the fish, and the tall people on poles, but then the rest of the parade was mostly middle aged people dancing with masks on.  They pulled Holly, Kyla, and myself into their throng but we were able to escape back to where our bags were sitting on a planter.  Then another group of crazed parade dancers pulled us into the streets, and again we escaped.  After the fourth or fifth time, though, we looked at each other, nodded that we had our bags, gave up and joined the dancing.

Holly and I danced like maniacs with the ajummas* and ajossis*.  We didn't want to stop because we knew the Koreans would get onto us for not dancing.  Really.  It happened. 

The parade ended at a large stage in the middle of the fairgrounds.  Some of the dancers were on stage, and hundreds more of us were on the ground moving to the music like weirdos.  It was a fun experience.

After the parade, we hit up some of the many booths around the fairground.  This was the bug booth.  The nice man asked if I wanted to hold his stag beetle.  I was excited.  Holly and Kyla freaked out.

Holly and I hanging out with giant mushrooms

Dinner was Turkish kebabs.
It was really strange to see so many booths from all around the world.  Not only was there Turkish food, there were African wares, Chinese metal workings, and Thai crafts.  I thought it was really cool how you could purchase things from all over the world at this Korean mask festival.

This was my first ever kebab.  It was delicious.

This seaweed was set out at one of the booth.  There were quite a few booths with food for sale, and I mean real food.  There were apple stand, meat stands, ramen stands, and others.  Back in the States we'd have small restaurant booths where you can get your funnel cakes and things, and there might be a couple booths selling homemade jams, wines, or what have you, but this was completely new to me.  My main thought was, "How are they going to get that huge chunk of meat home before it spoils?"

My favorite part of the evening is a story I don't have a picture of.

The weather was getting chilly and we were getting tired near the end of the evening as we meandered back to the entrance of the fairground.  I looked to my left and saw two young boys at some stand.

The one boy said, "Hi!"

I walked over to them.  "Hello!  Is this tea?"

"Yes!  Boyo tea.  Free!"

"Free?!  Are you sure?"

"Yes!  Free!"

The 1,500 ₩ sign hung just above me, but I thankfully accepted.  The tea hit the spot, and I was more grateful than I could properly communicate.  The next day, I went back to where his booth should have been so that I could properly buy a cup of tea, but I couldn't find his booth.

 ---------------------------------------------

Jimjilbang - A Korean public bath house

Ajumma - The term for a Korean married woman, but we use the word specifically for the BA grandmas with the odd fashion taste and the best shoving skills in the world.

Ajussi - The male counterpart to the Korean ajumma.  The ajussi usually wears either a fancy suit or hiking gear, and they can be found passed out in the park after drinking too much soju on any given night.

The International Fireworks Festival and Human Moment #75

Well, I can now scratch off being packed into a subway train like sardines with strangers off my list!

There were SO many people out  for the International Fireworks Festival this past weekend!  I was heading to the subway after my Korean class and making my way down to the train.  I didn't think much of all the people until I saw that we were all convening at the same place and all trying to get onto the same trains.  Seoul has a population around 10,000,000.  I'm not sure how many turned out for this event, but it sure felt like half of Seoul was all in this one place on the Han River.

(Well, the estimate is actually 280,000 people.)

But back to the subway.  I ended up walking right next to another foreigner.  I looked away after our first eye contact, but then he said, "Hi," and I laughed.  We made brief introductions, found out we were heading to the same place, and decided to make our way through the subway system together.

Johab, my new Haitian friend from Tampa, and I had to wait for three subway trains to go by before we were able to fit onto an already slam packed train with enough room for us to squeeze in.  During the waiting and being squished on the train, we talked about our home towns, Seoul, Korean culture, interracial dating, our respective significant others, dancing, church, Haitian weddings, and cultural concepts of time.  Turns out Johab has been a believer for years, he loves salsa, and he wants to learn swing dancing.  (New awesome friend, for the win!)

When we got to where we needed to be, neither of us could find our friends among all the people.  It was really strange, but we couldn't even call them because everyone's phones weren't connecting at all.  Anyway, Johab and I watched the show together, plowed our way back to the subway station together, and hugged at the end, making promises we'd take each other dancing.

The fireworks display, by the way, was amazing! It was the most artful and awe inspiring fireworks display I've ever seen!  There were different colored explosions going off in patterns and shapes all timed with music.  Portugal, Japan, and Korea all put on the show. They each had 45 minutes of go time.  There were a few fireworks I'd never seen before.  For example, the Japan segment had Hello Kitty shaped explosions.  There were plenty of times when the whole sky looked like it was filled with glitter, and there were some times when the light from the fireworks lit everything up as it were daytime. There was also light coming from thousands of phones being lifted up and used for cameras which I found amusing.

I loved being among all these people who were all enthralled with the same thing.  The synchronized Wauh's and  the excited shouting made me smile more than the beautiful show did.  It truly was an excellent display, and I highly recommend it.  If you do ever make it to this event, be sure to get there early.  My coworkers arrived four hours before the show started, and I'm pretty sure that was the best time to get there.

This one's from the 2010 show.
Photo by vogialoc via Flickr

Get there early!
Photo by Jang-nam Nam via Flickr

--------------------------------------------- 

I can't tell if this is normal, but I have this knack for running into awesome people pretty much all the time.  I know a lot of it owes to the instant connection foreigners have in a different country, but it's still a little bizarre, no?  There are so many other stories like this one I have yet to set down for you.  They're coming, I promise.

The 10-year-old Korean opinion of Obama and Steve Jobs

I make Power Points for my fourth grade class to help them learn new vocabulary.  Today they were learning the word "frown" .  From my previous experiences, I figure that they would recognize Obama, and, when I this picture come up on Google search, I grabbed it for my presentation.

Via NewsOne

I thought they didn't even register who the man was until Sarah piped up just as I was getting ready to move on to the next word.

"Teacher!  Is that Obama?"

"Yes, it is!  You see him frowning?  Why do you think he is frowning?'

"I think he is angry."

Jenny added her bit, "Sad!  I think he is sad!"

We had a brief discussion about whether he was angry or sad, then Eileen pointed out what could look like a tear under his left eye.

"Okay, so why do you think he is sad?" I asked.

Sarah responded in a simple tone.  "Obama is sad because Steve Jobs died."

I know that this has been a very somber time for the Jobs family and for the Apple company (not to mention millions of grateful fans and Apple users), but I stared at her for two seconds and then exploded into laughter.  I was caught completely off guard, and I found the whole situation hilarious.

(Note: I do not find Steve Jobs' tragic death nor my country's president hilarious. Just wanted to get that out there.)

I have Sarah two stars for such a good sentence.  That's what I told the class, anyway.  Really, the extra star was for making me laugh so much.

Goody two shoes and sick of it

This post is inspired by

Matt's post "The Most Boring Christian I Know" on his blog The Church of No People

And

Kyle's post "I Wish I Was A  Bad Kid" on his blog Kyle Reed TV

--------------------------------------------- 

When my parents found out they were going to have a little girl (me!), they decided they should start going to a church so their daughter would have a chance to grow up in a good environment.  Lo and behold, both Mom and Dad met Jesus over the next couple years, and Mom said some adorable prayer with me when I told her I, too, wanted to go to heaven.  WWJD bracelets whiz past as we take a quick look at the rest of my childhood.  Christian home, Baptist church, and four mission trips.  Only three years of my education were spent outside of Christian schools.  The furthest I'd ever been from my Christian life was the fifteen minute drive home from the Little Caesars I worked at with the rough kids for one summer.

Fast forward to 2011, and I'm a 23-year-old good girl who spends all her days and most of her nights in a tightly knit group of unbelievers from all different worldviews.  This, friends, has been the culture shock of moving here.  Not Korean culture, the culture of the world.

I have been offered more alcohol (and I have drunk more alcohol) in the last month and a half than in the rest of my life combined.  I have started picking up curse words, my views on couples living together before marriage are being challenged, and, actually, I think this is all a good thing.

Let me clarify.  I have been challenged.  For the first times!  How awesome is that?!

Moving to this community has put me in so many situations that have required the discernment I have been gathering for the last 23 years.  See, I've been challenged, and the Lord has been bringing me out on top.  (Ah, now you can agree that this is awesome, right?)

Now, I have purposed in my heart to live in a way that honors the Lord.  But, to be honest, I have a strange streak in me that wants to cut loose.  To have the risky encounters.  To get the wild stories.

Praise be to God for triumphing daily in my life!  To be honest again, I don't want to do anything I would regret.  I don't want to break the hearts of my loved ones and especially not the heart of Jesus!  I am thankful that He has set before me a different kind of adventure.  May He continue to turn my heart joyfully toward this path and may He continue to keep me from acting like an idiot.

The straight and narrow is called such for a reason.  It's a hard road to walk, but it's totally worth it.

The 8-year-old Korean perspective on Obama

On Friday, my 8 third graders were learning the word "obey."

"And who do you obey?" I asked the class.

"Mother... Father... big brother... princess... queen... president... Obama..."

"Woah, what?!  Obama?!  Why do you need to obey Obama?"

"Teacher, he is president of US.  You don't know?"

"I know who he is, but are you from the US?"

"No."

"Where are you from?"

"Korea."

"So do you need to obey the president of the US?"

"But Teacher.  I think if Obama asked to bring some water, I will obey him."

Elizabeth pipes up.  "Teacher, my family have dogs.  The dog have puppies.  And one puppy is black.  So we call him Obama."

That was so brilliant and unexpected, I laughed so loudly in the front of the classroom.