"You Are My Sunshine"

On Wednesday morning, my "official" co-teacher Mrs. Cheung informed me that on Thursday, I would be going on an overnight teachers retreat. I say "official" because she does not help me plan lessons or manage my classes, like many co-teachers do. I was very bitter about this at the beginning and the bitterness creeps back on "rough" days. However, she is a very kind lady, and I think that if I needed help then she would help me.

Wednesday afternoon Mrs Shin (we would be BFF if the language barrier didn't sometimes create a problem) stopped by, she said that she didn't think I needed to go on the teachers retreat, but that her and Mrs. Cheung had a difference of opinion. She also told me that she made up an excuse, so that she did not have to go on the retreat.

So for the rest of the afternoon and evening, I was dreading my impending awkward adventure. Lucky me, my boyfriend, who has many talents, also enjoys motivational speaking. So by Thursday morning, I was ready to take on the world or at least thirty to forty Korean teachers for a two day one night trip.

At 12pm, I boarded the coach and chose a seat toward the front. I am attempting to psyche myself up, so I'm thinking lots of happy thoughts: you can do this, it won't be so bad, it might even be fun. Then I look out the window, the coach driver has just unzipped his pants to do his business with no regard that his "little friend's" debut has just taken place not only in front of the white lady but also three middle school girls. My thoughts now: oh shit, what have I gotten myself into, will anyone notice if I just walk off the bus. Right before I am getting ready to gather up my belongings, Mr. Shin says "Is this seat taken?" (sounding very formal) I want to reply "seat's taken" (sounding very Forrest Gump) but instead "no and you are welcome to sit there." (responding like a formal robot) Mr. Shin is by far the best English speaker at the school and is always willing to talk to me. I learned a lot about Korean culture during our bus ride, and he had many questions about culture in the United States.

About 30 minutes into our adventure, we stopped for lunch. One of the younger (my age) Korean teachers had to give up her seat, so I could sit with the women. It is very common for me to get "special treatment." Often, I am waited on hand and foot, which might be enjoyable if I were more of a "diva" personality, but it just makes me uncomfortable. We boarded the bus after lunch and continued to snack on random foods every 15-20 minutes. I felt like I had just eaten a Thanksgiving feast, so I politely refused the next few rounds, well a refusal no matter how polite is regarded as rude. So two more points against the white girl :/

We arrived at the hotel which was AMAZING! It was called Daemyung Resort and was sitting on a beach and also surrounded by mountains. Oh yeah, and I forgot my camera :( I was informed that I would be sharing a room with Mrs. Cheung, (my offical co-teacher) three young teachers, and the English secretary. I feel horrible and worse admitting it, but I do not know their names. I will go out on a limb and say they are probably Shin, Shim, Cheung, Park, or another common family name in Korea. Side note: when Koreans introduce themselves they give their family name first and thats about all I usually can remember.

Out of the five women in my room only two of them speak English. So for the next hour, I was "interviewed" through my interpreters. Look out Jennifer Aniston, I am a pretty big deal over here :) I had to have many pictures taken with all of the teachers, especially the younger ones. Taking pictures with them was fun, but having my picture taken all by myself was well a little awkward. One of the teachers, who speaks very little English, "I come American visit you?" I told her of course she could, as previously stated a refusal of any sort is always rude. If we were in the US, it may have been considered rude that she invited herself to come across the world and stay with me after the second time we had spoken. Just another friendly reminder, we are in Korea :)

After the paparazzi was satisfied with their photos and Connie "Cheung" was finished with the interview, we headed to dinner. We ate at a seafood restaurant, and no it was nothing like Red Lobster. All of the fish and other sea creatures are kept fresh in tanks outside the restaurant. Most of the food comes to the table very fresh and by this I mean RAW. Most importantly, the food never stops coming. The minute you start thinking "oh its finally over" the server comes out with a brand new round of dishes. For the most part, it was delicious. However, after about round 5, I was FULL. Well you guessed it, my refusal to continue to gorge myself was not acceptable. They were very concerned, that I did not like the food and offered to get me chicken.( yes even in Korea its common knowledge that I love chicken) I tried to assure them, that the food was delicious and I was in fact just full. Another refusal I made was to go to the naked bathhouse with the Korean female teachers. I was thinking "who says yes to such a request" and then my lovely friend Lindsay Schilling came to mind, you would have loved it lady :)

After dinner, we headed to a norabang, a Korean karaoke club. These are a huge deal in Korea and everyone participates. Well for those of you who don't know me that well, singing in public is near the top of my list of NO NO's. It is about as horrifying as having someone rubbing their bare feet on me or rubbing mine, a squeaky ceiling fan whirling overhead, or running in pubic when not in appropriate athletic attire. Finally in an effort to prove that I am somewhat normal, speaking in public also makes the list. So everyone is taking their turn, (and of course eating more food and drinking beer and soju) and I have politely refused like oh a million times. Mrs. Cheung was translating how much I really DID NOT want to sing. Everyone is singing and clapping, and I am really enjoying myself and am happy that I came on this retreat. Then this chant begins....."Lin-Ji! Lin-Ji! Lin-Ji!" Suddenly my efforts to refuse are no longer working and I am being pushed on stage. At this point, I still feel confident that I can get out of this situation. I am feeling so overwhelmed, that I can not read the titles of the songs. (they are in English) My co-teacher is saying to me "lots of Korean teachers are waiting on you, you must sing." So I grab the mic and a capella style sing the only song that my brain can recall, "You Are my Sunshine." It was possibly the longest most embarrassing two minutes of my life.

The Koreans loved it, and chanted "encore encore" but I refused. Maybe the thing I hate most in the world is someone making me do something that I do not want to, so I pouted for a few minutes. After my pity session, I started clapping and enjoying myself again :) The principal loves me now, and he bowed at me several times that evening and the next day. A bow from the principal is always in return to your bow, so the fact that he bowed first was pretty cool.

All in all, the trip was a great experience! After writing this blog, I have realized maybe I "refuse" too much. I guess I will try to live a little from now on ;)

Tell me how you FEEL...continued

Ok, so I hand out these worksheets, after spending like the first ten minutes of class explaining, and like always have to go around and explain again to each individual student. Oh I wish I had a coteacher :/ A majority of my students had a really difficult time relating feelings to situations and would always say I am _____, because I don't know. Therapy is not a booming business in Korea, I am not even sure that it exists. Many of the students said, "but teacher, I am only one feeling, and I can not lie." But some of the responses were too humorous not to share. One girl wrote, "I am sad, because my boyfriend has three girlfriends." Apparently boys are scum even across the world! One wrote "I am sad, because my mom yell at me." Now you are probably thinking, "Lindsey, thats not funny at all, thats sad." But she went on to say "teacher, she (her mom) look like lion" and then put both hands beside her face like paws and growled in my face. One student wrote, "I am tired, because my teacher's lesson is boring." Yep, thats my class she is referring to :( However, the most ridiculous responses came from one of my 3rd grade classes. These girls are 16 in Korea, and 15 in the US. I thought the age had to do with everyone's birthday also being on January 1st. But a Korean teacher explained that at birth you are 1, they count the time in the mother's womb (which makes me nauseous total side note) so then at your U.S. "1st" birthday you are actually 2. These girls have a male homeroom teacher, who well no sugarcoating they DESPISE. I don't really understand, I like him, he is one of the few teachers that goes out of his way to talk to me. But at some level, I could see how his actions may be a "bit" smothering, and he is always talking about how disrespectful the students are, so he is probably overly authoritative or weak in class. I have not seen him interact with the students, so this is merely assumptions. (and yes I know about assumptions) Anyways, about a paragraph ago, I was going to share their thoughts with you, so I will collect mine and follow through. Some of the responses, most of which were regarding their homeroom teacher, were "Mr. **** makes me feel sick, because he looks like a dog." Mr. **** makes me feel dirty, because he is dirty." "Mr. **** makes me mad, because I told him that he is so ugly and he mad at me." These comments continued and were on about 1/3 of a class of 34. Know being the social worker that I am, I explored the dirty comment, and she literally meant he looks dirty as in unclean. So at the end of every class, I would walk around asking each student "How are you?" and half of them responded "I am fine, thank you and you?" Two lessons teacher (me) learned: my teaching is completely ineffective and never ask a korean middle school girl to share her TRUE feelings. If you are feeling bad for me, STOP, all in all this was one of my good days of teaching :)

Tell me how you FEEL....ok ok maybe not THAT much

So my lesson for one week was regarding different responses to the question "How are you?" Korean students have been drilled with formal responses, and as a result they often answer like little robots. You say "How are you?" They say, "I am fine, thank you, and you?" One day a very energetic young lady had an entire conversation with me, and I never once opened my mouth to reply. She said "Teacher how are you?" and before I could utter a sound she said "Oh I am fine, thank you and you?" and then "I am fine, thank you for asking." "It was nice to meet you" "Oh it was nice to meet you too." It was quite comical, but I decided that a lesson exploring alternatives was a MUST. So we listed all types of both emotional feelings and physical states that can be used to answer "How are you?" They had to write examples using I feel _____, because_________. and also My _______ makes me feel __________ when they ________. I hope all my social work friends will be proud that my English lesson also served as a therapy lesson on feelings :)

(This entry is far from finished, but I have a SKYPE date with my Bestie...so check back for the rest in a few days)

Korean "Cheaters"

I'm feeling overwhelmed, because I have not blogged in a few weeks. These next few entries will be an overview of the big happenings in the past few weeks, its too daunting to blog on day to day events :/

But first lets rewind to the weekend Trav and I made the trek to Hadang. I can not even begin to fathom how I forgot to mention this Korean encounter. If you have ever been awake and watching television really really late at night in the US, (and no this is not regarding any "pay per views") you may have stumbled on a very classy show called Cheaters. If you have not had the pleasure, you should probably youtube it right this instant, but for the meantime here is a brief synopsis: One partner suspects that the other partner is cheating on them, so they hire this TV show to investigate. The show always ends with a culmination of hysterical crying, endless tirades of curse words, and if its a really sensational episode the final scene is a physical altercation which always involves a hair pull or two.

Lights, Camera, Action! Travis and Lindsey are casually strolling down the streets of Hadang. It is a beauitful day, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, (or the cars are honking), and all the people are smiling and laughing. Meanwhile, a Korean woman has just caught her husband cheating on her with some "dirty hoe" from his work place and the confrontation is about to ensue. While, my Korean language skills are limited, there are certain situations where a lack of skill does not keep me from succesfully interpretting the message. This Korean "homegirl's" (thats for you Candy) use of language was so colorful that impressionist painters would have truly been inspired. Her tirade continued for several minutes, which seemed to last an eternity, and then she simply stopped and walked away. Let's be honest, I was hoping for a hair pull or two ;) I think this was one of those "you had to be there" moments to really appreciate the experience. I will forever regret missing this opportunity to publicly embarass my two best friends, who were once on the receiving end of a similar situation, but I would like them to remain my two best friends so this is all I will say :BRA AND PANTY SETS :) Love you Liss and Alicia

My Trek up the Mountain for Babies :)

Our intentions for this weekend were to go shopping for things for the apartment. I was going to attempt to live a "dorm style" life but it is so depressing and empty in the apartment. Well the shopping trip ended with only a mat to sleep on. Lots of teachers will be leaving in August, so hopefully we will be able to buy some of their stuff to fill our penthouse ;) I did find the most amazing bright fuschia chair and there was also a zebra print one, but Travis didn't approve :(

On Sunday, I put on my baby mt climbing shoes and headed for my baby mountain. It was very relaxing just me, Colbie Calait, Jack Johnson, Brett Dennen, Third Eye Blind, John Mayer, Elton John, and Pat Monahan even tagged along for a few minutes. I started by Atilla the Hun (just a joke Soulmate you will enjoy this except for the fact I am butchering the actual details of history) and climbed up, up, up, up and sweat dripped down, down, down, down. I ended up taking the wrong path, but found the Buddhist temples. ( I dont really know if this is correct terminology) It was really peaceful and serene, until Three Days Grace had to come along and ruin the moment!
Anyways, on my walk back home a little Korean girl, she was probably five or six, came out of a convenience store with her cheeks full of the cookie. She said "hi" and then in Korean offered me the cookie. She shoved her slobbery half chewed cookie in my face, all while talking with her mouth full. Sorry Korean girl with chocolate, but you have been voted out for the cutest Korean kid moment. Not all of you maybe aware, but I have a certain weakness. This weakness is for anything with wrinkles whether it be a chubby baby, child, wrinkly puppy, or my personal favorite an old wrinkly person! So this girl takes the cake or in her case a half chewed slobbery cookie, which I so graciously let her keep :)

Only one other post for today. During my walks to school, I often pass the same little boy. He is probably nine or ten. The first three times, I passed him, he covered his mouth with both hands and ran past me as quickly as his little legs would carry him. Well, lucky for him, my cooties shot is still working after all these years. I have passed him a few additional times in the last two weeks, and he no longer holds his breath and runs. I really feel like our relationship has moved to the next level, and next time I pass him I am going to............say hello! I know its radical, but I must try :)

Interesting...

My third week of school. This week was exam week for my students, so I was told that on Monday I would have class, and the rest of the week, I would proctor (stand in the back of a classroom) exams during the morning and could leave in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, Travis and I went to play soccer with the other "white people." (as Chelsea would say) Anyone that knows me knows that my athletic skills are well missing, lacking, unaccounted for, nowhere to be found, I think you get the gist. SO I watched "pretty athletic" Travis play with the other white people. Most of them are from Canada and a few are other places possibly Australia or Europe.
On Thursday, I was invited to an English teachers dinner. I was excited to get to talk with my fellow English teachers. Oh my disappointment, the entire lunch conversation was in Korean with the exception of the man sitting next to me making occasional conversation. I tried not to be upset, because its not like I EXPECT them to speak English just because I do. But one would assume (yes I know that makes an ass out of you and me) that some English conversation would occur. It is interesting (and by interesting I mean hypocrytical), because they expect the students to be willing to practice their English; however, they had a golden opportunity to practice in a small group and did not take the opportunity. My conversation with the male teacher was "interesting" (this does not mean hypocrytical I do not even know what this interesting really means) He said I must join the gym and work out with him every day. Thanks pal but I have been running :) And that I also must hike with him, because the mountain I hike on is for babies. Lets be honest, he may not have said "for babies" but the translation was clear! Korean culture would dictate that I take all this in stride, because I am both a woman and much younger than him. I tried I really did, but some comment was going to impulsively come out at some point. So after dinner, I was told that I would need to ride "on" his car to my apartment. ( I had rode with ladies on the way to the restaurant) So I put on my sweetest smile and said "Could I please ride in your car, or must I ride on it?" I plead not responsible for my actions due to genetics and will attribute my sarcasm to my Grandpa Donald. During the car ride home, the prnicipal (who speaks no English) instructed the male teacher to ask me.......will it be something insightful, profound, philosophical, or possibly(a tribute to Linny Lou and the Ringer) earth shattering? Is your hair color natural? Yes it is, and thank you for realy wanting to know the real me ;)
On Friday, I was told about an hour before afternoon classes that we would in fact be having afternoon classes, so I whipped together a lesson. Let's just say the Education Dept at Franklin College would not have been proud of that one :)

Charming Ways of Korean Men

On Sunday, Trav and I made the trek to the new downtown of Mokpo, Hadang. There is a place called Peace Park which is a boardwalk full of people of all ages on bicycles, rollerblades, and out just enjoying the weather. There were so many cute Korean children, it was nice to see the innocence before they grow up and enter my classroom. Another ATW siting was children in the little battery operated cars. I was never cool enough to have one (thanks mom and dad) but there were places to rent them at Peace Park. Unfortunately, I think I passed the weight limit awhile ago. I decided we needed to watch a movie, before making the trek back. We managed to order tickets, get popcorn and a drink, and find our assigned seats. Yes in Korea, you choose your seats when ordering tickets and are expected to find and sit in that seat during the movie. We also had to "take a number" to wait in line to purchase our tickets. This "take a number" is also used at the bank. We watched Knight and Day, I liked the movie and the Koreans did too judging from their laughter. Who knew reading subtitles could still make you laugh?! After the movies, we headed toward home. On the way home, I was "hit on" by a Korean man. This entailed him pulling up next to me on his bicycle, rolling up his shirt sleeve to show me his tattoo,(the ones my students are always drawing on eachother look more professional) and flexing his arms to show me how strong he was. All without a word of English spoken, Trav is really going to have to up his game if he wants to keep me ;) We stopped at HomePlus (4story WalMart) and picked up a few things. Trav was carrying his backpack and the swiffer broom, so I grabbed the plastic tote with our other stuff in it. This in Korea is not acceptable. On our way home, a man who spoke decent English started talking to us, and could not understand why I was carrying our stuff. He even offered to carry it to my house for me. Travis who???? I kid I kid :)