"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 ;)