Korea in the month of April

Since we don’t want to spend time in our small apartment box, we explore as much as possible. Sometimes we feel like we are living college life again. We spend many late nights in bars or dance clubs hanging out with friends until 3am. Last weekend we ventured to Busan. After enjoying a delicious Mexican meal we followed our friends through the subway system to foreigner row. Ok, not really foreigner row, but once we arrived there were so many English speakin folk, that it didn’t feel like we were in a foreign country. We were able to share our teaching experiences withe each other and then we got our dance on! I love my space to dance and I get a little crazy sometimes. The few Koreans that were there didn’t know what to think. Their dance club style involves bouncing and step tapping. It was fun!

Once we were tired we wanted to take a taxi adventure back to Ulsan (little did we know how adventuress it would be). Ulsan is about 45 minutes away from Busan. At 3am there are no buses or trains running. So, we bargained with a taxi driver to drive us home for about $60. Everything was fine until he missed the exit! Apparently, highways in Korea have no turn offs once you’re on them. For miles we were stuck on this highway with no exits. Then we turned around, had to pay a toll booth. The taxi driver asked how to get to our location. He got directions and went. Then he got lost again. We ended up turing around 4 times, hitting 4 toll booths and adding 25 minutes to our 3am adventure. Once, we were on the correct road, the taxi driver was running red lights and kept on saying “sorry.” We were so happy to see our apartment and no to mention our toilet (boy did we have to pee).

Although our weekends can be crazy, we also take time to enjoy the outdoors. We love our bikes. We biked along the Taehwa River. We enjoyed a peaceful ride with beautiful flowers surrounding us. I also attended a wedding last weekend. Korean weddings are very different from American weddings. The wedding was at this huge facility where many weddings are held in huge decorated conference rooms. They just shuffle the weddings through. When we first arrived we entered a room where we took pictures with the bride. After 20 minutes the wedding began. The room was generically decorated for any wedding. People were talking during the ceremony. I had no idea what was said, but it was pretty short. There were two dressed up kids that walked down the aisle in the middle of the ceremony. I don’t know the purpose. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen. There was an announcer and a priest. It was very cute when the groom sang to the bride. Lets just say he will not be a singer when he grows up, but his effort was very adorable. After the ceremony we went to a buffet. The bride and the groom did not attend because they had their traditional wedding with immediate family. There are no presents or cards, just money. I decided to exercise my American and I gave the bride and groom a good ‘ol fashioned hand written card. They liked it!

During the week we teach, teach, teach and go to the gym. Last week I only went to the gym twice and they freaked out. I have made friends in my K pop aerobics class and now they expect me to attend class everyday. Well, at least they keep me motivated. K pop is really fun. There’s no instruction, they just turn on the music and go. The ladies know all the dances and I am stumbling two counts behind. After a few weeks, I finally have a few down.The ladies (all ages) come decked out in disco outfits. I mean neon, bellbottoms, booty shorts, fishnet, you name it. I just wear my given gym outfit and call it good. This weekend I went out with my new K pop friends. They do not speak English except for one girl. Except her Spanish is better then her English, so we speak spanish to each other. The instructor made sure my glass was full. We were hugging and laughing and taking pictures. We can’t speak to each other, but who needs language when you can dance;)

Although we miss home ALOT!!!!! This is an experience we will never forget and we challenge ourselves to go on as many adventures as we can. Seize the moment!

Busan/Orphanage/Soccer/Cherry Blossom Festival

We have been doing a lot of touristy stuff lately. We finally feel comfortable getting around, so each weekend we venture out more and more. The culture shock is starting to wear off. We have been here for almost two months and things are starting to feel natural. We love our new friends because every weekend is very eventful and we get to share it with them.

Last week we went to Busan. Busan is a city just south of Ulsan. It takes about an 1hour and 1/2 by train to get there. Jayson and I checked out Shinsegae, which is the biggest “department store” in the world. So, they say. It’s pretty big, but it reminds me more like a mall rather then a department store. There are a lot of stores, a movie theater, an ice skating rank, and a spa. Then we took a subway to Haeundae Beach. It was very beautiful. In the summer the beach will be filled with umbrellas and thousands of people. We met up with some friends ate Mexican food (it is the closes place to eat mexican, oh it was so amazing). We then went to a bar to drink and play pool. Good times. That day we took a train, a bus, the subway and a taxi.

This weekend I went with a church group and went to the Busan Orphanage. It was a lot of fun. It was explained to me that the kids are not adoptable because they have family near them (like aunts and uncles), but they cannot afford to take care of them. There are about 90 kids living at the orphanage ages form 2 to high school. The kids were really fun. We brought paper, pens and chalk for arts and crafts. Someone brought ingredients for no bake cookies. I ended up teaching a dance class, of course. The kids did not speak much English, but it doesn’t take much to share a game or draw with a child:) Very rewarding.

Jayson went with some friends to a soccer game. It was the Ulsan Tigers versus the Jeju Pride. The score was 1-0. They were the only group of foreigners. A stadium guy took a picture of them and put it on the jumbotron(sp?). During halftime they had people kick American footballs into the gaol. Why? We don’t know. Soccer is very popular and they had a great time.

Today we went to see Cherry Blossoms in Geyongju. They were so beautiful. The cherry blossoms will only last a few weeks, so even though the weather was questionable, we still went. We met up with our South African friend Melvin and took some beautiful pictures. We enjoyed some delicious Italian food in the cutest restaurant. Funny story: We were taking pictures of each other and all of a sudden a Korean man offers to take a picture of us. That was nice but then he proceeds to follow us for the next hour or so. He said he was at Geyongju to meet foreign english people. He wanted to be our tour guide and practice English with us. He was very nice, but hard to talk to. He did explain the tombs, fortress ruins, ancient ice house and various locations that we walked to. I think we will run into that a lot. There are a lot of Koreans that want to practice English with a foreigner. Pretty cool, I guess.

Anyway, my stories are not very interesting this time. So, take a look at the pics and enjoy:) Until next time....

Korean School System

Korean students and American students share a lot of similarities and differences. For the most part, if I ever hear an American student complain about too much school I will slap them silly (ok not really). This country is school crazy, but in a good way. Teachers care about their students success and parents push them even further. Although school is mainly academic driven they still go on field trips, have sports days and teach creative and inventive lessons. There are a lot of opportunities for students to become successful and everybody is pushing them every step of the way.

Ok, let’s start with elementary school (1st to 6th grade). Kids will attend school Monday though Friday from 9am to 2pm. They will also attend school 2 Saturdays a month. After 2pm, most students will attend a hogwon (Korean Private School). Or, some students will attend after school classes provided by their school. Some students will be in school as late as 10pm. After school classes and hogwons cover many subjects, but I think most student receive extra English instruction.

Middle school students (7th to 9th grade) will attend just as much school if not more. Some Middle school students will even live on campus during the week because they chose a school for a certain specialty (like sports or mechanics) that is far a away from their home. Their day schedule is very similar to Elementary students, but I believe they will attend more hours of school and the discipline is more intense. High school students (10th to 12th grade) most likely live on campus. High schools are aimed to a certain specialty like science, or math or language. Students will pick their high school accordingly and they also have to take an entrance exam. A lot of pressure. Their school days are long. They have regular classes from 9am to 4pm, then extra classes, then they have mandatory study time form 8pm to 10pm. The teachers observe them studying. And sometimes students will attend more class after that.

Classroom management is at a whole different level in Korea. I am a firm believer in positive reinforcement, but Korean teachers think otherwise. It also amazes me what Korean teachers decide what’s punishable and what they will look the other way on. I will see so many students (mainly boys) pushing, slapping, hitting, pinching, punching, you name it during break time and the teachers will do nothing. I will even catch it a few times in class and nothing. But if the student is disrespectful or not participating then that is when the punishment begins. Since I do not understand Korean language, I don’t always understand why the students are being punished, but I do understand that my Korean co teacher is frustrated. A lot of times the whole class will have to close their eyes and put their hands on top of their heads. She will begin to lecture them and then they will have to raise their hands straight up. Their hands get heavy and begin to shake. The teacher will lecture them for as long as she feels necessary, then they put their hands down and we continue instruction.

If one student or a few students are disrespectful then the punishment is more intense. Many times students will have to stand facing the corner during class time in humiliation. Other times students will have to write letters or sentences. Another time a few students did a series of push ups and squats until they could barely move. This is just elementary students. In Middle school the teachers walk around with a stick and use it as necessary. Some students will have to squat against the wall with their hands out for an extended period of time during class. Jayson has seen students completing work in the hall on their knees. If a student gets sent to the principal’s office, I hear it’s brutal. I don’t know much about high school, but I imagine it’s pretty similar. Since high schoolers have to earn their way into the school, I would imagine they behave a little better, but I don’t know.

Anyway, these are just generalizations and not facts. This is just a bunch of examples that I have witnessed in my school or heard from my friends. But still I find it all to be pretty interesting. I take it for what it is and try not to judge. This system works for Korea. So, if you are a teacher or a parent in the States and your kids are being little sh*!s you can share this story with them. Enjoy!