Welcome to the journey, y’all!
On the way home from work today I took the bus by myself. I put in my headphones, listened to music from home, and waited for the good ol’ 5 to take me to my transfer just past the intersection that marks the top of Gokbanjeong-dong. I was also carrying my laptop in the case that a friend back home gave me for my birthday just before I came here.
Korea is a strange place. The food is completely different (and mostly inedible for me on account of a large percentage containing seafood or fish sauce) and the fashion is so baggy and strange that I just couldn’t ever pull it off. The strangest thing, or at least the hardest to come to terms with, is the difference in the way people think. Respect is built into the language (Korean has TONS of honorifics) but if you bump into someone on the street there is no reason to say “excuse me” or “sorry.” It’s really irritating and takes a lot of effort not to discount people for being rude. Trust me, you will get jostled every single time you take a bus or walk down a street or ride the subway or train. People here don’t have the concept of personal space.
I miss personal space. I miss a lot of things about home, actually: food, my car, my friends and family, my dog.
The thing is, regardless of how much I like to bitch about Korea (and believe me, I love to bitch), I bitched just as much about people at home. People just irritate me in general. I am not a huge fan of them and enjoy having my space and time away from them. That’s a reason Korea isn’t a good fit for me. There is no way to get away from people here. There are so many people on this tiny peninsula that it is impossible.
Also, everything is vertical here. I always forget to look up so I tend to miss things sometimes. In Texas it’s all flat, one story buildings unless you’re in a mall or downtown Dallas. Let’s face it, I avoided downtown Dallas for a reason. Tall buildings are suffocating. I miss trees and grass.
A note about grass: there really isn’t much here. The parks are all cement or pavement. There are trees and bushes, but no grass. Kids don’t run around and get grass stains. Dogs don’t have anywhere to do their business. It’s really surreal. I miss grass.
I really miss the smell of freshly cut grass or of sizzling fajitas just out of the kitchen. I miss good smells when I’m outside. In Korea it mostly smells awful. Either someone is cooking something fishy or something with Kimchi or there is a fresh splatter of vomit and garbage sitting randomly on the pavement. Korea does not smell good. Seriously. Ask anyone who’s spent time here.
Anyway, I guess that’s enough. Mostly on my bus ride home I came to the conclusion that life is going to have sucky things and good things no matter where you are. I like having my own place and being responsible for my finances and everything while here. I like having a job that pays me well enough to travel to places like Bali. There is good and bad to everything. Jobs will always have aggravating management and cities will always be dirty.
XOXO
8th May 2012
Notes: 2
I guess I should update. It’s been awhile. We got new classes in March (a long while haha). I’m no longer Deer class teacher—- now I’m Black Bear class teacher, which is much more bad ass.
So far I’m liking my kindergartens. The kids are cute and really try hard. I’ve enjoyed getting to start from scratch and see them progress. My other classes are… a different story.
My older kids on Tues/Thurs are so fucking hard to deal with. I don’t have help with translation and I can’t understand or be understood. It makes classroom management a disaster. I’m trying to figure out how to make it work. Oh well.
The main thing that Rachel, my mother, and I saw in Incheon was Freedom Park AKA Jayu Park. It’s a big memorial to the invasion that began the Korean war.
Christmas at Maple Bear was quite hectic because of the Christmas concert. My class sang “O Christmas Tree” and “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” and they did a pretty good job. Our teaching unit was Christmas themed so my classroom got to be very Christmassy as well.
Each of my kids got a personalized stocking thanks to the amazing Francis, who works with my mom back in the states. They really loved getting to open them and find pokemon cards in English and other little prizes.
We also made Christmas chains to decorate with, which the kids really enjoyed.
After school was out, my mother came to visit and we stayed at the Sheraton in Incheon. It was a great room! The bed was nicer than mine at the apartment and the room was twice the size of my apartment.
This bathroom had two options for getting clean, a shower and a bathtub. It was the most magical bathroom, I promise.
Rachel was with us for Christmas, so we all opened gifts together.
I got Rachel a Marauder’s Map puzzle, which she loved.
My mom got an awesome hat.
All in all it was a really good Christmas.
Merry Christmas from Korea! Rach and I are going to pick up my mom from the airport in a couple of hours.
I think I’m on step 4 now… so that’s good.
This is Luna, my Korean kitty. Her Korean name is 마리만은 (ma-li-man-eun) which means loquacious. She likes to talk… a lot. She also likes so hang out in weird places…
My morning kindergarten class with Miss Emily, my teaching partner.
Every year at Maple Bear the foreign teachers put together a haunted house for the kids. Well, this is an arduous process that has to be done in only one evening and one morning of prep time. It was a crazy, hectic Thursday and Friday for all of the teachers, but we got everything completed and the kids had fun.
For more and really cute pictures, read more…
Maple Bear schools vary depending on your location. They’re actually something like franchises. The one I work at is Maple Bear Yeongtong in South Korea. It’s a nice enough place to work. I enjoy my students and you get a Teaching Partner who speaks Korean to help when the language barrier is too high. I rarely see the parents of my students, they generally go through my TP if they have questions. My bosses are typical Korean bosses— they are more concerned about their pocket books than yours, but if you come in knowing that and keep an eye on your paycheck, you’ll be fine.
Salary depends on your experience working in schools and your degree (whether or not you have teaching certification). You get medical insurance and a pension, then the extra ending bonus when you’ve completed your contract.
Supplies are hit or miss. You get all the basics—paper, pencils, markers, crayons, etc, but if you need more specialized things for crafts or activities you’ll have to search for it yourself. I haven’t had a problem with it at all.
So basically, if you’re wanting to come teach in Korea and you’d like to live in Suwon, Maple Bear is a good place to work. The apartments are decent and the staff is nice to work with.
Hope that answered your question!
It’s been awhile since I last posted. I’ve been busy trying to get ahead with my lesson planning. Lots of things have happened since then. First and foremost, I went with Rachel, Katrina, and Kelsey to Busan for the 4 day weekend of Chuseok in September.
Busan is a beach city at heart, I think, and the hostel where we stayed was a five minute walk to Haeundae Beach. It was FANTASTIC.
Our first day we went to the Aquarium, which was actually underground. It was very nice, I’d actually venture to say that it was nicer than the one in Valencia.
We also visited two Buddhist Temples. The first was Beomeosa.
The following day there was a failed attempt to go to the Stone Temple in the mountains, but Rachel and I only had flip flops so we couldn’t make the hike.
There was a lovely cable car ride up though, so I got some amazing photos. We decided that at the end of our year here, we’re returning to conquer the mountain.
Our last day in Busan, Rachel and I went to the cliffside temple. It was BEAUTIFUL.
