It's happened..

I hit the vacation wall about three days ago. You know, the point where lazing around doing nothing turns from being blissfull to nightmare-ishly boring.

My entire sleep pattern has regressed to my old bartending days. I'm staying up until dawn and crawling out of bed around dinner time (note to self, stop this behavior immediately).

Anyway, the time BEFORE the vacation wall has been spectactular!

Amanda, Lizzie, and I have all bought second-hand bicycles. We've been spending quite a few days biking around Suncheon (which is entirely pleasant in January, it's maybe dipped below zero five days so far).

We also discovered Wii-bang! (bang=room in English). That's right, it's a place where you can rent little wii rooms (or ps3's) and play to your heart's content for $1.50/hr/person. I don't know HOW they make any profit. There's eight wii's and 12 ps3's. All connected to huge plasma screens. We've all become fairly proficient in guitar hero this past month! It's also so pleasent that the teenage boys who work at the wii-bang are so unafraid of us. There's no giggling when we entire the room. They don't cower and shove each other to find out who drew the short straw to serve us (certain health care professionals could learn a thing or two from them).

Speaking of health care...

Two weeks ago my travel companions and I went to the hospital for typhoid shots and malaria pills. Can you say ORDEAL. The nurse giving the shots was too cute though. In a total deadpan voice she's put the needle on our arms, say 'now' and then as she depressed the plunger, 'sorry'.

Then we had to go...somewhere else to get our malaria pills. They kept saying a Korean phrase OVER and OVER. We ended up in a parking garage totally perplexed. Later we realized that the phrase probably meant 'across the street' where the pharmacy was located.

After we got home with our malaria pills I looked on travel doctor... only to find out that the malaria strain on the Thailand/Cambodia border is completely resistant to the drug we purchased.

Back to the pharmacy we trucked. After many terrified looks and phone calls, it was decided that we would purchase a MUCH more expensive drug ($100 opposed to $30). The pharmacists didn't think we would go for the price! "You must pay $100 THREE times!" (There were three of us at the time). Well okay...I'd rather pay $100 for pills that might actually prevent me from getting malaria, then $30 for pills that are utterly useless.

As a parting gift from the pharmacy, we were given a gift wrapped package containing three 2L bottles of Welch's grape juice (regular, red and white). The pharmacists told us to 'share' the juice.

About a week ago now I hosted an art night with the goal of finally covering my huge living room wall. I finished my project about three days ago, and have been appalingly bored (and boring) since then. Thankfully I am leaving for my Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam trip on Saturday!

I have also completely failed to plan any lessons whatsoever for next semester. Future Jennifer is going to hate my guts.

Shame on me...

I'm afraid that being on vacation has made me supremly lax in writing blog entries (sorry mom!)

On a normal school day I teach from 9-12, have lunch from 12-130, then sit until 5 when I'm allowed to go home. The time period between 130-5 is normally when I write entries.

Anyway, here's some highlights of the past two weeks (in relatively chronological order).

END OF MIDDLE SCHOOL CAMP:

New Year's Day was the last time we had to sleep at camp. So of course the Korean teachers rented a karaoke machine! (and of course I got in on the action). We were set up in the gym, ten Korean teachers, and Karen and I. Karen and I were huge microphone hogs (heavily influenced by the soju we were encouraged to drink). The Korean teachers were really inclusive in their songs choices. A couple people sang English songs (unheard of Olivia Newton-John ballads) and sometimes they would translate the Korean lyrics into the microphone for us.

The karaoke machine also counted how many calories we were burning as we were singing.

Everyone had to stand in a circle and 'dance' while the others were singing. 'Dancing' consists of swaying from side to side and clapping your hands to the beat. If Karen or I swayed with no clap they would all yell 'whoooooooooaaaa' and point at us (as if we were dancing champs) anything beyond swaying blew there minds (I was actually told to 'make smaller motions' after I swayed with both hands in the air).

The only teacher in the whole camp who had poor English was the health care teacher (nurse). Obviously since she wasn't teaching English she didn't need to know it. She is also the nurse at my actual school. As I was leaving the gym I hugged some of the females goodbye. She chased me yelling, 'my too! my too!'. It was really cute.

She also cornered me with a few Korean teachers and they translated for her. She wanted to know why I never smile at school, yet I smile all the time at camp. I made up a bullshit excuse but Really? At camp, I could talk to EVERYONE. At school, I am the only fluent English speaker out of 30 teachers and 300 students. Yes, Winnie is pretty decent, and yes, the other teachers sometimes make an effort. But obviously they'd prefer to speak in Korean, and I am a huge burden to them when I am speaking English (on several occasions I have been instructed to 'learn Korean, so I can speak with the teachers' because of course, language aquisition is SO easy). My point is, mostly at school I don't talk to anyone. So why would I smile? Who walks around silently, vacantly, smiling to themselves?

FAN DEATH

I think I've sufficiently related my battles with the heat in this blog, and the Korean obsession with 'fresh air'. Korean people also believe that sleeping with a fan on, and the doors and windows shut can lead to DEATH. Hence, fan death.

Now, some stories of Korean culture have actually turned out to be less extreme than I previously thought. For example, foreigners have told me that Korean women eat nothing but seaweed soup for the three months following giving birth. I asked Winnie about this, and she said that it is considered very healthy for new mothers to eat seaweed soup, but that they can eat anything else as long as it is not spicy (which is not good for breast-feeding). Makes sense.

I asked Winnie if she believes in fan death. She said 'of course, it's on the news all the time'. So I questioned her:

J-Do you believe everything you see on the news?
W-No...but how did these people die if not from fan death?
J-Well I heard that sometimes when people die of drug abuse or suicide, their families will claim 'fan death' to save face.
W-No, I don't think so, doctors preform autopsies.
J-Not always, only if the death is suspicious.
W-...
J-Anyway, this never happens in Canada. No one EVER dies from fans.
W-Well maybe spaces in Korea are smaller.
J-So can you die simply from being in a small room with no fan?
W-No..
J-I mean, rooms aren't airtight! Air comes in around the windows and cracks underneath the doors.
W-Yes, but the fan...
J-How does the fan SUCK air from the room? How does a fan make AIR disappear? HOW?
W-Well, I don't know, maybe you can find out on the internet.

Disclaimer: I know it may sound as if I'm attacking her, but we were laughing the whole time. She still hasn't convinced me that fans kill people though.

And finally..

BUSAN

Yesterday my friend was kind enough to drive four of us to Busan for the day. I got to eat chicken vindaloo for the first time in MONTHS. Dinner was amazing, but the best part was the aquarium.

I think it was my first time at an aquarium. And this aquarium was INCREDIBLE (I sound like such a dork, I know). The aquarium was deep undergroud right next to Hyundae beach. We took escalator after escalator until we were underneath the beach. We saw exhibit after exhibit of really cool creatures. I saw the most venomous fish in the world, and it looks exactly like a rock.

The coolest part was the sharks. They're not huge, maybe six feet long, but they are definitely scary looking. They were in the same area as sting rays, HUGE fish,ginormous turtles, and some little fish too (I don't know why the sharks didn't eat the little fish). And the area they were in was AWESOME. We walked through a seamless glass tunnel with sharks and sting rays all around us. I could look up and see the underside of a shark swimming right over my head! And on TOP of us people were in glass bottomed boats cruising above the sharks and our heads!

To recap: Vacation rocks my socks!

New year's Eve!

It's currently 10:41pm December 31st 2008. I am sitting in the teacher's room for the Suncheon Winter English Camp. I am sipping bokbunjajoo (delicious raspberry wine). The rest of the foreign teachers are sitting behind me, but casual conversation is no longer enough to keep my eyes open. Although the conversation between nine exhausted foreigners can be HILARIOUS.

For example, public school teachers are allowed 26 paid vacation days in February. Public school is not in session during January either, but it is up to each school's discretion to decide if the foreigner must go to school or not. Fortunately I don't have to go for MOST of January. Just the 5-7th where I need to plan a day camp for grade three students. No biggie. NORMAN however, has to teach grade 1 and 2 students music and KOREAN LITERACY. I laughed for fourteen minutes straight.

Dean is flying his remote-control helicopter in the foyer. That also makes me smile.

This camp has been an EXPERIENCE so far. I was really scared to teach middle school students. I know how catty the students were when I was in middle school. I didn't know how I would handle adolescent students.

The first day we had to take a group of sixteen students and make a team cheer and poster. I was like 'oh Lord, I can't make a cheer! And this is EXACTLY the kind of thing I HATED to do in school'. But it was fine. And as much as they whine you can tell they enjoy it.

I am sharing a room with Ali:) We have a single bed each and a bathroom (with no tub of course, we shower all over the bathroom, the toilet and sink get soaked). The students are sharing rooms the same size as the one Ali and I are sharing. However, they have 4-7 people to a room, and no beds. They have to cuddle on the floor :S

We work our BUTTS off from 9-9. And after nine, the students are pretty much left to their own devices. At the moment the Korean teachers have all left the premises (which some foreign teachers are a little bitter about, but I don't care) and the nine foreign teachers are hanging out two floors below their bedrooms. There are two security guards in the foyer (which as far as I know only covers 1 out of 3 possible exits to the building).

If I was facing the same situation in Canada, the 7th and 8th grade students would be off the walls. I think ten of them would be having sex, three smoking pot, eleven of them drinking alcohol, seven of them escaping and going into town to get into trouble, four of them hanging out in a cemetary, and the next day half would be missing, a quarter would be hungover, a sixth would be bleeding and a tenth would be on fire. (one kid could possibly be dead)

This morning the Korean teachers were upset because five of the boys had had....

A DANCE PARTY

They turned on their music and DANCED.

And THEY are the 'bad kids' in the camp.

Nothing

Today has been exceptionally annoying.

I got permission from all of the homeroom teachers to watch a movie with their students today. And didn't the internet cut out for our ENTIRE school. Of course, I only found out I couldn't show my movie ten minutes before my first class. Fortunately hangman was almost as low maitenence as a movie would have been (I had the students doing the words at the board).

All this week has been cakes and cookies and junk. Just now I had a large piece of cake put in front of me. We also ate cake yesterday morning around 11am. I don't know why.

I must gain some willpower over the holidays. Or maybe even the Korean term for, 'no thank you, I'm full'. Or MAYBE just tell them I'm on a diet??

I had another really good conversation with my favourite Korean lady today (henceforth fkl).

Her children are six and eight years old. The keep asking her what presents Santa will bring them. She told me, 'I sit them down, and I SWEAR to them, that Santa is just mommies and daddies, but they will not believe me! So I told them that Santa cannot come to Korea this year because of the economic depression'.

Koreans don't have chimneys either. My tour guide at the palace in Seoul told me THAT'S why Santa doesn't come to Korea. Either way, Korea is getting gyped.

My tonsils of doom,,,

have finally caught up to me.

I knew it was coming. They require me to feel miserable at least twice a year.

I went to the ear nose and throat specialist 20 minutes ago, but they told me to come back in forty minutes. It took me a while to understand this. I'm sure they are dreading interacting with me as a patient!

Ah well, I know the two most important things...

cheon mogi apayo (my throat hurts)

And

cheon penishillin ae allergiga isseoyo (I'm allergic to penicillin).

Hopefully the rest comes out in the wash.

______________________________________


This morning on my way down in the elevator, I had to ride with an older couple, along with their heaping tub of huge fish (probably about a foot long, and almost circular in shape, like a big decompressed blowfish). Most of the fish seemed dead, but a couple were still opening and shutting their mouths. When we reached the ground floor, the man started dragging the tub behind him, allowing the other end to scrape along on the floor. The now sloped tub presented an opportunity for one of the huge fish to wiggle out onto the elevator floor. As soon as the fish escaped the elavator doors shut trapping me, the woman, and the flopping fish in the elavator.

I hate flopping fish.

And when I say flopping, it was REALLY giving'er. Just thrashing all over the elevator. The lady and I were both hopping and squealing, 'EEE' "EEEEEE" and trying to avoid being touched in the 4X4 space we had. Finally she had the presence of mind to hit the door open button. I would probably still be in there screaming now.

When we escaped from the elevator, my fellow captive turned to me with an apprehensive look on her face. I smiled at her, and she smiled her big, nearly toothless grin back at me.

All in all it was a pretty exciting way to start the day.

AND I have no idea why they had all that live fish in a tub in an apartment building. One of life's unsolved mysteries I guess.

Whining again...

I've officially lost all motivation.

I NEED VACATION.

I've watched 'Merry Christmas Mr. Bean' nine times over the past two days. I am hoping the teachers at my Thurs/Fri school will be okay with watching a video.

Right now I am drinking (here goes the spelling neighbourhood) chrysanthanum (close?) tea. I am trying to fight off this annoying cold/sore throat I have. I can actually see the flowers in the tea bag.

They also sell chrys.. in grocery stores, in little see-through containers. Tree bark is also available. Probably also for tea purposes.

I don't have a day off until the 25th. Then I work an overnight camp for middle schoolers from the 29-2. Then I work a day camp for grade threes from the 5-7. Then from Jan 8-approx March 1st I have vacation. I am YEARNING towards the eighth with every ounce of my being.

I am exhausted. It's really not surprising that I'm a bit under-the-weather. I was pondering going to Seoul this weekend. But now I think vegging is necessary. I shouldn't complain about how much there is to do. Most of it's fun. But when you're CONSTANTLY doing SOMETHING blargh.

Also, shivering constantly is probably also detrimental to your health. The principal visited my classroom today. Apparently we were dying of air stagnation. He insisted all the windows be opened immediately. My students brought out their 'Hello Kitty' blankets and snuggled in. I feel bad for them. Few of them have any body fat at all. Their little lips are turning blue and they're bouncing up and down trying to stay warm, trying to hold pencils while they are wearing mittens. It's pretty brutal sometimes.

This past weekend Ali and I went to Wando to visit Suze. It was a really good trip. Wando is a remote island with a population of 9995 Koreans, and 5 foreigners. There were nine of us on the island this weekend (almost doubling the foreign population). It was kind of cool. We could look around and say 'every foreigner in Wando is currently in this bar, eating birthday cake, singing like a fool, etc, etc'. Adrian is a Mississippian living in the even remoter island of Nohwa. I don't know the Korean population of Nohwa but the foreign population is: one. Adrian comes to Wando every other weekend to socailize with other 'native speakers' (that's what the education office calls us).

I don't think I've ever met anyone from 'the deep south' (his words) before. I didn't realize how thick the accent was! I honestly don't know how his students understand him when I had trouble! (I asked him this actually. He replied, Aah haaav to taaaak laike aah aaaam deuumb). I can just see his cute Korean kids learning family names (brutha, motha, sista, fatha).


Anyway..

Things I hate:

1. Songpyeon and it's ilk.

Gag me with a stick. A lot of Korean food sounds gross, but is actually delicious. For example, pork spine soup and octopus soup are both dishes that had me blanching at the sound, but groaning with pleasure at the taste.
Songpyeon is supposed to be DESERT. I can't even tell you how gross it is. Chewy, smushy rice cake, rolled around sugary red-bean paste. Takes five minutes to get out of your mouth and into your belly, and every second is extruciating.

2. How it's disastrously impolite to refuse songpyeon.

I KNOW I hate songpyeon. Yet, if the secretary offers me songpyeon, it's obligatory. I'm eating some right now, trying to keep the disgusted look off my face. Yuck.

3. How the high schoolers on the bus with me talk about me EVERY SINGLE DAY. Young children saying "hello" to get a thrill doesn't bother me (often) but sitting there having them chatter about the waygookin (foreigner) pisses me off and makes me feel like the bus is a moving zoo and I am the exhibit.

4. Making stupid cultural mistakes.

I've been in Korea for almost four months now. There are certain things that I should know. However, when one of my co-teachers asked me if I had eaten yet, I stupidly responded, 'oh, not yet, I'm just about to go to lunch'. I'm pretty sure the only answer to this question is 'yes'. They're not asking because they care. It's just another way to say hello. It would be like us saying 'good morning' in Canada, and having the other person respond with the details of their breakfast.

This co-teacher is my favourite Korean lady ever. Instead of trying to make me feel bad, or letting my mistake go uncorrected, she smiled and said: "My foreign friend once asked me why Koreans are always asking, 'have you eaten'. It goes back to times of famine, but we are not actually asking that question." She said it in the sweetest way though. She is tact personified. And she is hilarious. One day she was telling me about her children. She said (in the most dramatic tone):

Everyday day I ask my God WHY? am I such a terrible mother? I don't like cleaning or cooking...In fact I feel sorry for my children to have me as a mother. I don't even want to eat what I cook. It's such a waste of my time. The grocery shopping, the preparing, the clean up. And it doesn't even taste good!

Today I told her she looked nice (she really is beautiful, she's 35, so she looks late-twenties to me, and she just glows).

She grabbed my arm, turned me to face her and said:
'Do you swear from the bottom of your heart?

I said 'yes'.

She said 'oh, that is so good to hear, you know my husband always tells me VERY VERY truthfully what I look like'.

I love her.

I am glad this entry turned into a 'things I love post'.