Good-Bye Weyburn, Hello Taebaek!

Ahhhh, slurpees from Weyburn. Till we meet again...


We've been back in Taebaek, South Korea for about a week and a half now. Both Rob and I have started back at work. I have two new co-teachers which might be a good thing. I only have three co-teachers in total (down from 6 last year) . So far things are looking pretty good, but I am not sure yet, we'll see how things work out. One major lesson I've learned here is to expect the unexpected.

I have a nice new classroom to teach in as well. There wasn't really anything wrong with the old one, except for the stinky kerosene heater. Apparently, the Gangwon-do Board of Edumacation is shelling out millions of dollars for schools to invest in an "English Zone". My co-teacher did quite well and created a pretty nice classroom for us. He did get crazy things like a computer that controls everything in the room and cordless microphones, but at least he did good on my request for pencils, erasers and notebooks. :-) I remember last October when he was showing me the magazines for ordering all this fancy equipment. He asked me what I thought we needed for the English classroom. I told him, "pencils, pens, erasers and some notebooks." He was like, "Okay we can do that, but do we need this 'insert fancy computerized thingamajig here'?". Sure Mr. Cho, that's awesome.

I'll let Rob tell you about his fabulous 40,000 dollar classroom full of all the bells and whistles. Speaking of other useless things, the board of education also sent about 200 EPIK text books. All of which are useless in my opinion, I will never ever use them AND there is serious Engrish on the front cover! "Throungh English Dreams Come True", good job guys, good job. All in all I see a giant waste of funds that could be better used for... EPIK teacher training, perhaps?
Sigh...

Below is a picture of the frozen river on Taebaek-san.

Last weekend we climbed the treacherous slopes of Taebaek-san. It was great fun. We climbed with fellow EPIK teacher Rebecca and had a picnic on the top of the mountain. A random old man came and sat with us and shared our food and beverages. He brought along his own beverage, which I'm pretty sure was home brew. It was red, delicious and slightly gritty. I do enjoy grit in my drinks. I gave him some dill pickle sun flower seeds, which he ate shells and all. Yum. After some broken English/Korean conversations we parted on friendly terms. After sliding/falling our way down the icy mountain we quickly arrived at the bottom where we saw the rain drum. Taebaek is currently experiencing a drought and we are on water rations (a few hours in the morning, and a few hours at night). I'm not sure if this is a traditional ceremony, as it was sponsered by New Castle Night Club. I can't really say it's a bad thing though. Who doesn't enjoy a giant drum in the back of a truck?

The only words I can read on this (and understand) are "pi ga" (rain come), "mahni" (much) and "balli" (quickly). So, basically it says hurry up and rain, dammit! I Agree!
p.s. Yes, the Korean word for rain is "pee". You can giggle if you want, I sure did!


And, just for fun! Here is a picture of a dried fish left in a Yew tree as an offering.


It is a really nice Yew tree though.

Wait, haven't I seen that fish somewhere before?

SUPPLIES!

Kat and Rob do Cambodia/Vietnam from rob hillstead on Vimeo.

Yew Tree and Grey Clouds

Around and Aboot In Saskatchewan.

Here Rob and I are, tourists in our point of origin. Kinda cool actually. Perhaps we might see the place a bit differently... most likely not. Lots of big changes in individual lives but in general it's pretty much the same.

Myself and Rob have been quite busy catching up with family, friends and acquaintances for the past few weeks. Off and on: working on projects, wondering around and wandering too. And to my delight and eventual horror, eating a lot of food we haven't had for a long time.

A couple of days we went to the three Korean restaurants in town. One didn't really serve Korean food at all, it was mainly delicious Japanese food. The other two were quite good, and I have to say it was nice eating something familiar. It's amazing how fast familiarity changes. Eating Korean food was a relief from all the greasy Canadian food. Of course, all the candy I ate probably didn't help either.

Two nights ago we got dumped on with snow. There are drifts higher than entrances on doors and walls and awnings have collapsed from the weight of the snow. In my opinion it's one of the most visually stunning times of the year. The snow drifts look like frozen waves crashing against houses and cars. On the road to Regina this morning, it was really beautiful. (Which is surprising as this is usually the most boring stretch of land.) It was white in everydirection with nothing to look at except the patchy road and wooden telephone poles obscured by the snow blowing across the land. What can be seen is a lesson in linear perspective, growing smaller and smaller disappearing into the horizon. And even though we were traveling forward it didn't seem like we were getting anywhere. Rob in his wisdom said, "You can feel really alone here."

And now I've recounted the time to this present point, give or take a few facts and events. I've still got a week and a half here and hope to do a lot of things yet. One of them being taking a ride on a snow mobile, tomorrow would be a good time... I'll take lots of pictures!

It's Cool!

Well, Rob has destroyed our alarm clock by hitting the snooze button too often and with malicious intent. So, it's time to get a new one. This one would be perfect for Rob, I think.

Intermission Transmission Superstition Coalition- a little stream of consciousness

Soon Rob and I will be flying back home to out frosty winter wonderland. This marks the conclusion of our (surprise!) 15 month contract here in Korea. (It was only supposed to be a 12 month contract, for those of you who are new to this blog). This is not the end of our Engrishee teaching escapades, though. We decided to sign on for another year of teaching in the same town and at the same schools. I would have liked to have gone to a different town in Korea, just to see something new, but our apartment here is just way too good to give up. We have seen some of the apartments that others get- and we have been very very fortunate! We have also been pretty lucky with our schools and enjoy working there for the most part. (I'm speaking for Rob here, but I'm pretty sure that he feels the same way)

I know that I have learned a lot during my time here and on my travels into other countries. Maybe in some future posts I will talk about these life lessons but probably not. I often think that traveling is too personal an experience to accurately express without falling way short of the truth. I can show you pictures and video. I can tell you stories and anecdotes. What I cannot do is share with you the intangible jumble of sensory input that I have experienced. You just really need to experience it for yourself.

For example,
the strange mix of euphoria and helplessness that I felt in Cambodia is something I can still feel so strong in me, but it's almost impossible to share the combination of smells, sounds, sights: The quality of the air as I rode down the street on the back of a Tuk-Tuk- a surprisingly pleasant smell of incense and burning garbage, how I felt when I fed an elephant a banana and gave his giant cheek a loving pat, and how I reacted to children begging. These are my memories, were Rob's the same? And I bet that your experiences (dear readers) would be completely different from the both of ours.

***

I'm excited to come back to Canada, but apprehensive too. There will undoubtedly be some culture shock once again. Last night I went out for beers with some Native English Teachers , and we decided it would be a good idea to practice Western table manners again (as many of us are heading back to the West in the next week). I practiced saying, "Please pass the napkins!" rather than just reaching across to get them. We discussed the concept of "Is it weird to eat a meal off the same plate as another person?" and "I don't even know anymore" as well as "What is the word for that thing... me engrishee teachee". It's good to follow rules, so that we can be respectful and get along with other people. It's also good to know that these "rules" are not universal.

And sometimes its good to just sit on the top of a mountain with a radio and some batteries and sing a joyful tune. Which, brings me to my main reason for posting this wonderfulness.

The main reason that I came on here was to post my
Top 10 Favourite Experiences of 2008
(as suggested by Rob, and I hope he does one too!)
So, here goes:

10. Finally learning how to use chopsticks, with skill and grace!
9. Learning to read Korean. (still need to work on understanding it though!)
8. Riding a boat down the Mekong River into Vietnam.
7. Climbing Taebaeksan in all four seasons.
6. Crossing Shibuya in Tokyo.
5. Going to a bath house in Mishima, Japan.
4. Watching the fireworks in Beijing during the Chinese New Year.
3. Petting an Elephant in Cambodia.
2. Walking on the Great Wall of China.
1. Watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat.

If you feel like commenting, I'd like to know what place or experience has forever changed you? Maybe I'll go there too, and we can talk about it someday soon.

peace, love and understanding

The Wonder Girls Phenomena

OK. I've had a few weeks of "home study leave" to get my head together. I think I've been in culture shock/denial for the past 13 months, but now I'm starting to process things a little. Also, I've made a New Year's Resolution to post more often. (I promise!) To post about daily experiences. Just the little things that make living in a foreign country so fascinating and addicting, and also homesickness inducing.

I've been mulling over in my mind why South Korea is so fascinating and so repelling at the same time.

Here is a good place to start; The Wonder Girls Phenomena.

The Wonder Girls are a Korean Pop group (K-Pop). Made up of five very very very young girls (none of them were born before 1988) that have taken over this country by a storm of ridiculous cuteness, overt sexuality and annoyingly catchy beats.

I came to realize how much The Wonder Girls had invaded my life during my first few classes. I had asked the students to "tell me" something, I don't remember exactly what I wanted them to tell me, but that doesn't matter. As soon as I said the magic phrase "tell me", the class broke out into song. This song...



It's worse than Brittany or say, the Spice Girls. It's worse because most everyone of Korean descent loves The Wonder Girls; from babies to old men.

I enjoy this quote from The Korean Times, it kind sums up my feelings about the group and their fans.

"A housewife who disclosed only her surname Kim said, ``My husband likes the group so much, and I thought it was kind of gross, you know, a 40-year-old man watching and enjoying teenage girls in short skirts dancing. However, I soon found myself humming the song unconsciously and imitating the dance when watching the television.``"

I would like to say to this housewife, go with your gut feelings, it is a little gross indeed. But of course that's just my opinion. Perhaps she should buy herself a school girl uniform... *awkward silence* urm, cough...

Their songs play everywhere: grocery stores, cafes, cell phone ring tones, on the bus, and the lovely off-key renditions emanating from the No Rae Bong (Singing Room AKA Karaoke) And, to make it worse/more hilarious everyone knows the dance moves by heart. The people offer for evidence, exhibit A:(High school boys)



B: (Traffic Police)


C:(Flight Attendants)


and D:(Baby)




:D :D :D :D
The first time I saw a group of high school boys dancing to Wonder Girls on stage in front of the entire school and community, I just about asphyxiated from laughter and disbelief. Then I discovered that this was considered normal behavior for high school boys. Fair enough, I'm open to breaking gender stereotypes.

But it spreads like a disease. I often, too often, find myself unconsciously humming Wonder Girl tunes. I spritz myself with water for punishment, but it doesn't help.

Now, this is just my rant on the Wonder Girls. I haven't even gotten to Jewelry
or Lee Hyo Ri (Who's nickname is Hyorish... my students have no idea what this sounds like... fast forward to 3:00)

Jewelry


Lee Hyo Ri (AKA Hyorish)


Sigh... that's just the girl groups, I haven't even gotten to the boy bands...
And I totally forgot about "Disco". Ya Rob, don't deny it, I've heard you sing it...
"d.d.d.d.i..s.c.o hey disco!"

FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC! WHY? WHY!?

Seriously, I miss concerts and good music.