Wherein I share my experiences teaching English and living in South Korea.

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day 77

Scouting in Korea
My father, who used to work as a professional scouter for the Boy Scouts of America in Detroit, recently asked what evidence I'd observed of Scouting in Korea. For the longest time I didn't see any evidence that it existed. Then, two weeks ago when I was on the subway with Tammy in Seoul, I saw a group of 30+ elementary aged boys and girls wearing uniforms that screamed Scouting. I walked up to one of the leaders, who was furiously herding the children down an escalator, expecting to ask him, as best I could, if this was a Scouting group when I noticed his hat read 'Boy Scouts' in English! Question answered.

Since then, several of my students have come to class wearing their Cub Scout uniforms. They look very sharp! Of course uniforms differ around the world which is probably why I didn't notice them for a while but now that I know what they look like, I can avoid them. The different badges, pins, neckerchiefs, and belts buckles make someone like me, who tries not get caught up in collecting frenzies, envious. I wonder where the local scout office is so I can rush over and stock up on souvenirs. I can only imagine how happy my father would be if I came home with a big box of Scouting trinkets. I can also picture the green, jealous faces of all the men in the carpentry shop at BYU, the other High Counselors in the stake, and every Scouter in Provo! Ha, ha.

[Note to self: confirm with the Bishop that it's only a sin to covet and not to cause someone else to covet.]

day 75

Carpentry and woodworking in Korea
I have observed several unique things about woodworking and carpentry practices in Korea. High rise, narrow apartment buildings that rise from 12 -20 stories are EVERYWHERE! I noticed them in Seoul the first day I arrived but even out here in Chunchon, which everyone continues to call a 'small' town, I would guess that 80% of the population lives in these high rises that are usually clustered together in groups of probably ten or more.

For the first three weeks I lived with another teacher from Weesing on the 12th floor of a 14-story building. What a unique experience for me. Of course now I live on the ground level of a more traditional three-story apartment building in the type of neighborhood that seems to be the other unique way of living in Korea. In what is the closest thing to a suburb that I've seen, these small apartment buildings are sprinkled among dozens of small markets, family restaurants, PC rooms (where it only costs you 1,000 won - about .75 - an hour for a high speed connection to the internet), and miscellaneous other businesses, many with their own apartments on the upper floors, on narrow congested streets.

Speaking of suburbs, I asked my housewives class a few weeks ago about them and they just drew a blank. Don't take my word for it, but my impression so far is that the concept of owning and living in your own house on your own untouched piece of property is almost unheard of here. Apartment living is the norm. That, along with the high rise phenomenon is, I'm sure, a result of a large, growing population that doesn't have the luxury of spreading out like we do, they must spread up.

As for the apartment building like mine, they are constructed exclusively out of concrete. I have yet to see a wood or timber frame structure other than an occasional anomaly in the countryside. The walls, floor, and ceiling in my tiny studio apartment are all solid concrete which at least has the benefit of making noisy neighbors nonexistent. Also, the roofs on these buildings are flat and usually allow access by way of the stairs, as mine does. A-frame roofs just don't exist. (I actually did see what appeared to be a new timber frame house with an a-frame roof out in the country when I was on the train a few weeks ago. It really caught my eye as being very out of place.)

A new commercial building started going up a few weeks ago down the road from Weesing. It was fascinating to watch the footings and foundation go in - the concept was the same as I'm accustomed to seeing in the States but it was different enough to make me question the wisdom of the placement of rebar and utility conduits. Once the concrete floor was poured, the steel frame arrived and now most of what they are doing seems all very similar to what I've observed back home.

As for woodworking, I haven't seen much. I've noticed two or three lumber stores but they are nothing like the customer-friendly places, like Anderson Lumber and even Home Base, we've grown used to. I've seen several people using table saws and other tools at these businesses to process plywood, with no blade guards, fences, goggles, masks, or ear plugs of any kind.

On the other hand, I have noticed a lot of woodcarving. At the tourism office in Chunchon, they sell an unbelievable array of items made my local craftsmen. It's not limited to woodcarving but wide range of masks, statues, trinkets, and other things difficult to describe are impossible to ignore. They are beautiful. It's easy to immediately make plans for the things you want to buy but I can usually restrain myself with the reminder that I'm here to earn, not spend, money.

day 74

I've been dragging the last couple days with a mild cold. It hasn't been enough to prevent me from working, fortunately, but I look forward to feeling better.

My housewives' class insisted on treating me to lunch after class this morning. One housewife volunteered to offer her house as our eating place. Her adopted English name that she's used for several years is Lena (Yay! Grandma Sanders and Malena) We had kimbop, rice and meat wrapped in dried seaweed - one of my favorite Korean dishes, and lamyun, comparable to ramen that everyone knows in the States but oh, so much better and much more than just a cheap cup-o-soup meal.

I neglected to mention how they thoughtfully presented me with some gifts last week before my birthday. They gave me a slice of chocolate cake, some homemade cookies, and three pairs of dress socks. The cake, which I ate later, was awful; the cookies, which one woman proudly made in her oven - a novelty appliance for most Koreans, were decent, and the socks were EXACTLY what I needed as I've, quite shamefully, been wearing white socks to church lately. Regardless of the taste of the cake or whether or not I needed socks, could you possibly be more touched by the thoughtfulness of the showed? I pretented to get all teary-eyed in class and said I felt so lucky to have so many "mothers" in Korea. Oh, they thought that was funny! (Most of the women in class are closer in age to being older sisters to me rather than mothers.)

day 71

Sunday marked my 68th day in Korea and my 33rd birthday. It was a pretty low-key day but I was perfectly content to spend it that way.

After attending church in the morning, where we watched parts of General Conference from a video tape sent to me by a friend, I went to lunch at Mr. Sao's (pronounced 'saw') house with Carly. He's the man at CHB bank where we have our accounts that's been so helpful since we set up the accounts two months ago. He speaks enough English to communicate with us and a few weeks ago he said he's like to have us over for dinner. The date we set just happened to fall on my birthday. We met and ate with his gracious wife and two young children. Before dinner they presented me with a birthday cake and candles and sang "Happy Birthday" to me in English. Dinner was kimbop, bulgogi (delicious meat), and cold jap-chae.

After lunch, I spent the rest of the night at home and called Mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day before I went to bed. They were on their way to church so we only spoke for a little while. I called again Monday morning and talked to Grandma Anderson who was visiting for dinner and also Julia, Hailey, and Amelia.

The day before my birthday I went to Seoul again and spent the day with Tammy. We went to the shopping district of Dongdaemun again and then on the lunch at TGI Fridays where I treated myself to fajitas for 22,000 won! (about $16.50) Afterwards we went to see the Seoul Temple. It was beautiful but so hidden, in spite of being on a hill, amidst all the confusion of office buildings, apartments, and industrial growth. I'd hoped to stock up on garments since I'd heard they stocked American sizes (yes, they acutally make different sizes for the smaller-than-average Koreans) but the selection was so limited I didn't buy anything. Later that night Tammy was unable to escort me back to the Cheongyangni train via the subway so I had to brave it on my own and, in spite of my treapidations, I made it, on time, and didn't miss my train.

day 70

I was finally paid on Friday, May 10. The day before I'd gone to Jim's office to bemoan the trials of functioning without money (yeah, shame of me for complaining about such a trial). I said I was ready to ask Mr. Kim for a letter of release from my contract. I told him what an insult it is to not receive payment in full on time. Why should I care about the students or doing a good job teaching if I was doing it for free? I was furious, with no patience to work under such conditions.

He promised me I would be paid by the end of the day. The end of the day came and went and I wasn't paid but I was paid the next day so all my worries have been solved and now I can worry about more important things. Jim told me this is a problem of the past now and that come June, I'll be paid on time. We'll see.

My work schedule also changed a bit on May 10. I no longer teach the class with my favorite problem student, Jee-hoon. It's been replaced by an advanced reading class that I teach three times a week during the regular dinner hour. So on the days I teach that class, I have to take my dinner alone and earlier that the other teachers. I don't mind so far because it's an advanced class, which is usually fun to teach, and they are well-behaved so far.

On Wednesday, May 8, I went with Carly, Jim, and Michael to see the movie Spiderman. Loved it. Many of the current movies that are showing in the States also find their way to Korea (and Chunchon by default) where they are shown with the original English and Korean subtitles; so it's just like the real thing. The one movie theater I've been to in Chunchon is very old but very big. The sound system isn't anything to get excited about and the refreshments are about as old, stale, and unexciting as you can imagine but as long as you're seeing the movie you'd want to see back home, who can really complain?

I had wondered about videos before I came to Korea. Video stores are almost more common here, from what I've seen, than they are in the states. Of course there is a large selection of Korean-language videos but the largest percentage of movies available in these video stores are original American movies with Korean subtitles! And the selections are usually very up-to-date.

day 66

As you may know, I am a devoted fan of Rush Limbaugh. His program recently led me to an article at National Review online, written by John Derbyshire titled Why Don't I Care About the Palenstinians? It's a tough read but a brilliant commentary on the never-ending trouble in the Middle East and it echoes the frustration I have with the Palestinians.

Please don't mistake my tone or reference to this article as a dismissal of the complexity of the conflict in the Middle East. I don't for a minute believe that the problems between the Israelis and the Palestinians will disappear if we just adopt the attitude that the Palestinians are a hopeless cause and don't really want peace.

(Although it's difficult for me to NOT adopt that attitude myself - living on the opposite side of the globe, untouched by the senseless, never-ending death and violence, and less educated than I ought to be on the origination of the State of Israel in 1967 and the conflicts preceding and following it.)

I am simply offering my honest reaction to a situation that appears to be escalating beyond the levels that already seemed more than anyone should have to bear. ANY one group can get bogged down in their own list of offenses and justifications for revenge but where and when does it end? At what point do you decide to move past it all, look forward, and live for the future?

day 63

I've been learning the differences between the work cultures in Korea and America. Like Korean children who almost universally attend school six days a week, most Korean adults, from my observations, work six, if not seven, days a week. (In fact, there was recently some kind of national referendum up for vote about reducing the work week from six days to five days. I don't think it passed.) Also, when payday arrives, many employers have the nasty habit of not paying on time. Unfortunately I have to suffer through this particular idiosyncrasy at Weesing.

Mr Kim, the hagwon director, is notorious for paying his teachers late. Five to ten days late is the norm but I've even heard of him paying one teacher twenty days late. And when you consider that payday is once a month, the problem becomes even nastier. Also, everyone has their own payday, based on when they started working here; there isn't a universal payday, like the first Friday of the month, for example. And to top it all off, Koreans do not use checks, only cash and credit cards. So, when you receive your wages, you get enormous stacks of cash that you have to carry around conspicuously until you're able to deposit it all in the bank.

Why am I bemoaning this problem? Yesterday was my payday, I'm down to 2,000Won in the bank ($1.60), I have bills to pay at home, I'm out of food at home, my refrigerator died over the weekend (the hagwon will get it fixed, it's just a question of when), and I'll be surprised if I get paid before the week is over. (Wait, deja vu! It sounds like all my old problems have followed me from Provo! Curses!) I handed Mr. Kim my hours this morning and he promised to pay me tomorrow or the day after. We'll see.

day 59

I was on a roll with my classes yesterday. I've been experiencing a little bit of burn-out, days where I find it hard to care whether or not the students are learning anything and where or not I'm teaching effectively. But the last two days I've come into school early to do what little preparing I need to do before class and to think of ways I can more effectively convey the concepts I'm teaching so that the students will actually learn something and not just waste their time. (Is that a run-on sentence?) I've also grown weary of waking up late (9-10 AM has been common for me lately) so I've been going to be earlier and setting my alarm to wake up at 7, even though I don't have any commitments until three in the afternoon.

It's all paid off in that I've been able to go into class, with my agenda for the comfortably in the back of my mind, and focus on each student. Classes have gone faster, I've been less tolerant of misbehaving students and therefore able to restore order faster when they get out of line, and I haven't run out of steam and energy by the end of the day. I've been getting more done each day and I don't feel like everything is passing me by. It feels, to me, like a continuation of the spirit I felt on Sunday.