Sunday, February 28, 2010
Doin' it dirt in Daegu!
annyeong haseyo!!! (Hello!!!)
If you're reading this you're apparently somewhat curious about what I've been doing the past two weeks in South Korea. It's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks; they've really flown by needless to say. I first started at orientation at Eulji University just south of Seoul where I met people from all over the world who've decided they needed a change of scenery.... This was a one-week orientation where we had lectures from 9 am - 9pm with one lunch break and 20 min in between classes. There were also ‘survival Korean’ classes that we had to attend, where we just learned a little bit about the alphabet and learned some essential phrases like 'hello' and 'thank you'. These were quite helpful, although I knew most of the phrases taught in these classes before I left. I did find some time to get out and meet some people from orientation so I have somewhat of a social connection in Daegu, which is pretty essential when you don’t speak the native language.
My experience so far has been amazing. The orientation was great because we got to hear from other teachers from all over the spectrum and got an idea of what to expect in our schools. The process would definitely not have gone as smoothly as it had without the orientation. During this orientation, we had Korean history lessons; culture lessons and teachers who have taught in both Hagwons and within the public school system. Many of the teachers contradicted each other on the route they decided to go with in the classroom but it was still helpful to start thinking about classroom management rules and the different activities we can play with the kids. One thing that was pretty universal throughout the orientation was that; in order to have a successful stay in South Korea you need to have a solid and understanding relationship with your co teacher. They really stressed that it could make or break your time in Korea. Oh, for those of you who don't know, I'm teaching with a co-teacher who will be in the classroom with me most of the time while I'm teaching. I believe we will be bouncing off one another in the classroom in terms of activities and lesson planning. From what I understand the kids don't know much English at the level I’m teaching at, so it will be interesting to see how I can get them talking in a language they don't know well or at all. It's funny, I haven't met a Korean yet whose came out and said they're good at English. Most of the time they're very hesitant to say they even speak English, but when they do, they're actually pretty good and very understandable.
So the other day, I met my co teacher. And as I said before, this is a big deal because you really want to make a good impression (1st impressions are huge here) and you really want a young Korean co-teacher because they're more likely to speak better English and be up for new ideas in the classroom. The entire process was quite nerve racking. They made us wait in a room in the upstairs of what I think was a government office of some sort, while the Korean teachers were downstairs getting a similar lecture on what their duties for us are (the Korean co-teachers are pretty much our mother's while we're in Korea). So they called the section we were teaching in, we walk downstairs and there are about 80 Korean co-teachers waving paper's with people’s names on it. It was literally like what you see in the movies at the airport, when there's a limo driver with a piece of paper with someone's name on it, except in this case it was about 80+ Korean's screaming and giggling as they wave this paper high in the air. Anyways, I finally found Aaron David Mayo flying high in the air and met my co-teacher...
Let’s move on to more about Daegu. My apartment is pretty cozy, I little drafty but cozy. AHHHH, I'm just kidding, I'll tell you a little more about my co teacher! :-) As I was saying, I met co-teacher who happened to be about 6-7 months pregnant, seemed very nice but very, very shy. I knew most Koreans tended to be shyer but she seemed unusually shy. Her friend did most of the talking and was asking most of the questions. One quick thing about questions; they can't resist the urge to ask you how old you are. They know it's considered somewhat rude in western culture to ask that, but they seriously can't resist. While we were driving to meet my principal and vice principal at the school they were in the front seats giggling forever and I couldn't figure out why. Finally the friend turns around and said, "Hey (giggle) can I ask you how old you are?" (insert giggling just about anywhere) Anyways, I said yes and told them that I was 23 American 24 Korean (Koreans count 1 year for the 9 months you're in your mothers belly, so you're technically celebrating your 1 year birthday when you come out of your mother). They were pretty surprised with how young I was, they told me they were jealous of my age (my co teacher was in her late thirty's and her friend was 26).
So we get to the school and I meet the principle who can't speak a word of English and the vice principal who can't either. They tell me to sit and get me some green tea that I almost spill because I was so nervous! But I fight through it and they told me that the principle was happy I was an American (they find our and Canadian's accents easier to understand, compared to the UK and other parts of the world). They also said that I made a good first impression and that 'teacher is very handsome'. Not to toot my own horn or anything but I did look pretty good! ☺ I think that's pretty much the only way they know how to compliment someone... it pretty just much means you look nice, I think. After this seemingly endless uncomfortable moment of everyone staring and giggling at me I went out to eat with my head teacher (not really sure what that title means but that's her title) and the friend that picked me up from the teacher's meeting. My co teacher decided not to go, it turned out she hadn’t spoke English for over ten years and was very scared to speak English in front of me. Anyways, we went to this little Korean BBQ place not too far from my apartment. It was delicious and I ate like a king. They bring out these long sheets of pork and they put these huge burning coals in the middle of your table in this bucket thing that descends into your table and you take the liberty in cooking the pork to your liking. It's a pretty phenomenal system, they bring out new coals to keep your meat cooking about half way through your meal. After you cook the meat you then put a piece or two in lettuce, then there are like about a hundred side dishes you can choose to put in he lettuce it as well.
After supper they showed me my apartment, which was quite bare when I walked in. It was fairly clean, but just nothing in it. My bed had no sheets or blankets or anything and we had to move a dresser type thing from the hallway into my room. My room is actually pretty cozy right now but it was a little shady at first glance. So after I put my bags down they insisted that they bring me to E-Mart (Sam's Club) to buy some supplies like (toilet paper, hand towels, cleaning supplies, one pot, one pan, a fork-knife-spoon combo and some essential food). Remember this is at like 11:30 pm. I was apologizing for my inconvenience, because she didn't pick to babysit me, she was told by the school that it's her job to, when really it isn't. So I felt bad that she was going so far out of her way for me. I was pretty much falling asleep in the E-Mart (Sam's Club) and finally, we got all my bedding and food supplies! They brought me back, helped me set up a little bit and then were gone! My first night in Korea without a roommate, check!
The next day I tried to meet some friends at an E-Mart (Sam's Club) because this E-Mart was enormous, I would say about 4 times bigger than the Sam's Club in Mankato (I think most people reading this can reference the Kato Sam's club). So I called my head teacher and told her that I would like a ride down to the E-Mart (Sam's Club) that we were at last night because I figured that my friend and I were talking about the same E-Mart because it was enormous and they can’t have more than one in the same area. I was talking to my friend on Facebook chat and he said that he lived near an E -Mart (Sam's Club) and I was like sweet! I was at an E-Mart last night, I should be able to find you no problem! Turn's out there are a million E Marts all over the damn place and him and I were not thinking of the same E Mart, so I got a ride from my head teacher down there and to my surprise, no friend. So I walk around aimlessly for about 15 min waiting for him until I got scared and found a taxi back to my place. I had my head teacher write down my address so that if I showed a cab driver, he could bring me back to my place, smart, I know.
So after that I got back on Facebook, I was talking to another friend and we were going to try and meet up downtown, I live somewhat close to a subway station (thank god) and it's pretty easy to maneuver around the city if you can just get to a subway station. It's cheap too, 1,100 won for a one way ticket, and that’s about $1. So that's a pretty cheap and very efficient way to get around and I will probably be using that for most of my time here in Korea. So, after my first failed adventure with the E Mart (Sam's Club) I finally accomplished something and met up with a friend at a station near downtown Daegu.
It's so difficult to find people... Nobody has a cell phone. It's very rare to get Internet in your apartment (I have a very weak signal). You don't speak the language. You can't read most of the signs. You don't know your own address, and even if you did you wouldn't be able to write it down to tell someone how to get there. Oh, and there's 2.5 million people in Daegu. The only positive thing is that EVERYONE is Asian. It's a very homogenous culture in that, if I see someone who isn’t Asain, I instantly feel a connection to that person. You just don't see any other race other than an Asian. So needless to say when EVERYONE on the subway is Asian and you're a taller white dude whose got about 100 lbs on just about everyone in the subway, you get some stares. It's kind of funny. They're not bad stares but just like, curious stares. I can tell they REALLY want to ask me how old I am and where I'm from but they don't, because they're very shy and reserved most of the time. So anyways, I met up with my buddy and we ended up meeting some other friends downtown to test out the Daegu nightlife.
Daegu nightlife was pretty sweet. We met people from all over the world. We ended up meeting this group of Polish dudes who were studying in Daegu. They were HILARIOUS! They all spoke like Borat. It was phenomenal. I seriously thought that accent was made up. They did the "Yekkshameshhhh" and "Very Nice". It was great. I was eating it up. So we ended up staying out till about 2:30 or so and decided to call it a night. I took a taxi home for 11,000 won roughly $10, which really isn't bad being it's much quicker than the subway and they bring you right to your doorstep.
The morning after my head teacher knocks on my door and invites me to have lunch with her family. Apparently it was her father and her brother’s birthday celebration and they had some family over to celebrate. I was just getting up so I hadn’t showered yet so I told them I would call them after I get ready. I shower and get dressed. I call her and she comes and gets me. We get to her mothers place and I’m bombarded with kids jumping up and down and having to greet old people. In Korea, you great an older person with much more respect than you would a child. Similar to western culture but just multiplied by 100 here. So I get there, and they have like this special table set up for me with a bunch of pork, fish, some acorn pudding type stuff, some seaweed soup and a bowl of rice along with about 6-7 other side dishes. Oh, this is on a tble about 1-1.5 feet in the air. I’m sitting with my legs stretched out underneath the table with all of this crazy food on it that I really was terrified to even touch. It was so uncomfortable, not only because I’m super inflexible but because the entire family was staring at me like I was an alien from another planet. It really wouldn’t have been that bad if I wasn’t still awful at using chopsticks. So I fought through the side splinting pain of groin and side aches and ate what I could of the meal. Oh, and pretty much the entire meal the grandma is sitting next to me, patting my belly and telling me I need to eat more. I tried to explain to her that I’m fat enough and really don’t need to eat that much. When I first met my head teacher and co teacher, I told them that my mom and dad were very worried about me and that they missed me very much. My head teacher must have explained this to the grandma because she told me that she would take care of me like I was family. So that made me feel good. They really went out of the way for me. She also said that if I need anything to give her a call anytime. They were very nice and very genuine people. During supper Kim Yu-Na came on the TV in the other room and almost the entire table cleared including all of the kids and most of the adults. They were glued to the TV. She has become VERY popular over here and you can’t go anywhere without seeing her or hearing something about her. After lunch I had a few small Dixie cup style glasses of traditional Korean rice wine with my co teacher, my co teachers husband and myself. I taught them that we say cheers in America when we toast and that it really doesn’t matter where your glass is in relation to anyone else’s. In Korea, your glass is higher the older you are. If you’re the oldest then your glass is the highest, and so on.
That about concluded my experience thus far. I will post some pictures of my apartment and my neighborhood soon! Also, downtown Daegu in the night is phenomenal; I'll post pictures!
If you're reading this you're apparently somewhat curious about what I've been doing the past two weeks in South Korea. It's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks; they've really flown by needless to say. I first started at orientation at Eulji University just south of Seoul where I met people from all over the world who've decided they needed a change of scenery.... This was a one-week orientation where we had lectures from 9 am - 9pm with one lunch break and 20 min in between classes. There were also ‘survival Korean’ classes that we had to attend, where we just learned a little bit about the alphabet and learned some essential phrases like 'hello' and 'thank you'. These were quite helpful, although I knew most of the phrases taught in these classes before I left. I did find some time to get out and meet some people from orientation so I have somewhat of a social connection in Daegu, which is pretty essential when you don’t speak the native language.
My experience so far has been amazing. The orientation was great because we got to hear from other teachers from all over the spectrum and got an idea of what to expect in our schools. The process would definitely not have gone as smoothly as it had without the orientation. During this orientation, we had Korean history lessons; culture lessons and teachers who have taught in both Hagwons and within the public school system. Many of the teachers contradicted each other on the route they decided to go with in the classroom but it was still helpful to start thinking about classroom management rules and the different activities we can play with the kids. One thing that was pretty universal throughout the orientation was that; in order to have a successful stay in South Korea you need to have a solid and understanding relationship with your co teacher. They really stressed that it could make or break your time in Korea. Oh, for those of you who don't know, I'm teaching with a co-teacher who will be in the classroom with me most of the time while I'm teaching. I believe we will be bouncing off one another in the classroom in terms of activities and lesson planning. From what I understand the kids don't know much English at the level I’m teaching at, so it will be interesting to see how I can get them talking in a language they don't know well or at all. It's funny, I haven't met a Korean yet whose came out and said they're good at English. Most of the time they're very hesitant to say they even speak English, but when they do, they're actually pretty good and very understandable.
So the other day, I met my co teacher. And as I said before, this is a big deal because you really want to make a good impression (1st impressions are huge here) and you really want a young Korean co-teacher because they're more likely to speak better English and be up for new ideas in the classroom. The entire process was quite nerve racking. They made us wait in a room in the upstairs of what I think was a government office of some sort, while the Korean teachers were downstairs getting a similar lecture on what their duties for us are (the Korean co-teachers are pretty much our mother's while we're in Korea). So they called the section we were teaching in, we walk downstairs and there are about 80 Korean co-teachers waving paper's with people’s names on it. It was literally like what you see in the movies at the airport, when there's a limo driver with a piece of paper with someone's name on it, except in this case it was about 80+ Korean's screaming and giggling as they wave this paper high in the air. Anyways, I finally found Aaron David Mayo flying high in the air and met my co-teacher...
Let’s move on to more about Daegu. My apartment is pretty cozy, I little drafty but cozy. AHHHH, I'm just kidding, I'll tell you a little more about my co teacher! :-) As I was saying, I met co-teacher who happened to be about 6-7 months pregnant, seemed very nice but very, very shy. I knew most Koreans tended to be shyer but she seemed unusually shy. Her friend did most of the talking and was asking most of the questions. One quick thing about questions; they can't resist the urge to ask you how old you are. They know it's considered somewhat rude in western culture to ask that, but they seriously can't resist. While we were driving to meet my principal and vice principal at the school they were in the front seats giggling forever and I couldn't figure out why. Finally the friend turns around and said, "Hey (giggle) can I ask you how old you are?" (insert giggling just about anywhere) Anyways, I said yes and told them that I was 23 American 24 Korean (Koreans count 1 year for the 9 months you're in your mothers belly, so you're technically celebrating your 1 year birthday when you come out of your mother). They were pretty surprised with how young I was, they told me they were jealous of my age (my co teacher was in her late thirty's and her friend was 26).
So we get to the school and I meet the principle who can't speak a word of English and the vice principal who can't either. They tell me to sit and get me some green tea that I almost spill because I was so nervous! But I fight through it and they told me that the principle was happy I was an American (they find our and Canadian's accents easier to understand, compared to the UK and other parts of the world). They also said that I made a good first impression and that 'teacher is very handsome'. Not to toot my own horn or anything but I did look pretty good! ☺ I think that's pretty much the only way they know how to compliment someone... it pretty just much means you look nice, I think. After this seemingly endless uncomfortable moment of everyone staring and giggling at me I went out to eat with my head teacher (not really sure what that title means but that's her title) and the friend that picked me up from the teacher's meeting. My co teacher decided not to go, it turned out she hadn’t spoke English for over ten years and was very scared to speak English in front of me. Anyways, we went to this little Korean BBQ place not too far from my apartment. It was delicious and I ate like a king. They bring out these long sheets of pork and they put these huge burning coals in the middle of your table in this bucket thing that descends into your table and you take the liberty in cooking the pork to your liking. It's a pretty phenomenal system, they bring out new coals to keep your meat cooking about half way through your meal. After you cook the meat you then put a piece or two in lettuce, then there are like about a hundred side dishes you can choose to put in he lettuce it as well.
After supper they showed me my apartment, which was quite bare when I walked in. It was fairly clean, but just nothing in it. My bed had no sheets or blankets or anything and we had to move a dresser type thing from the hallway into my room. My room is actually pretty cozy right now but it was a little shady at first glance. So after I put my bags down they insisted that they bring me to E-Mart (Sam's Club) to buy some supplies like (toilet paper, hand towels, cleaning supplies, one pot, one pan, a fork-knife-spoon combo and some essential food). Remember this is at like 11:30 pm. I was apologizing for my inconvenience, because she didn't pick to babysit me, she was told by the school that it's her job to, when really it isn't. So I felt bad that she was going so far out of her way for me. I was pretty much falling asleep in the E-Mart (Sam's Club) and finally, we got all my bedding and food supplies! They brought me back, helped me set up a little bit and then were gone! My first night in Korea without a roommate, check!
The next day I tried to meet some friends at an E-Mart (Sam's Club) because this E-Mart was enormous, I would say about 4 times bigger than the Sam's Club in Mankato (I think most people reading this can reference the Kato Sam's club). So I called my head teacher and told her that I would like a ride down to the E-Mart (Sam's Club) that we were at last night because I figured that my friend and I were talking about the same E-Mart because it was enormous and they can’t have more than one in the same area. I was talking to my friend on Facebook chat and he said that he lived near an E -Mart (Sam's Club) and I was like sweet! I was at an E-Mart last night, I should be able to find you no problem! Turn's out there are a million E Marts all over the damn place and him and I were not thinking of the same E Mart, so I got a ride from my head teacher down there and to my surprise, no friend. So I walk around aimlessly for about 15 min waiting for him until I got scared and found a taxi back to my place. I had my head teacher write down my address so that if I showed a cab driver, he could bring me back to my place, smart, I know.
So after that I got back on Facebook, I was talking to another friend and we were going to try and meet up downtown, I live somewhat close to a subway station (thank god) and it's pretty easy to maneuver around the city if you can just get to a subway station. It's cheap too, 1,100 won for a one way ticket, and that’s about $1. So that's a pretty cheap and very efficient way to get around and I will probably be using that for most of my time here in Korea. So, after my first failed adventure with the E Mart (Sam's Club) I finally accomplished something and met up with a friend at a station near downtown Daegu.
It's so difficult to find people... Nobody has a cell phone. It's very rare to get Internet in your apartment (I have a very weak signal). You don't speak the language. You can't read most of the signs. You don't know your own address, and even if you did you wouldn't be able to write it down to tell someone how to get there. Oh, and there's 2.5 million people in Daegu. The only positive thing is that EVERYONE is Asian. It's a very homogenous culture in that, if I see someone who isn’t Asain, I instantly feel a connection to that person. You just don't see any other race other than an Asian. So needless to say when EVERYONE on the subway is Asian and you're a taller white dude whose got about 100 lbs on just about everyone in the subway, you get some stares. It's kind of funny. They're not bad stares but just like, curious stares. I can tell they REALLY want to ask me how old I am and where I'm from but they don't, because they're very shy and reserved most of the time. So anyways, I met up with my buddy and we ended up meeting some other friends downtown to test out the Daegu nightlife.
Daegu nightlife was pretty sweet. We met people from all over the world. We ended up meeting this group of Polish dudes who were studying in Daegu. They were HILARIOUS! They all spoke like Borat. It was phenomenal. I seriously thought that accent was made up. They did the "Yekkshameshhhh" and "Very Nice". It was great. I was eating it up. So we ended up staying out till about 2:30 or so and decided to call it a night. I took a taxi home for 11,000 won roughly $10, which really isn't bad being it's much quicker than the subway and they bring you right to your doorstep.
The morning after my head teacher knocks on my door and invites me to have lunch with her family. Apparently it was her father and her brother’s birthday celebration and they had some family over to celebrate. I was just getting up so I hadn’t showered yet so I told them I would call them after I get ready. I shower and get dressed. I call her and she comes and gets me. We get to her mothers place and I’m bombarded with kids jumping up and down and having to greet old people. In Korea, you great an older person with much more respect than you would a child. Similar to western culture but just multiplied by 100 here. So I get there, and they have like this special table set up for me with a bunch of pork, fish, some acorn pudding type stuff, some seaweed soup and a bowl of rice along with about 6-7 other side dishes. Oh, this is on a tble about 1-1.5 feet in the air. I’m sitting with my legs stretched out underneath the table with all of this crazy food on it that I really was terrified to even touch. It was so uncomfortable, not only because I’m super inflexible but because the entire family was staring at me like I was an alien from another planet. It really wouldn’t have been that bad if I wasn’t still awful at using chopsticks. So I fought through the side splinting pain of groin and side aches and ate what I could of the meal. Oh, and pretty much the entire meal the grandma is sitting next to me, patting my belly and telling me I need to eat more. I tried to explain to her that I’m fat enough and really don’t need to eat that much. When I first met my head teacher and co teacher, I told them that my mom and dad were very worried about me and that they missed me very much. My head teacher must have explained this to the grandma because she told me that she would take care of me like I was family. So that made me feel good. They really went out of the way for me. She also said that if I need anything to give her a call anytime. They were very nice and very genuine people. During supper Kim Yu-Na came on the TV in the other room and almost the entire table cleared including all of the kids and most of the adults. They were glued to the TV. She has become VERY popular over here and you can’t go anywhere without seeing her or hearing something about her. After lunch I had a few small Dixie cup style glasses of traditional Korean rice wine with my co teacher, my co teachers husband and myself. I taught them that we say cheers in America when we toast and that it really doesn’t matter where your glass is in relation to anyone else’s. In Korea, your glass is higher the older you are. If you’re the oldest then your glass is the highest, and so on.
That about concluded my experience thus far. I will post some pictures of my apartment and my neighborhood soon! Also, downtown Daegu in the night is phenomenal; I'll post pictures!
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