A Day In The Life

Each morning at around 6:30, I awaken to the frenetic hollering of a man screeching prices over a megaphone, driving a flat bed Hyundai truck full of spoiling fruit. I'm certain I would be on edge too if my livelihood depended on people purchasing black plastic bags full of overripe Korean pears, apples and sweet potatoes... especially when they cost around $2 for the equivalent of almost a two week's supply.

After my rather abrupt WWII propaganda-esque alarm clock is done sounding off on my street, I set about making E-Mart brand coffee in my wee, $50 coffeemaker. To my reasoning, it stands that I should be allowed closer to 6 or 8 cups of coffee just because it's such a weak brew no matter how many scoops I use. Yet caffeine is caffeine, so by the time I am set to go to class I am shaking like a leaf on a tree with energy to rival even my craziest of 1st graders. Mornings are good for blog writing and lesson plans, and catching the conclusions of B-rated American movies dubbed in Korean. To date, I have seen Jaws II, Total Recall, Terminator 2:Judgment Day, Con Air, Speed 2 and a FRENCH version of E.T., dubbed in Korean with British voice overs...

I leave my apartment at around noon to walk to the subway. Because of the stares I tend to generate, I usually wear sunglasses and headphones to appear preoccupied. While this sounds antisocial, it only took a handful of days before my skin started to crawl at the sensation of so many people (men, women and children) staring at me unabashedly wherever I went. Even babies ogle me. I have stood in many a checkout line with a newborn blinking up at me, drool dribbling down their mom's shoulder as they contemplate the strange, sweaty woman above them. I say "sweaty", because I am usually hefting my backpack wherever I go, and I'm often heading to and from the gym. One difference between Western and Eastern culture is the social acceptance of appearing disheveled in public. At the gym, all Koreans shower immediately after working out. The only grungy people I see on the streets are the homeless, and even they keep a tidy area with all their belongings neatly stacked, their hair looking semi-groomed and their clothes all buttoned, zipped and properly fitted. I am an anomaly not only because of my physical appearance, but because I have the nerve to grace the sidewalk in yoga pants with my mascara running from the sweat rolling off of me after a workout.

On the subway, I take the green line headed towards Munyang 3 stops down to the stop called "Daesil" ("tay-sheel"). Maegok is only an 8-10 minute walk from the subway, and it passes numerous high rise apartment buildings, which are occupied by many of my students. School is letting out just as I arrive, so I have to wrestle and contort my way through a sea of children all clamoring for the opportunity to shout "Teacher Katy, hello!" and then run away, screaming maniacally. I have to get my game face on because children are the ultimate predators. If they even suspect that the teacher is tired or is feeling in any way un-enthusiastic about the lesson at hand, they become mutinous. Using exaggerated facial expressions, large, sweeping hand gestures, running, jumping, hiding, screaming, whispering... teaching class is physically-taxing and I find that it takes my vocabulary several hours to recuperate afterward. But the effort is well worth it when just one thing I teach is remembered. I was glowing for the rest of the day simply because my students remembered the word "absent" when I called out attendance for the class.

I have a 20 minute break in between my first and second class, which I use to shovel in a salad as quick as I can. I made the mistake of eating too slowly my first day of teaching. This is what happens: Korean students often arrive 10-15 minutes early to sit close to the front, arrange their books, pencils and stare at Teacher Katy. They want to know what Teacher Katy is eating. Some of them want to eat what Teacher Katy is eating, or at least try to poke it. Many of them try to fortify my meals with melted, lint-covered chocolates and hard candy that they snatch deep from the recesses of their pockets. Ever try to spear a leaf of spinach with chopsticks? It's a laborious process fraught with dropping, so I often will just use my hands to pick up food.... so my lunch is a spectator sport for the kids.

When classes are eventually finished for the day. I usually linger to print out the next day's handouts and to sweep and rearrange the desks and chairs in the room. Ever read the comic strip Peanuts? Remember the character PigPen? I never knew children could be so filthy! There is an unknown sticky substance on all of the name tags of my 1st and 2nd graders... and there is a thick silt of erasers, pencil pieces, bits of waded up papers, spit balls, gum wrappers, food particles and, of course, dirt coating the floor when the students make their mad dash out of the room. Once I've cleaned, I lock all the windows and doors, trade my comfy school-issued flip flops for my running shoes and make the trek back to the subway. Many of my students are already racing bikes, hanging upside down on tree limbs, rollerskating and causing general mayhem on the streets by the time I start my journey home. I often meet the parents of my kids although they act very nervous around me because their 6-year-old knows more English than they do. Usually a nod and a smile is all they can muster.

The rest of my evening is usually some combination of gym, E-Mart shopping, dinner and calling home. Some nights I take the subway to have dinner with friends and sometimes I will meet with people Downtown to have dinner, but week days in Korea are similar to week days at home: I stay in.

For anyone reading this blog considering living abroad, let me summarize the epiphanies you will have during your stay (at least a few of the epiphanies I have experienced thus far):

1.) Friends made abroad are often friends made out of self-preservation. Meaning: you will always pine for the company of your friends at home. Yes, you will meet some incredible people abroad, but no relationship replaces the tried and true friendships you have back at home. For anyone who has gone to college, it's a similar experience as your first semester away. You meet many people and consequently hang out with people that you don't necessarily see yourself palling around with in the future. But the alternative is spending the evening alone with nothing but the internet for conversation, so you go out of your comfort zone in terms of the company you keep.

2.) You will miss the smell of your water, laundry detergent and dryer sheets.

3.) If you are in a country that speaks a different language, especially one you are not fluent in, you will miss sarcasm and witty turn-of-phrase. These are the filigrees in the art of conversation that are lost. Cultural differences and language differences make cliches and the jokes that worked so well with your friends almost impossible to reconstruct abroad. Case in point: I told SJ that a line we were standing in was moving slower than molasses on a winter day. She wanted to know, first, what molasses was, second, why I was outside in the dead of winter, third.... well, you get the idea. :)

4.) You will miss your big gray cat. Or whatever pets you have, if you have them. You will come home and wish they were there for that big, slobbery hello, that motor-like purr or that frantic tail wag.

5.) The biggie: you will miss your people. Of course you will miss your family and friends, but it goes beyond that. You will miss your culture. September 11th just passed, and I felt this desire to be in America. To flip on the TV and be inundated with the same "remember 911" newscast on every station. To be surrounded by Americana, which, honestly if you have not been abroad, you have no idea what America is all about. We are a really vivacious population. We like things faster, bigger, stronger and better than anywhere else in the world. All of those typical, oh just shoot-me-now-I-can't-take-it cliches about America (being strivers, dreamers and people of indomitable, enterprising spirit, etc.) are true. We are different from every culture I have ever experienced because we don't quite grasp the concept of "no". We are a little spoiled... and we live beyond our means because we have the space, natural resources and ignorance that no other country can match. But I miss that. I love my big, crass America. If America were a person, she is the one in the group that everyone loves to hate, but who always has the best stories after a crazy night out on the town. Korea is a lovely stray into a world of modesty, quiet reserve, ancient tradition and introversion...but I will take million-dollar, 30-second Super Bowl commercial mania and deep fried twinkies and Oreos any day... because it's just more fun.

Here are some photos of buildings and other sights I see in my typical day. Already this little corner of Korea feels like home and will be missed once I leave.
Red Moon Fitness is my gym. I would take pictures inside... but I get enough curious stares as it is. What I really wanted to point out is the sign above, "HoneyWell English". This is an example of a "hagwon," which is the Korean term for a private English school. The vast majority of people who come to teach English in Korea teach at businesses such as this one. They can be tiny such as HoneyWell, or be as large as an entire public school and dedicated strictly to teaching English (although these are rare because they are so expensive). Hagwons are about as numerous as hair and nail salons in any city (and are often wedge in between!) Many have poor reputations for long hours, shoddy facilities, unfriendly "hagwon bosses" and most are floundering financially, so signing a hagwon contract can be a dicey venture... one that I did not want to take. The benefit of the program that I am working in is that it's a government contract. The Korean government started the TaLK program 3 years ago and sends participants into public schools in more rural areas. I have a salary, full health care, my flight to and form Korea is covered and my housing is paid for, not to mention the government has a budget for "cultural experiences", meaning I get to take trips several times a month to famous Korean destinations and get a monthly allowance for a Korean hobby. nice.E-Mart, the Korean Wal-Mart. 5 stories of shopping madness accessible via a magnetized escalator that locks your shopping cart to the ground while you are riding so it doesn't roll away from you and mow down unsuspecting shoppers. Also a good place to grab a free meal if you are crafty. There are so many free samples (of everything- fruit, meat, cereal, drinks, etc.) that you can feed yourself nicely if you linger long enough.
A photo that sums up Korea in one shot: Kia and Hyundai vehicles, high rise buildings, mountains in the distance and an orange haze across the sky during sunset. I think the haze is from air pollution, but that could just be a rumor that began circulating during our TaLK orientation.
My bank: Nunghyup Bank. It's known as the rural bank, and more commonly as the "farmer's bank". It exists only in more rural areas of Korea, and on the ground floor of the bank there is a small market where local farmers can sell their produce. And it is only a 5 minute walk form my apartment. Buying "locally-grown" food in America seems like a joke once you have shopped in a market like Nunghyup's. The farmers are all squatting down on bright blue tarps spread across the sidewalk, sunburned with black fingernails from ripping up various roots, mushrooms and other veggies from the ground probably earlier that morning. And they are always so damn happy! I can buy a bag of 10 of the biggest carrots you have ever seen in your life for a dollar. And if I smile and say "hello", the lady who sold them to me will toss 2 more in just because she is so excited a foreigner stopped at her tarp.
This is directly beside my apartment building. Can you guess what type of restaurant it is? Why a poisonous blowfish restaurant, of course! Korean restaurants are all about specialities. There are noodle restaurants, fish restaurants, clam restaurants, beef restaurants, soup restaurants, etc. these blowfish places are incredibly popular, and yes, if it is prepare incorrectly you could have a severe reaction to the fish. but dying is unlikely unless you are really old or a baby. The best part? the blowfish are kept in a big tank at the front of the restaurant, so they are one of the first things I see every morning when I walk out on my way to the subway.