Exhibit A: While quietly minding my p's and q's on the subway, alternating between observing my shoelaces and closing my eyes to avoid the inquisitive stare down, a man with a rickety 4-wheeled cart saunters in, dressed in a cheap suit with a wrinkled, soggy-looking cardboard box precariously perched on the wheeling contraption. The instant the subway doors snap closed, he begins rattling off his spiel in a loud, infomercial announcer voice. He's selling, for a limited time only (limited because he will be escorted off the subway soon by Daegu Metro employees), special indestructible (unless dropped, banged or mishandled in any way) nut cracking scissors! He produces a chestnut and a walnut from his pocket and de-shells them quicker than you can blink. Glancing around, no one seems particularly moved my these miraculous scissors. And yet, you can see the desire to BuyBuyBuy welling up in these people. What if, at some unforeseeable time, they find themselves in need of these marvelous scissors? God forbid they should have to crack those future nuts by hand. So people begin to rifle through their purses and pockets, collecting the 4,990 won ($4.99!) to purchase the scissors. The man sells 7 pairs before the subway train stops, the doors open, and an exasperated Metro employee in a tan jumpsuit herds the salesman off the train.
Other bargains I have seen are special coarse scrubbing sponges with the pattern of the Korean flag printed on them, "Golden Oldies" CDs (This is a man who walks in and turns on a boombox perched on his shoulder and subjects passengers to 5 minute intervals of songs from The Carpenters) and a "blind" woman peddling chewing gum and FDA-approved cutting boards.
Once you exit the subway, the deluge of shopping opportunities doesn't stop. Most subway stops are two levels underground, the lowest level being where the train receives passengers, the next level for shopping and then eventually you get above ground. The middle floor is a labyrinth of cheap shops ranging from accessories stores (oodles of cheap earrings, flimsy belts and leggings, leggings, leggings), imitation leather stores all the way to belly dancing stores. At first, I thought these belly dancing stores were costume shops until I noticed that they only carry sequin-encrusted bras and bejeweled skirts. Apparently, belly dancing is a craze that was swept the nation, and women are flocking to these stores to buy turquoise, fuchsia and canary yellow wispy belly-dancing costumes to wear to their classes. Juxtapose this to the fact that a bikini is regarded as the swimsuit of a harlot (it's one pieces all the way here). It makes no sense!
Above ground, things get considerably more expensive. In Downtown Daegu, the streets are crammed with designer stores including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Dolce and Gabbana and all the other top name brands. Wedged in between these powerhouse names are artsy boutiques that will charge 500,000 won for a scarf the size and texture of my dish towels.
And it's loud. The closest I can come to helping you get the picture is this: have you ever been to Disney or whatever theme park and suddenly been engulfed in a pack of Asian tourists? Deafening, right? Imagine that times 10. Add the constant clacking of heels, honking of taxis, the pulsing uhn-tiss of dance and techno music pumping out from overhead speakers, food cart vendors hollering on taped up megaphones, cell phone store employees grabbing you by the shoulder to steer you towards the latest widget and phone contract.... it's chaos!
At home, spending a day perusing the mall was often just to people watch. Rarely did I buy much because 1.) fashion is not a priority for me and 2.) it's so damn expensive. Maybe some Dippin' Dots, but that's the extent of my shopping. I'll spend my money on plane tickets and good food, thank you. But in Korea, the people are saddled down with oodles of bags. During one of our Korea vs. America conversations, SJ explained to me that shopping, whether it be for winter boots or a few fresh pig bellies from the food market to grill for dinner, is like a sport in Korea. There is a lot of walking and heavy lifting. You grow breathless haggling with the store owner, trying to finagle the price lower. You barrel into crowds elbowing and contorting to pluck the best merchandise from racks and boxes the moment it is brought out. And then, when the day is done and you have 32 plastic and paper bags dangling from your limbs, giving you the appearance of a human Christmas tree, you get to brag. THAT is what Koreans truly love.
Korean woman 1: "Last Saturday I found these shoes for just 12,000 won at Seomun Market. They were the last pair in red and the guy wanted 24,000 for them."
Korean woman 2: "Oh really? See, because I found those same shoes, in red, with rhinestone encrusted shoelaces for 11,000 won. I had to bargain with the shopkeeper for 3 hours before they gave in."
Korean woman 1: "Well I got a matching silk scarf as part of the deal, and I only had to bargain for 2 hours and bribe the shopkeeper with my lunch."
You get the idea. Fashion and bargaining prowess are King in Korea.
At Maegok, Swine Flu mania has finally caught on. At first, all I noticed were spray bottle of alcohol placed on short tables at all the entrances (there is a picture of a pig face, sneezing by the bottles). Then there was a school field trip cancelled by the Principle for fear of transmission of the flu bug among the students. Yesterday, Jay (my mentor teacher), stood next to me and began to heatedly whisper in a conspiratorial tone that one of his students had a fever and he needed to drive them to the hospital immediately to check if it was indeed swine flu. I will find out today whether it was Swine Flu or just a cold, but the fear in that man's eyes! Goodness!
More and more of my students are coming to class sporting face masks, so it looks like I am educating the next wave of painters for Korea. While I definitely think the hype over Swine Flu is bogus, it doesn't stop me from bathing in hand sanitizer at lunch time or treating the kid's name tags and workbooks like vessels of the plague. I think I will plan a lesson on hygiene...
Click HERE for a video of my students trying to give me a new hairdo. After all this touching, I was positive that I would catch the funk but I am still one of the only TaLKers who has not gotten ill yet, knock on wood.
I am very comfortable with my daily routine in classes. My students know my temper too, and have learned the difference between a warning tone of voice and the "Oh shit, teacher Katy is gonna go ballistic" tone. Since next week is Halloween, I have been hyping up my students for all the fun things I have planned for them. I have scary videos (where things jumo out and scare you), coloring games with pictures of witches, pumpkins and ghosts, Halloween-themed Bingo, and about 5 tupperware boxes filled to the brim with expensive, imported M&Ms to divvy out as prizes alongside Snickers and Twix bars. For the M&Ms, the students all have to guess, in English, how many pieces of chocolate are in the container. They will write their guesses in complete sentences on paper, put them in my Jacko'lantern trick or treat pail and the winner gets the whole container! It's a lesson on big numbers in English in disguise.
One of my most successful ideas has been the sticker reward system. Students earn stickers for doing homework, participating in class and just for being exceptionally cute and/or in need of cheering up (Teacher Katy has been known to give out stickers and candy to make an upset 1st grader smile again).
Here is the reward system.
And here are some of the sticker charts. As you can see, I have quite the little overachievers. The most popular reward so far is the "Terrific Kid" certificate. It's printed on thick, expensive paper with the Maegok Letterhead on top. I write particular accolades for the student in flowery, run-on English and sign the certificate. They LOVE these, and often I will have parents come in and thank me in Korean for recognizing their kid. In fact, sometimes it's hard not to feel like a celebrity sometimes when my 10 minute walk to campus every day feels more like a strut down the cat walk or like a scene from a Disney musical. People lean out of their windows to shout down a greeting. Shopkeepers wave from behind their counters and women pushing strollers and bicycling children match my pace just so they can walk beside me, smile and stare. God forbid I should have a booger or trip one day...the entire city would probably hear about it in the news.Remember the post called "A Day In The Life"? Well, that fruit vendor who peddles up and down my neighborhood has taken to driving at night too. So the hollering never ceases! Walking back form the gym one night, I managed to turn my camera on for a few seconds to video him. He was giving me a very suspicious glare over the steering wheel, so I couldn't film for long. Click HERE to catch a glimpse of obnoxious fruit vendor dude.
Also, here are some funny photos of moments that appealed to my sense of humor about town:
How is this store not being sued?
Forget euphemistic names that conceal diet products true nature- Koreans are very blunt. They disdain fat people, so there are walls and walls of drinkable concoctions that tout the ability to melt the fat right off you!
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