Crimbo in Korea

Korean children do not like it when their teachers sing. Or dance. Doing both simultaneously really makes them unhappy. So, on Christmas Eve Lisa and I both come into work amped about Christmas. Before class we pop in a CD she brought to school and start dancing and singing. We had one girl cornered, she almost looked on the verge of tears. One time I even sang a whole lesson because it gets such a rise out of them. They don't really enjoy singing or dancing themselves, in class as least. However, I attempted to break them out of their shell by teaching them songs of the season. 'Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer' for the little ones and Elvis's 'Blue Christmas' for my older kids. Neither won them over, which I was disappointed about. However, I got one class (my best class, they are so cute) on film, here they are:

Alright, so the sound is bad like the last video. I'll still keep it up, just be warned.

Merry Christmas! Seeing that this was the second Christmas I have spent in Asia I had some idea of what to expect. The first one being in 2001 when my family went to visit my sister Dot who was teaching in Taipei, Taiwan. I honestly do not remember a lot about the Christmas traditions there other than the commercial side. The only real evidence of the holiday I noticed in Taipei were decorations in all of the stores and pointsettas, but they grow native. I also remember Dot's tree. A four foot tall painting hanging on the wall decorated by her students. While my dream to find a real tree did not come true, no Big Jon's here, I did get this one for 2,000 at the local dollar store. It's about two feet tall with homemade decorations. Although small it brightened up the place along with presents, a picture of Aimee's girls, Nadia's card, candles and a beautiful candle holder made by my Mom. I opened a few presents every night leading up to the big day since I couldn't hold out. Although I saved the ones I was most excited about, along with the cards, for Christmas morning ("It's not Hanukkah, you aren't Jewish," Aim's reply to this). Thank you so much for the gifts, you really out did yourselves.

In Korea, much like Taiwan, Christmas is very commercialized. If I judge by what I hear from my kids the whole Jesus part of the holiday is lost to presents, decorations and fancy cakes. The conversation that led me to believe this took place last Tuesday in my third class, the bad one, when we were playing a game made up on the fly to take up time. The class was split into two teams, red and blue, I asked them questions manipulating the points to even out the scores/let the kids I like better win. The last question was a bonus Christmas one worth two points, this win could turn the whole game around, the red team in the lead with one point.

I slowly ask, "Christmas is some one's birthday, someone important. Whose birthday is it?". The kids are stunned. I think they thought that the question would relate to our lesson for that week. Ha, I like to watch them squirm. Hands shoot up even though their faces tell me they have no clue. I give the question to my favorite student, the sweetest boy that sometimes picks his nose and cries when the other students call him 'Brian chicken' (lame insult I know, must be a Korean thing).

"Brian."

He's thinking hard, taking it slow, "Christmas is... Brittany Teacher's birthday.

"Ha, no. Guess again."

"It's... uh... ha... SANTA'S birthday." The class goes wild with laughter.

"Haha, no. This person lived a long time ago, think history," I hint.

Hunter raises his hand. This is the problem child. His most recent work includes listing Jillian (my Korean co-teacher) and Brittany under the dislike column on a workbook activity about what you do and don't like. It took me to the brink, (some of you will be disappointed in me, some of you will laugh) I called him a 'little bastard' to his face that day. He couldn't understand me, if that makes it any better. About two weeks in he was the one repeatedly saying "Fuck you" while flipping the bird. See? It's been building, he deserved it.

Anyway, Hunter gets close with, "It's God's birthday."

"Close, but no."

Then he says something in Korean which, according to Kevin #2's (there are many Kevins) phone dictionary which he holds up to my face to pronounce is correct.

"Jesus Christ," I yell. "Correct, the blue team wins." Hunter took the win for his team to my disappointment.

Every week we have a journal topic that the kids write over the weekend and, if I'm lucky, return on Monday. Last week's topic was, 'If you could have anything for Christmas what would it be?'. To show them what I expect they help me write an example on the board. For this topic we listed what they thought Brittany Teacher would want for Christmas. This might not count as sarcasm because I'm pretty sure they were dead serious about some of the answers, but this is what they thought up: a car, money, marriage, Lamborghini, a big house, cell phone, AK 47, a man, bombs, and a baby (not just any baby, they think that for Christmas I want to get pregnant and have my own child). I have a lot of boys, which explains the weapons/cars. The whole 'a man' idea was clever, but not sure where that came from. I put a big red X through all the things that weren't on my mental Christmas list and ended up with a Lamborghini. Hunter's journal was the same as mine, maybe we're more alike than different after all. However, Kevin #1 (otherwise known as Cute Kevin, but he really isn't) had a fantastic journal, or 'janar' as he writes it, that I thought good enough to take a picture of:

Not sure how Zombies came to be in America but I am glad that Kevin #1 is on it.

Sadly, many of my students will be moving up a level and I will get a whole new batch on Monday. I have really grown attached to them since most I've had from the time I started working and I see them every day. We'll see what characters I meet this time around.

It is Boxing Day today, not a usual day off like Christmas was but luckily I work for an amazing company and they gave all their branches the day off. Unlike my friends I get to lounge on this Friday while they are stuck at work. Last night was our big Christmas party at a swanky high rise on the beach. Kathleen, Karen (one of our best friends here, she is Canadian, has been here for 4 months, has a scooter named Dixie, is a co founding member of Club Tuesday Party, a great person and a lot of fun) and I were throwing this thing so we arrive at 2 pm on Christmas Day to get it started. We pay for the room, get the key, haul our bags up to the 15th floor and walk in. There was a solid 5 minutes of all three of us screaming, running from room to room, jumping on the one bed as we took in the amazingness that was Room 1502. While we had seen the layout of the condo before we didn't know what type of view we would have. But right there, 15 stories down was Haeundae Beach (and Dixie, you could seen Karen's scooter parked on the sidewalk). It was a perfect view, better than we expected. People were to arrive at three so we start to unpack our suitcases. I brought the same amount of luggage to the condo for one night as I brought to South Korea. The same bag anyway, this time it was filled with groceries, pots, pans, a coffee maker and my small Charlie Brown tree.

People begin to arrive, we cook, decorate with music in the background and Christmas movies on the HUGE flat screen. Like home on holidays the traffic was terrible and the super market packed. Running an errand with my friend Travis, an American from the West coast, was more like a slow crawl in the taxi to end up dodging wild carts and people in the store just to pick up water, cause remember you can't drink from the tap, and drinks for the party. FYI- you can't buy ice, it just won't happen.

Getting back from errands we find that the turkey has not arrived yet. I call Mr. Kim at the Seamen's (heh) Club to find out that the bird is en route. The other day I made my way to the other side of town behind the train station (literally the other side of the tracks) on Pier 3 of the major port in Busan to the Seamen's Club. I have heard of this place from friends that have eaten here for different holidays, but it was my first time in the place. It screams tacky American restaurant, straight out of Ellijay, Georgia. They serve American food all year round but specialize in holiday meals for Westerners and Koreans alike. I pay Mr. Kim the won equivalent of $90 (the whole menu is in dollars, not sure why) which comes to 126,000 won (the won has dropped drastically since I arrived). I proof read the address he wrote down, with date, time and my named spelled with two p's. The turkey is to be delivered to the Palé de CZ at 5 pm on Christmas Day to Brippany via taxi. Let's hope the taxi driver doesn't get hungry on the way.


A while after talking to Mr.Kim I get a call from the taxi driver, he doesn't speak much English. Just enough to say he was here and he was, "A Korean guy". Duh, we assumed that he would also be, get this, in a taxi. Sunel, my South African friend that lives in the apartment building next door to me, comes with to find this Korean man and our turkey. On the elevator down she explains to me that there are no Z's in the Korean language, she is making a much stronger attempt to learn Korean than I ever will be capable of. That's why I keep her around, that and the fact that she used to work in a park with elephants, lions and other African things I've only seen in zoos. She's pretty cool.

We find him, he pops the trunk, we trade cab fare for food, wish him a Merry Christmas and take the turkey back up to the room. We peal back the tin foil to the most beautiful turkey I have ever seen. It was at least 18 pounds and tasted as good as it looked complete with stuffing. The rest of the night was spent eating, drinking, playing games, oh-ing and ah-ing over how fancy the place was with friends filtering in from different obligations all over the city. It was a great group of people, everyone chipped in to pay us for the room and helped with food. If I spend another Christmas away from home I hope I am surrounded with people of the same quality as those I was with last night. It truly was one of my best nights in Busan.

It wouldn't be Christmas without talking to the family. I am so happy I was able to talk to everyone at midnight to be there, in some sense, when you opened your package from Korea. I hope you enjoyed everything. Dad, did you really try the silkworms? Gag. I send my love to everyone back home that I have not talked to. I hope this Christmas finds you well.

It was around 5 am when the last party guests left. Kathleen and Karen went to sleep before me, claiming the one bed and leaving me to the couch or a bed pad on the floor. I opted for the floor. It really was comfortable. The morning was spent with the three of us cleaning up, finding random gifts and things people left behind, making breakfast out of what was left of the food, milking our last few hours in our fancy apartment and talking about how lucky we were to have found such great people for friends in Korea. Though sappy it couldn't be more true. Pictures of those people, the Palé and the party to follow.

Jordan carving the turkey.

The view the next morning.

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This is the building from the outside taken during our ferry ride last week.

My bed.

Club Tuesday Party

The hours here mold a person into a routine that is less than stressful. While there are some that work normal hours at public schools most English teachers work hours starting around 2 in the afternoon until 9 at night. This results in late nights with late mornings and little time for us to see the light of day. That can be wearing very quickly and seeing as everyone needs a good dose of vitamin D Kathleen, Karen and I began the Club Tuesday Party. Every week we wake up before noon to experience the wonders Busan has to offer during the day before work. This past week we took the ferry tour of the Oryuk-do Islets.




I will be adding to this photographic record (stolen from Club Tuesday Partiers) of our morning and soon there will be a video of the crazy seagulls that entertained us the whole ride. We even saw some sea life!







The seagulls were very brave. We figured out by the end of the ride that they would even eat off our hats. Thankfully everyone got out of there clean. Honestly, I think it was scarier for me than the bird.








The Korean couple that was nice enough to tell us to buy food to throw to the birds. He is holding out a shrimp flavored chip for them to grab from his hand. Let's hope bird flu isn't a concern in Asia any longer...











Great picture Jordan! Not sure how these fishermen got there but it looks as though they'll be there all day. This is one of the small rocky islands, or islets, the ferry took us around.





This obviously wasn't Tuesday morning. Rather, this was Sunday evening. It was a nice day spent wondering Busan with my friend Jason. We found a comic book convention with hundreds of Korean teenagers dressed in ridiculous costumes and then we found this:

"Getting to work"

We were discussing different modes of transportation in one of my older classes today. It was a great lesson soley for the fact that they are starting to pick up on sarcasm. It makes me proud. Mickey, the only boy in a class of 5 females (four of which, excluding myself, are hitting puberty and express their love for the poor child through hitting and mean jokes), said that he flew to school today. I wouldn't put it past him, he is a little off in class sometimes... As for me getting to work (being on South Korean transit in general) is always interesting.

For instance just today I was riding bus #22 when a Korean woman said I was beautiful. I find it hard to respond to this. If I say she is beautiful she'll think I am just saying it to be nice. With the limited English vocabulary I'm assuming she has I can't go into my love for her country and culture because of simple encounters like this one I'm having with her 'cause her stop is next. Instead I say, "Thank you, anyang he kassayo," my version of good bye in Korean with a thick Waygook accent. It's these simple conversations, when Korean people engage me in conversation or offer me help, that wakes me up out of my routine and makes me realize where I am.

There was another wake up call about two months ago. This time I was walking to work for the very first time. The weather was bearable as the hot days cooled down making the fourty-five minute walk possible. Along the main road there are shops, restaurants (one of which serves dog), a small trash heap, thrift stores, trees and a steady flow of people. On days I'm not in a rush and need a walk I opt for this way of getting to work.

October 15th was my first day of walking as well as the first time I saw evidence of the true divide between South and North Korea. My students don't say they're from South Korea when I ask, they say Korea. They aren't South Korean, they are Korean. On postage, it isn't South Korea, it is The Republic of Korea. I was beginning to assume, that while they do have differences and they are seperate countries, citizens think of it as one big Korea. That was until the first day I walked to work.

When my walk began I thought I heard sirens (like the ones they turn on for a tornado) in the distant. It was a clear day and as far as I know they don't even have tornadoes in Korea, so I ignore them and put on my ipod. I pick up my pace about half way to not be late. But as I pick up my pace all other traffic slows down gradually until all vehicles come to a hault. The cars, buses, even scooters (that abide by no rules) have some reason to stop even though the lights are green. I knew something big was up then because the drivers are crazy here. They run red lights, swerve into on coming traffic, don't wear seat belts and don't have car seats for young children. Seeing them at a dead stop was weird since they are constantly on the go. Soon enough I get to a cross walk where even foot traffic has been stopped by a little man with a sash in Korean (which I guessed was stating his authority) drapped across his chest. A van is broadcasting some sort of announcement from a loud speaker behind him. I kept trying to sneak past the sashed man but he was a quick fella with a strong will that kept men, women, children and even clueless foreigners from keeping to their steady pace. Deciding I should at least pretend to know what's going on I take off my ear phones, furrow my brow and listen intently to the serious Korean coming from the van. I wait with the rest of the crowd until the loud speaker is quiet, the sirens stop and traffic resumes as if nothing happened. I went all day confused about what happened. Later that night my friend Liz, another American, told me that her walk to work was also inturrupted by a similar situation. Others experienced the same thing. It seems that all of Busan, perhaps all of South Korea, paused to listen to this broadcasting. But why?

Turns out that North and South Korea are not as united as I assumed. Yes, they are in fact still at war. No, they are not friends. Liz filled me in that this was a drill, a drill in case North Korean was to attack. They were not tornado sirens as my simple Georgian mind thought, they were war sirens. Maybe it's time for me to learn a bit more Korean so I know what to do the next time I hear them...

Two and a half months later...

It is high time I revived my blog. I'm picking it up, brushing off the dust and am going to attempt a recap of the past weeks that I have neglected to record. I honestly have no excuse. While my life here has become more normalized with a routine and a solid group of friends there are still new and exciting experiences every day.



Like last Wednesday, when the Gas Man was finally able to check my meter. Most apartments have the gas meter outside so that it can be easily checked and a bill sent without any human interaction. Not all, but some, do not have it outside. Which means someone comes by once a month to check the number. Mine is on the inside. I remember being scared of the meter man when I was a kid, watching him through the window to make sure he wasn't up to anything funny. So the fact that in Korean the meter man has to come into my one room apartment freaks me out. Maybe it's my childhood fear translating to adulthood or maybe I just don't answer the door to people because I don't have a peep hole. Whatever the reason it has been almost five months of the gas company sending me bills amounting to only a dollar because I refuse to open the door to a stranger. It wasn't a problem for the first two months because, if you remember, I had no heat. However, now that the wiring is fixed and my apartment is heated the gas company is more adamant on getting into my place. Last Wednesday I was forced to face my fear, he was a middle aged Korean man. I'm walking home from work around 10 pm when this man walking out of my apartment building greets me as if he recognizes me. Being the only foreigner (waygook as we're better known) in my building I'm guessing he wasn't taking a gamble by singling me out as the mystery leasee in apartment 102. He punches in the 'secret code' to the apartment building then leads me right to my door. It was then that I realized who he was. This was the Gas Man. I run in, leaving him in the hall while I tidy up before I open the door to the guy. I'm sure this man has seen it all walking into random rooms unannounced for years, but still, I had to pick up just a bit. After letting him in I see the clothing rack is blocking the meter. It was laundry day. Since the drying rack is at an adjustable height right in front of the only window in my place I usually put the least embarrassing clothing towards the window leaving my, I'll just say it, underwear to dry safely from view of my neighbors. Since I had never worried about strangers coming in I never thought of hiding them from people inside my place. But now there they were, frilly things blocking the man's view of the 00083 on the far wall. This is why I have been avoiding his knocks. The Gas Man is a gentleman though, he says nothing (not that I could understand him in the first place). After explaining to me, with calendar in hand, that he will come every 7th of the month at about this time he goes on his way. Sadly, my bill will be a lot higher this month. Nonetheless, I hope to build a nice repore with the Gas Man. Next time I'll even ask him his name.