Korea = Serious Business

Last weekend was really fun! On Friday night, I went out to dinner and a bar with some foreigner friends. Saturday night my homestay parents took me to a musical. It was in this outdoor, natural theatre. It was absolutely gorgeous, and really spacious. They had horses in the show and everything because there was so much room. It was a historical drama about a king and his princess who were overthrown by political enemies. There was also a female general who fell in love with a male general, and they died in battle together. It was an absolutely beautiful show, and the singing was gorgeous. I couldn't understand a word, of course, but that didn't matter because the acting and music said it all.

Sunday, I went to an Italian restaurant and then this awesome little cafe with some foreigner friends. The cafe was really cool because you could play board games, and as long as you bought at least one drink, you got all the free popcorn, toast with jam and butter, coffee, and tea that you wanted. We played Apples to Apples and Scrabble, and it was such an amazing time; especially because I had been feeling particularly homesick that day.

Then, on Sunday night my host parents took me bowling. Let me disabuse all you waygooks (foreigners): bowling in Korea is not like bowling in the US. It is serious business, as are all sports. There was not food or a bar in sight, and the place was spotless. It took me about two seconds to realize that this was a legitimate sports arena to the Koreans. Koreans are extremely competitive and somehow (sorry to generalize!) all really good at sports. I had the lowest score by far in the ENTIRE alley, and I had a 100 (best score I've ever gotten by the way, thank you). But, I had a really good time, and my host dad gave me some tips, so each game we played my score improved. Here is a photo of me with my host parents:

My host parents and I at the bowling alley.

 Tonight, my host parents took me out for a walk along the river. It's a very large river, so the breeze was excellent, and we could actually see the stars, which is rare in Korea due to all the big cities and the lights. We walked for quite some time. Along the way we passed many parks, tracks, soccer fields, and random musicians. After about a half an hour, we came to our destination. It was an absolutely breathtaking fountain and light show, set to classical music. I was completely enraptured, and so happy that my host parents took me to see it. It was honestly one of the best moments of my life. The walk home was some good exercise, and my host father dropped this gem on me, probably something I will always remember: "When body sweats, mind is clear."



School is going well, I'm just moving along. I love the students, and they really give me a lot of joy and energy. I have to admit though, I am pretty excited that I have an entire week off soon...

So that's all for updates, but now, for some Cultural Musings by Meghan Thomas:


Being an English teacher in a foreign country is like learning English all over again. Everything you used/knew in college is now out the window, and one must resort to middle school again. Cutting out the slang, contractions, idioms, and other shortenings (wanna, gonna) is an everyday, conscious process. Yesterday I said "obviously" at least twice before I realized that the students probably have no idea what that means. And it's extra tricky because I have advanced students. So I am lulled into speaking in my usual vocabulary and speed, and have to switch back out when I notice it.

I am coming to realize that Korea is the country that never sleeps. People here stay up exercising, chatting, or even working until the wee hours. And then they are up to do it all again at 6:30a. My host father works 7:30a-6:30p every day of the week and half days every Saturday. The other teachers at my school work from 8a until 11:30p every week day. Those are literally the hours that the teachers are in the school. I do not envy them. When I say Korea is serious business, they really are. They are serious about education, about sports, about drinking, about working, and about relationships. It seems to me to be a whole country full of people who throw their whole selves into whatever they are doing.

I believe I can relate.

Back to School

Monday I started my first day at Poongsan High School! It is a small, private high school. There are less than 400 students. I teach the first and second grade, so basically sophomores and juniors. In Korea, high school is only three years, and they start over counting the grades at each school. The school is split into two basic groups, the students who tested into the school and live in the dormitories, and the local students. I teach 3 or 4 classes a day, most days finished at 3:00pm.

On Monday, my co-teacher, Mr. Lee, picked me up bright and early at 7:30am to head to school. When I arrived, I met a lot of the teachers and introduced myself (in Korean!!) to the gyomushil (teacher's office). In Korea, all the teachers share one large office and go to the students' rooms instead of the students changing rooms. Then, my co-teacher informed me that I would also introduce myself to the students. I don't know what I had in mind, but it was definitely not an assembly of all of the students, during which the principal talked for 20 minutes (presumably about me, but what could he know that would take 20 minutes?) and then I spoke. I pretty much just told the students a little about myself and told them I was very happy to be there. My co-teacher took pictures:

The principal and I.

Giving a speech.

I have no idea what I was laughing at, because the man does not speak one word of English.

All the students and teachers.

I taught my first few classes and all went well. Later Monday afternoon, I got my first taste of infamous Korean schedule changes. So apparently, schedules are never really set until... well... it's actually happening. So, I am getting ready to go to my last class of the day and the teacher across from me tells me that we don't have class, we have a celebrity coming for a school-wide talk. Oh... thanks. And by the way, the "celebrity" was a famous math tutor! And the kids were acting like he was a movie star or something. Only in Korea.

The kids are so sweet and funny, they make me laugh a lot. I think I am really going to like teaching them. The teachers are also really nice. Even if they don't speak English, they go out of their way to be nice. They always greet me, and keep buying me coffee! I swear, I'm going to be wired for the next year. The school grounds are gorgeous and the students keep it really clean. The cafeteria food is... okay. The cafeteria is under construction, so it's apparently not their best fare (thankfully).

So I have made friends with the teacher across from me; he is an English teacher about my age. This is his first year teaching so we swap ideas a lot. I've also made friends with a few female teachers. Some of them speak English and some don't. At lunch, we mostly sit gender segregated because it's a very conservative school, so I've gotten to know them a little. Yesterday I was very pleased and honored because they asked me to take a walk with them after lunch. It was very nice to spend time with women my age ^^.

In my whole, you know, week of experience in the Korean education system, I have noticed a few things. One is that teachers are highly respected. They are considered an essential part of the society. Another thing is that the system is not perfect. Although Korea is first in the world in reading, math, and science scores, there are a few aspects of their schooling that doesn't sit well with me. One is that the students NEVER have time for anything but studying. High school students go to class from 8:00am until 5:00pm. From 5:30pm until 11:30pm or midnight, they go to cram schools, called hagwons, where they study with tutors and do their homework. And they have school every other Saturday as well. They have 220 school days, compared to the US's 180 school days.

The other part that I am dissatisfied with is the supposed integration of the students. Students are separated into homerooms. These homeroom classes stay together all year long, in the same classroom, while their teachers move around to them. The students do not have the same 7 classes everyday, but rather a mixed schedule. Korea standarized tests all the time. So, generally, homerooms are made up of the 2-3 best students and 2-3 worst students, with all the others spread out through the homerooms. My school is small, so there are only 4 homerooms per grade. So I teach classes 1-1 (year 1, homeroom 1), 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4. These are all the first grade students. Then, I teach second grade as well, the year during which students have to choose a "major:" either science or "other." So I teach 2-1, 2-2, 2-3a, 2-3b (the two science major classes), and 2-4.

Ok, so here's my actual concern: all the X-4 classes are the local students. They are lumped together regardless of level just because they are not boarding students, and they are even separated in the school. These classes are also co-ed, as opposed to the other gender segregated classes. While I am not necessarily advocating gender segregation, what I am doing is trying to point out that these students are treated differently. They are considered less important and "stupider" than the other students. The worst part is that there are special needs students in my classes who clearly are not getting the support they need. There is one student in one of my first grade classes and another in one of my second grade classes.

I had no idea I had learning disabled students until, in the middle of class, I am calling on each student to tell me in English one thing that they like and one thing they don't. I call on the student and she just stares at me. All the other students start yelling, "teacher, teacher, she... different. Special." Finally, one student remembered the word, "handicap! Teacher, handicap!" It was painful. What was worse was when I realized that the activity I had planned for the class would really not work for this student. She clearly did not understand a word I said, and when the students tried to explain the directions to her in Korean, she just stared at them. Finally, I gave her some markers and paper to draw on while we moved on. I honestly didn't know what else to do. It made me feel very inadequate as a teacher, as well as just plain bad as a fellow human.

Because Korea is a collectivist society, individual needs are sometimes overlooked. I'm afraid that this is the case in regard to special needs students in many schools. However, times are changing and I found out that the special needs students in my school see a specialist three times a week. While I disagree that completely removing special needs students and isolating them all together is not a good strategy, neither is thrusting them into the classroom with 30 other students and not addressing their needs. I honestly don't know what to do to differentiate my lessons to include them, while still challenging the other students. Luckily I was a little more prepared for the second time it happened, but not much.

So, there are good things and bad things about the system here, just like at home. As I become more familiar with the school and how it works, I hope to better formulate a plan to really help these students.

On a lighter note, I finally snagged some pics of my apartment. For your viewing pleasure:

Space toilet... I have no idea what all those buttons do.

Space toiletttttt

Also a space shower. It has four different shower heads at various heights. Why? I don't know.

Living room area.

If you look out the balcony window there, you can see the river.

Dining room/kitchen.

As a bonus, I have also included a picture of the recent gift given to me by my host father. It is a commemorative hand towel, to celebrate the 7th year anniversary of his doctor's office. Enjoy:

Why thank you, host father.

Told you. Everything here is cutesy ^^.

Finally, Homestay!

So the last few days have been busy and a little overwhelming.

Thursday was Departure Day. We had a really nice ceremony where our co-teachers and other representatives from our schools came to pick us up. We were all lined around the auditorium, and we went up to the front by province. Then, each person's name and school was called and we stepped forward, bowed to the audience, and stepped back. But many ETAs' co-teachers ran up and gave them flowers, including mine!

After the ceremony, we met up with our co-teachers and principals or vice-principals. My vice-principal was present, but he didn't speak any English so I didn't really talk to him. My co-teacher, Mr. Lee, is an English teacher, and really nice and funny. I like him a lot! He's also really helpful ^^. After lunch and a few other meetings, we put all my luggage in his car and drove to Andong, about a 2 hour drive from the university. We went to the school first, where I met the principal. He personally walked with Mr. Lee and me during the tour of the school, which I was rather surprised. In Korea, principals are really important people, like CEOs are back home, so I was very honored. All the other teachers seemed very nice.

Then, Mr. Lee drove me to my homestay. We were a little early, so the only people home were two of my three homestay brothers. They opened the door and then ran away into their rooms! Then my homestay mother came home. She asked me to call her "onni," which means "big sister." She is really nice and cute, and we sat at the table with Mr. Lee while they discussed important stuff in Korean, he occasionally translating for me. She doesn't speak very much English, but she knows a bit.

Later that night, my homestay father returned home from work (he's a doctor). Soon after, we met up with Mr. Lee at a restaurant and had dinner. They were all really nice and funny, and spoke a lot of Korean so I have no clue what they were talking about. But I did use my limited Korean to talk a bit, I was proud ^^. After dinner, I presented the family with the gifts I got them; a Fulbright Korea t-shirt for each of them, a deck of playing cards, and a deck of Uno cards. Then I taught them how to play Uno and we played a few rounds. After that, I was completely exhausted and went to bed.

Friday, the school gave me the day off, so I was hoping to sleep in... until my onni woke me up at 7:30a to have breakfast... Mr. Lee had already told her that I don't eat seafood, so she had set out some rice and broccoli for me to eat. I was so tired, and I don't really eat a big breakfast anyway, so I nibbled some rice and asked if I could go back to bed. I felt rude, but I was exhausted. My homestay father said that was fine. Friday, I pretty much slept all day. In the evening, I ate dinner with the family and studied Korean with my host dad. He also told me the names and ages of all the family members. So, my father is Hanmu Lee, 49 years old; my onni is Yunsuk Kim (women don't take their husband's last name) and she is 43; the oldest son is Youngsang Lee, 17; the middle son is Moonsang Lee, 14; and finally Jisang Lee, 12. Jisang is studying abroad in the Philippines right now, so I actually won't meet him until December. And then of course there's Uju, the very... energetic poodle.

The boys are really shy and have been pretty much hiding from me so far! I think they'll warm up soon enough. On Saturday (yesterday), my host parents took me to the Andong Folk Museum, across a really historic bridge, and then we drove through the historic folk village, Hahoe. So, we get in the car and I'm thinking, "this music sounds familiar." Hanmu goes, "oh, Michael Bolton choaheyo? (do you like Michael Bolton) He best singer!" I cracked up on the inside ^^. I had a really good time at the folk museum, and my parents are really fun. The boys stayed home for that part of the day.

Part of the Hahoe folk village.

The Andong Folk Museum.

Random giant swing.

My host mom, Onni! 

Host mom and host dad being adorable ^^

The Weolyeonggyo Bridge

After the outing, we went back to the apartment and picked up the boys to go out to dinner. I sat in the back seat with them and they both cowered away from me! As soon as the car stopped, they literally ran to the restaurant. My host parents were laughing, and my father told me they are "shamed." Dinner was good, even though we had an awkward moment where I was asking where a nail salon was and no one seemed to know "nail salon." After dinner, the boys asked their mom to sit in the back with them, so I just chuckled and sat in the front.

Later last night, I met up with another American that the former ETA hooked me up with. He was really nice and took me to a bar where we met up with quite a group of other foreigners. It turns out that there are about 140 foreigners in Andong, teaching English or working for other programs! I was so surprised since Andong is considered a fairly small city. Most of the others are here through EPIK, English Program in Korea, which is run through the Korean government. They are from all over though, not just the US; I met some people from South Africa, New Zealand, and the UK. I had a good time, but decided to go home early because I didn't want to worry my host parents. I mean, I've only known them for three days!

So, that's about it for updates right now, but here are some pictures of my new bedroom, and my own balcony!

View from the doorway.

Desk and wardrobe.

Bed and balcony.

My balcony! You can just see some buildings and mountains out there.

My host dad loves fish, so these goldfish hang out on my balcony.

View from the 14th floor!

And here is the apartment complex. It's a brand new, fancy complex, and really nice! There are five buildings, gated, with a stream, pond, two playgrounds, and a few Korean-style gazebos.

A really nice stream runs through the complex with a little pond.

Kind of rainy, but there's a playground, and that's my building to the left.

Lastly, if you want to send me a letter or something, which I would totally appreciate and reciprocate, here is my address at school, where I will be receiving mail:

Meghan Thomas, Fulbright ETA
320 Angyori
Poongsan-eup
Andong City, 760-802
Gyeongbuk
South Korea

Write it just like that, lines and all. More to come ^^

First Trip to Seoul!

Ahhhh! I don't even know where to start! This past weekend we went to Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. CNN named it one of the greatest cities in the world, and I can definitely agree! We left early Friday morning (5am) and returned to Jungwon Monday evening.

Friday started out early, but I slept most of the 3ish hour bus ride to Seoul. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed straight for the DMZ (De-militarized Zone). The DMZ is the border between North and South Korea, and is the most heavily guarded border in the entire world. On the South side, it is guarded by the UN, and specifically by South Korean and US soldiers. We took a tour of the border and then went into this little building that sits over the border. It is for both North and South Korea to use, so whenever someone goes in one side they have to lock the door to the other side. Basically, they take tourists in there so they can officially cross the border.

So, the blue building on the left is the building where people can go in to cross. The soldiers you see are South Korean soldiers, and the building across the way there is the guard post on the North Korean side. if you look between the two blue buildings, you will see a line running horizontally where the gravel changes to dirt: this is the official border between North and South.

About one minute after I took the first photo, North Korean soldiers began their round and stopped at the border. You can see them right across the line there. Our tour guide pointed out that the North Koreans are much shorter and skinnier than the South Koreans, due to food and healthcare shortages over the border.

Next, we went into the building. Inside there was a South Korean soldier posted, and windows facing out into that middle area on both sides of the border. So here I am, standing next to but facing away from the windows and our tour guide says, "Oh, looks as if he is very curious about your pretty blonde hair." I turn around and directly meet the gaze of a North Korean soldier. We just stared, shocked, at each other for a good 20 seconds before I just took a picture and walked away. When we left the building, a fellow ETA whispered to me, "Do you realized we just did one of the most dangerous things we will ever do in our lives?" And he was right. I definitely had the shivers for awhile after that.

The soldier that was staring at me. He was about 5 feet from me, through this bullet-proof glass.

The South Korean soldier posted inside the building to ensure North Koreans don't enter.

That concrete slab marks the official border.

To see more photos from the DMZ, check out my album on Facebook. So, after we left the DMZ, we went to the residence of the US Ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stephens. She hosted us for dinner with the Embassy. It was amazing! She has such a impressive background, and she was a PeaceCorps volunteer teaching in South Korea back in the 70s. I got to chat with her for awhile, and she was very kind. Also, I was so happy because we got to eat an American barbeque! They got us food from the US military base and we finally got to have food from home. I have to admit, it made me a little homesick :(

Entrance to the Ambassador's residence.

Later that night, I went out with some of the ETAs from my Korean language class to meet up with our teacher. We got lost getting off the subway, but eventually found her. We went to a bar and then a dance club, which was nothing like an American club. People didn't actually dance with each other, except for the Americans. The Koreans just sort of stood in one place and danced. But it was fun, they played a lot of American music.

Saturday was a free day, so my roommate Gina and I planned a day of cultural sight-seeing. First, we had lunch at McDonald's, which was WAY better than in the US.

Like being home ^^

Then we went to a palace that is a historic landmark of the Joseon Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of Korea. We were in time to catch an English tour, which we were glad of because we would have really missed out on a lot of the cool explanations.

 So this is the main throne room. You can see the path leading up to it is a raised stone walkway with two shorter walkways on either side. The middle walkway was only to be used by the king and queen, with the left walkway for military officials and the right for civil officials.

These are the markers along the walkway that denote the ranks of officials so they knew where to stand.

The throne room.

The hallway that connected the king's and queen's quarters. It was used for procreational purposes ^^

This was the last Joseon king's concubine's quarters. The last living official descendent of the Joseon dynasty, a princess, lived here until her death in 1989.

After the palace, we took the subway (I'm just a regular urbanite now!) to the Korean Folk Museum, which was amazing. There were audio tours in English, and the museum covered the history of Korea's folk culture. Outside there was a little mock-village through the years, showing ancient buildings all the way up to the 60s. There were definitely some cool exhibits.

Replica of an herb shop.

Replica of a comic store in the 50s or 60s.

Close up on the comics. Note the blondes...

Ancient dress of early Joseon dynasty.

Cool art.

Display of kimchi... which is eaten at every single meal.

Picture taken at the palace during the Joseon dynasty. You can see how the officials are lined up.

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel and met up with other ETAs to go shopping! Seoul is split into districts, and we hit an amazing one for shopping. I found a lot of dress clothes for pretty cheap. Also ran into this gem of an Engrish shirt:

Oh, yea. Duh. That.

Sunday was also a free day. For the first half of the day, I went to Itaewon with my good friend Kristin, the one holding the shirt above. Itaewon is the foreigner district. As soon as we stepped out I was like... holy crap, I'm back in the US! There were US restaurants and shops, but also food from around the world: Indian, Italian, Mexican. Kristin and I ate at Outback Steakhouse and had real hamburgers! Then we went to a store where they had a lot of American brand foods and drinks for sale. I bought some Lay's potato chips and was in heaven!

Subway exit into Itaewon. Note the Quizno's, Coffee Bean, Cold Stone, and Taco Bell all right next to each other!

Hard Rock Seoul

Random underground black market. At least, I think so because there was definitely some sketchy items.

I have no idea what that is, but it was in the underground market.

While wandering around Itaewon, Kristin and I were looking for a nail salon because we wanted pedicures. We went up these random stone steps to check out a salon but it was closed. So we decided to wander down the hill from the salon instead of taking the stairs back to the main road. I believe we ended up in some kind of red-light section. We definitely passed a few whorehouses, as well as some love motels. Love motels actually aren't that sketchy. In Korea, people live with their parents until their late 20s or early 30s, so they often go to love motels with their significant others. It's a pretty accepted practice. Also, love motels are very cheap and so sometimes foreigners stay in them just to get a cheap room for the night! Exhibit A:

Honeymoon Paradise lol

We did finally end up finding a nail salon, but in another district. We headed over to Ewha Women's College and there was an entire district of girly salons, coffee shops, clothing stores, and more! It was a really hip area, with some really well dressed people. Also, there was a neat mall and a rock band set up in front of it and just started playing! It was definitely cool.

This tattoo/piercing parlor was the first I had seen in the whole country.

Rock band playing in front of a mall.

Then we had Burger King for dinner and headed back to the hotel. This morning, we woke up bright and early and headed to Korea University, one of the top three universities in Korea. Our language teachers are from Korea University, so we have been getting a great education! We then had our Korean class graduation ceremony, which was really nice. We got diplomas and everything; some ETAs said that they were nicer than the diplomas they received from their colleges and universities. I was really sad to say goodbye to my teachers, especially one. We became very close, and she even said I can now call her "onni," or "big sister." This is a sign of a really close relationship, so I hope to see her very soon.

After our graduation ceremony, we headed to the Fulbright building for a briefing on our contract, and went over the whole thing. For dinner, we had Papa John's pizza... but not like any Papa John's I've ever had! It was broccoli and chicken pizza: no tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, broccoli, and chunks of chicken. It was awesome though! Then, we headed back to Jungwon. I slept most of the way, as it's been a long weekend.

Well, it's going to be a busy few days. The ETAs who have already been here for the grant and who are renewing are arriving here to Jungwon tomorrow so that we might have a few days of getting to know them. Then on Thursday will be our very formal departure ceremony and I will leave for my homestay! Friday I will go to my school!

I have about a million more pictures of Seoul, I didn't want to load them all here. Please check them out on my Facebook!