A Day in Yeongju

Me and my co-teacher, Mr. Lee!

 Last Wednesday, June 6th, was Memorial Day here in South Korea. Like home in the US, it's a national holiday. My co-teacher (he's the teacher in charge of all my affairs, pays my rent, takes me to school, etc) invited me to go to a nearby town, Yeongju(영주), to visit some cultural and historical sites. It was really amazing!

First, we visited the Yeongju Ginseng Market(영주 인삼 시장), which was really neat. It was a long building that really reminded me of flea market buildings back home, but instead of many different booths, it was just rows of booths selling ginseng in all different forms. We tried ginseng tea and dried, honeyed ginseng. They were really good, rather like fruit snacks. I ended up buying some to bring back home.

Next, we visited Sosuseowon (소수서원), which is the first Confucian academy built in Korea in 1542. It was absolutely gorgeous, framed with a beautiful river, bridges, gardens, and lotus ponds. After this, we ate pajeon, Korean vegetable pancakes, as a snack and then headed to our final stop of the day, the nearby Buddhist temple.

Buseoksa (부석사) Temple was built in 676, and has been renovated several times since then. "Bu" (부) means "floating," "seok" (석) means "rock," and "sa" (사) means "temple," so it's also called the Floating Rock Temple. The legend of the temple is very famous: lady Seonmyo and the priest Uisang met when he went to Dang (Dynasty of China) to study. When Uisang told Seonmyo he had to go back to his country, Seonmyo despaired and jumped into the sea and drowned. After death, she became a dragon. Seonmyo followed Uisang to Korea to protect and be with him. When Uisang ran against a crowd that had gathered to stop him from building Buseoksa Temple, Seonmyo brought three stones into the air. Because the stones had floated above the ground, the temple was named Buseoksa Temple.

It was very beautiful, and we had a very funny moment. I've said before that South Korea is this crazy kind of juxtaposition of the old and the new: right next to each other you'll have traditional homes and temples and high-rise apartments and office buildings. Well, here we are praying inside the temple... when the monk's cell phone rings! I had to stifle the giggles.

One of the guardians that wards away evil at the entrance to the temple grounds.

View from one of the balconies on temple grounds.

The monks ring this bell every day at 6am and 6pm.

Traditional drums.

The main temple, this is where the offending monk resided!

Stone Buddha

My co-teacher insisted I get a picture!

So, it was a very good day. After all the sight-seeing, we had a delicious late lunch, during which I ate waaaay too much and then passed out in a food coma the moment I got home. I'm glad I did this, and it was nice to spend time with my co-teacher before I have to leave. Only 35 more days now...

Jeju Conference, March '12

At the end of March, all the Fulbrighters came together for a conference in Jeju, the beautiful island off the southern coast of South Korea. During most of the conference, we were in sessions. We discussed everything from homestays to teaching to Korean culture. It was really nice to meet with everyone and unpack and catch up, but I have to admit it was a little strange. As the only Fulbright teacher placed anywhere near my area, I'm fairly isolated from the program. I spend a lot of my time with EPIK teachers, the native English teacher program run through the Korean government. Sometimes, I forget I'm Fulbright and get lost in the label of "foreign English teacher."

The conference helped remind me of my purpose in not only teaching, but studying and learning as well. During some of the sessions, we listened to presentations by the Fulbright researchers. There are two types of Fulbright grantees, ETAs (teachers like me) and researchers. The researchers are studying lots of interesting topics, like multiculturalism and feminism in Korea, traditional architecture, economics, and poetry. I really felt rejuvenated and awed to be in such a great goup of people. One of the researchers used to work in the White House with President Obama!

The conference really helped to serve two purposes for me. To unpack a lot of feelings, experiences, and observations, and to give me a lot of new ideas for lessons and other aspects of my classroom.

Unpacking. It was really helpful for me to meet up with other Fulbrighters and talk about things like stress, homesickness, frustrations with homestays or schools, and difficulties with culture. I feel that I don't often get to vent my negative feelings because I have to be "on" all the time. I attended a talk on being an "other" in Korea, which was really helpful.

Being an "other" means being an outsider to a group, culture, or society. Being a white woman in Korea has both positive and negative aspects. Being white is very much admired in Korea, both for the paleness of my skin, which is considered beautiful, and for the power associated globally with with being white. But there are some drawbacks as well. A stereotype about Western women is that they are promiscuous. Our media doesn't help, especially as pretty much every American movie has women getting naked. This leads to Korean men treating us as more sexualized objects than Korean women. During orientation, we had a women's talk, where they warned us about this view. The orientation team told us this example: a white woman and her Korean woman friend are out dancing at a club. They can be wearing the same outfit and dancing the same way, but the Koreans will still see the white woman as being more sexual or promiscuous.

Another way this view is manifested is that there is a stereotype among older Korean men that all white women are Russian, and all Russians are prostitutes. Prostitution is illegal in South Korea, but it is still rampant, and fairly obvious (barber shops that have two barber poles rotating counter to each other are brothels). So, sometimes, I am asked "Russia saram (person)? How much-ii?" This is a huge insult, as I am being propositioned. My friend, who is also blonde and blue-eyed, has experienced the same thing. Generally, we just look shocked and angry, say no, and walk away.

So, it was nice to meet with other foreign women at the conference and vent these frustrations on being stereotyped as a minority and feeling like an outsider.

The second effect the conference had was to give me new ideas for my classroom. One of these is the Korean Students Speak project I talked about in my last post. Another is a whole new way to do my final speaking exams.

On the Sunday during the conference, we went on a tour of Jeju. First, we visited Sunrise Peak, a crater that faces east. It was quite a climb, but worth it. Near the top, the way was steep and dizzying. But the view was beautiful!

The walkway around part of the crater that makes Sunrise Peak and the view off to the south.

Me at the top of the Sunrise Peak, overlooking the town below.

Next, we went to Ilchul Land, a park built around a large lava cave. There were some neat cultural artifacts around the park. Inside the cave was really cool also.

Ilchul Land, a park with lava caves.

Me and Buddha just chillin ;)

Wall painting inside the lava cave.

These little guys are the famous mascot of Jeju.

Large depiction of Jeju's mascot.

After that, we traveled to the Jeju Folk Village. It was a lot more touristy than Hahoe, the folk village near my hometown. At the Jeju village, no one actually lives in the homes, and they use it as a site for shooting TV shows and films. It was really neat though, and a lot of Fulbrighters who watch Korean shows loved seeing the sets.

haha! Read the second paragraph :)

Love it!

These are black-haired pigs, which make the meat Jeju is famous for.

Some performers drumming.

The last stop was right across the street, at Pyoson Beach. Unfortunately, it was too cold to more than dip our feet in the water, but I got some great pictures. The water was so clear and beautiful!

Pyoson Beach

Such a beautiful day!

Look how clear the water is!

The only thing I had trouble with during the trip was food. I'm a really picky eater, so eating meals made for large groups of people is difficult. It's a lot easier when I can fend for myself! The worst meal was when we went to eat grilled black pork, which is famous on Jeju. I was fine until I turned the meat over on the grill and noticed some black things along one edge. At first I thought it was seasoning, but then I looked closer and realized the full skin was still on the meat, complete with hair still in the hair follicles. So, yea. Ew.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. The island was beautifull, and it was great to connect with Fulbrighters again. While conferences can be very tiring, it was also refreshing. The only bad part was getting home from the airport rather late and then getting up at 6am for work the next day! I was exhausted for a little while, until I caught my rhythm again. But I had a great time, and I'm happy I got to see such a beautiful place that the Korean people are so proud of!

Catching Up

Spring is finally starting to come around!!

This is my first post after a long hiatus! Near the end of last semester, I had hit a routine and I felt I didn't really have much to talk about. Then I went home for the holidays and I was soooo busy. When I returned to South Korea in January, I spent time relaxing, hanging out with friends, and traveling around Korea a bit.

School started again at the beginning of March. The Korean school year runs from March to December, so even though it's our second semester back home, here it's the first semester of a new school year. So I got a whole group of new students. I was actually kind of nervous, but so far they are really great. It's my second-year boys that I want to strangle... -_-

Anyway, so the semester is in full swing. We've had just over a month now, and I think I've finally got the hang of my new schedule. It's pretty much the same as last semester, except this time around I teach an English Conversation Club class on Tuesday nights, so on that day I'm at work from 8am to 8:30pm. It's tiring, but I really love my students, so I don't mind!

Last week, I took part in a really awesome project with my students. One of the other Fulbright teachers saw a project being done in China called "iSpeak," and decided to bring it here and call it "Korean Students Speak." It's a really amazing project where students get to voice their opinions about the things that really matter to them. In the Korean education system, students are basically told to sit down, be quiet, listen to lecture, take notes, take a standardized test, and repeat. They have very little opportunities to express critical thinking, problem solving, or creativity. They also do not get to give their opinions or thoughts on what is going on in their everyday lives. So, first I showed them a preview clip of a documentary about Korean high school education. It points out a lot of the flaws and hardships that students go through (and features another Fulbright teacher!). It's a 20 minute video, but it's completely worth your time, and can be found here.

Then, I gave the students paper and markers, and allowed them to write whatever they wanted on a piece of paper. I had everything from "I want to go home" to "Japan, apologize for comfort women" to "Korean education is too much studying." Then, I edited them and they will soon go on a website with thousands of similar pictures of middle and high school students from all over Korea. The website is: http://koreanstudentsspeak.tumblr.com/. Here are some examples from my students:

I want to fly, I want to dunk

She drew me!

I want to work for world peace

These are just some of the different topics covered by my students. To see all of them, check out the website in a few weeks!

So, I'll try to update a little more in the next few weeks. Only 98 days from today until I touch down on American soil!

Celebrity for a Year

Night before last, I finally went out for soju. Our RAs, Alex and Lucy (two Korean students who attend Jungwon University where we are staying) took us down into Goesan--which funny enough is prounounced gwaesahn--to a little bar. The poor waiter when 20ish of us rolled in!! I had some of the best beer I've ever tasted, even after spending a summer in Chattanooga, as well as some fruit-flavored and regular soju. Soju is a lot like vodka, but doesn't burn. And the fruit soju tastes like fruit juice; you can't even tell it's alcohol... which could be dangerous!

Lucy and her Korean friends then taught us drinking games. In Korea and a few other Asian countries, it's very common to go to a bar, sit with your friends, and play drinking games. There was one where everyone said "bang bada bang bang bang bada bang, etc." while holding your fingers like a gun and waving them around. Then one person yells "zero" but in Korean, and points to another person. That person yells "zero" and points to another. That person yells "seven" and points to a fourth person and yells "bang!!" The two people on either side of that person must put their hands up. Whoever in the three doesn't do it correctly must drink, or the last person to raise their arms.

After anyone drinks from a drinking game, all the Koreans loudly start singing this song and waving their arms and doing a shoulder dance... I'm determined to learn it, but it goes really fast!

The shoulder dance part of the drinking song! Lucy is in the gray and purple, and the girl next to her is my roommate, Erin :)

Today was a big day. All the ETAs traveled to schools for an observation visit of current ETAs. I woke up at 5:45am and we headed out at 7am. My group attended an all-girls public high school in a fairly large district. The school had about 1700 students. High school and middle school in Korea are only 3 grades, and each school starts over with numbering. So elementary is grades 1-6, middle is first grade through third grade, and high school is again first grade through third grade. We observed two first grade English conversation classes (the subject we will be teaching! We don't teach grammar), a high intermediate English level class and an advanced English level class. The lessons were really interesting and the girls really seemed to like them.

We also took a tour of the school and met several teachers. We were required to take our shoes off at the door and wear guest indoor slippers, which was an interesting experience because many in our group do not fit the homogeneous Korean mold for, well, any size, but especially not feet. Of course, I was the only one who couldn't find a pair small enough...

During the bell changes, the girls would come pouring out of their classrooms to stare at us, giggle really loudly, and even shriek at the sight of us. They would peer into the windows and hide behind things. It was pretty funny, but also really overwhelming. We were completely treated like celebrities. When we walked into the cafeteria for lunch, the ENTIRE room erupted into piercing shrieks and screams, especially when a male ETA came in. The screaming lasted for a good 5-7 min before it subsided into photo and video taking. Some of the braver girls asked a few of the especially white American looking guys to take a picture with them. I had a good time, but I was ready to leave when the bus came to pick us up.

To explain the screaming, I'll jump into my next topic and work it through. After the school trip, we had a workshop (generally each of our days consists of language class in the morning and then a workshop in the evening about culture, teaching, etc) about race in Korea. Korea is the most homogeneous nation/society/country in the entire world. It is 99% ethnically Korean. Of the 50 million people here, 1 million of them are non-Korean or foreigners. So for the students to see 16 foreigners wandering their school all at once, it was as if we were aliens arriving from outer space.

But being an "other" is something that is really important to talk about when being a foreigner in a country where absolutely everyone is the same. Our speaker was an ETA back in '94, and has lived here ever since. He explained a lot of the historical context of race in Korea, then brought it to modern day and how it will specifically affect us. He also touched on being a sexual orientation "other," which is extremely difficult in Korea. Until 10-15 years ago, Korean people really had no concept of homosexuality. Their society is not homophobic in the way that the US is, especially not hateful. They just have never discussed it, and many people have never come into contact with it, as people here remain "in the closet" their entire lives.

Another major point he had was that, because Korean people have spent 5000 years being homogeneous, they have an extremely strong sense of community. In the Korean language, they generally don't use "I" or "you," everything is "we." They believe themselves to be of one blood, one family. So, this creates difficulty for many Korean-Americans or Korean adoptees who come to Korea to live, work, etc. Korean people don't understand why they don't speak Korean or automatically know everything about the culture and customs. The speaker also pointed out that many Koreans become offended if Korean-Americans speak English too loudly in public places, especially women. Older Koreans have been known to actually slap Korean-American ETAs for speaking English.

This is because English is such a sign of modernization and Westernization that many Koreans feel those who speak English publicly who are not foreigners are flaunting it, they are bragging rudely and trying to be better than everyone else. Korea has not been a "modern" country for very long. They hit their economic boom in the late 60s/early 70s. Many of these people were once farmers in a nation of farming, village, folksy culture.

So, I had a very interesting day full of new knowledge and experiences. I can't say anyone has ever shrieked at the sight of me before...

And now, I'm exhausted. I was going to stay up and watch a Korean movie with some of the other ETAs, but this bed is feeling pretty comfortable. ^^