My Week Off ^^

Today was my first day back at school after an entire week off. While I enjoyed time off, by the end I was starting to get bored... so school was welcome. My students were wound up, of course, as kids are the day they return from a holiday. But they were fun. I like them more every day.

During my week off, I did a couple of really fun things. On Thursday I traveled to another town to visit a fellow Fulbright ETA. It was a really awesome experience for several reasons. Firstly, I was extremely proud of myself. I bought a bus ticket and navigated the bus terminal, which had no English. Then I rode the bus for three hours to the other town, met up with my friend and went to meet her homestay family. We had the most amazing American dinner at a restaurant, where the owner had lived in America. He knew what a real burger was :). Later that night, I booked a hotel room and had such a relaxing time. It used to be that I couldn't stand to be alone, but it was really nice. And I was proud for doing something on my own. Secondly, it was really nice to see a friend who I had become close with during the seven weeks of orientation.

This past weekend I spent in Andong while my homestay family traveled out of town for 추석 (Chuseok), which is essentially Korean Thanksgiving. I went out with some friends and generally had a good time. So I spent a total of four days and nights by myself, which is a new and bittersweet experience for me.


On Tuesday, my homestay parents (who had returned from their trip) took me to Dosan Seowon, a historic and very neat Confucian academy. No one studies there anymore, it is now an exhibit, but it was really awesome. You can read about it here. It was built in 1574 and honors one of the most celebrated and famous Confucian scholars, Yi Hwang. Here are some pictures:

The entrance to the academy.

Andong Lake, which the academy sits on.

Read the last two lines :)

Wishing well.

View of the whole complex.

Really cool lotus pond.

Yi Hwang, the Confucian scholar, used to meditate here.

Well, happy Chuseok!! Until next time ^^

Hair and other little things.

When it comes to hair, Koreans are obsessed. Everything here is about looks. Make-up and hair shops are everywhere, and it is common practice for both men and women to fix their appearance in public, causing a multitude of mirrors to be scattered in the most random of places all over Korea. Also, plastic surgery is extremely common, especially for women. There's a particular surgery that is making waves and is verrryyy popular: the double eyelid surgery. It's a surgery that cuts Asian peoples' eyelids to make them have the line above the eyelashes that white people have. Check out these before and after pictures here.

Anyway, foreigners seem to have nothing but horror stories about hair in Korea. You'd think the hair stylists would be good, because the Koreans walking around all have fierce hair, both men and women. But it seems with foreigners, they think we want bad haircuts, especially men. I had determined even before coming that I would not get my hair dyed here, as it's thin and completely different from Koreans' hair. But once I arrived, I decided I would also not get a haircut, as Korean hair stylists are clearly not to be trusted. However, three weeks ago, I started to change my mind.

During our Seoul trip, one of my good friends came back from our free day with suddenly glossy, smooth, perfect hair, after previously having wavy (but still beautiful!) hair. We were all amazed. She had gotten what is literally called "magic straight." It's a straight perm that lasts 6 to 9 months. Well, for the last three weeks I've been debating whether I wanted to risk it. My hair is very different, it's thin and fine, and magic straight is expensive. Finally, I decided to do it. Today I went to a salon recommended by another foreigner. It took 3 hours, and was a rather complicated process, during which I received a hard-boiled egg as a gift... but it looks amazing!! And my hair is so soft now! It literally looks like I straightened it, even though they only blow-dried it. Plus, they charged a lot less than the place in Seoul, so I'm really pleased ^^.

In other news, I'm ecstatic because I get an entire week off starting today. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week I got off work because all of my students are going on a trip to visit the military. While this may sound interesting, I actually feel really bad for them, because they will be doing a mock military training. Both boys and girls will be going through a "guest" military training for the next three days. They were not pleased during class yesterday.

In Korea, sometimes the military can be a touchy subject among young men, because Korea has mandatory military service for all men between 19 and 35 years old. The term is 21 or 24 months depending on the branch. Technically, South and North Korea are still at war, so a strong military is needed. Also, many of the men who are in the military get assigned police positions in the major cities. Some of this generation really don't like the mandatory service, especially because my generation is fairly far removed from the Korean War. There are little to no signs of war in South Korea, unless you are near the border. In everyday life, the war has been largely forgotten. But, I would say that the majority of Koreans take the service very seriously, as the national pride in South Korea is very great.

Anyway, I get Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week off as well because it is 추석 (Chuseok), or Korean Thanksgiving. It is pretty much just like American Thanksgiving, with mass exodus to visit family, as well as a lot of food and gift-giving. The main difference is the gift-giving itself. It seems that food and body care items are popular gifts. Considered an especially classy gift, my homestay father came home from work yesterday armed with a HUGE gift-set of none other than... SPAM. Yes. SPAM is not only here in Korea, it's actually a very "nice" food.

So a whole week off is very much needed right about now, as I'm starting to get settled and therefore... homesick. As the excitement and new-ness of it all wear away, the homesickness sets in. So, I hope to keep busy this week, take some time for myself. Tomorrow I will travel to another city, Gimcheon, to visit a Fulbrighter friend who is placed there. I will have to take a three hour bus, but I think it will be fun. I will stay the night there and return on Friday morning, just in time to beat the Chuseok holiday rush.

One last note before I leave off with pictures of my school: I found an amazing fast-food restaurant. They have chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks that are just as crappy as the ones you can find back home!

In Korean: 비비큐 칙인

Here's the best part: the soda cup comes with a little cup inserted in the top that holds your chicken nuggets, with a small space left for the straw to stick out! That way, you can hold your chicken and your Coke all in one hand! It's amazing and the US should hop on that... immediately. Exhibit B:

There's soda underneath the chicken... GENIOUS.

Okay, and to end, here are some pictures of my school, Poongsan High School (풍산 고등학교).

The main hallway.

The entrance. The cabinets where we put our shoes after we change into slippers are there on the right.

The front door to Poongsan.

The whole front of the school property with the soccer field and school. The red building on the right is one of the dorms.

Entrance to the school grounds.

My desk in the gyomushil, or teachers' office. In Korean schools, the students stay in the classroom and the teachers move to the rooms, so we all share one big office.

Happy Chuseok! ^^

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 ^^