ARKK Explained

Date: 11/1/2010

I've wanted to introduce this concept a few times and am finally getting around to typing it.  Anyone who's seen Evan Almighty will get the reference.  Evan spends the whole movie building a biblical ark and then finds out at the end of a movie, God was talking a different type of A.R.K.  An Act of Random Kindness. 

Don't ask me how my brain came up with this idea, but one day I was sitting in the car with Ms Kim and she was doing something else that was just absolutely above and beyond the call of during and I thought, "Wow...that's an act of Korean kindness."  The next morning we went to get some passport photos taken and the photographer didn't charge me anything!  And I thought, "What a random act of Korean Kindess." and somehow it all tied back up one night and I remembered the Evan Almighty movie and I suddenly had the perfect acronym: ARKK. 

A ct of
R andom
K orean
K indness

So I want to catalog my ARKKs in my blog.  I want to express my gratitude somehow, someway and I think this is a perfect stage.  Because each ARKK has a story and each story is fun to tell...

So, next time you see the title ARKK it will have a number besides it and you can check in an see different acts of kindness by my fellow Korean people.

Immigration

Date: 11/1/2010

Last Thursday (10/29/2010--I think) my health check was completed.  It took four days and it cost 53,000 \.  Ms Kim and I went to pick it up and headed to the immigration office.  In Gunsan it is located down by the harbor so as we were driving around, trying to find a parking space I could see the blue-ness of the water.  It was very surreal.  The closest I've lived to the ocean is Columbia, South Carolina--which is about a 90 minute drive.  This drive was maybe 10 minutes. 

We pull into the parking space and head into an average office space.  We talk to a man behind a desk.  I give him all the paperwork that the Office of Education in Jeonbuk had given me and then he asks for extra documents. 

Luckily, I had been told to prepare for this and I happened to have my diploma with me.  I didn't actually bring the real diploma (though it might have been better) but I really didn't want to lug my nice, big degree all the way across the world--it would have been chewed up and dirtied.  So I brought an apostilled copy.  Unfortunately, the apostille is different looking.  It has the signature and seal of the Secretary of State, but it does not follow a typical format or something, so the man behind the immigration desk stared at it for about 10 minutes for asking me if it was real.  Yeah...It's really.  Like I would go to all that work to fake it. 

Then he wants to know if I have my FBI CBC (criminial background check).  This took over a month and 1/2 to get, and then it had to be apostilled by the Washington DC service so, unfortunately was only able to bring a scanned copy.  He mumbles that this will do for now...but once I get the real one, I will need to bring it to him.

Then he wants to see my Tax Exemption form (the IRS form that I'm still waiting on the US government to process).  I explain that to Ms Kim, who in turn, explains it to Mr. Immigration office.  He nods, then pulls back out my apostilled degree and mumbles about how it doesn't look right. 

I explain that I have the emails from me and my regirstar at university (the lady who got the apostille) telling me they are authentic.  For, in fact, my recruiter at JJ Recruiting had asked the same questions. 

So, after a little while longer, Mr Immigration Man says I need to bring the email from my registrar with me next time when I come back to pick up my Alien Residence Card--just so he can see.  I have no problem with that.

But I do warn anyone coming to teach English in SK--bring a copy of all the documents you sent to your state's office because most likely, they will not forward them to the Immigration office in your city.  If you have a copy of them then the process can go more smoothly than mine did.  I had thought I had a copy of all my documents when I left, but I totally blanked on a couple. 

I find out Friday if all is good and well in the land of Immigration--which I'm sure it will be, but...doesn't mean I'm not a little worried.  I have a lot on my proverbial plate right now and the last thing I need is to be denied immigrations rights...

Head Case

Date: 11/1/2010

On Friday I noticed that I had started to develop a case of the sniffles.  So I immediately started popping some pills that I had brought with me from America.  I was determined not to let a little head cold get in the way of me having a good weekend. 

On Saturday, I went shopping to make my home more "homey" and just figure out where the heck I was.  I discovered that school is only a mile away!  Which is the perfect walking distance--which is good because right now I'm not totally sure I got the whole bus thing figured out.  I mean, one day I'll just have to get on the bus and do it, but right now, when the weather is cooperating, walking feels great.  Sunday I picked up some things at Lotte Mart that I realized I had forgotten the night before (you can't make fish and veggies if you don't have any salt, pepper, or olive oil!)  But instead of walking to Eunpa Park like I had planned, I decided to stay in because my cold wasn't getting any better.  Eunpa Park is maybe an hour away but I knew that walking around in the wind and probably 60 degree weather would not help my case. 

I wake up this morning and I physically feel fine, just my head is a giant, stuffed-up mess!  I literally cannot breathe through my nose, which has chapped my lips out and messed up my hearing.  Some people say that your sound sexy when your voice is lower. but I just sound like a man.

And I had a really strange night!  I woke up at like 2 in the morning with an idea on how to teach a class.  I was just going to point to things in the book and have kids describe the differences between the two pictures (which is really just a boring excuse of a lesson plan), but something over the night fit itself together and I suddenly had a way to make the   lesson a game/competition. 

Which will really help because I have 5 classes today (three in the morning and two in the afternoon).  The new lesson is in the afternoon classes while the morning I'm still just doing the Maggie Bingo game. By the third class this morning, my voice was gone--and I've started to hack up some gunk in my throat--which makes me cough--which makes me unable to speak.  There was a good five minutes in class when I just couldn't speak (luckily it was during "Fill in the bingo spaces" time so I could duck outside and cough up a lunch--but still, it sucked). 

Anyway, my voice is shot today.  So hopefully. having the students get in teams, think of all the differences, and then present them will reduce the amount of speaking yours truly has to do.  Cross your fingers, anyway. 

I knew that when I packed my backpack for school this morning, and included the box of tissues, that it might be a rough day.  Guess what, this time I was actually right!

Ms Kim is going to show me where a pharmacy is after school today.  Every teacher I met and speak to tells me that I should go to a pharmacy, get some medicine and get better.  A couple of the other foreign teachers in the area have told me that Korean medicine really works and if I had my health card (not yet...grrr) I could go to the hospital and get a "bum shot"--which could kick the cold within a day.  That would be nice. Maybe soon...

Right now I really just want to go home, curl up in bed, take a little bit too much NiteQuil and zonk out.  But, alas, it's only lunch time and I have two more periods.  But at least its not 5!

Friday Night

Date: 10/29/2010
Post School Festival:

On Friday Night, after the school festival, all the teachers have been invited to a super nice dinner at an expensive Japanese restaurant.  My first thought was, “Great!  I can do Japanese food!” 

I think I spoke too soon.  I knew there would be raw fish (sashimi) but there’s a big difference between the American version of sashimi and the Korean version (which I’m guessing is a lot more authentic in relation to the Japanese original).  I’ve done sashimi before—heck, during my homestay in Japan in 9^th grade I ate raw chicken liver, heart, and stomach on a dare.  That wasn’t too bad.  I could do this--no problem!

I was wrong.  Dinner, which I know was good and expensive and fancy, was probably the hardest thing I’ve done this week.  You arrive and all the teachers clap for you, which was great.  I should have know it was a “wow, be brave, you can do this food” applause.  You sit down and you have a grey sludge of a soup in front of you.  I think it had some rice in it, and if it had been hot, it probably would have been good.  We were a little late so it had cooled off so it was a little congealed.  Then I moved onto the side dishes displayed on the table.  I should probably mention that this is a traditional style of eating, where you are sitting on the floor—my legs became numb within seconds and half way through I was actual pain and started doing the “Ways to Sit” dance, crossing and un crossing my legs, leaning back, stretching out—anything to relieve the uncomfortable position.  Back to the side dishes in front of me: there were a lot of dishes: A salad, julienne-d veggies, and lots of seafood.  All types of seafood: raw fish, raw oysters, raw octopus, raw whole squid (with eyes attached), raw tubular sea worm things, some raw or steamed whole shrimp (with heads and legs still attached), more raw fish, and some other raw seafood items I didn’t know.  Did I mention that it was ALL raw?  Yah…all of it was.  So, silly me, I go for the first thing I recognize—the oyster.  I’ve never had oyster before, but hell, if Americans eat it then I knew I could at least stomach it.  Um…once again, my stupidity kind of astounds me.  I watched Ms Kim and followed her lead by dipping my oyster in a red sauce (this is after I spent about 5 minutes trying to pick up the slimy bivalve).  This lead to more problems because I lost my grip on the oyster so it went for a swim in the red sauce.  At this point, I new I was so screwed.  I finally manage to pick it up again, and get it in my mouth.  On the chopsticks it doesn’t look that big, but, in one’s mouth they are huge!  And it kept hitting my gag reflex so I kept gagging and the red sauce, yeah, that’s like super spicy.  So I’m gagging, my eyes are watering, I probably have five or six teachers watching me, and all I’m thinking is, “YOU CANNOT THROW UP AT A NICE RESTUARUNT!”  Somehow, by sheer strength of will, I manage to swallow.  I eye the table in front of me with new respect for my food enemies and proceed to do war because I would not let the seafood defeat me.  Ms Kim had impressed upon me earlier that this was a super nice restaurant; that she had never eaten here before because it was so nice.  I was going to show my respect to my fellow teachers and principal and everyone there, that I could eat this stuff with the best of ‘em.  Probably a stupid battle cry, but still, I could do it.  It was only for one meal.  I could stomach it for one meal. 

A random teacher comes by and offers me some soju (Korean whiskey)—which, bless him, is just what I need.  I basically shoot back ½ a shot of soju and begin to pick my way through some more salad, a couple slices of sashimi (a white fish of some time), and finish my soup. I’m feeling pretty good about my odds at this point. 

That’s when the teacher next to me points out that one of the tubular ocean worms is still alive.  I look over and, indeed, it is still moving.  Kind of gyrating in the bowl.  Not joking.  Ms Kim laughs at my expression.  I tell her that I would have to have quiet a bit more soju before I could even contemplate eating something like that.  She translates to the teacher next to me, who finds this statement hilarious.  Yes…Laugh at the foreigner, I don’t care, as long as I don’t have to eat that worm thing.  The teacher next to me thinks my facial expression is so funny that she proves a point that it is eatable—she eats it!  Ahh!  I think I lost all color in my face as I try not get sick at the table.  It’s still moving!  Urg!  No wonder the thing was gyrating, it was trying to run away from the crazy psycho Korean women who eat live things!  Ms Kim then translates that the teacher says that it is “chewy.” 

I got up and went to the restroom.  I didn’t loose my dinner, but I did stare at myself in the mirror for a couple minutes and give myself a pep talk.  You can do this…it’s just food….you’re stomach as acid that can eat through metal—it can take on some fish with no problem…

I go back to my seat and drink the rest of my soju.  At this point, they bring out some tempura and I wanted to cry with gratitude.  I love tempura, and the Koreans make good tempura.  I actually told Ms Kim that I love tempura and she said to eat all of it, the other teachers will share another basket.  (Have I mentioned how wonderful Ms Kim is in this posting?  No, well, let me say, she’s fabulous).  I happily eat my fried shrimp, sweet potato and onion in content. 

I make it through the rest of the dinner without any more “do-not-throw-up” moments and then Tae-hung comes over.  He teaches computer science, or is the school computer technician or something like that, and he introduces himself as “my brother.” At school, we are all family, and he is “my brother.”  I’m “his sister.”  Ms Kim is laughing and I realize that Tae-Hung is pretty drunk.  He teaches me to cross arms, and occasionally yells “Cross!” at me and we lock our elbows together and growl at each other.  This is the non-alcoholic version; the alcoholic version involves crossing elbows and then taking a shot of something. 

Before dinner, I had expressed concern to Ms Kim about the social drinking situation in Korea.  There is not a really polite way to say “no” to another drink.  In Korea, you do not fill up your own cup—others do this for you.  Holding your cup with two hands, your neighbor pours you a shot (you have to fill the whole cup up in one pour—which takes some practice) and then the roles are reversed.  This can cause some problems because it is rude to say, “no thank you” or not fill up someone else’s cup up.  On the care ride over, I told Ms Kim that I don’t really drink and if I was to indulge, it was only like 2 glasses. 

But half of me is torn because I know that there is a deep cultural important placed on drinking.  I was reading in the etiquette guide on the way over that some Koreans feel that you don’t really know a person until you’ve seen them drunk—it shows their true personality, or that if someone doesn’t get inebriated, then they have something to hide. 

During the talent festival that afternoon, a teacher had come up to me and said (via Ms Kim’s translation) that they were very impressed with how I was trying to be involved in the school and teachers and they were very glad that I was so willing to join in on their culture.  This is entirely my goal.  I want to make friends at this school, to share experiences and show the teachers that I’m not just here to blow off a year or make anyone’s life harder.  I want to pull my own weight.  I want to get involved and do things, because I’ve always found that the busier you are, usually you are happier.  It’s practically a direct relationship.  It also takes your mind off of homesickness or boredom. 

So, when Tae-hung invites me to go to a Korean Singing Room with some other teachers, after a little bit of internal debating, I agree.  Ms Kim explains to Tae-hung that I don’t want to get wasted (she was helpful because she says she doesn’t like to drink and that she doesn't like the Korean Drinking style either). 

So, I grab my glass for soju and head over to Tae-hung’s table.  Ms Kim arranges for the other female teacher in the group to take me home.  For the life of me, I can’t remember what her name is, but she told me it meant Wisdom.  So, in this blog she will be Wisdom. 

Ms Kim leaves and I find myself in a group of 10 or so people who probably, combined, speak 100 words of English.  Yes, they’ve all taken English throughout middle and high school (maybe even college) but it’s kind of like taking high school French.  When you’re 35, exactly how much French do you remember? 

Tae-hung, my brother, proceeds to point to Wisdom and call her a “bad girl.”  She shakes her finger at him and tells me that Tae-hung is a “bad boy.”  But Tae-Hung points to himself and goes, “No, Maggie, I handsom!”  This results me a bunch of catcalling from all the teachers, and results in them all looking at me and asking, “Tae-hung, handsom?”  And because he is, I say yes.  Tae-Hung looks extremely impressed and points to Wisdom and says, “Me Handsom!  You not pretty!”  Which perks me up and I say, “No! She pretty, too.”  Because she is pretty.  Wisdom shows all her 26 years by sticking her tongue out at Tae-hung.  You can tell these people are good friends just by how the interact—none of this banter is vicious.   After they end this debate over Wisdom’s beauty, Tae-hung points the easily the most handsome man at the table (the Gym teacher) and says, “Handsome?”

I know the gym teacher is probably a student favorite.  At the talent show, he actually preformed a song, singing and playing the guitar.  It’s pretty obvious that most of the other teacher give him a hard time over either his looks or his student popularity.  So, going on whim, I say, “No.”

They all looked shocked.  And then I point to his face, which has some left over make-up from his stage performance and say, “Boys with make-up, not handsome.  Tae-hung handsome because no make-up.  Him. Make-up.  Not handsome.”  This is exactly the right thing to say because all the teachers burst into laughter, high-five me, and cat call the gym teacher.  Tae-hung puffs up his chest, beats on it like a gorilla, and says, “Tae-hung handsome! (whatever the gym teacher’s name is) no handsome!” 

A little while after this, the teachers collect all the un-opened soju bottles and make plans to go to a Korean singing bar.  By this time, I’ve probably had too much to drink (4 or 5 shots of soju). 

Wisdom grabs my hand and we walk out of the restaurant.  I know this probably sounds weird, but I was extremely happy that she was holding my hand.  It’s a cultural thing—in Korea, the same sex are allowed physical contact—is expresses that they are close friends.  In school, I’d gotten use to see almost all the girls walking down the hall holding hands, and they guys putting arms around their friend’s shoulders. 

Mrs. Park, one of the English teachers and the one that picked me up from Jeonju, sees this and immediately comes running over, babbling away in Korean.  She then turns to me and tries to explain that it means something different in Korean and please don’t be embarrassed or confused by Wisdom’s actions.  I quickly subdue Mrs. Park and Wisdom.  I say, “I’m in your culture, Mrs. Park.  I follow your rules.”  She looks at me, kind of tilts her head, and smiles. She then attempts to say, “When in Rome…” but it comes out as “When in Roman, do as roman soldier do.”  I nod and say, “Yes! When in Rome, do as the Romans do!”  Please remember, I have a healthy buzz going on, too.  All this combined made holding Wisdom’s hand not so bad.

Wisdom, the gym teacher, and I pile into the back of a cab and head to the Korean singing room.  About ten teachers rent out a room and we head in. It is basically a long rectangle, with cushions along the walls and big table in the middle and a singing stage at the front.  There are tambourines, two microphones and someone who works there brings in some dried squid (no thank you!) and fruit platters (which I nibbled on all night—yes!) and a whole crate of beer (about 36 bottles!).  Wisdom and Tae-hung sing the first song , and while the other teachers sing a song, Wisdom shows me the book with the list of all the songs—there’s an English section.  I start flipping through and basically point to the first one I see and half way know I can do: Lady Gaga’s “Poker face.” 

Don’t judge me, please.  I really had no idea what I was doing and after about 3 minutes of Wisdom and Tae-hung urging me to pick a song I really just did one that I hoped would work. 

It was much harder than I thought it would be!  Yes the music there, but there is no one to sing along with so it's really just you!  It was hard!  I goofed a bunch of times and felt like a total fool—but Wisdom was jangling her tambourine, Tae-hung would interject the random “Oh yeah!” or Korean exclamatory fillers in my singing gaps, so they were supporting me. 

The next song is slower one, and one of the teachers (who I played volleyball with) grabs me and twirls me around in a slow dance.  I felt like I was at a middle school prom dancing with him, and when Wisdom sees my face of embarrassment/shyness, she grabs the teacher out of the way and replaces him.  So within 20 minutes of being at the Korean Singing Room, I had sang Lady Gaga and danced with a 50 year old man and a 26 year old woman. 

This was about the time that the soju started to wear off.  So, while I’m dancing (twirling around in a circle, or swaying to side to side, or tambourine-ing to the tune) I realize that I’m probably a little too sober to be doing this.  But, determined to enjoy myself, I continue on. 

For my next song (please don’t judge me) I did NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye (which, I know, is probably a horrible reflection of music but I couldn’t find something else to do.  I recognized a lot of the artists: Korn, Marylin Manson, Britney Spears, Clay Akin, 50 Cent, ACDC, and random others.  But, after my first singing experience, I figured I had sang Bye Bye Bye enough times during elementary that I could at least remember the tune.  I happened to be wrong again, but it was easier the second time around to sing in front of people.  With everyone dancing around you in a circle, it’s pretty hard not to enjoy yourself—even if you feel like a complete dork while trying to follow along with the words. 

After about 2 hours of singing, I tell Wisdom that I’m good to leave whenever, in which I start to yawn.  It’s only 9.45 but my body is still fighting the jetlag.  Everyone sits down at the table and one of the men stands up and gives a speech.  Wisdom and Tae-hung show me how to click cups with other people (my cup’s rim must be lower than the other person because I am younger than them), the Korean version of “Cheers!”,  all while having Tae-hung yell at me “Maggie—slowly!”  They teach me the word for “a little”—it sounds a little bit like Jacob—“jo-cumb!”  I fill a couple people’s glasses and after about fifteen minutes of this, the party disperses.  I think most of the people are moving onto another bar, but Wisdom catches a taxi and we head to my house.  Luckily, there is a popular restaurant right next door to my apartment and we tell the taxi driver “Feel House Restaurant—ji-dok-dong.”  It takes maybe 3 minutes before we turn onto my street and we get out. 

I invite Wisdom up to my apartment and she tells me how cute it is.  I offer her a glass of some of the grapefruit juice I have and she calls her boyfriend so that he can pick her up.  He arrives about 5 minutes later and we say goodnight.  I put a load of laundry in the washing machine and change into my pajamas. 

Overall, I had a fantastic Friday.  Besides the food, it was just a good time. When I look in the mirror that evening, I still have on my face-painted flower.  The only difficult part has been the food, which the other foreign teachers have told me that it grows on you “to the point of near obsession”— I will tactfully withhold judgment on this statement until I’ve been in the country a little longer. 

School Festival!

Date: 10/29/2010

On Friday, my school held a festival!  Ms Kim arranged it so that I could actually not go to my country school and, instead, participate in the festival.  I was super excited, but I had no idea what to expect.

It was kind of a carnival and talent show combined.  In the morning there were a bunch of stations throughout the school in which you could go and do fun stuff: face painting, make soap, make a wish on a ribbon, etc.  Then in the afternoon a talent show was held where students got to display a talent of their choice: singing, dancing, whatever.  There was also a fun section where boys dressed up as girls and competed.  I have a lot of pictures and some movies to show, so hold on and I'll take you on an electronic memory of my Friday!

I came into school in the morning and everyone was a buzz.  I have time to get out my computer before I am recruited to cut ribbons.  I was worried that I had cut too many (after doing 2 spools of ribbons) but am told that we need about 500 or so ribbons so I could not cut enough. Ms Kim tells me to make a wish on my ribbon and it will tied up with the rest of the student and teachers wishes outside.

To Make many Good Friends and Memories in South Korea!

So lonely--but not for much longer!

This was a "free activity" so practically the whole school make a wish ribbon.   Other activities cost like 200 won (which is only about $0.20)

After this, I walked around and looked at some of the student's art work:

For middle schoolers--there was some great art!

Then I got my face painted:

The facepainting is right by a bunch of balloons, which I of course, think are really cool.  The only problem is I have bow over so that I don't bonk my head on them.  Once again, giant-ticious hits me.

Everything is so happy in S. Korea--even the balloon dragonfly.

Next, onto traditional soap making.  I know this sounds lame, but there's a big tradition of making soap in Korea.  They give it alot as welcoming or thank you gifts.  I, myself, have gotten around 5 or 6 bars of soap this week.  I guess I did not need to bring over all the Irish Spring stuff...oh well!

First you pick what shape you want.  Then the girls in the back heat the soap, add some pretty scents like Rose or something (the deminstration was in Korean so give me a little slack if I couldn't understand).

Pour the hot soap into molds, and let cool.  

About 25-30 minutes later you have your soap form.  Yeah for frogs!

As I am walking to the next station, I pass a bunch of toothpick bridges: so I take a photo:

And then, because I have my camera out a bunch of students want to get pictures with me.  Celebrity-ness strikes again!

I head off to the waterballoon section!  I had seen some teachers making a giant cut out the previous day where I thought it was one of those things that you put your head in the hole and suddenly your head is on the body of a Roman soldier or some super bikini clad Baywatch girl--but I was wrong.  It was a "lob the waterballoon at your favorite teacher" board.  Oh course!

Anyway, good fun:

As you can tell, it was quiet popular!

Some boy paid for me and I landed a direct hit on the octopus.  I apologized immediantly--which apparently the students thought was really funny.

The ribbon wish station is next to the waterballoon, so I head over to see how Ms Kim is holding up.  

I actually made two ribbons: one in English and this one in Korean.  This is the more prosaic one: Good health and good fortune for my family.

I found out earlier this week that there is girl who has a nickname Maggie.  Or she goes by Me-gi.  Something close.  Anyway, she is super nice and always waves to me and attempts to speak English.  While I was chatting to Ms Kim she came up and decided that she wanted to do a ribbon in English: "I want to be rich. Give me a handsome boyfriend."  

I would say that this activity was quiet a hit!

I say goodbye to Ms Kim and head off to get some food:

I later asked Ms Kim what this was, unfortunately.  The street vendor food that Koreans eat: Fish Curd. Yummy!

I went inside and came upon a room that had teachers showing students how to make balloon shapes.  I made a heart.

The next thing I wandered upon was a nail boutique--in my classroom (the English room).  It smelled of nail polish to high heaven!  But I sat myself down and proceeded to get a manicure--Korean Style.

The gradation was done by putting three colors on a small sponge and then tapping it on my fingernail.   One of the teachers is actually studying to get her cosmetology degree so I'm guessing that how she knew to do this.  Anyway...it's very Korean and I kind of worry because now I have to go buy nail polish remover otherwise I'm going to be stuck with hot pink nails for a while.

Buy this point, its almost time to head to the auditorium to see the talent show, but as I walk back to the ribbon place (to meet up with Ms Kim) I run across some English class project posters.  I snapped a shot to show you guys what kind of level the students are speaking/writing.

That concluded the morning portion of the School Festival.  If you're like me, you're probably wondering, "There's more?!"  The fun had only just begun, people!  And you'll next the next part of my presentation--It has movies!

So, the afternoon was a talent show, with a little competition to start the day off.  A gender-bender competition, that is!  Powderpuff football was a huge hit in my middle school (that is, until the new principal thought it was "wrong for children to do" and he cancelled it, but nonetheless, this sense of self-regulation has not hit this section of South Korea).  So they held a competition for Boys to Dress like Girls and compete for most talented female.  There is actually a history of cross-dressing in Asian culture (FOR THEATER, you gutter-brains!).  For a long time, no females were allowed in the theater--acting or observing, so men had to dress like women to play the female roles.  In many cases, the men became so good at acting female that there's some quote somewhere saying that "Only a man knows how to be a women," or something to that extent.  But...moving on...boys, or groups of boys, dressed up and put on a mini show for the audience.  The students went wild!

This is during the morning practice that I snuck into.  But it's a better angle than the afternoon shots because I was up close and it was light.  

This next clip is of a couple teachers--who also performed during the talent show:

The male front and right is actually our principal.  I actually like that he's super involved in the school--doing the talent show, he was dressed up to play volleyball, and after the talent show he gave out a bunch of awards.

These are a majority of the teachers (there's only like 35 total).  I like this one because it shows how excited the kids get.  A lot of my teacher friends are in here: Ms. Kim, Tae-Hung, Wisdom, and a couple of the people I got to go drinking with later that night.

Saturday: A Week In Review

Date 10/29/2010
Breakfast a Ringdong Donuts 11.39 am

So it's my first Saturday in South Korea and the first week has been a doozy.  I haven't even done any postings for Friday (which I had both my school festival and I did Korean Singing Room with some of my teachers)!  But, I'm going to go backwards for a moment: Saturday first and then Friday.

I woke up this morning, and it was my second night at my apartment.  And I could wake up at my leisure because I didn't have to go to work (woot!).  And I realize that I had left my computer and coat in Ms Kim's car last night.  She had taken me to the teacher's dinner and I didn't want to carry my computer and heavy coat into the restaurant so I left it in the car.  But I was then invited to go to the Korean Singing Room (aka karaoke) with a few of the other teachers, and I did not drive home with Ms Kim.  So I figured I'd walk to school and, if I was lucky, I could pick up my computer and, if nothing else, I could walk the distance to school and learn a little bit about my apartment's location in relation to everything else in Gunsan.  It was a win-win.  

So I get dressed and put on my walking shoes.  I think it's about a 15 minute walk to school and I realize I am really glad that I have some new Merils with the super inserts for my high arches (Thanks, Mom!), because I am going to do a lot of walking in the next year.

Here are some photos I snapped during my walk from apartment to Seohung Middle School:

A lady drying her fish for her street vendor shop.

Another street vendor with dried fish or squid drying.

On one side of the street there are a bunch of gardens.  I loved the juxtaposition between the massive high rises on one side of the street and then on the other, gardens and shorter shops/homes.

I also pass this dancing pig.  I know it's silly, but this thing really creeps me out...

I make it to school in about 15 minutes.  It's an easy walk, basically down one street, across a couple big roads and then, bam!, at my school.  This is what Seohung Middle School looks like:

I was in luck!  I caught Ms Kim before she left and was able to get my computer, coat, and some hangers that she gave me.  It was a good thing I brought my backpack because I could carry all of the things.  

On my way home I decided to stop and get breakfast.  There were a couple places I could have choosen, but I wanted some coffee so I stopped at this place: 

This was my breakfast:

 It was quiet cosy inside:

 I actually ran into a couple of my students while I was eating my donuts.  There is school on Saturdays, in the morning.  And I had arrived to school just as they were getting out, so I actually walked back to my home with a couple of groups of Seohung Middle Schoolers.

It was a good morning.  I will probably got to Lotte Mart or Angel-in-us Coffee for lunch/dinner.  Look for the updates (after the Friday updates, of course!)

How to Make Kimchee Chun

Date 10/27/2010
In Ms Kim's Kitchen 8.30 pm

So, after we hauled the sleeping babies upstairs, Ms Kim showed me how to make a very popular, easy dish.

The only problem with the dish is that...um...well...it's made with squid.  Like...all the squid.  But, it's extremely popular and Sukheung loves this dish.

So, without further ado (or grossed-out comments from the peanut gallery--me) I present to you: How to Make Kimchee Chun.  Just fyi: the pronunciation:  kim-chE  cha-Uhn

Step One:  Thaw the squid.
Side note one:  This means that Ms Kim regularly keeps squid (more than one) frozen squid in her refrigerator.  yummy!

Ms Kim is laughing at me here.  I had just asked her if that was squid.  (Duh...)

The Squid.  All the squid...

 Step Two: Cut one side of the squid so that it can lay flat.  Cut off head (throw away) and tentacles (put aside)  Take out the squid guts.  Peel off this squid skin.
Side note two:  Squid guts...enough said.

Step Three: cut the body into bit sized pieces.  Place in medium sized bowl.  Rinse the tentacles, place in bowl with body pieces.
Side note three: This, so far, is my problem with most food in Korea.  The Squid tentacles. Yes, they eat them.  And you can clearly see the tentacles in almost all the food dishes.

Just in case you needed a close up.

 Step Four:  Take left-over Kimchee and give a quick chop.  (Kimchee is usually already in bit sized pieces, so just give them a quick second cutting).
Side note four:  Left-over Kimchee--also enough said.  This is the national dish of South Korea, and while I actually don't mind it, it is quiet a bit sour and spicy.  For Koreans to just have it lying around in their fridge makes some people cringe.

Kimchee

Step Five: Place Kimchee in bowl (the one with the squid) and add ~1 cup of pancake flour, 1 egg, and ~2/3 cups of water.
Side note five:  For the Dankert family: Remember when we had those cabbage pancakes that the Japanese exchange students made?  Yah...this is another kind of pancake.  Once I realized that it was another pancake, I started to prepare myself.

Step six: Mix
Side note six:  Look at the picture...is a side note necessary? No.

This is 4 or 5 servings of Kimchee Chun. Ms Kim puts it in a tupperware so that she can just have it ready for SukHeung's dinner.

Step Seven:  Heat a skillet and pour a small amount of mixture into the pan.  Flatten the mixture out so that everything is able to be heated/cooked.  About 5-6 minutes on each side
Side note seven: Squid and Kimchee pancake.  Yummy...

Step Eight:  Enjoy!
Side note eight: Enjoy? ...  Really?

Ms Kim stole my camera, which was laying out on the kitchen table after taking pictures of the sleeping boys, and took this shot of me as I sampled the kimchee chun. I couldn't really not try it, she had shown me step by step how to make this food.  It was a great bonding moment for us.  And I mean, maybe it tasted better than it looked.  One could always hope.

I think the face says it all.  One could hope, but don't expect much from Kimchee and squid.  

The problem I have with Korean food is how appetizing it looks.  If I didn't have to look at it, I think I would be much more successful.  That isn't saying that I'm not eating, I am.  It's just, I'm basically putting food in my mouth, chew chew chew, and swallow. I don't know how much I've actually tasted over the past week.  Or maybe I'm just blocking out the memories of what I have tasted.  But to be fair, I have eaten basically everything that has been put in front of me.  I have not turned anything down. If I don't like it, then I just stop eating it.  The hard problem is that Koreans don't drink anything with their meals.  They have soup that they sip throughout, and then after dinner drinks are served.  So it's a little hard to get a flavor out of your mouth.  I end up eating a lot of rice to try and "clean my palate."

Interesting fact:  I basically was raising (talking about Asian food here) with the knowledge that Asians used only chopsticks.  I studied Japanese culture for a long time and know a lot about the intricacies and eating etiquette of using chopsticks.  The I come to Korea and BAM! I now have a spoon.  I didn't know that other Asian cultures used different eating utensils.  But Korean food is different. They have two main dishes every meal: Rice and a soup.  Every meal is served with rice and soup. So you have a spoon.  Rice and soup are both eaten with the spoon.  Then you use the chopsticks to eat the side dishes (that are always served with a meal).  At lunch on Wednesday, I was eating the rice with the chopsticks and was corrected.  Eat Rice and soup with the spoon, then change to chopsticks and eat the kimchee and other side dishes.  Kimchee is served with every meal (being that it is the national food).

I've gotten better at the chopsticks too.  Chopsticks in Korea are different than in Japan.  Its like regional variations on spearheads for Native Americans.  An expert can date spearheads by tribe and style based on their shape.  Well, in Asia, it might be similar.  Japanese chopsticks are round and made of wood.  Korean chopsticks are flat and made of metal.  This really perplexed me on Monday because they are slippery and I made a goof of myself during lunch.  I had the dexterity of a child.  But by the end of the week, I can at least grab food (and hold on to it) to get it in my mouth.  Hopefully, I'll continue to get better.