Why the Catfish Chronicles?
I originally named this blog The Kimchi Diaries, but I really didn't like that name. Too generic. But I figured I needed something to call the blog and it worked.
But then I got to Korea and on my first day of school I was being introduced to 5 classes in a row. And each time I would say "My name is Maggie" all the students would start to giggle. So at the end of the day, I finally sat Ms Kim down and asked her why they laughed, and she explained it to me.
1st: There is no "ah" sound in Korean. So everyone is hearing my name Meggie. (or to put it into Korean "me-gi" 므 기 )
2nd: The word "me-gi," or 므 기, in Korean means Catfish.
So, literally, I am Teacher Catfish. Thus, I prompted went home and changed the name of my blog from Kimchi to Catfish. I'm a dork enough to love alliterations so I ranked my brain for a word to match Catfish, and finally remember chronicals. I finally had a name for my blog that I actually like!
I love having this nick name. Not because catfish are so beautiful, but beacuse its so unique! And, to take it step further, some of my friends have taken to calling me by my nick name. So, on Adventure Korea trips, I literally am "Hey Catfish!" And I've gotten used to actually responding to it.
Why South Korea?
To be honest, I originally wanted to go to Japan. I had studied Japanese for over 10 years and had done a homestay in 9th grade. But, Japan is the place most people try to go to when thinking about teaching English in Asia. Thus, especially for Americans, it becomes the hardest to get into. And, with my Japanese background, I had even more going against me. You see, schools want an "immersion experience" for the students...and English learning immerision experience. If I can say "Open your textbook to page 158" in Japanese, that severally decreased the English Immersion Experience for them. And, I also had a bad interview (just to be honest.)
So, I had a friend who was going to teach English in South Korea. I kinda followed her. I figured if I was going to a foreign country, it might be nice to know at least someone! I even went to the length to get the same city as her. Alas, by the time I got to Korea she had already gone home. She did not like it here.
I, on the otherhand, am SO glad that I am here. I LOVE Korea. I like not being in Seoul or Busan, but in my little port city. I think the people are so friendly. I like learning a new language; the complexities, the funny sounds, and the tongue twisters all add to a challenge. Also, about the language, it is a purely phonetic alphabet. So I feel like I really have acheived something by learning the alphabet--why in Japanese, I could only read about a first grader's level of characters (which after 10 years of learning, is really depressing). I like learning a new culture, trying to understand why Koreans do X, Y, or Z.
Besides the cultural things, Korea is cheaper to live in. I am saving more money. Well...theorically I'm saving more money. These first couple months have not been so because it is basically vacation time so I'm having some fun. But, I will start saving money. In Japan, it is a much higher cost of living (just everything is more expensive) while here things are cheaper.
Finally, South Korea is interesting. Because South Korea has such lovely northern neighbors, I am living in a country that is very unique. It is so unbelievablely different from home. I'm living in a place that is still technically at war. I studied the North and South Korean conflict during college, but really, I didn't understand it. I basically had a typical American stand-point: "North is wrong, South is Right. They are separate countries. They most likely won't ever reunite. End of Story." Wrong. I'm not agreeing with the North's regime at all, but they aren't exactly separte countries. It's like conjoined twins--two bodies that share one heart. There is a distinct difference in the philosophies, but people are one. And just after 3 months, you see a craving for the people to be united. To be one nation again. It is eye opening. Yes, it is scary at some times, but I am living through history. This will be the second transfer of power for the North Koreans and I want to see what happens. I hope to God that nothing horrible happens, and I do worry about it at time, there's no way I can't, but they've been at "war" for 60 years now. So far, nothing cataclismic. Some scary things--yes. But, besides those random acts, Korea is an unbelievably safe country. (As in, middle school girls will walk home, alone, at 11 pm at night. Without fear of attacks. That is safe. Not saying I do it, but you could never do that at home.)
And, besides, I am American. I live in a city where there is a US military base just 20 minutes away (which may or may not be a good thing...I can't decide). If something does happen, I have the best nationality. I have heard other people joke that if something does happen, they won't go to their embassy because everyone at that embassy will be next door at the US one. The only exception I've found to this is my friend Sarah who has dual citizenship with Britian (allied with the South) and South Africa (allied with the North Koreans...) so she's covered either way!
