KOREA
so this is part of an e-mail i sent to people but maybe you guys are interested in it as well. if not, i apologise!
I arrived in Busan on Monday night. My recruiter picked me up from the
airport and took me to my apartment. The apartment is pretty standard
with what most foreign teachers get: bed, tv, AC, half a stove, washer
that also acts as a dryer (but it just spins clothes around as a form
of drying), etc. I got lucky because mine also came with a futon - a
hot commodity, apparently. My only problem was that it was pretty
dirty, and required a lot of cleaning. Though I complained to my
school and they're going to get it professionally cleaned. My
apartment also came with a shower stall in the bathroom. Most
apartments, like Kiran's and James's, only have shower head sticking
out of the wall and a drain in the corner of the bathroom.
I live right beside Kiran and James (Cindy: "it's not fair! Kiran and
James got you, and Dave and I got Larry!"). As soon as Kiran and James
got word I arrived, they showed up outside my door with beer. They
then proceeded to take me to this bar where you can get 1.5L pitchers
of beer for, I think, $3 (basically 1000 Won is about $1CDN), and beer
that comes in very tall glasses - to the point where you have to stand
up to take a sip. Needless to say I was slightly hungover on my first
day on the job. Actually, I was hungover for the first three days on
the job.
I don't have to be at the school until ~2:30pm, and I'm out of the
school by 8:25pm. I teach six 45-minute classes a day, with 5 to 10
minute breaks in between classes. My first class doesn't start until
3:15, but the school wants us there early to prepare for the day's
lessons. However, the preparation doesn't require a lot of work; it
just requires you to find out what lesson from what workbook you're
teaching to what class. The school's very disorganized, however, and
I've already had classes with nothing to do. In those cases I either
just play games with them (hangman is like their candy) or give them
word searches to keep them occupied. I'm apparently filling the shoes
of a really shitty foreign teacher who, for the last two or three
months, did bugger all - thus my kids aren't keen on learning a lot of
the time and just want "pleasure time" - their words. Other lessons
consist of just reading to them, and getting them to read to me so I
can correct their pronunciation.
My actual first day of teaching was…on Tuesday. They provided me with
no training, which was weird, but my other co-workers were really nice
about showing me the ins and outs of the school in an hour. It's a
really, really easy job, and the kids are ridiculously cute. I teach
four classes of "Howdys," which are kids who know very little English.
I also teach one beginner class and one intermediate class. The
intermediate class is my least favourite because the kids have, like,
attitude.
Alcohol is dangerously cheap here, and you can drink just about
anywhere. When you purchase, say, a large bottle of beer at the
convenient store, they open it for you. You can, if you so desire,
take this purchased alcohol into a cab where you can pre-drink in the
cab ride to wherever it is you're going. If you happen to not finish
the large bottle of beer before you get to your final destination,
there is no need to worry: you can take this alcohol with you into the
club.
The food is pretty good. Ghalbi, or Korean BBQ, is my favourite. Kiran
and James took me to this one ghalbi place that for some reason had
McDs chairs on their patio. ("I guess a good way to cut down on your
costs is to steal from your competition.") You sit around a BBQ built
into the table, and cook your meet, which usually is pork marinated in
something awesome. You also grill garnishes like onion, cloves of
garlic, kimchi. You then take a large leaf, stuff it with the meat and
garnishes, fold it as best you can into a 'bite sized' piece, and then
shove it in your mouth. The result is an orgasm with your tongue
getting the full benefits (instead of , say, your private parts). Oh,
man, that shit is good. I still haven't tried dog, but when I do, I'll
be sure to let you all know.
Koreans have an amazing sense of style - a lot of guys dress really,
really well. And the guys carry purses. A lot of pretty boys, if you
will. And it's not uncommon to see two boys or men walking arm in
arm. The most adorable thing I've seen in the class is this one boy
taking his friend's arm, and wrapping it around himself. This can
happen because homosexuality doesn't really exist here. - not that it
doesn't exist, but, rather, it's really repressed. But, yeah, some of
the boys are really good looking. Well, actually, when a Korean is
good looking, he's extremely /good looking/.
As a result of this lack of homosexuality, my gaydar needs to be
recalibrated here. I was dancing with this somewhat hot Korean and he
was all, "you move so good! You…are a sex machine!" the whole while he
had his arms around me and the like. Back home that would be a sign of
getting some, but not here. They're a very touchy feely culture.
Kiran and James took Dave and I to a bathhouse that bills itself as
the biggest bathhouse in Asia. When the initial awkwardness of being
naked in front of everyone wears off ("Yup, we're naked and hanging
out naked"), it's a crazy freeing experience. You eventually ignore
the sea of penises (THERE ARE SO MANY PENISES) and can really enjoy
yourself, and the camaraderie that I guess goes with the nakedness.
There is a range of spas ranging from the ridiculously hot (57 degrees
was the highest-you couldn't even step foot into that pool) to the
refreshingly cool (there as no temperature posted, but it was easily
close to 12 degrees - major shrinkage happens in that one). There was
also this waterfall/stream of water that acts as a massager. It was
crazy relaxing, and a perfect hangover cure. Again, this can exist
because homosexuality is really repressed. People can clean each other
in the showers, or just hang out naked because, yeah, there's no way
you could be attracted to the same sex. I couldn't imagine having a
bathhouse in Canada - well, I can, but it's for an entirely different
purpose.
The cabs here are ridiculously cheap. A 30-minute ride costs maybe 12
bucks. But I think that must come at the cost of the drivers driving
like a crazy person with a death wish. Speed limits (and to some
extent road signs and the markings on the road) are only a suggestion,
and the horn is just an extension of their craziness. On one of my cab
rides the driver was falling asleep. He'd doze off at every red light,
and at one point we had to tap his shoulder because his eyelids were
closed AS he was driving at about 70 or 80 km/h. I've also seen a
cabby with a TV on the dashboard so he can, I guess, watch and drive.
I think one of the biggest culture shocks is EVERYONE IS KOREAN. It's
such a homogeneous environment. And they couldn't grasp the idea of a
multicultural nation. You can't be "Indian American" - it's either one
or the other. One of the homework questions I was checking was, "when
you grow up, would you like to live in Korea or elsewhere, and why?"
98% of the students had an answer along the lines of, "Korea! Because
Korea is awesome!" I remember when I was young and had a question like
that, most of the class said other places other than Canada. Those 98%
of students had never left the country as well. And being a foreigner
here means everyone will stare at you. My favourite moment happened in
the grocery store: everyone would stare at me, and then stare at my
cart to see, I guess, what foreigners buy and eat.
Um, what else. I went to my first casino! Actually, pair of casino/s/.
Dave took me to two of them, where I lost $100 at 8.30am in the
morning. BUT I love roulette. It's awesome. And you can also gamble at
WAR.
Oh, and skinny dipping in the ocean, at 3am when you're drunk off your
face is a very bonding experience. We were all wrecked, but the ocean
was awesome. In the distance you could see the rest of Busan, lit up
almost like a colorful birthday cake that also had Christmas lights
wrapped around the baked good.
Korea, I think I love you.
Anyways, this is getting long, and I think it's a little all over the
place. I miss you guys terribly, and I'm excited for the ones that may
possibly visit! I hope you're all doing well, and that you don't miss
me too much. :P
OH! And the t-shirts here! They're amazing, and cheap. I just recently
purchased one that has an old school dude from the 50s pointing
outwards, and underneath it says, "you made me gay." There are also
shirts that say, "I heart black people." And there are other shirts
where the English is just atrocious ("You Hot Make Me" or "Very
Sweetie Pie"), but it /is/ Korea so they definitely know what they're
doing.
Also, although the beer is cheap, it sucks. No more Guinness,
Rickard's Red or White, or Stella, or MGD
so, yeah, that's about it! so much has happened since then and I'll try to keep this thing more up to date than I currently do.
Peace out, homeboys.
I arrived in Busan on Monday night. My recruiter picked me up from the
airport and took me to my apartment. The apartment is pretty standard
with what most foreign teachers get: bed, tv, AC, half a stove, washer
that also acts as a dryer (but it just spins clothes around as a form
of drying), etc. I got lucky because mine also came with a futon - a
hot commodity, apparently. My only problem was that it was pretty
dirty, and required a lot of cleaning. Though I complained to my
school and they're going to get it professionally cleaned. My
apartment also came with a shower stall in the bathroom. Most
apartments, like Kiran's and James's, only have shower head sticking
out of the wall and a drain in the corner of the bathroom.
I live right beside Kiran and James (Cindy: "it's not fair! Kiran and
James got you, and Dave and I got Larry!"). As soon as Kiran and James
got word I arrived, they showed up outside my door with beer. They
then proceeded to take me to this bar where you can get 1.5L pitchers
of beer for, I think, $3 (basically 1000 Won is about $1CDN), and beer
that comes in very tall glasses - to the point where you have to stand
up to take a sip. Needless to say I was slightly hungover on my first
day on the job. Actually, I was hungover for the first three days on
the job.
I don't have to be at the school until ~2:30pm, and I'm out of the
school by 8:25pm. I teach six 45-minute classes a day, with 5 to 10
minute breaks in between classes. My first class doesn't start until
3:15, but the school wants us there early to prepare for the day's
lessons. However, the preparation doesn't require a lot of work; it
just requires you to find out what lesson from what workbook you're
teaching to what class. The school's very disorganized, however, and
I've already had classes with nothing to do. In those cases I either
just play games with them (hangman is like their candy) or give them
word searches to keep them occupied. I'm apparently filling the shoes
of a really shitty foreign teacher who, for the last two or three
months, did bugger all - thus my kids aren't keen on learning a lot of
the time and just want "pleasure time" - their words. Other lessons
consist of just reading to them, and getting them to read to me so I
can correct their pronunciation.
My actual first day of teaching was…on Tuesday. They provided me with
no training, which was weird, but my other co-workers were really nice
about showing me the ins and outs of the school in an hour. It's a
really, really easy job, and the kids are ridiculously cute. I teach
four classes of "Howdys," which are kids who know very little English.
I also teach one beginner class and one intermediate class. The
intermediate class is my least favourite because the kids have, like,
attitude.
Alcohol is dangerously cheap here, and you can drink just about
anywhere. When you purchase, say, a large bottle of beer at the
convenient store, they open it for you. You can, if you so desire,
take this purchased alcohol into a cab where you can pre-drink in the
cab ride to wherever it is you're going. If you happen to not finish
the large bottle of beer before you get to your final destination,
there is no need to worry: you can take this alcohol with you into the
club.
The food is pretty good. Ghalbi, or Korean BBQ, is my favourite. Kiran
and James took me to this one ghalbi place that for some reason had
McDs chairs on their patio. ("I guess a good way to cut down on your
costs is to steal from your competition.") You sit around a BBQ built
into the table, and cook your meet, which usually is pork marinated in
something awesome. You also grill garnishes like onion, cloves of
garlic, kimchi. You then take a large leaf, stuff it with the meat and
garnishes, fold it as best you can into a 'bite sized' piece, and then
shove it in your mouth. The result is an orgasm with your tongue
getting the full benefits (instead of , say, your private parts). Oh,
man, that shit is good. I still haven't tried dog, but when I do, I'll
be sure to let you all know.
Koreans have an amazing sense of style - a lot of guys dress really,
really well. And the guys carry purses. A lot of pretty boys, if you
will. And it's not uncommon to see two boys or men walking arm in
arm. The most adorable thing I've seen in the class is this one boy
taking his friend's arm, and wrapping it around himself. This can
happen because homosexuality doesn't really exist here. - not that it
doesn't exist, but, rather, it's really repressed. But, yeah, some of
the boys are really good looking. Well, actually, when a Korean is
good looking, he's extremely /good looking/.
As a result of this lack of homosexuality, my gaydar needs to be
recalibrated here. I was dancing with this somewhat hot Korean and he
was all, "you move so good! You…are a sex machine!" the whole while he
had his arms around me and the like. Back home that would be a sign of
getting some, but not here. They're a very touchy feely culture.
Kiran and James took Dave and I to a bathhouse that bills itself as
the biggest bathhouse in Asia. When the initial awkwardness of being
naked in front of everyone wears off ("Yup, we're naked and hanging
out naked"), it's a crazy freeing experience. You eventually ignore
the sea of penises (THERE ARE SO MANY PENISES) and can really enjoy
yourself, and the camaraderie that I guess goes with the nakedness.
There is a range of spas ranging from the ridiculously hot (57 degrees
was the highest-you couldn't even step foot into that pool) to the
refreshingly cool (there as no temperature posted, but it was easily
close to 12 degrees - major shrinkage happens in that one). There was
also this waterfall/stream of water that acts as a massager. It was
crazy relaxing, and a perfect hangover cure. Again, this can exist
because homosexuality is really repressed. People can clean each other
in the showers, or just hang out naked because, yeah, there's no way
you could be attracted to the same sex. I couldn't imagine having a
bathhouse in Canada - well, I can, but it's for an entirely different
purpose.
The cabs here are ridiculously cheap. A 30-minute ride costs maybe 12
bucks. But I think that must come at the cost of the drivers driving
like a crazy person with a death wish. Speed limits (and to some
extent road signs and the markings on the road) are only a suggestion,
and the horn is just an extension of their craziness. On one of my cab
rides the driver was falling asleep. He'd doze off at every red light,
and at one point we had to tap his shoulder because his eyelids were
closed AS he was driving at about 70 or 80 km/h. I've also seen a
cabby with a TV on the dashboard so he can, I guess, watch and drive.
I think one of the biggest culture shocks is EVERYONE IS KOREAN. It's
such a homogeneous environment. And they couldn't grasp the idea of a
multicultural nation. You can't be "Indian American" - it's either one
or the other. One of the homework questions I was checking was, "when
you grow up, would you like to live in Korea or elsewhere, and why?"
98% of the students had an answer along the lines of, "Korea! Because
Korea is awesome!" I remember when I was young and had a question like
that, most of the class said other places other than Canada. Those 98%
of students had never left the country as well. And being a foreigner
here means everyone will stare at you. My favourite moment happened in
the grocery store: everyone would stare at me, and then stare at my
cart to see, I guess, what foreigners buy and eat.
Um, what else. I went to my first casino! Actually, pair of casino/s/.
Dave took me to two of them, where I lost $100 at 8.30am in the
morning. BUT I love roulette. It's awesome. And you can also gamble at
WAR.
Oh, and skinny dipping in the ocean, at 3am when you're drunk off your
face is a very bonding experience. We were all wrecked, but the ocean
was awesome. In the distance you could see the rest of Busan, lit up
almost like a colorful birthday cake that also had Christmas lights
wrapped around the baked good.
Korea, I think I love you.
Anyways, this is getting long, and I think it's a little all over the
place. I miss you guys terribly, and I'm excited for the ones that may
possibly visit! I hope you're all doing well, and that you don't miss
me too much. :P
OH! And the t-shirts here! They're amazing, and cheap. I just recently
purchased one that has an old school dude from the 50s pointing
outwards, and underneath it says, "you made me gay." There are also
shirts that say, "I heart black people." And there are other shirts
where the English is just atrocious ("You Hot Make Me" or "Very
Sweetie Pie"), but it /is/ Korea so they definitely know what they're
doing.
Also, although the beer is cheap, it sucks. No more Guinness,
Rickard's Red or White, or Stella, or MGD
so, yeah, that's about it! so much has happened since then and I'll try to keep this thing more up to date than I currently do.
Peace out, homeboys.