Happy Birthday jj!

No Smoking

Happy Birthday T!

Gradually I'm getting the hang of this teaching thing. Every week is the same so I foresee becoming very adept with this curriculum, eventually. We found a temporary teacher last week who could come 3 days a week. By his second day he had found a better job and was going to leave. Ack! Not again! But in the fastest recruitment operation in history Mr. Director came to me the following day to tell me he had found an American replacement and he will be here in a week. Nice.

I've been to see a few cultural sites on the weekends. Beomosa is a temple in the mountains on the outskirts of town. E came to visit with some friends and we went exploring out there. (This was after a morning spent lounging on the beach :-) It was my first temple and it was beautiful. Also there appear to be monks living there and also the potential for a temple stay exists. E told me that all temples in Korea are painted with the same colours: jade, red, blue and ochre. 

This weekend A, Michigan J and I went on a day trip to Gyeongju. It is a town of temples from the Silla dynasty. Because the temples are made of wood no originals are still in tact. Most of them have been rebuilt recently after being destroyed 500 years ago by the Japanese. But they are no less impressive. 

Yesterday I had my first encounter with the double standard between Korean men and women. Since moving to Korea I have had a couple conversations about Korean women's position in society. Apparently it is "looked down upon" for a (Korean) woman to smoke in public. So on a visit to the ladies room last night I waited extra long while the girl in the stall puffed on her cigarette away from the judging eyes in the bar.  

"Teacher! Candy Day!"

In their infinite wisdom Koreans have created multiple Valentines/Candy days. Today was White Day aka the day boys give girls candy. I was showered with candy in every one of my classes. It was pretty awesome and a genius way to end the week.

Also today I experienced my first siren drill. I'm not sure if it is a practice air raid drill, nuclear drill or general alert system. But from what I understand there is a monthly drill in every Korean city that consists of a really loud droning siren that lasts app. 2 minutes. Traffic is supposed to stop and people are supposed to go inside. I was at work when it happened and could observe many stopped buses on the street below. It was kinda creepy and surreal and a definite reminder that I am very far from home.

Fishes

Click here for more pictures.

Seriously!?!?!?

I now represent 100% of the teaching staff at SSS. My @#$% coworker flaked.  Apparently the "midnight run" as it is known when teachers take off suddenly is quite common. Today I went in to work and it soon became painfully clear that he just wasn't going to show. He didn't call nor did he answer his phone. Definitely AWOL. 

His classes were merged with mine. After work all interested parties from SSS went to The Runner's apt. A lot was left behind. I scavenged some food and I have my eye on his sheets and a nice reading lamp.

We have found a very temporary teacher replacement (for the mammoth Tuesday Thursday classes) but I think SSS may be in serious trouble if we don't find a full timer soon. Fingers crossed SSS will make it to my second month...

Mega Mart

Quite possibly the most overwhelming experience so far has been the two trips I have made to Mega Mart. The first time I went was Day 2 of my time here and I was pretty desperate for food. I had tried to find some place to eat that day, but lacking any knowledge of hangul, I was hard pressed to figure out any viable food options. Around 2 pm I found a place that claimed to sell "cheese pizza" and I was sold. It looked and tasted like pizza and came wrapped in a red ribbon with a side of sweet pickles.

Scotland J helped me navigate the whole MM experience. As the name implies Mega Mart is huge. I'm talking Asian huge not Canadian huge.  One of the first things I was told about Korean culture is that until you are introduced Koreans will treat you however they feel which usually translates into rude to many westerners. Essentially personal space is at a premium and there is a lot of bumping into people. Purchasing whatever it was I went for was reasonably successful but when I got home I felt absurdly tired from a 1 hour shopping trip. MM can seriously kick foreigner butt.

I went again yesterday with A, who is as new and clueless as yours truly, and both of our experiences were that of total overwhelmed exhaustion. My plan for future MM trips will be to go at 11 pm on Monday nights.

"Kopi"

Also known as coffee to us westerners is reasonably new to Korea. Happily, for this westerner, coffee shops are thick on the ground in Pusan. They offer the whole shebang too. Cappuccino, latté, espresso, americano, regular. Yet when I have asked for milk in my regular coffee I have confused, befuddled and generally amused the poor person serving me. The last time I tried this stunt the girl laughed so hard when I indicated I wanted that I concluded milk in simply isn't done in Korea. Good thing they sell lattés.

"Beachy"

...is how I describe my house to cab drivers in Pusan. "Gwang-ali" "beachy" "Kamsamneeda." Streets have no names and one is forced to describe where you live each time you take a cab. Because cabs are so cheap here it will probably be serious incentive to pick up more Korean. 

My beach is beautiful. In the mornings I like to take a walk along the water after my latté at one of the many deserted cafés. (Life is rough here ;))It's a fairly popular beach but it is still off season so there is only a smattering of other walkers, usually all Korean. From what I've been told Koreans are pretty outdoorsy. Hiking is described as the national past time. So I would guess they take their walking seriously. However, I have never seen so many high-heeled shoes on a beach in my life! Almost without exception the beautiful and well dressed Korean girls who are out for a stroll in Gwang-ali hit the beach in 3" heels! My favorite thing about all this are the footprints left by the pointy stilettos in the sand. 

Annyeong Haseyo

I left Canada one week ago.

The first thing I realized since boarding the plane in Vancouver is Asia isn't really that far away. It seems far because of the date line but otherwise it is merely a short 9 hour flight. Now a 9 hour flight with Japan Airlines is actually a reasonably pleasant experience complete with many movies and a constant tea/coffee service.

My night at the airport hotel in Tokyo, Nikko Narita, worked really well in terms of adjusting to jet-lag. As far as experiencing Japanese culture the most I did was buy supper from the convenience store across the street. Which is to say I dealt with traffic coming from the wrong direction and a talking refrigerator.

From the air Tokyo looked almost like Ottawa! Everything was flat and I could see yellow squares of fields. My first sights of Tokyo city were from the plane the next morning. That was when I finally saw the world's largest city. Crossing the country I saw pointy, snow-covered mountains and even Mt. Fuji!

Pusan looked exactly as I had expected. Probably because I had looked it up on Google Earth. It is a coastal city of tall apartment buildings and pock marked with hills that are bare of any development. 

Immigration, customs and baggage all went off without a hitch. My boss met me immediately outside customs and whisked me directly to school (hagwon SSS) were I will be teaching for the next year. Julia Teacher has arrived.

 

I spent my first night at a motel in my new neighborhood, Gwang-ali, just one street from the beach. There I found the first cultural quirk of Korea. They don't use bottom sheets. The bed was beautifully made with pillow cases and quilt and a completely bare mattress. I thought this was odd because other than the missing sheet the room was quite well equipped with robes, slippers, TV and Internet.

I went looking for breakfast by the beach. I am essentially illiterate in Korean society and rely largely on pictures. I figured it would be a safe bet to go somewhere with other people as well. However, every café I passed was entirely deserted at 9 am on a Friday morning. I am told Koreans don't go out for coffee until the afternoon. I wound up with a bagel and latté with a view of the beach and the Gwang-an bridge. Not bad for my first day.