Jeongwol Daeboreum...or Full Moon Madness

I heard about Jeongwol Daeboreum last week. And by heard about it I mean this:Female Kiwi: Hey, I heard there is going to be some sort of festival down on the beach with a bonfire on Sunday. You down?
Me: HELL YES! Fire+Beach=Amazing happiness.

I thought I had made plans with Bike Boy and his bazillion friends to meet at Mulgeum station...only when I got there it turned out they were going to a DIFFERENT festival in Changwon. Changwon is cool but I really love the beach....nothing was going to tear me away from the beach. Hooligan and I were supposed to meet up with the Partial Asian and String Bean but they decided to get lost on his motorcycle instead. However, as soon as we got to the beach we happily ran into Tea and Crumpet (guess what country she is from) and her cousin! It was a merry reunion as she is absolutely fabulous and possibly as book mad as myself. Anyways, they had a kite and buried the spool in the sand since the wind was quite enough to keep it aloft without any help. If we had gotten paid every time someone else played with the kite, we'd be rich! It was super cute though.  The boy standing with the blue jacket kept trying to work up his courage to touch it. We told him it was okay (in Korean) and his grams encouraged him but it took him a grand effort to do it. He was quite thrilled once he finally worked up the nerve to stand closer to the foreigners.

Also, festivals in Korea always involve copious amounts of alcohol. You feel guilty for drinking on a Sunday afternoon until you see parents with two year old kids tucked under their arm with kettles full of makoli (rice wine type stuff).When I got Thai food a couple of days ago I picked up a "Dynamic Busan" publication (Korea spends millions of dollars on the worst advertising people ever) there was an article on Jeongwol Daeboreum which as far as I could gather is a celebration of the first full moon of the lunar new year. Wishes are made and tossed into the fire. Enough of the technical stuff: what it actually boiled down to was a whole lot of fantastic meandering on the beach, hopelessly trying to find friends and running into other expats you didn't realize were there in the first place. Kids and adults flew kites, threw sticks, drank and ate to abandon, waiting for the sun to set.

I mainly people watched until the fire got lit...at which point I was a happy little pyro, snapping away pictures, putting out minor spark fires in my hair and generally having a good time.

 The moon rising over the hill!

 

 Dancers in traditional hanbok. SO COOL. I wish I could have gotten better pictures but I was standing a bit far away and there is only so much my amazing little point and shoot can do.

 

So the Thai restaurant we went to afterward was NOT equipped or ready to handle the influx of people coming in from the festival. We waited ages for our food...and then it wasn't all brought out at once. String bean got his dish 20 minutes before the other 5 of us and I got my dish 10 minutes after everyone else. I occupied my time by drawing a monster on my menu which we named the Cragon...half demented cat, half demented dragon. The hooligan requested that he be renamed the Cragon so there you have it. From now on, the Hooligan is the Cragon. String bean also thought of a wonderful name but I can't remember it so he shall remain the String Bean for the time being.

Jimjilbang Take 2

The first time I went to a jimjilbang (Korean bathhouse...think about the pictures you saw of Roman bathhouses) was at 6am, in the countryside, with a bunch of Korean climbing girls. The previous day had been spent rock climbing (~gasp~, yes there was a time when I was actually physically active) and the steam/hot baths/sauna were fantastic for loosening up sore muscles. I had no idea what to do, I just sort of blindly followed them through the paces. Many of you have encountered me pre-coffee...for those of you who haven't let me enlighten you:

Me: Ungh?
Any person attempting to interact with me: Wa wa wa blah blah blah...........
Me: Guh? ~Blinks blearily~ Coffee? Coffee have? Coffee.
Person: blah blah blah...coffee blah blah blah.
Me: Mmmmmmm, coffee.

I wake up almost immediately after putting the coffee in my hands--the placebo is almost as good as the real thing though I can almost always tell if my Dad has tried to be sneaky and pass off half-caf as 100 proof. Sneaky man! Evil half-caf.  Anyways, the point is that I'm a bit retarded before I really wake up. Not to mention that this is over a year ago and memories fade and all that.

Fast forward to earlier today: The Female Kiwi and the Partial Asian** and I decided it would be fantastic to laze about in a jimjilbang. They exist in every town but we decided to head into Busan and get Thai food in Haeundae (soooo spicy and yummy!) before going in. We actually didn't know which bath house we were going to...we just got in a cab and said 'jimjilbang ga yo.'  The cabbie got the idea that we had no idea which one we wanted pretty quickly and took us to one that he said was "best" and only cost the minimum fare to get there.
Things we did successfully:
1. Pay.
2. Find the locker room.
3. Take off our clothes and put on the litte jimjilbang uniform shorts and tee.
Things we failed spectacularly at:
1. Finding the showers.
2. Not giggling like loons while trying to find the showers.

Seriously, we had no idea where the showers were and this was a big luxury type jimjilbang--nothing like the small mountain town one I had been to previously. The one thing I knew for certain is that a thorough shower is mandatory before you get in the various pools. The Female Kiwi was brave and looked up the word for shower on her phone dictionary but the girl she asked just looked at her blankly. We probably mispronounced it and said something like pumpkin instead. Who knows. At this point the Female Kiwi and the Partial Asian were getting flustered and about ready to give up and go. It's super intimidating to have lots of butt naked people staring at you while you are trying to look for something. The last thing I wanted to do was go back into the rain after having traveled an hour to get there so I walked right up to a naked lady who was holding a shower caddy type thing and pointed to mine, pointed to hers, mimed the shower water coming out and asked 'where is it?' (SUCH a useful phrase to know in Korean). She pointed through some doors and to the left and VOILA! We were in business.

Most.Amazing.Thing Ever. I also paid 30,000 ($25.88) won for a full body scrub, facial and massage. They even did a deep condition and scalp exfoliation. I was in bloody heaven. Every cell in my body felt rejuvenated and I just felt so goooood for the rest of the day. Yes, it is a little strange to have a woman only in her undies massage you down and pour buckets of oil and such on you but if you just close your eyes and enjoy it's not a big deal. I still can't get over how smooth my skin is. Worth every single weird stare--I so want to go back more often. Not the one in my neighborhood though...nothing more awkward than running into your students naked. The Female Kiwi and Partial Asian chickened out...they were too weirded out by the nudity thing. I must say though, without my contacts I'm so blind I couldn't even tell the difference between Asians and the Female Kiwi from 2 feet away. I didn't see too much of anything though since I had an extremely weird dream about nipples I think it somehow worked it's way into my subconscious.


**The Partial Asian has brought it to my attention that I occasionally slip and write 'the Half Asian' instead. This is utterly incorrect, she is 100% Asian American.

Trust: The Way to Upgrade Your Image

Read my post title. I'm COMPLETELY serious. There was actually an article in the Korea Times today about how trust is the way to upgrade the country's universities and global image. Ironically, it mentioned nothing, not once, not even a hint of corruption. It didn't even talk about how this abstract noun could be translated to tangible goals, directives, program upgrades--nada. Check this:

"I believe one of the key pillars to this new Korea is trust ― between its members and when dealing with other countries," ---from Park Chul,
President of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

How does upping the trust factor increase the quality of your education?

Fail.

First Bike Ride

Last night, the streets of old town Yangsan heard shrieks of terror and delight from a crazy waegook (foreigner) on the back of a bike.

The Female Kiwi has been promising me my very first motorcycle ride when the weather got nice ever since I got up the nerve to ask her in the dead of winter. It's been 16-18 degrees Celsius (somewhere in the 60s for you Americans...errrr yes I am American too...) all week, absolutely marvelous bike riding weather. Anyways, the Half Asian, Hooligan 1, the Female Kiwi and I were chowing down on Pakistani food when the bike thing somehow came up.  Since the Female Kiwi had her spare helmet I decided that my first ride could be a short one, just between the restaurant and the Hemingway bar (for MOVIE night people, I'm not a total lush) down the road.

Problem number 1: My hair was in a high tight bun.
Solution: Let hair down in an effort to fit into the helmet....end up with ridiculous curly hair flying everywhere.

Problem number 2: My giant handbag...full of things like A People's History of the United States 1492-Present (a 634 page book by Howard Zinn), a camera, a mini notebook, my wallet, my emergency girl kit (smaller bag filled with things like concealer, chapstick,  hand sanitizer, tissues and the like), a packet of flashcards filled with my new Korean vocabulary words, multiple pens, a box of band-aids for my many sundry accidents....you get the point. This isn't exactly the sort of handbag you can hold while riding on the back of a motorcycle.

Solution conversation:
Me: Half Asian...will you hold my handbag?
Half Asian: Oh hell no. I know how heavy that thing is.
Me: ~turning desperately to Hooligan 1~ Will you please hold my handbag? Just until we get to the bar?
....I will admit, I didn't actually wait for the Hooligan to reply, I just sort of shoved it into his hands and hobbled away as quickly as I could and got on the bike.

For the entirety of our slow descent down the back alley toward the main road it went like this:
Me: Oh. My. God. OHMYGOD OHMYGODOHMYGOD.
Female Kiwi: NOT SO TIGHT! You're killing me Alex!
Me: Sorry! ~loosens up for a second before going back to strangling my poor Female Kiwi.
Female Kiwi: ALEX!
Me: OHMYGOD. SORRY. OhMYFRICKENGOD. EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

However, the second we turned onto the main road and picked up some speed I relaxed and had a blast. Thus the streets of Yangsan hearing my shrieks of joy. I don't think that it's everyday they see two crazy foreign women on the back of a bike wearing ridiculous helmets (mine was white with a giant pink star on it) and yelling. Well, Female Kiwi wasn't yelling. She was laughing her ass off at me.

When we passed Hooligan and the Half Asian I saw one of the funniest sights of my life: Hooligan 1 holding the handbag as awkwardly as humanly possible sort of away from his body as if to say to the world 'really, it's not mine. In fact, it's so far from my body that you might be mistaken and think this lovely girl next to me is actually holding it.' It was hilarious.

I had such an adrenaline high when I got off. Josh, the co-owner of the Hemingway told me I hadn't really experienced motorcycle life until I had driven one myself.  I told him that was probably a terrible idea. 
Josh: Why? Are you accident prone or something?
Me: You have No Idea. I think that might be the understatement of the century.

(Further) Spaz update: I tripped walking down the bus aisle last night and while I caught myself mid stumble I managed to land hard on my bad ankle which is still all angry and throbby at me. ALEX FAIL. The Tall Lanky Potential Climbing partner despairs of ever actually getting to go climbing with me. I told him he should probably abandon all hope now. Oh well.

Obtuse Headlines

Okay, so the first article on today's Korea Times webpage is "Why is Lee Pushing for Education Reform?" First of all, maybe because Duh, Korea could really use some excellent education reform. Let's move beyond the obvious though, the article didn't actually mention any critique of Lee's plans despite what the title seemed to imply. The only less than satisfactory line in regards to Lee's actions was this:

Lee's new hands-on approach to education is seen as a rare move from the head of state, who has been mainly focused on reviving the economy and creating jobs.

I've repeatedly mentioned that short time economic revival measures are great for kick starting a sluggish economy but long term investments, particularly in education are invaluable when it comes to providing a viable workforce. Importing skilled workers is hugely expensive and eventually will impact a firm's ability to maintain a competitive edge in the global market.

Besides, I don't think that the president wanting to cut down on ridiculous hazing practices and decreasing the burden of private education costs for families is a terrible thing. Now if only he could get all of the public schools on the same vacation schedule so families could maybe take a holiday together...

Spaz Update

Last night I was such an incredible spaz that I feel it deserves its own post instead of a byline at the bottom of a life/news post.

Anyways, I was running a teensy bit behind schedule on my way to pick up pounds of coffee before Korean class so I was hurrying along the street in Yangsan when I saw a tantalizing new display of spring colored makeup in The Face Shop.** Instead of stopping in as I might have done if I had more time, I simply craned my head around as I continued walking, trying to soak in what new colors I might want to try.....and promptly tripped over an uneven bit of paving, rolled my ankle and went crashing into Hooligan 1 who was an innocent bystander on his way to Korean class. Of course Hooligan 1 wasn't hurt in any way shape or form...except maybe from laughing so hard he got stomach cramps (a distinct possibility). There you have it: my ability to get distracted by shiny things and bright colors led to my downfall. On the positive side, this time I managed to only sprain one ankle, a definite improvement from last time! It leaves me free to happily limp and favor my left ankle!

Oh happy days if that was the end of the spaz update but of course, there is more.

So I got home after a FANTASTIC Korean class (free at the Hemingway in old town Yangsan from 9-10 on Tuesday nights) and after winding down I went to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Normally this is not cause for alarm except that I somehow managed to slice open the side of my left ring finger on the toilet paper dispenser. Oh yes. I cut my finger open on a TOILET PAPER DISPENSER. I got blood all over my sink too because of course you can't bandage up while you still need to get your hands wet for face washing and such. Even more pathetic...this isn't the first time I've done that. Other people have been to my apartment and never attacked by something so seemingly harmless as a toilet paper holder but I have a special talent for this sort of thing.

Even more ridiculous: I'm mildly allergic to the adhesive in most Korean band-aids. Which means that while they will stop me from bleeding all over my bedding they will also give me a lovely reddish pink rash. This new brand seems to be okay but we'll see after I have to have a band-aid on for more than a few hours.

To do:
1. Find a way to Alex proof the toilet paper dispenser.
2. Find a pool or something to go swimming in so I don't waste away while spending months off of my ankle again.
3. Laugh a whole lot at my body's antics.

**My work wardrobe is incredibly boring. I realized last month that I have not 1, not 2 but THREE gray cardigans. I have been trying to spice it up a bit by doing things like painting my nails lime green. It amuses my students to no end seeing what color my nails are every week. It is a little sad when your mother is far more stylish and hip than you are. Oh well. :-p

Something to Keep in Mind for Educators

An op-ed in today's New York Times (or yesterday's, depending on where you live in the world), discussed the fantastic success of the Harlem Village Academies, charter schools in Harlem, New York. In order to improve test scores they focused on everything but the test. The actual quality of the education, educators and above all teaching students how to think, be passionate about education, and be good people.  In my trail of high schools I ended up in a boarding school that was passionately committed to educating the heart, hand and mind. Northfield Mount Hermon believed that without one, the others cannot truly succeed.

I wish more schools would keep those sort of principals in mind. Harlem Village Academies: rock on.

YES! Special Needs Programs Expanded!!!

This article, Special-Needs Kids Get More Education Benefits, in the Korea Times actually made me want to pump my fist in the air. Until the newest legislation, parents had to choose to apply for special needs programs for their kids. Nearly every single expat teacher I've ever talked to has spoken about the frustration of having a serious special needs kid in an already over large class. Often, we are not informed about it in advance and it might take a couple of months to realize that the kid doesn't just have trouble with learning English-- they have trouble with learning period. When the expat approaches their co-teacher or administrator they are usually told something along the lines of 'oh yes, that child has ___ issue but the parent refuses to deal with it.' There is a huge stigma for parents involved in putting your child into a special needs program or school and most seem to refuse to do it and instead ignore the problem. The issue with this is that many mentally disabled students (I'm not sure what the most up to date PC term is, bare with me here) can be functioning, independent members of society---if and only if they are given appropriate education and attention from a very young age. If the parent chooses to ignore the problem they are most likely dooming the child to being a dependent for the rest of their life.

Anyways, the new rules from the education ministry has changed things. Principals, not parents will be given the power to place students in special programs. Kindergarten and high school will be mandatory for special needs students and not be a choice for the parent. I know that this will be a huge headache for school administrators since Korean mothers are fiercer than any other breed I've encountered when it comes to their children's education but it will be worth it. Today, I'm actually a bit proud of Korea for making a socially responsible, progressive change. I hope that it works out well.

Let's Spend 150 Billion Won...Specifics? What Specifics?

Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) wants to spend 150 billion won to upgrade their University to the top 50 of globally ranked universities. This isn't a bad idea in theory. Do they want smaller, better quality classes? Are they making their standards of education more rigorous? Oh no, they plan on hiring 10 Nobel Laureates or Field medalists and making the campus English only from March. The article in the Korea Times (somewhat ironically given their own sub par relationship with facts/stats) was actually a bit mocking of the utter lack of specific details on HOW they plan on attracting more laureates, aside from money. One of the primary reasons cited for the reason prestigious scholars from abroad only stay for about 4 months is a difficulty adjusting to life in Korea, thus the change to the English only campus. (Aside from the fact that in Korea English seems to be synonymous with prestige for organizations.)  Culture shock doesn't come solely from the fact that people have suddenly lost their ability to communicate. It has to do with the utter alieness that surrounds every aspect of your new life and how difficult the most mundane of tasks can become.  If the university wants to retain it's scholars better maybe it should also provide more cultural classes and events for their staff. Not to mention a bilingual assistant to help them get settled...


Ugh. It's just so naive that thinking money alone can change everything. Yes, money definitely helps but it isn't the be all end all. Change requires a lot more than throwing money at a project.

Suggestions and Drinking at Work

1. The Korea Herald published a brief article today announcing that the Prime Minister's office is requesting suggestions from expats on changes that need to be made to regulations that discriminate against foreigners or procedures that are particularly difficult for foreigners.  I find this slightly silly. Why don't they listen to all of the recommendations that the international human rights organizations have been making for the past few years or maybe, I don't know, read all of the articles regarding the issues in the newspapers just from the past year.  Maybe the office doesn't read any of the foreign language newspapers.

2. Today was the retirement party and farewell ceremony. I kind of wish someone had told me about it more than an hour before it started.  I thought today was 100% desk warming so I wore jeans instead of work pants like all of the teachers usually do on desk warming days. Granted I had on a collared shirt and sweater but still. I looked a wee bit out of place next to the teachers who were well put together for the event. The ceremony was an exercise in self control to stay awake since it was an hour of speeches that I couldn't understand. I did successfully look up the words for every sign in the room on my cell phone dictionary though. Then we went out for an enormous lunch where the soju, plum wine, beer and whiskey flowed like water. I did not get drunk but there was a definite happy loosening involved. The few parents from the parent's association who were there were impressed with my adventurous eating. What can I say, I like Korean food.

The Korean newspapers have been chock full of articles about the Olympics-- and having almost zero interest in competitive sports this leaves me a little dry for article ripping. Not to mention that the Korea Times website appears to be down and I can't get a paper version in Yangsan. :( :( Fail!

Holy Shit

Who gets $1.1 million dollars? Business tycoons, wall street financial types, Super high end lawyers, designers...and corrupt public school principals in South Korea. Check out this article in today's Korea Times.

One of the things I liked the best about the article is that it was hard hitting when talking about the issues in the Korean public school system: over crowded classrooms, a ridiculous amount of administrative paperwork, promotions that aren't based on merit and so forth.  A recent article discussing the post-baby boomer population decline lamented the fact that from the 100+ kids in over crowded classrooms the modern South Korean classroom has a measly 30 students. I'm sorry, have you ever tried to teach a language (or anything for that matter) to 30 students at a time in a non-lecture type situation? It's impossible to give the students the attention and feedback they need to truly advance in that sort of situation.

Anyways, the article takes an interesting and brutally honest look at one of the many ways that relationships and money still win out over a merit based bureaucracy in Korean society.  I know that much of these actions are left-overs from a stricter Confucian values based society but with the all the big talk Korea makes about re-branding itself on the global level to be one of the big players it will continue to fail miserably until it aggressively addresses social issues.

Spaz update: I never cut myself while chopping vegetables...but I did manage to slice open my palm while washing my new knife. Oh Alex.

Weekend update: A Korean actually recognized myself and a few of my friends from the club opening at the Womb. Apparently our dance moves are That impressive. I felt like a mini celebrity...and also completely ridiculous. How is it that once I stop dancing I can't stop tripping over my own feet?

A Guilty Pleasure

For someone generally acknowledged as the dork and resident bibliophile in my group of friends, people are often surprised to find that I read fashion blogs as religiously as the New York Times. Among my favorites are blogs that document street fashion like The Sartorialist, blogs that document personal style like the glamourai and What I Wore, and fashion commentary blogs like Tom and Lorenzo (better known by their original name, Project Rungay).  Even during the angstier years of adolescence, nothing could get my mother and I to drop an argument like the arrival of the fall fashion magazines.  One of our favorite things to do to this day is head to Borders to binge on coffee, biscotti and fashion magazines.

Today the Chosun Ilbo published an article about fashion companies realizing what a huge money market the middle aged woman provides. To which I let out a big 'duh.' Those women the fashion industry has been focusing on for years, the 20-30 age bracket, eventually grow up. It's incredibly difficult for women who are middle-aged to find age appropriate fashionable clothing. My mother's biggest complaint has always been the quality and selection of ready-to-wear for women over 30-- leading her to design and sew increasingly larger portions of her own wardrobe. And a shameless plug (unrequested): she also has her own rad sewing blog which is far more popular than mine.

I'm glad to see that Korea is starting to embrace the need for a more diverse fashion scene. Now if only I could find things that fit my non Asian hips...

The Sexuality of a Back

For an end of the year treat, my co-teacher and I decided to show a movie for the last English class. I posted online, requesting that my friends/fellow teachers recommend things that worked best for them in the past. Resoundingly, people suggested Mr. Bean because much the humor is possible to understand without words (ie slapstick) and the vocabulary is fairly basic so that you even need to use subtitles. The kids loved it! However, my co-teacher ended up asking me not to play one of the episodes again for the next class because it showed a naked back, not the butt, just from the waist to the head. In the scene, Mr. Bean is in an art class and is very embarrassed by the nudity, which we never see, only his comic aversion to it. My co-teacher's comment was that public schools are very conservative and that the parents might complain.  I think this might be over kill but I wonder what the standards are in general between different countries.

In other words, I'm desk warming for the afternoon while the students are in a graduation rehersal. I have already laminated about a hundred flash cards. I want to go home!

Spaz update: aside from running out of real coffee this morning, none.

The Bottom Line

I know that I usually stick to Korean politics/policy/education issues but I am in fact originally from New York. Today's New York Times ran an interesting article called "Study Finds Public Discontent With Colleges." I agree with the basic premise, that colleges have become far too expensive to be accessible to the average American. However, I don't think solution can simply be admitting more students to each school or stretching the budget more as Tamar Lewin suggests. What about increasing campus energy efficiency, increased tax breaks for families with children in college and more federal funding?

How does France manage to keep their school costs around 5,500 euros a year when ours range between 24,000-50,000 dollars? It certainly isn't through a laissez-faire market approach.

Spaz update: I tripped over a desk in my 6th grade class. Luckily I didn't fall over though I did manage to garner a few giggles from my students.

Graduation Gangstas

February is graduation month in Korea. I'd like to think of graduation as a time of reduced stress and increased celebration for my students but apparently, not so in Korea these days. Check out this article from the Korea Times called "Graduation Mimics Gangster Initiation." Graduation rituals seem more like fraternity hazing practices in the US but when you think about the age group of students being harassed I think the potential for psychological trauma is much higher. A professor, Lee Yung-hyeock, at the National Police University, admitted that:

"Korean citizens have released stress in somewhat aggressive ways. This is in line with the tradition. But problems occur when the degree of the behavior becomes brutal and violent."

Given the amount of pressure my elementary students seem to be under I can imagine the powder keg they must be living in by the time they reach middle and high school. I'm not sure if there is really a solution for graduation hazing events aside from increased parent and teacher supervision of the days surrounding the actual events.

Disclaimer: I'm sure that not every high school participates in such violent rituals, however, the media is having a field day with the ones that they have caught and perhaps providing a skewed view of societal practices as a whole.

26 Acts

That's right, 26 acts of the student exhibition this evening. Estimated time frame: 6pm -9 or 10. My co-teacher gave me an out if I'm too 'tired' to attend I can go home. As bored as I may or may not be I have to attend. It doesn't exactly give a good impression to the students (or their parents) about how much I care if I can't be bothered to show up to their performance. I think that the singing/dancing/drumming/fan dance stuff will be fun though I will admit that I will probably have to fight dozing off during any speech recitals. I wonder if I can get away with doodling in my notebook during the performance. Probably not but it's a nice thought.

Class was unexpectedly canceled again this morning for a rehearsal but I might actually teach this afternoon! In the mean time I can study and do my homework from Korean class last night. Soon I shall be able to give more complicated directions than 'right, left, straight, here, and there.' There are actual sentences involved in my future!

Spaz update: ZERO. Then again, it's only 9:33am.

Paris Hilton in Korea?!

The Chosun Ilbo is showing Paris Hilton resplendent in hanbok, navigating chopstick use and posing with Korean stars. I have to admit, as much as the thought baffles me the woman is rocking the hell out of that hanbok. Fail for the article: the second time 'hanbok' is mentioned it's misspelled as "handbook."

...I never ever thought I'd blog about Paris Hilton, let alone in a positive light but there you go. There is a first for everything.

Charging More: What Color is Your Skin?

Foreigners are used to paying more than the locals when they travel. It's a fact of life when it comes to buying knickknacks, taxis and eating out. However, should it be the same for medical services? Today's Korea Times wrote an article about the fact that major medical hospitals are overcharging foreigners for their services. Read this disturbing tidbit:

However, the majority of hospitals claim that foreigners are not subject to the Medical Law. And if their argument is correct, foreigners cannot be protected from malpractice and other legal risks.

Expert say that two-tier pricing may also violate the Fair Trade Law, which stipulates that unfair or discriminatory deals can be punished by a fine of up to 2 percent of the gross sales.

The article mainly focuses on two implications: how this will affect the budding medical tourism economy and how this system will encourage hospitals to develop better care for the rich at the price of social welfare/access for the poor and middle class. The line about the legal implications for medical malpractice is particularly disturbing. How can Korea hope to attract high class medical tourists if it doesn't adhere to OECD level regulations protecting their investment in their body?

Now, I agree that hospitals running international clinics who have higher costs involved with getting multilingual receptionists, translators and doctors should be allowed to charge a little extra. However, this article talks about hospital care treating foreigners as a whole, insured or not, international clinics or not. Here is an implication that the article doesn't touch upon: what about affordable care for people on working visas? Why should we be subject to the tourist prices when in fact we are contributing members of society?


And for your daily Alex is a spaz update: last night I burned my thumb on my bibimbap bowl when trying to move my water glass out of the way. I now have an extremely attractive blister on the knuckle of my thumb. Go me!

Punitive vs. Educative

I'm a few days behind on the news but there was an interesting article from the 12th that I'd like to address. The Korea Times reported on the increased effort by the Lee Myung-Bak administration to encourage competition among teachers and schools to improve the quality of education. Recently, 17 teachers who had poor assessments are being transfered to different schools as a punitive measure for their poor evaluations of their teaching performance. Riddle me this: won't this just punish their new schools for being stuck with sub-par teachers? Wouldn't a more logical solution be to have forced additional training programs for teachers performing below acceptable levels? The article didn't specify if those teachers who were demoted had actually been teaching the subjects they had originally received training for. I know of many Korean  teachers who I've come into contact with who have training or educational backgrounds in completely different subjects than they were asked to teach due to well whatever reasons, shortages, convenience, and who knows what else. I agree that there should be actions taken for teachers who are not performing up to scratch but I don't see how making them change schools will have a positive benefit for anyone involved, other than the principal who had them moved so he/she doesn't have to deal with more phone calls from the parents.

Busan Haps, Ghetto, ol'55 ...and Irresponsibility

Friday night has become my wild night. After a week of being a role model, dealing with hyper kids, making sure I'm not inadvertently insulting my elder coworkers by not using the 'yo' form of a verb or bowing properly I just want to go out on the town and dance my heart out.

Of course this is complicated by the fact that I appear to have really done a number on my wrist, to say nothing of the chronic ankle problems. My dad said to me on the phone tonight, "oh dancing all night, must mean your ankles are doing better huh?" My reply..."Dad, that's what tequila is for." A shot of tequila works better than any ibuprofen gel cap, acupuncture or massages. Oh tequila.

Anyways, we started out the night at the Busan Haps issue launch party at club Fabric. They had a pretty bad ass punk band and cheap mixed drinks-- a perfect combination. The best thing I heard all night was from a gentleman there: "I love your top!...hate the skirt." Wish he had just stopped at 'love your top' but I suppose you can't have everything in life. The problem with a punk band is that there is only so much jumping around you can do before craving more real dancing sets in. We set off for Club Ghetto around 1 or 2 and danced our hearts out for hours. Ghetto is interesting, I'm not sure why guys always think they can just grab you instead of asking if you want to dance. Silent Bob and Plaid Bike** both had to pretend to be my boyfriend at various points to fend off random guys. I'm there to dance with my friends; having male friends willing to pretend to be your boyfriend is key for a pleasant clubbing experience if you aren't looking to pull. It was a weird mix of American club hits from the 90s and kpop. Finally, at the end of the night (and by that I mean 4 in the morning) we went to Ol'55 for a night cap before heading back out to Yangsan. As usual, I shared a cab with everyone back to Yangsan station and then grabbed a local out to my neighborhood. By the time I got to my place it was almost 5 in the morning but my lovely warm bed was calling me. No such luck. For the first time in my life, I lost my keys. I have no idea what happened, only that somewhere between arriving in Busan and getting back home my keys must have fallen out of my bag. Thank god it was just my apartment key (an unmarked key) and not my office keys. Rewind, it was 5am and here I am, locked out of my apartment on a holiday weekend. This is what we call officially screwed. I admit, I sat down on the steps outside of my apartment door and burst into tears. Not one of my finer moments but slightly hilarious in retrospect.  Five minutes later, I pulled myself together and called the Female Kiwi, hopped in another cab and crashed on her floor until I could get a hold of my landlord. Thank god he didn't leave town for the Lunar New Year. I don't know what I would have done. My belated new years resolution is to learn how to pick a lock.

Yet another Saturday passed with me failing to update my blog though I will give myself a little slack this week--I was admittedly locked out of my apartment while it snowed at 5am. Coming up tomorrow: updates, news rips and possibly new Konglish pictures.

**Plaid bike boy is obsessed with bikes: riding them, building them and he even has a tattoo of one. I have also never seen him wear shoes that aren't plaid so there you go, Plaid Bike Boy.

Toxic Water

In March, I read this opinion piece in the Korea Times on the stigma attached to drinking tap water despite numerous government actions taken to show citizens that the water is safe to drink. However, the past few weeks have been full of articles about the dangerous chemicals and contaminants found in the Han river during the river clean up project such as unsafe levels of mercury and arsenic.

I went back to drinking tap water in Busan because it tastes good and didn't ever smell funny like my tap water did in Seoul. Bottled water is not economical in terms of capital and plastics, even if you recycle religiously. I love being able to fill up my glass at the tap and not worry about boiling it or having bottled water in the apartment.

Amidst all of the speculation about water quality I'd love to see some solid links to specific, scientific information about the water quality in various parts of the country. Any advice?

For more interesting articles on the debate:
-James Card is an American journalist in South Korea. This is published in the Yale Environment 360. 
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2188

-This blog, Korea Wetlands focuses on the various environmental issues surrounding the Korean wetlands, I've linked you to the page of articles tagged with the 4 rivers project.
http://koreawetlands.blogspot.com/search/label/4%20Rivers%20Project

School Scandals

Kang Shin-who continues to cover the SAT scandal for the Korea Times. Despite the fact that there has been at least an article a day since the event, very little new information has actually been written about. Frustrating for me is that Kang keeps repeating this line without offering any details surrounding it: "When he was trying to leave his former work place, Recas Academy for another academy last December, the hagwon owner kidnapped and beat him up." 


The new punch today: apparently Jeffrey Sohn lied about having a PHd in politics from Columbia. People, if you have a PHd in politics from Columbia, why would you be working for a hagwon in Seoul???? Also, I wonder what sort of visa he has/had because for an E2 hagwon visa the embassy wanted a bazillion copies of my sealed official transcripts and my original diploma. Granted, apparently it's very easy to get fake copies made in places like Thailand but I wonder if the school had worked with him to mislead the parents about false credentials. Columbia is a brand name school in Korea, it would definitely have been appealing for parents to have a teacher with an advanced degree from Columbia, relative subject matter or not. 


In other news, the Times also reported about the fact that only 22% of middle school students are admitted to their first choice high school in Seoul.  I'm not talking about boarding schools, private institutions or specialty high schools; these are the average public schools available. On one hand, I understand that the theory behind this process is supposed to make schools more competitive and work harder to attract students. On the other hand I think it's a process that inherently favors students whose family can afford hagwons, private tutors and other capital intensive application enhancers. Granted, the system in the USA is hardly better since because of local taxes, high income areas inevitably have much more money to invest in their schools than lower income brackets do. President Lee Myung-Bak has mentioned consistently throughout the past 2 years that he wants to reform education and decrease the prevalence of private supplemental education. Personally, without serious investment in the nation's schools I don't any changes happening. Regulating hagwon hours will not decrease the demand for them.  Smaller class sizes, increased teacher training and resources, after school programs for public schools and assorted other tools could help. 


I want to help my students learn more and get ahead but in a class with 35+ students it's impossible to give them the attention and types of intensive lessons they need to learn English. I am constantly researching large class methodology but there is only so much one person can do. 


Random asides: 
-There is something sticky on my school mouse. Fail.
-My wrist still continues to hurt like the dickens despite the fact that it doesn't appear to be swollen or bruised. I'd get acupuncture this afternoon only as usual, I've got plans for the weekend pretty much starting from when I leave work. Dinner plans, the Busan Haps magazine issue launch party, a hip hop night at  club in Kyungsang....
That is of course, assuming I don't trip over anything else between now and the end of the day. 

Sexually Harrassed By a Group of Middle School Boys

I am braving grave wrist pain to bring you this blog entry! Okay, perhaps not 'grave pain' but it is seriously uncomfortable. Anyways, so as I'm walking down the street a group of 10 or so middle school aged boys loitering outside of the GS 25 look up and see me, a waegookin female. If I was a Korean female they would have probably gone out of their way to stare at each other, their shoes, the sky, anything but strike up a conversation. But oh no, I got a chorus of 'hi, hello, how are you' and one boy who just kept saying the word 'sex' over and over again. I have a sneaking suspicion that he is responsible for the new graffiti a bit further down the road that says "SEX" on the side of a building. (No pictures...it's alternating between rain, snow and intense wind.) I said a quick hello and ducked into the shop to use the ATM. A few seconds of bliss from the disgusting weather...until all 10 boys pile into the shop and proceed to ask me where I'm from, tell me their names and of course, the sex boy said 'sex' a few more times. I think that counts as mild sexual harassment...or rather, it would in the USA. Oh well.

In Which I Am More of a Spaz Than Usual

I know, you probably didn't think it was possible. However, yesterday I reached new heights on the spaz meter. While walking from the bathroom to my bed I somehow tripped over my own feet, slipped on my rug, had my feet go out from under me and landed hard on my right wrist and then my bum.  The wrist isn't swollen but it is nice and tender and sore. My ankles have also felt better days. The doctors can tell me to stay away from adventure sports all they want but apparently nothing can save me from myself. 

After my wrist extravaganza I had a pretty decent chicken biryani (sp?) in Yangsan of all places. The movie was actually Zombie STRIPPERS not cheerleaders. In fact, for the first 10 minutes we didn't even have to make up our own dialogues to make it funny there was organic laughter produced! Somehow the army girl always lost her top while fighting the zombies and ended up shooting away madly in her camo print bra. Such lines as "Zombies....shit," were also fantastically delivered. My other personal favorite: 'Prove you aren't a zombie fast, say something deeply ontological!' Unfortunately the next hour of the movie was as predicted, terrible. We thought the zombie strippers would act more zombie like! Instead they were just stupid girls who were starting to decay and had cravings for flesh.

And now I shall save my sore wrist from typing by printing out flashcards to laminate. Oh the riveting life of an English teacher.

Korean Class and Zombie Cheerleaders

Yesterday was my second ever formal Korean class.  It was good in that I finally learned how to conjugate a verb but only three students showed up, the Celestially Inclined Brit, Hooligan 1 and of course, myself.  Hooligan 1 is still working on the alphabet and the Celestially Inclined Brit actually already knew about verbs, kicked my ass in conversation and only got one thing wrong on the pop spelling quiz from last week's vocabulary words. I got two things wrong and the only verb I could use (before class) was 'to be.' Talk about being embarrassed--I've been in Korea for over a year and the Celestially Inclined Brit was talking circles around me. To focus on the positive: I remembered most of what I learned last week (yay for flashcards) and I was actually able to string together sentences by the end of class. H. is a pretty good teacher. She makes activities that are easily adaptable for a multilevel class and are stimulating enough for adult students to want to sit through. I maintain that having a drink during class is fantastic. 

Tonight I'm going to brave the dry cleaners and then meet for my weekly dinner and crappy movie night with the Female Kiwi and the Partial Asian. I used to hate crappy movies but they have converted me. Essentially you go to a DVD bang (dvd rental room place...often used for cheap sexual encounters between couples who can't afford a love motel. Note the easily wipe-able bed like couch, conveniently place box of tissues and thick door.) and pick a movie that looks terrible. Favorites include action movies, sequels and straight to DVD productions. Then, proceed to mock mercilessly and create your own sub-dialogues. Laughing yourself into hysterics is perfectly permissible. I think the Zombie Cheerleader Camp might be on the docket for this evening. . .

Crime, Corruption, Crazy

In this article in the Korea Times, Kim Sue-young discussed the different problems that foreign workers face. The reporter managed to come up with concrete statistics, something I often cite as a significant problem in Kang Shinwho's articles. However, while Kim Sue-young mentions the types of cases filed there are no mentions of conflicts actually being resolved. Many foreigners emphasize the fact that even if they do go through official channels to file a complaint or seek legal action, the police or government agency seem very unlikely to actually do anything to help them.

BUT my favorite article for the day is this one, "Hagwon Sued for 'Pirating' SAT Book." This is from the hagwon that was busted recently for getting advanced copies of the SAT and selling it to their students. The title of the article focuses on the fact that they plagiarized some books. To that, I have to say big deal, they are like every other hagwon I've ever heard of. Obviously that sucks but no one would have caught them if they hadn't been under investigation for other things.  At the end of the article they mentioned that the former employee, Jeffrey Sohn, responsible for making the books had previously been kidnapped and beaten by the school for attempting to leave it for another job. Back up. KIDNAPPED AND BEATEN. Why wasn't THIS the title and focus of the article?!

I hope this leads to more investigation into the shady business practices of hagwons in Korea. I suppose that could be expanded to business practices and transparency issues period but let's face it, that's all wishful thinking on my part.

Coming up next: Korean class, life, etc.

Education: My own personal demons and Korea's

The time after winter break (the start of February) until the start of March and the new school year is the most ridiculous thing I've ever experienced. Especially for the 6th graders who know that they have finished their finals (IN DECEMBER) and nothing they do will effect them getting into middle school or not. I only had 2 classes of 6th graders today. In the first class, only half of the students brought their books and in the second class only 3 or 4 students had books. How the hell are we supposed to follow the lesson plan, finish the book for the year as planned/requested if the students don't deign to bring books or pencils? They were rambunctious and couldn't care less about being there. In the afternoon there is a field trip to visit the local middle schools for some sort of orientation (I think, as usual there is a fair amount lost in translation) so everyone was beyond hyper.  Mrs. K eventually gave up on at least trying to get through the listening/speaking activities and suggested I start a game. I got the class under control by asking them if they would rather write or play a game (the 6th graders almost universally hate writing in English, I shouldn't use it as a punishment but at this point it's almost a lost cause). They stayed calm for about 2 minutes. One more warning and I gave up. I had them all sit down, passed out paper and pencils and had them copy sentences from the board. Boring as hell for both of us. Tomorrow I may or may not have classes since there is a rehearsal (but we aren't sure) for the big exhibition next which I know nothing about other than it's on Wednesday or Thursday at 6 or 7 and I should probably show up.  This ambiguity has nothing to do with my co-teacher's English and everything to do with how business is run in Korea, that is to say last minute. I am trying to go with the flow. After all, it isn't really a travesty if my classes are canceled last minute.

On another educational rant, though a slightly different topic, the infamous Kang Shin-who wrote the concluding piece in his illegal tutoring series. The conclusion? Exactly what I said a few days ago, that illegal tutoring is in too much demand and far too hard to regulate for the government to have a chance in hell at eradicating it. They might as well make some money off of the more honest folks. Kang, are you reading my blog? :-p Just kidding. The article was anticlimatic and not up to his usual inflammatory level. However, he did through in evidence of his usual standard of journalistic integrity by using this "fact" instead of trying to cite any actual statistics (or god forbid, conducting his OWN data poll or survey).

"According to some parents and students in Gangnam, southern Seoul, many foreigners there earn 50,000 to 70,000 won per hour for private English tutoring sessions."

Seriously buddy? You can get away with that sort of stuff in the informal blogosphere but you write for the Korean Times, a newspaper that proclaims it wants to act "[a]s the mirror of the times, The Korea Times will become the eyes, the ears and the window to a whole new world." 

I realize this is an overly negative blog post. I should probably refrain from blogging when I've only had about 2 hours of sleep. Stupid insomnia. 

Racism is Taught

I posted a few days ago about the growing popularity of an extremist group called the 'Anti-English Spectrum' recently renamed the 'Citizens of Right English Education.' The latest controversy stemmed from an interview with the leader who publicly announced that he follows (not stalks) English teachers around to try to find evidence of criminal behavior.  Anyways, this article in the Global Post, Jiyeon Lee discusses the rise of racism and problems with the increased foreign population in South Korea. The article does manage to emphasize that the media tends to exaggerate the tendency of foreign teachers to break the law, that in fact only 0.5% of the population actually were persecuted by the law in 2008. In contrast, the article makes no mention of the percent of lawbreakers among Korean teachers. 

Here is my main issue with the presentation: Jiyeon Lee hypothesizes that the growing number of foreigners has led to a rise in racism. I disagree: I believe that the increased foreign population has simply made the racism more visible as there are more opportunities to express prejudices.  Racism is taught, it isn't something that just springs up. Last year when I taught at a hagwon (and thus had more opportunities to hold classroom discussions/debates) I was appalled by how many students hated the Chinese and Japanese. When I asked why, they didn't know. They tended to say that it was something their parents had said that they had learned to believe. These were elementary school students.  When the issue of racism comes up in the media, there are lots of different ideas presented about where the racism might stem from and who is bickering with whom but very little discussion about what can be done to curb the problem. Legislation has been drawn up (though it hasn't passed yet) but legislation against hate crimes won't help my students understand the diversity of humanity better. I would love to be able to teach a multiculturalism unit beside the traditional "Where are you from? I'm from America" unit. Their class that children are required to take on Korean culture is important but perhaps it is more important to have a class on different global cultures as Korea rises to the international stage. 

Yonggun Sa (Temple)

As I mentioned before, there is an amazing woman at the bank who speaks a fair amount of English. One of the last times I went to take care of some bills she sat down and chatted with me for a few minutes. She wanted to know if I would be interested in meeting her family and doing some cultural site seeing with them. Every weekend they make a day trip to a temple, national heritage site or something similar. My philosophy of life these days seems to be 'why not?' After all, I didn't get any bad vibes from her and in general, I've found that if a Korean reaches out to you they are surprisingly genuine. Sunday afternoon I met her husband and two absolutely adorable sons. The eldest knew some basic English and delighted in asking how to say things like 'seat belt' in English. The other boy was only 29 months and seemed to get a bit confused by the fact that we were all speaking a language he couldn't understand. He called it 'making noise.'

We drove out to Yonggun Sa (sa means temple) which is a large Buddhist temple on the edge of a cliff on the water. The informational sign had some of the worst English I'd ever seen. There weren't spelling errors...it was just awkward beyond belief.
(Click the photo to view the larger version so you can read the silliness) I will admit though, the sign charmed me. I've gotten used to strange English after living in Asia for a year. The rest of the temple was absolutely gorgeous though the giant yellow signs advertising something kind of clashed with the beauty of the landscape.These are the statues for each of the 12 zodiac animals in the Chinese calender and a random family. I forgot to ask photo permission from the family I was with so any people in the photos are just random people.You put money on things for good luck/a wish. I didn't make a wish...I'm pretty happy right now.You can't really take pictures inside since people are actually praying/worshipping/lighting incense and it is generally frowned upon. Even if it was permissible I'd feel really uncomfortable doing it.Mini Buddhas hidden on the hillside.
Who doesn't want a giant gold colored Buddha? The oldest boy's favorite color is gold; he loved this statue.
Awesome ceiling post paintings.
Notice how packed that bridge is? The place was packed with tourists...and yet it wasn't overwhelming. People were respectful of the fact that it was an active place of worship and everyone just seemed to be enjoying the gorgeous weather.

After the temple we went out to dinner and I ate until it was painful, as per usual. I was also offered soju and since I've yet to fully master how to politely decline an offer for food or drink (which is generally pretty rude in Korea) I sipped at my soju and got far tipsier than I would have liked on a Sunday afternoon. I didn't have very much it just went straight to my head. In any case, they invited me out again for next week and I think I will go. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with a Korean family and see more of Korea.

Those Crazy Waegooks, Club Opening Night

Friday night the Female Kiwi, Hooligan 1 and I grabbed dinner and then 'roadies.' Basically, if it takes you an hour to get to your nightlife destination you get a drink at the corner store for the road. Since it's completely illegal to drink in public in the states (or at least, all of the states that I've visited) Americans tend to get quite a kick out of this. I will admit that the novelty has worn off some after a year of roadies but the Hooligan is still new.

After a few stops, two ajeossis (elderly Korean men) were highly entertained by the three of us chatting away and drinking. They could not get over the fact that the Hooligan was just drinking soju straight from the bottle on the subway--without anju! Hooligan 1 and I didn't know what anju meant but the Female Kiwi giggled madly at us and explained that they thought we were weird for drinking with snacks, anju. So what did the ajeossis do? They pulled out a package of amazing rice cakes filled with bean paste and pass them over to us. We chatted awkwardly in Korean with a smattering of English until they reached their stop and got off. Hooligan 1 was also complimented on his fabulous-ness for going out with not 1 but 2 pretty ladies. I'm not sure the ajeossis quite believed us either when we said that we were just friends. Oh well, scandalizing Koreans is what us waegooks do.

Shortly after the ajeossis got off, a giant group of high school girls got on, still in uniform and 2 of them were carrying TAMBOURINES. And because Hooligan 1 never misses an opportunity to be ridiculous and silly he went over, borrowed a tambourine and played/posed with it for a minute. Which was fabulous...except for the fact that my cell phone somehow DIDN'T SAVE THE PHOTOS!!!!!!! Evil, absolutely evil.

That was the amazing part...my night was filled with laughter and happiness before I ever got to the destination. The new club, Womb, was alright. Good DJ, trendy atmosphere but here was my big issue: it's a big basement club and while spacious it didn't have a good ventilation system. Imagine several hundred smokers going at it for hours without a single window open. Smokey. I came home feeling like I had smoked a pack of cigarettes. Thank god I had put my coat in a locker immediately and it didn't reek too badly the next day. Ridiculousness: the PR people doing photography for the opening went nuts over us, taking our photo. For the first hour or so we were the only foreigners there and I guess it looked good having foreigners mixing with the locals at a big club opening. Later some other people that we met at the EPIK orientation joined us and by that time there were other foreigners and I didn't feel like I was under a microscope anymore. All in all, a good night out with friends.

Coming up next time: Alex goes to a temple on a cliff over the beach...

5 Centimeter Bangs

While browsing the Korea Times this morning, I came across this article on laws and rules governing the length of student's hair. In America, there is the occasional controversy over boys having "girlishly" long hair at school but this was governing every student. Apparently, such guidelines are defended because they "keep its students away from entertainment outlets for adults in its vicinity by making them easily recognizable as students." That means 5 centimeter bangs for girls (can that be right?) and forced trims if your hair doesn't meet requirements.

The counterargument: cutting student's hair without their consent is a human rights issue. And I agree. It might not be as bad as say, killing/jailing/torturing people for expressing opinions against Dear Leader in North Korea but it is most certainly a violation of the student's rights. The counterargument is weak at best; adult venues should be carding minors they believe to be inappropriately trying to gaining entrance. Not to mention the fact that most of these students seem to have zero free time to get into such shenanigans. If they aren't in school, hagwon, taekwondo, piano lessons or studying they are helping out their family. The little free time available gets devoted to the television, computer or gaming systems.

I will have to ask my co-teacher what she thinks about hair guidelines as she is both a parent and a teacher.

Correction and Books

Apparently, yesterday's post about EPIK is a mistake due to a misinterpretation of an email between EPIK and it's recruiters. Not surprising given the standard of communication in Korea but a relief for incoming teachers nevertheless. (See Brian's retraction here.)

I just read this article in the Dong-A Ilbo and am utterly appalled. Apparently, the average Korean adult reads only 10.9 books a year and 28% read no books at all. I was beyond horrified by these statistics-- until I got online and discovered that in 2007,** 25% of people in the United States didn't read either (read this AP article). However, it is interesting to note that neither poll concerned how much time people spent reading blogs. Yesterday, I spent a good 6 hours between work and home reading newspapers and blogs online. If I had been reading a book I would have started and finished it in that same time period (given of course that I wasn't reading French, Spanish, Joyce or anything else ridiculously long and difficult).

Apparently I am more of a freak of nature than originally surmised considering the fact that I read more books in a month on average than most people do in a year. February is off to a rather slow start though. It is already the 4th and I've only read 1 book, Faulkner's As I Lay Dying (fabulous by the way). I shudder to think what my rate would go down to if I ever give in and buy an iphone.

Migraine update: I do not have a migraine, I need to get my eyes checked. The headache immediately abated significantly when I made the viewing font on my computer 3 times bigger. Obviously, I am going blind again. Stupid genetics. Luckily, getting your eyes examined in Korea is FREE if you are purchasing anything at all with the exam, contacts, glasses, etc. And since I'm quite sure they are worse and will require new lenses and contacts it will be great.

I have updated my blog 3 times and it's only 11AM here. This borders on spam. Oh well, no one is being forced to read it.

**No more recent statistics appear to be available for the USA, at least according to my preliminary Google research.

The Hated Kang Shin-who Strikes Again

If you read the Korean Times with any regularity (or indeed, any of the angrier kbloggers) you have probably come to despise Kang Shin-who just a little bit. His articles almost always have lovely racist jabs and constantly belittle foreigners in the education system without offering any sort of balance, counter-arguments or indeed, possible alternative viable solutions. Today's mess is a continuation of a previous piece on the horrid private English lessons that continue unchecked despite their illegality.

Background:
Under current visa laws, workers on an E-2 visa (ie, those of foreign English speaking heritage teaching English in a hagwon or public school) are forbidden to teach private lessons. People with an F-2 or F-4 visa (those who are of Korean heritage or have a Korean spouse) are permitted to teach lessons so long as it does not violate their full time work contract and they report all of their lessons for tax purposes. University students are allowed to teach a limited number with the permission of their professors (presumably so their private work does not interfere with their studies).

Kang Shin-who complains that it is so very hard to catch foreigners teaching the lessons illegally. Indeed, someone receiving these lessons is very unlikely to report them, especially if they are satisfied with the quality of their education. Here are my issues with the law: why are people who might not even be native English speakers allowed to teach private lessons while native English speakers are not? Second, if it is so hard to catch people doing it illegally or even deter them maybe they should make it illegal and tax it so that the government has an increased revenue which in turn could be used to reinvest into improving the public school system (and thus decreasing the need for private education). Sure, it might not get everyone who is teaching illegally to suddenly report their earnings but there are many honest souls out there who would rather be law abiding citizens. I do not teach any private lessons but if it was legal I would certainly consider it--and would definitely allow taxes to be taken out of my wages.

Here is another frustrating aspect: I want to hire a French tutor so that I can refresh my French and work on improving my writing skills. [I'm seriously considering grad school in France but that's for another blog post.] To do so, would I have to find a French person with a Korean spouse in order to not break the law?? In a country that places a high value on a capitalist way of life it seems absurd that they are not answering a supply and demand situation that doesn't deal with drugs, sex, illegal arms or North Korea.

Another infuriating point about F-2 and F-4 visa holders? They are not required to get the HIV test in order to teach-- and E-2 visa holders are. I understand the need to keep HIV in check, however, discriminatory testing is a human rights issue. Definitely something for another post...

The 200th Post

This seems like a huge landmark number. 200. That's pretty big. Then I realize I've been blogging for over a year and it seems much less significant.

There are days when I love my job. Desk warming is really not a travesty. I can leisurely work on lesson plans, drink coffee to my hearts content and get caught up on everything I have to do online (and a billion things I didn't have to do). Today is not one of those days.

I went to bed with a building pressure behind my eyes. Thinking I was just overly tired, I went to bed and thought nothing more of it. It's worse this morning and the advil and coffee aren't helping. I have no idea if I have a migraine building or my body is rebelling against staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day for the 4th day in a row. They are doing construction in the teachers room...and it's officially evolved into a shoot myself sort of day. Every pull of the saw is echoing inside my skull and bouncing off the backs of my eyes. The boiling of the water heater has somehow morphed into a cavernous drum roll as teachers make their never ending cups of coffee. Every Korean word is being belted at performance levels through my ear drums. I've only been at work for 34 minutes. This does not promise to be a very good day.

Band practice just started up down the hall. Please kill me now.

Happy 200th post to me!

Oh will power, how you mock me.

Today, I was a good little adult. I went directly after work to pick up some take-out to eat later for dinner. Okay, so perhaps this wasn't Exactly good adult behavior but whatever, close enough. Dutifully I went home and ate my roll of kim bap which was the first kim bap I've ever encountered that was super salty, greasy and kind of gross. Like the McDonalds of kim bap. No matter though, i still ate it and it had multiple food groups so it counted as dinner.

What did I do 10 minutes later? I got out my spoon and my jar of peanut butter and worked on that too. Admittedly, it wasn't terribly far from me, residing as it does on my bedside table but you'd think that eating a proper dinner would help me resist it's unhealthy pull. Apparently not. In fact, as I type this, I'm getting a craving for kim too.

Oh, Alex.

Fail. F-.

Brian in Jeollanam-do just did a fabulous piece on the latest EPIK (the government program that hires English teachers for public schools) bureaucratic nonsense. Despite constant news articles and government reports on the need for better qualified and trained English teachers in the public schools and cutting down private education demands, EPIK has decided to make teachers pay for their own training/orientation--with only two weeks notice for the teachers coming in for the new semester. [The South Korean school year starts at the beginning of March.] Consider the fact that the majority of people who come here are recent college graduates...how are they supposed to come up with the money to deal with orientation costs on top of all of the things you need to buy to get settled into your new life. Apartments come furnished but often lack dishes, towels and other necessary items.

Forget the money aspect for a minute, and let's talk about professionalism. Even retail jobs in America give you some sort of compensation for training-- if it's not fully paid. The employee does NOT pay the employer for the privilege of learning how to do their job. South Korea's media is incessantly filled with articles on how to bring South Korea to the attention and standards of the rest of the OECD world. Here is a piece of advice South Korea: look at professional courtesy and procedure in other countries. One of the main reasons that teachers get frustrated and whiny is dealing with the administrative and bureaucratic nonsense at every turn in their life here. Lack of communication between departments, failing to give advance notice for anything from official vacations, school events to extra classes. I love the social aspects of Korean culture, they are different, unique and while I may not agree with every bit of it I can go with the flow. I don't mind pouring drinks with both hands, bowing or being asked what my age is.

I do mind this sort of nonsense. Dear EPIK offices, Today, you Fail. Love, Alex

My First Korean Class

It's possibly that after 14 months of Korea I should have signed up for a Korean class by now. Last year I taught far too many hours a day to have any drive to study after work. The problem was also that the majority of my co-workers spoke English extremely well. I knew just enough Korean to get by in restaurants, taxis and doctor's offices and really, what more did I need?

This year is different. No one at my school speaks English fluently. I communicate using a mix of extremely ghetto Korean, English and over the top gesticulation. Today I had to have someone help me call the post office. It's embarrassing to not be able to help yourself do the most basic things. If I could blush, I would have been beet red for a good 15 minutes while my co-worker L straightened out the problem for me. L is a total sweetheart and didn't mind helping me out but she also understood why I was so embarrassed. A 23 year old who can't handle her own affairs is a wee bit pathetic.

Anyways, as I've mentioned The Hemingway is run by an expat and his Korean girlfriend, H, who decided to offer a free Korean class on Tuesday nights. She was a bit nervous to be giving a class to a bunch of teachers but everyone was pretty respectful and it was a great class. It's extremely hard to teach a mixed level class but H made it work. There was one worksheet on phonics practice for anyone who didn't know the alphabet (like Hooligan 1) and a worksheet focusing on the seasons for the rest of us. It might seem superfluous to learn about the seasons and the weather but think about the majority of quick small talk with cabbies or coworkers. Is there a single day where the weather isn't mentioned? I think not. And since we are a group of teachers, while H was helping out the lower level students catch up, the more advanced students helped the middling students like The Female Kiwi and myself. I got so excited, I learned how to ask what is your favorite season, answer the question and then answer the question why. (My favorite season is spring. My birthday is in spring.) I also learned how to say 'you are bad' and 'he is a playboy.'
Discoveries:
-I am good at hearing a word and writing the correct (or almost correct) spelling.
-I still cannot tell the difference between ㅐ and ㅔ or ㅓ and ㅗ sounds to save my life.
-Nothing is better than a class where you are openly encouraged to drink during the lesson.

This morning I got to work and made flashcards for all of the words I learned yesterday. I am obsessed with flashcards, they are the fastest way for me to imprint new vocabulary or information into my brain. Once at the checkout I think I had several dozen index card packages in my cart with miscellaneous other school supplies.

Cashier: Are you a teacher?
Me: Huh? No, I'm a college student.
Cashier: Oh, I just thought because you were buying so many school supplies and you know, teachers get a discount...
Me: Nope, I'm just a total dork.
Cashier: Ah.

To be fair, how many non-teachers are able to fill up a cart with school supplies when they are only buying for one person??

Bachelor(esque) Dinners

In many respects I am incredibly mature, independent and good at taking care of myself. I eat a proper breakfast everyday, pay my bills on time, do my dishes in a timely manner and am never ever late to work. My closest friends like confiding in me because they know that no matter the issue, I will never, ever judge them for it.

I am however, absolutely terrible at making sure I get a proper dinner. Case in point: this evening for dinner I ate 3 packets of kim (dried seaweed), several chunks of cheese, peanut butter eaten directly from the far and some dry cereal. Why? I have money to go out and treat myself to a dinner out, even an expensive one. Likewise, the grocery store is fairly convenient and I do in fact have some dumplings in the freezer and eggs in the fridge, not to mention the fact that I could have had milk with that cereal. I just... couldn't be bothered. Sure it would have been nice but I was Reading and it didn't seem terribly important. In college, my parents wouldn't let me off of the full meal plan because they know that during research I'm even more terrible about remembering to feed myself. Ironically, I get incredibly cranky and downright bitchy when I'm hungry, it's worse than before I've had my first cup of coffee. At least then I'm mainly grunting at you instead of stringing together biting remarks.

In Anyang there was nearly always someone calling or texting me to meet up for dinner. Salsa boy and I ate together nearly every night. I have friends in Yangsan but not that many I'm particularly close to yet. It's an effort to put myself out there and call people I hardly know. I can already hear my mother telling me to make the effort or at the very least, stock my fridge better. I have never missed my local 5 aisle grocery store more than when I step in the door of the local monstrosities. It's too overwhelming, too many choices. I got overwhelmed at Stop and Shop in the States, imagine a place where the sales people all try to help you in a language you don't really speak and everyone is craning to see what you have in your cart while narrowly avoiding being plowed down by busy families and their over-sized shopping cart. I love adventures. I seem to be able to brave everything from live octopus to teaching to traveling alone but somehow, I get defeated by a grocery store. Excuses, excuses. To be honest, it's kind of funny that someone who misses her mother's 5 star cuisine is perfectly willing to eat peanut butter out of the jar for dinner. At least I used a spoon this time.

A Brilliant Excuse to Drink Coffee

Today's Korea Times reports that "coffee reduces risk of brain cancer."For anyone who has ever spent any amount of time with me knows that that I am caffeine crazed. I often refer to coffee as the ambrosia of mortals...and God help you if you ever have to deal with me before I've had my morning coffee. As I type this I am drinking my second large cup from my insulated coffee cup in the office. When I was at university in Paris I took advantage of those 40 centime espresso machines in the academic buildings (and dormitory) and averaged between 5 and 13 cups a day. To be fair, I needed it to stay awake to get through the workload but still, that's a lot of coffee.

During college I often fantasized about an intravenous tube feeding me caffeine so I didn't have to waste valuable research/work time by getting up to make coffee every so often. A friend of mine and I came up with the brilliant idea of creating a sort of dome around the campus so we could caffeinate the air. After all, we had never met a Sarah Lawrence student who wasn't sleep deprived (and if they weren't, they generally flunked out in a semester or two). Perhaps one of the most bizarre moments was when I was sitting in an overly long orchestra rehearsal and had a vivid fantasy about somehow getting at my Mom's espresso machine so I could have lattes (let's face it, a latte was way out of my budget for the first three years of college).

In other news, Korea has chosen yet another branding slogan to help increase tourists: Korea Be Inspired. This replaces Korea Sparkling which unsurprisingly was universally criticized as having absolutely zero personality or anything at all to do with Korea. Not as terrible as HiSeoul (ironic in a country with an internal possession law for drugs) but pretty close. I live in 'Active Yangsan.' Whatever that means. Guess how much Korea spent coming up with 'Korea Sparkling?' 5 BILLION WON. That's about 5 million dollars for the lamest slogan ever. What advertising firm has been ripping them off??

I'm off for another inspiring 7 hour lesson planning session. Ugh.

Monday Blues

I have a seriously cliched case of the Monday Blues and I refuse to whine anymore about it so here are some photos instead. Also, if you want to read about what everyone else in the expat Korean blogosphere is ranting about today, here you go!

I'm not quite sure what 'I like wagon in all cars' means. A foreigner was wearing this sweatshirt in a bar. Of course, it was a Korean purchase. I'm not sure where else you'd find such lovely English.
I couldn't get this to turn out better but in case you are wondering, it's a clothing store called 'Soup' who's byline is: Performance Feminism Fashion. Since obviously, this is what soup inspires.
...oh Tootsie Pops.

Update on the Ice Kiki: apparently, it's a 2nd floor sandwich shop. Weiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrd.