What a chill week! Second grade went on a trip to Jeju Island so the school was quiet and I had few classes. Yesterday I joined first years on a trip to the E World amusement park where I enjoyed the good weather and some roller coasters with coworkers. Today is the start of a four day weekend! I’m currently on the subway, heading to meet a friend at a car rental shop for a little road trip to the southern coast of Korea! Life is good. Updates on the trip later :)
It’s Teacher’s Day (스승의 날) here in Korea which is a great little holiday! Students prepare cards, flowers, cakes, and gifts for their homeroom teachers, hand out treats to their other subject teachers, and at my school they even performed for us. Not every school goes all out like mine did this year (apparently this is my school’s first year making a whole day of it), but I’ll tell you about my day.
Upon arriving to school a group of teachers hand out chocolate bars to the students with little messages printed on them (something about “it’s not about how much is in your brain but what’s in your heart”…). During the regular morning homeroom meeting time students decorated their boards and gave cakes and cards to their homeroom teachers. There was a lot of singing the “Teacher’s Day Song” by excited groups of girls.
The whole school filed into the auditorium and the teachers were seating in the front rows. First, the principal spoke and a few students were honored with awards for good behavior by the education department. Then lines of students assembled in front of our rows and fasted carnation boutonnieres to each teacher’s clothes. Because every ceremonial thing I participate in here in Korea has to be awkward, naturally the boy pinning mine on struggled for about 5 years to get the pin through my blazer. Woe is me. This was followed by 3 girls’ homeroom classes performing adorable and hilarious group dances on stage and the entire student body singing the Teacher’s Day Song.
The entire high school then went for a walk around the lake next to our campus. It was a perfect day for the hour long “hike” and everyone was in such good spirits! I really enjoyed it; chatting with coteachers, answering students’ silly questions, and listening to one homeroom sing every part of “Fantastic Baby”. After the walk we enjoyed a specially prepared lunch in the cafeteria and then got to go home early!
It was nice to see so many students expressing their regard for their teachers today. I came home with a nice little hauls of cakes and interesting Korean sweets. I think there is probably a “teacher’s day” on the calendar in the states but it’s a shame we don’t really do anything for it!
The decision by the school to make today a “day off” for celebrating and enjoying the good weather (with no mention of studies) was surprising and really great. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen so many of my students this happy… ever. Definitely never so carefree!
Last fall 2 of my co teachers were really interested in my Kindle and asked me all about it, and eventually they both ordered their own. Recently one of the head English teachers saw their Kindles and started to ask me all about them. He ended up getting one and it has just arrived. He is gleefully parading it around to the other English teachers and urging them to get their hands on one. He’s been asking me questions about setting it up all day, haha.
His efforts paid off; one of my first grade co teachers was really interested so we had a little demonstration session just now along with two of my other first grade co’s. In the end, all three decided they want one. I felt like such a salesman… demonstrating my Kindle and talking about how awesome it is.
I have convinced SIX Korean English teachers to import Kindles. C’mon Amazon.
Above is a link to an article in The Japan Times on “microagression”; the every day questions thrown at visible foreigners that become oppressive and alienating.
This is beyond applicable to our situation in Korea. The questions are often well-intentioned and driven by genuine curiosity, but the amount of assumption made in forming them is exhausting to attempt to dispel. Particularly difficult for westerners (this DEFINITELY applies to me) to handle is the level of entitlement to your personal information and time the questioner seems to believe they hold. A couple of recent event have made me a little bitter toward those native Koreans who believe they are a. entitled to my time and attention regardless of where and when they approach me and the fact that we are complete strangers and b. entitled to my personal information ranging from my age and nationality to my personal relationships and opinions on their culture. A lot of the time this is a cultural difference; Koreans tend to ask new acquaintances questions westerners often find too personal particularly due to the importance of age and marital status here. However, a lot of the time I have been approached on the street simply because I am clearly a foreigner and asked a laundry list of personal questions and ultimately to dedicate my time to this stranger who either wants to practice English or enjoy the novelty of befriending a foreigner. The main problem is these attempted relationships are contrived, not organic. Targeting me on the street, stopping me without knowledge of where I’m going or how busy I may be, and expecting me to welcome this onslaught of questions and share a desire to form a relationship is not okay and is not how you would treat your fellow natives.
The hardest thing to deal with is often the truly well intentioned questions driven by a certain level of ignorance to foreign cultures and genuine curiosity. The article mentions the question “can you use chopsticks?” which in Korea as well comes up all of the time. As a new arrival at my school this question didn’t really phase me. I said yes and proved it to them over lunch. But 6 months in having fellow teachers comment on my apparent “skill” and their surprise feels a bit demeaning. Also, the assumption that I am unable or unwilling to eat the same food as a native gets a bit exhausting. Over enthusiastically expressing that yes, in fact I do enjoy Korean food and eat it in the states as well wears a girl down.
My take on this is not nearly as well organized and thought out as the article linked above so I definitely recommend you take a look.
Who needs an alarm when you’ve got the US Air force running drills at 6am?
Those who know me well probably know that almost nothing – NOTHING – makes me happier than brunch. I just… I freaking love brunch. It combines so many of my favorite things; coffee, waking up late, not going to work, coffee, bacon, someone else cooking, coffee, and delicious breakfast fare. One of the hardest parts about living outside of the US, where brunch is an art form and I’m a connoisseur, is satisfying the need for a proper brunch. I feel like I’m on a constant quest to find some good brunch.
In Daegu our options are limited and we often wind up at Chris Do’s, a cute restaurant that offers a decent brunch but, like most western options in Korea, is always just a little off from what you are looking for. Our hopes were high for Seoul and we weren’t disappointed!
Look at that! This delicious rye pancake meal was served up at The Flying Pan Blue in Itaewon, Seoul (Itaewon Stations Exit 2, take the first left). We arrived on a Saturday morning and had to wait about 30 minutes which we spent browsing a local international food market. The menu had a lot of great options from mushroom crepes to eggs avocado. Our table ordered the brie and ham French toast, rye pancakes, and salmon eggs benedict. Everyone was full and happy by the end.
*Jen & Amanda with their Eggs Benedict and Brie and Ham French Toast
This place offered exactly what I was hoping for; a delicious western style breakfast menu with a big cup of coffee.
Plus, the interior is super cozy. The miss-matched flea market style is really well suited to its cool, below ground-level location in Itaewon. The staff all spoke great English and let us pay separately and the crowd ranged from fellow young ex-pats to locals to business men. Coming from California, where I think weekend brunch is really done right, I can say that this was the first spot in Korea to offer me dishes and an atmosphere reminiscent of San Diego’s fresh and experimental brunch plates. I couldn’t have been happier.
This past Wednesday was election day and for public schools that meant a much appreciated mid-week day off. It happened to coincide with the peak of cherry blossom season as they are in full bloom all over the country. I traveled with two friends to the small, coastal town of Jinhae about 2 hours south of Daegu by train.
Jinhae is famous for having the highest concentration of cherry blossoms in the world and holds a big festival every year. Unfortunately for us, Wednesday was a wet and gloomy day so it wasn’t ideal for photos but we wandered and enjoyed the trees nonetheless. And, naturally, it didn’t stop the hoards of couples visiting Jinhae from taking hundreds of self portraits beneath the trees. If you don’t have at least 200 photos on your smart phone, DSLR, and iPad you are clearly not doing it right. Oh, Korea.
Jinhae is a cute little town on the water and we took a stroll away from blossom-central for a bit to enjoy the view.
It even started to clear up for a bit, but once we decided it was time to head back and check out the trees the clouds made sure to roll back in. Nevertheless our seaside detour was well worth it as we found Korea’s COOLEST Family Mart:
For real.
Once at Yeojwa Stream (여좌천), the most popular spot to stroll beneath the blossoms, we were offered a beautiful sight. However it can be a bit difficult to enjoy the boardwalk or snap a picture or two when you are struggling to pass by mobile photo booths unwilling to move from their prime picture spot until they’ve captured every possible emotion and taking the perfect new image for their cyworld profile. I can’t imagine what it must have been like during the festival last weekend! Despite the grey skies failing to let those pink beauties pop to their full potential is was a really beautiful sight.
An impressive sight, a cute town, a nice day off with friends, and some tasty fair food made waking up on a day off to catch a 7am train well worth it.
*I’m fairly sure Bryan and Jen don’t read this.
April 14 ANOTHER relationship-focused Korean holiday.
So… February 14 brings Valentine’s Day set aside for Korean girls to confess their love. Then you’ve got March 14 when the boys can, if they choose, reciprocate. Now it’s April 14, known here as Black Day, a day of single-awareness.
On Black Day single friends gather together to enjoy jjajangmyun (짜장면), delicious black bean sauce noodles, in recognition of their singleness. I’m not quite sure if this is a celebration of independence, mocking the obligations of those tied down on the 14th of earlier months, or an excuse for a pity party. Either way I wasn’t about to let this guy’s existence exclude me from this tasty tradition! This evening I said “Phil who?” for the most innocent of reasons and enjoyed jjajangbap (짜장밥), the rice variation, with a friend downtown. I still find this country’s fixation on romantic relationships a little hard to swallow, but I can’t say the same for the delicious treats these holidays provide.
Under that fried egg is a pile of rice sprinkled with a few shrimp, plopped next to a generous portion of black bean sauce. Some soup and pickled veggies on the side made it 5,000 won well spent.
Natalie (22)
Daegu, South Korea
I'm a high school English teacher working for the Korean government program EPIK. This blog will be following my adventures in Korea and Asia, and hopefully it will continue to document more travels in my future! For those who are specifically interested in EPIK or teaching abroad, click the EPIK link above for posts related to my experience working in Korea. Otherwise, expect to see everything from classroom stories to travel diaries and photos!
The name of my blog was inspired by a quote by H.C. Andersen, "at rejse er at leve", meaning "to travel is to live".
For posts about my previous travels follow the links at the top of the page. They will redirect you to my other blog.
Copenhagen 2009: posts from my study abroad experience in Denmark and the travel I did throughout Europe during that time; Iceland, Germany, Czech Republic, England, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. June-December 2009.
Eurotrip 2011: photos and posts from my 2011 trip to England, France, The Netherlands, and Denmark. June 2011.
I follow and reply with the username natalietenaya, my main account.
