I just received a computer at work. This means I can finally access my google account from the school. I don't care to spend my limited free time in the evenings writing posts, which should explain my long absence from the blogosphere (If you follow Jill's blog you will know this is not from a lack of noteworthy things to write about). Only time will tell if Blogger access at work will produce more online material for your reading pleasure.
I was able to Skype with my folks today and they had asked me a little bit about North Korea. If you are like me, you are always wondering how much information the American media is actually giving on certain issues. I would love to sit here and write an articulate account of South Korean views towards the Norths testing of a long range missile. This would be incredibly hard to do though. There are the obvious issues of language barriers between me and the South Korean friends and coworkers I get to talk to and I also believe there is a frustration with the whole North South situation that is not often talked about.
The other day I was riding in a car with a man from my school. I asked him about the North Korean missile test and what he thought about it. He is a smart man, but his English is limited. He was able to communicate to me that the missile test upset him. There seemed to be a frustration in his voice about the state of Korean affairs. He mentioned how China, Japan, Russia and America all had a role to play in negotiating with the North, but I could tell he felt like the context of the whole situation was wrong. He clearly does not care for Kim Jung Il, but there was a deep love and respect for the people of North Korea. When I asked him how he felt about the people from North Korea he said "North Korean people and South Korean people are one family." I asked him him if he wanted a reunification of the North and South and he looked at me very seriously and said, "I very very want!" This made me wonder what the response to the North would be from people who see North Korea as part of their family.
This conversation obviously does not do much in the way of helping to find a solution to the rising tensions with North Korea, but I think it does provide some context for any of you who hear North Korea mentioned in the news. Most Koreans believe that an artificial line was drawn in the sand 60 years ago and they have deep deep wishes for that line to be erased. The interesting thing I took away from this conversation was his ability to separate his feelings from the North Korean state and the North Korean people. It reminded my of my trip to Nicaragua while Bush was president. I had a number of different conversations with people who did not like "America", but loved Americans. They disagreed with American foreign policy, yet they warmly embraced me as an American.
There are times where it is easy to think of a government and a people as one entity. Especially coming from a country that is supposed to be "by the people and for the people". I was encouraged by my conversation with my friend. It reminded me that there is a longing for reunification within all of us. It also made me wonder what a foreign policy would look like if we all had the sense that people on the other side of "the line" are part of our family.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Pictures from Saturdays Hike Pt. 2
From left to right: Kevin, John, Jessica, Kristen, Mayo
Minutes from a subway, we are in the beauty of nature.
Kristen
John
Jessica
Mayo
BAMF
Hiking Pictures from Saturday Pt. 1
A subway map of Busan. This will help you locate the different places talked about on my blog. Jill and I currently live by the Goejeong station on line 1 and will be moving to the Toesongdong station on line one. Our weekend hike was near the Busan National University Exit on line 1.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
My first political endorsement
This was a special week at my school. As I was walking to the school on Monday morning I heard a large number of students shouting things in Korean. The students are often loud but this was a very concerted effort. As I turned the corner to look onto the field in front of the school I saw three groups of students vehemently waiving signs at each other. I was not sure what exactly they were doing but I figured my co-teacher would fill me in later that day. I was told that we would not have classes on Thursday because of the school elections were going to be held that day. I realized that the organized chaos on the field was all a part of the political process. On Tuesday morning I was walking onto the campus and the students had moved their campaigning to the schools entrance. This was clearly phase two and they needed more exposure. As the students have a tendency to do they started yelling at me when they saw me. I started to laugh and decided I should take a picture of them. When I pulled out my camera they started screaming. They realized that the press was present and this could help give them a boost in the points. My friend Mr. Chun was with me and he told me to take a picture with them. I thought that sounded like a good idea so I walked over and stood next to a group of girls. One of the girls handed me a campaign sign so I held it up. This single action electrified the crowd. It was on par with Obama getting the Oprah endorsement. The girls instantly started screaming like crazed Beatles fans to try and get full coverage of the political spectacle. As that happened, I looked over at the boys camp and saw some very disappointed faces. I realized that I had effectively just picked a horse in the race and it could actually make a political difference.
Thursday finally rolled around and that meant it was time for the campaign speeches. Each student was given 3 minutes to address the entire student body. I would have loved to have understood what they were saying, but I was able to read the audiences responses to what they were saying and that was great. My girl went last and at this point I was actually rooting for her, after all she had the best poster. She walked up to the podium, but instead of digging right into her talking points like everyone else, she decided to show the school that, if elected, she would be a servant leader. She got on her knees and gave a very slow deep bow to the crowd, a move that clearly impressed. When she did step up to the microphone she spoke with unbelievable charisma. I am sure she was talking about some of the intricacies of her energy policy and her revolutionary idea to play K-pop over the loudspeakers in between classes, but what impressed me most was what came next. She turned over campaign poster and revealed the reason that I knew I had sided with the right candidate.
Here is what the other side of her poster looked like.
With the Oprah-esque endorsement, the Obama endorsement and the clear superior speech, I knew she would win. The speeches had ended and it was time to head to the polls.
I left the gym and headed to my office to prepare a lesson and wait for the results to roll in. The final result...
...was an outrage.
The one boy beat the two girls. I am currently filling shenanigans with the administration office. I believe there was voter suppression and voter fraud. I cannot prove it yet but, I want a re-count.
Meetings
I have been to a lot of meetings since I have been to Korea. Some have been about my housing situation, some have been about my lesson plans and others have been way more fun. Koreans tend to interpret the word meeting very loosely. Last week I was told there would be teachers meeting Wednesday at 3 o'clock. I asked my co-teacher what the meeting a\was about and she told me it was a sports meeting. I thought this meant we would discuss the schools athletic program, but she told me I could dress in gym clothes if I wanted to. It turned out to be a "volleyball meeting". Apparently every Wednesday the teachers get together while they are on the clock to play volleyball. Every April there is a tournament between schools and our school is supposed to be one of the better schools in the city. My principal was very eager to know if I played volleyball when I arrived at the school, now I know why. When I walked into the gym I could not believe how serious these teachers took the sport. I woman in her late forties was doing warm up laps around the gym and jumping rope. Everyone was in track suits and bumping and setting balls to one another. I was intimidated, but I figured what I lacked in volleyball skills I could make up for in my size. That's right my size, I am the second tallest player on the court. If we were playing basketball they would definitely have me at center (I love this country). I definitely lack the experience that these teachers do but I was able to hold my own. I will now have a sports meeting every Wednesday.
Here is a picture of the gym.
Here is a picture of the gym.
After my sports meeting I had a men's meeting. The men's meeting was held after school at a restaurant 10 minutes from school. 11 other men and I sat down at a typical Korean style restaurant and ordered some food. We had Duck Bulgolgi and a wide variety of side dishes. Shortly after we sat down the bottles started popping and the makeju and soju started flowing. I am not sure that men bond so much differently on the other side of the "large pond", but men here do it with a zeal I have never seen before. There was the traditional ceremonial ways in which the alcohol was served by one man to another, but all in all it just loosened everyone up to get to know there co-workers better. I love the family style nature to the meals. There were 3 table grills for the 12 of us and at any given time you would have 3 to 6 men stirring the food or digging into the duck with their chopsticks. After about 3 hours of eating, drinking , and camaraderie we moved the meeting from the restaurant to a HOF. HOF's are bars were you have to order Anju (drink snacks) in addition to your drinks. After another hour and a half at the HOF I decided it would be best to leave everyone at the HOF and make my way to the subway (I have no idea what time everything actually ended). The next morning was great, there was a definite bond that had been built between myself and the other men. We smiled at each other a little wider and were a little freer in the way we try to communicate. Both meetings were effective in their aims. The Korean people are very communal and they structure their lives in ways that foster deep relationships with the people they work with. I have worked with good friends before, but I have never seen a workplace that is so intentional and inclusive in the way that it trys to bring people together.
대 신 Daesin Elementary
Rhythm is the thing that is lacking most in my life right now. I am nearing the end of my second week at school and tomorrow will be the one month mark for our time in Korea. We have lived in four different places in four weeks and we still have one move to go. My teaching schedule has begun, but it is far from routine. I found out today that I will also be teaching classes to the teachers of my school. I have been without productive internet time for a while so I will try to get out a few short blogs over the next couple of days to get up to speed. I am teaching at 대 신 Elementary School. I will be teaching 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes. The school I am at is in the Seogu neighborhood of Busan. I have two co-teachers. The school has about 1200 students and there are aproximately 30 students per class. The school'd facilities are amazing and the faculty are super nice.
The view from my office.
Another view from my office.
The view from my office.
Another view from my office.
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Few Things I've Learned So Far
In our week long training they told us that Korea is dynamic. It is completely normal for things to change on a moments notice and we should not be suprised by that. Today is my second day of school and I have not been in a classroom yet. I don't think I will see the classroom until the end of the week, at the earliest. Jill and I are getting settled in Busan, but we have a long way to go. When we arrived at our schools we were told that we had two seperate studio apartments instead of one 1 bedroom apartment. My school (Daesin Elementary school in the Seobu districy of Busan), is currently looking for a new place for us. Meanwhile we are tring to get internet, cell phones, and students. This is why we have been somewhat off of the communication grid. I have some time today for a short post on some things I have learned so far, hopefully pictures will come soon.
1. Largie - When in doubt add an "ie" to the end of an English word to make it Korean. This is similar to what many of us do to make something spanish by adding an "o". So, instead of a size Large, it becomes size Largie. Orange becomes Orangie and so on. This has greatly helped my communication.
2. Bery Largie - For those of you wondering why I said Large instead of Medium, it is because that is the size I wear over here. That's right, in Korea, I am a large man. I have a friend here that weighs just over 200 lbs and is 6'1 and is hard pressed to find anything that fits him. I have lucked out in shoes since I happen to be a 280. This is the largest size most stores carry (10.5 US). HoweverI am also a size 45 depending on what shoe I pick up. In coats I am either a Largie, 100, or 48. So much for standardization. Good news is, most of the clothes are inexpensive.
3. Bring your Tech 9 - Korea is a very safe country with a low crime rate, so you don't need a semi automatic tech 9, but you will need to bring your technologically advanced 9 year old. Yesterday all of the new teachers were introduced to the school through the morning video announcments. I was waiting in line to be announced, looking into the room where the principal was being filmed. All I could see was the principal and one of the monitors that showed the live shot. As each new teacher was introduced the line got shorter and I made it closer to the control room. When I finally made it into the control room I expected to see a couple of grown men on some sort of AV team. Instead, I saw about five 3rd and 4th graders in front of cameras and editing equipment. They all got big smiles as they turned and waved at me. I could not help but think that America has lost any sort of technology war that may be fought in the future. Everything is wired here (except for our apartment). Cell phones work in subways (unlike New York), Doughnut shops have electronic sliding glass doors, and they let their children use equipment we would be too afraid they would break in the U.S.
Soju is a social lubricant - People like to drink in Korea. I have had a few converstions with people who say they don't like to drink. Right after that they will tell me they "just like to have some beer or wine with firends." I went out for lunch yesterday with the Principal, Vice Principal and some of the teachers. After everyone had sat down, the principal started walking around the room and pouring everyone some alcohol (not sure what it was, but it was delicious). At one point, one teacher said she did not drink, so he said he would only give her a little bit. Halfway through the meal the V.P. made the rounds filling everyones glass. Now I know that there are a number of buisness people that will have a cocktail at their lunch hour or during a business meeting, but this is the first time I have heard of people drinking at lunch before they go back to the second half of thier day to work with children. Soju is the alcohal of choice, it is a vodka like grain alcohal that is unbelievably cheap. Makeju is their word for beer and would be the 2nd runner up to soju. Here is why it is so importnant. The Korean people I have met seem to be pretty shy, but once you start having a glass of something with them they quikly open up.
I think I am supposed to do something now so I will have to continue this later. Much peace.
1. Largie - When in doubt add an "ie" to the end of an English word to make it Korean. This is similar to what many of us do to make something spanish by adding an "o". So, instead of a size Large, it becomes size Largie. Orange becomes Orangie and so on. This has greatly helped my communication.
2. Bery Largie - For those of you wondering why I said Large instead of Medium, it is because that is the size I wear over here. That's right, in Korea, I am a large man. I have a friend here that weighs just over 200 lbs and is 6'1 and is hard pressed to find anything that fits him. I have lucked out in shoes since I happen to be a 280. This is the largest size most stores carry (10.5 US). HoweverI am also a size 45 depending on what shoe I pick up. In coats I am either a Largie, 100, or 48. So much for standardization. Good news is, most of the clothes are inexpensive.
3. Bring your Tech 9 - Korea is a very safe country with a low crime rate, so you don't need a semi automatic tech 9, but you will need to bring your technologically advanced 9 year old. Yesterday all of the new teachers were introduced to the school through the morning video announcments. I was waiting in line to be announced, looking into the room where the principal was being filmed. All I could see was the principal and one of the monitors that showed the live shot. As each new teacher was introduced the line got shorter and I made it closer to the control room. When I finally made it into the control room I expected to see a couple of grown men on some sort of AV team. Instead, I saw about five 3rd and 4th graders in front of cameras and editing equipment. They all got big smiles as they turned and waved at me. I could not help but think that America has lost any sort of technology war that may be fought in the future. Everything is wired here (except for our apartment). Cell phones work in subways (unlike New York), Doughnut shops have electronic sliding glass doors, and they let their children use equipment we would be too afraid they would break in the U.S.
Soju is a social lubricant - People like to drink in Korea. I have had a few converstions with people who say they don't like to drink. Right after that they will tell me they "just like to have some beer or wine with firends." I went out for lunch yesterday with the Principal, Vice Principal and some of the teachers. After everyone had sat down, the principal started walking around the room and pouring everyone some alcohol (not sure what it was, but it was delicious). At one point, one teacher said she did not drink, so he said he would only give her a little bit. Halfway through the meal the V.P. made the rounds filling everyones glass. Now I know that there are a number of buisness people that will have a cocktail at their lunch hour or during a business meeting, but this is the first time I have heard of people drinking at lunch before they go back to the second half of thier day to work with children. Soju is the alcohal of choice, it is a vodka like grain alcohal that is unbelievably cheap. Makeju is their word for beer and would be the 2nd runner up to soju. Here is why it is so importnant. The Korean people I have met seem to be pretty shy, but once you start having a glass of something with them they quikly open up.
I think I am supposed to do something now so I will have to continue this later. Much peace.
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