You are What you Eat (With)

When I first got to Korea, there was very little that actually surprised me, despite how amazing and different Korea is from the West.

However, the biggest surprise and shock came in the most unlikely of places: chopsticks.

I am not stranger to a pair of chopsticks. While I'm not the most adept person in picking up and handling smallish objects with a pair of sticks, I think I can hold my own. I don't know about you, but the kind of chopsticks I've always been accustomed to, exposed to, and used, back in the US--in chinese, japanese, vietnamese restaurants and the like--looked something like this:



The dramatically tapered end, and the other the heavier, slightly rounded boxier end. This is what chopsticks were to me. So when I got to Korea, and sat down for that first meal, I was surprised to see this:


The slight tapering of one end, the ornate decoration on the other. The general flat and slender design of the stick. This was one of the most surprising things for me to encounter when I first got to Korea.

The first time I used these chopsticks, it was as if I had never before used a pair of chopsticks in my life. It was embarrassing. I felt like a child, with how much food I kept dropping or how much ended up neither on my plate nor in my mouth, but either on the table or on my clothing. I couldn't use them in quite the same when as I had the other kind, because of how slender they were and how they fit in my fingers. In general, I just think you have less surface area. Less area in which you can maneuver, and less surface area in which you can use to pick up food.

I had expected to encounter different things when coming to Korea, but this--this, seemed to come out of nowhere! Did not ever expect to stumble over my chopsticks :)

Teaching adventures 2: Linda & Kazakhstan

A few weeks ago a student approached me during "cleaning time"--the 30 minutes designated at the end of the day where students clean up the school, and each student is assigned a particular task--to ask for some help. Her english name was Linda.

She wasn't actually a student of mine, but rather she's the student who mops underneath my desk. Linda comes by to talk with me while she waits for another student to finish sweeping around my desk--and we talk about all sorts of things.

But on that particular friday, she told me that she was applying to an international camp for environmental engineering--but that there would be an english interview for it. Linda, is a second year. She's not my student. That means she's not at an intermediate/advanced level. She was terribly worried about her interview, and to be honest, I was a bit worried too. Because it's one thing to be able to talk about you age, and where you come from, and what your favorite food is in english... it's a completely different thing altogether to have to talk about environmental issues and what you think about them in a language that is not your own.

Since Linda isn't actually my student, I decided to set aside some time after school to work with her specifically. There was no other way since she has classes each period and there's no way I'd take away her lunch. After school it must be. But that also meant that I would be working with her gratis. Her interview was saturday afternoon and I even went in on saturday to prep her for it. Teachers were surprised to see me there, wondering why I was showing up on a saturday since my contract states that I get the weekends for myself--I should mention that korean teachers work every other saturday.

I didn't mind working off the clock with her, I was happy to do it. She was such a trooper--she worked so hard. Each day coming in just that much better than yesterday. I worried that I wasn't actually doing much to help her, that the questions we'd work on were too simple, too vague. I worried that she would be so nervous that she wouldn't be able to remember anything we'd practiced, so I also gave her some advice and breathing methods.

I didn't see her for a while afterwards, and I was in suspense as we both wondered if she was accepted or not. Linda told me that she was incredibly nervous, and that she didn't speak as well as we had prepared. It was to be expected, but I hoped her nervousness would be overlooked given the situation.

Then, in the middle of the week, one of the teachers comes to my desk to tell me a student is looking to speak with me. The teacher's room was on lock down, since teachers were making up the mid-term exams & no students at all were allowed inside. So I head out, and there Linda is, completely happy.

She made it in. She's going to an international camp for environmental studies...in kazakhstan! Apparently, S.Korea and Kazakhstan have this crazy environmental program and my student gets to go there and have this amazing experience.

Linda was so happy, and I was equally thrilled, as if I was the one going. She thanked me profusely, saying something along the lines of, me speaking with her improved her english and that she thought she got in because of my help.

While I didn't think she got into the camp because of my help, I accepted that thanks for her improved english. Because the point of us talking wasn't so that I could feed her prepared answers. We all know how that can turn out:



But the point was just to get her thinking about the topic...in english.

After we parted, I excused myself to the ladies room where I promptly cried. I mean you always wonder how effective you are as a teacher...especially in this sort of situation. You wonder if you're just the fun teacher. You wonder if you are actually helping to improve students' english skills.

And then something like this happens.

And its humbling and jarring, and beautiful. It was the very first time I felt like I was making a difference in a student's life since coming here.

So, Linda, thank you.

Teaching adventures 1: 왕따

Every school has them.

The outcasts, the loners, the person who just, for whatever reason, doesn't fit in. In Korean they are known as 왕따.

We had been forewarned about how to deal with the outcasts during orientation, as elementary and middle school kids can be particularly cruel. That is not to say, however, that my school is without its outcasts.

I was on the lookout early on to see if there was anyone who was picked on or left out during activities and the like. Seeing that most of the girls got along fine & worked well together, I don't know, I guess I just got it into my head that everyone, for the most part, got along. Sure, there were more popular students, there were vocal students, there were shy students, and others who distracted the class, but I honestly didn't pick up on any sort of negativity.

I was looking for the wrong things.

At the high school level being ostracized from others doesn't come in the form of taunting, blaming, or snickering. It's a quieter kind of ostracism. It's neglect. It's complete and utter indifference. It's not caring enough to even make fun of you.

I didn't even know that one of my student's was an outcast until it was pointed out to me. I knew she was a bit different than the other girls--but I thought she had some friends at least. She would come around my desk sometimes after school or in between classes, just wanting to talk. I thought she wanted to improve her english, and maybe she did, but after one of our chats, the teacher whose desk is next to mine turned to me and told me that it was nice that I chatted with her.

I was surprised at this. I will always talk with any student who wants to practice their english. I didn't see chatting with this particular student as being anything out of the ordinary. But then the teacher went on to mention that she doesn't have any friends. Not even one. In the entire school.

She was a 왕따.

I was so confused. I thought, at least, that she was friends with the girl who sat next to her in class. I had seen them talking during class. But then I thought, and then really observed, their interaction. They sat next to each other because of assigned seats. They talked, to clarify instructions/directions. The girl who sat next to her wasn't cruel in the slightest, but also, didn't make an effort either.

I couldn't believe I had missed her isolation. During activities, because she's so bright, she often leads the group giving them answers. The group accepts her, albeit temporarily, because she gives them answers. They include her, but again, don't make the effort to befriend her.

This girl puts on a damn brave face. Whenever I speak with her she always puts a smile on her face and she's bright and cheerful. But I also see her wandering the hallways by herself, or lingering around the teacher's room to talk to teachers because she doesn't have anyone else to talk with.

And it breaks my heart just a bit more every time I see it happen.

I mean, I was never the popular girl growing up. I was terribly shy, and while I wasn't a complete outcast, I mean, I definitely could have been. So I know what that loneliness--that sheer anxiety & loneliness--feels like.

And I also know there's nothing for me to do to make her not be the outcast. Such is the dynamic in any sort of school, between any set of students. The best I can do is speak with her--validate her thoughts and her feelings and her existence. Give her the attention she can't get from her peers, and make sure he self-confidence and self-esteem doesn't falter. I know that she'll find people, eventually, who accept her as she is. Unfortunately, it probably won't happen in high school. Considering that she's a second year, I'm hoping that things get better for her here, or that she'll survive the hell that is high school, and start anew at university. There, she can reinvent herself, be whoever she wants because no one will know anything about her.

In the meantime, I enjoy my talks with her.

Jongmyo Revisited: Daejae

I posted earlier about the Daejae ceremony that happens on the first sunday of May at the Jongmyo Shrine.

To recap, the Daejae is divided into three parts-- Greeting the Ancestral Spirits, Entertaining the Ancestral Spirits, and finally, Sending off the Ancestral Spirits. These rites are divided among the two halls of Jongmyo.

930-1130am: Ceremony at Yeongnyeongjeon
1-3pm: Ceremony at Jeongjeon (main hall)

The Daejae is only held once a year, and the actual family descended from the last emperor still facilitates over the ceremony. There are many things that cater to tourists in Korea, and in particular Seoul. Many rites/traditions and the like are "reenacted" for the sake of the foreigners here.

Jongmyo's Daejae is not one of those things.

It is a living testament to Korea's past. A reminder of its history and tradition in the wake of the modern world. It's unlike anything else in the entire world. It is not a reenactment. It's the real deal.

And in it's complexity, but also in it's striking simpleness, it's beautiful in ways that are so different from today's world--like the woman wearing a traditional hanbok, while strolling down a cement sidewalk.

on the left side were people standing and doing elaborate motions. In the middle were the musical performers playing traditional instruments. There was also someone chanting & in the background the offering was being made to the ancestors.

The women in the blue and white hanbok kindly remind you not to step on the sacred pathway.

It's interesting that people who are beggars think that they can be choosers.

Then they pass judgment as if they wouldn't do the same thing in your shoes.

Get off your high horse.

No more fan accounts, no more fancams.

Because beggars can't be choosers.

Black Day 2011

This is such a late post but for the sake of thoroughness, I'm including it and don't care what anyone says.

April 14 is designated in Korea as Black Day.

Another day that centers upon whether or not you are coupled up.

February 14 is Valentines Day---here the girls give gifts to the boys.

March 14 is White Day---on this day it's the boys who give gifts to the girls.

April 14 is Black Day---where singles get together with the friends and eat jjajangmyeon (짜장면), which is a noodle dish with a dark soybean sauce that looks, fittingly, black.

If people back home like to think of Valentine's Day as singles awareness day, imagine having a single awareness day thrice in one year, with one day literally set aside so single people everywhere can cry into their bowls of jjajangmyeon!

I have to say that while I appreciate Korea giving Singles everywhere their own day to celebrate their singledom, because if couples get their day (days) then singles should get theirs too, right? But I think it's also quite funny because in giving singles Black Day, they are essentially pointing out their singleness as if they weren't aware of it on both Vday & White Day! And in Korea, everyone prefers to be in a couple instead of not, so being reminded three times a year is a bitter sort of pill to swallow. For Koreans. I however, love being single and jjajangmyeon is delicious so I waved my single flag proudly as I finally partook on in the festivities of a colored day. On Black Day I ate myself full with a bunch of other single friends.

And none of us were crying into our jjajangmyeon.

A Meeting with Dr. Fish

Last week I was on a shopping excursion with some friends when we decided to make an impromptu visit with Dr. Fish.

"Dr. Fish" is the name of the treatment where the little fishes come and eat off the dead skin of your feet.

I've actually been wanting to try this out for awhile, and managed to rope friends Christina and Andrea to going with me. Since we were shopping in myeongdong, we visited a place called "The Foot Shop."

It was really nice inside lots of wood design, which I love. They spoke japanese and korean at "The Foot Shop," I'm not sure how great their english is. When you walk inside the first thing you see is the reception area, and just next to it, the seating area where guests are allowed to soak/wash their feet after changing (the provide lockers to store your things & complimentary clothing just like a jimjilbang [찜질방]). We opted for a 40 minute session that included a foot massage that was 29,000--which you pay upfront.

Everything was all fine and well until the three of us were sitting around the small basin that held the fish. Then nerves set in and none of us wanted to be the first to put our feet in. We were a bunch of nervous giggles and squeals, so much so, that the man in charge told us we were wasting time (we only had 40 minutes & the clock was running!) I don't know what it was, I knew that the fish didn't have teeth and that they would be doing me a favor, but everytime I tried to put my feet in, they would all rush to that spot and all I could see were their mouths opening and closing, waiting to be fed.

Andrea was the brave soul who went in first. I followed shortly after, then Christina. It was a gradual process, dipping your feet just a bit at a time in order to get used to the sensation. I knew it was going to tickle but it wasn't so much ticklish for me as it was just... odd. And in the beginning I couldn't look at the fish feeding on my skin. If I did, I would psych myself out and in the next moment I was pulling my feet out of the water. For the first 5ish minutes, I had to turn away and watch the TV next to me to distract myself from the fact that the odd prickling feeling on my feet was due to a small school of hungry fish.

But after awhile I got used to it and it everything was a-okay between me and the fish. It actually felt kind of nice. After a while, we each got moved to a different room where we got foot massages. As Andrea said, "I'm kinda a slut for foot massages."

At the end of the treatment, as well as during, we were served some tea & by the end of it, the three of us were all very relaxed.

It wasn't until later that I read online about the risk of infections due to the "Dr. Fish" treatment. But I talked to a friend of mine back home, and she told me that the fish can spread infections from other guests, but that it was probably the same risk as going to get a mani/pedi.

Nonetheless, it was a memorable experience for me that was both hilarious and very much needed. A pampering session is always good in my book!

Subway Directions:
- Myeongdong Station, line 4 exit 6.
- Walk down the center road of the shopping district, hang a left at the second street.
- Located at the "T" at the end of the street.