I've got Seoul: Two Months of Twelve

A kid in Converse All-star's with a Reebok backpack, another in Adidas shoes with a Nike bag. They stand in front of the 7-11 with their bikes as the traffic whizzes past. Inside, Coca-colas and Starbucks coffees, Pringles and Snickers, pretzels, pastries and Marlboro cigarettes are being hocked to the next buyer. This is not a street corner in America. This is Seoul. Thousands of miles away from the source of those brands and products, amidst palaces and zen gardens, chopsticks and kimchi pots, Eastern culture and the rising sun. This is globalization.

Sometimes it is startling and overpowering to see the past and present, the Eastern and Western intermingled so unabashedly. Unnoticed by those taking part. The kids in their blazers are merely strolling to school as any kid at 7am in the morning. And, I am simply a teacher reporting for bus duty that needs a quick bite to eat before a day of work. But somehow, in the mist of the early morning, it all seems a little surreal. Maybe it's because I woke up at 6am after only falling asleep at 2:30am. Or perhaps, it is that sudden realization that I am many miles from home.

The coffee I just bought does little to clear my thoughts, but it does warm my insides that were slowly chilling due to the winter winds that have begun. Winds that hail from Siberia and only threaten to drastically get colder as the months pass. This is Seoul, I tell myself. I live here. Despite the early hour, it is not a dream.

The grid-lock traffic lets up a bit, and the bus is finally able to take the left-turn it had been waiting to make for almost twenty minutes. The school day looms in the distance as I settle into my seat and hit play. My ipod kicks on, and I maneuver the volume up high enough to damage my eardrums. Even still, it does little to drown out the rising level of noise spewing forth from the twelve year-olds crowded on the bus. This is their last time to freely speak Korean for a week. Because of this, I ignore their jumbled words and focus on the beat of my song. The bus driver looks slightly agitated and attempts to trap a fly between his hands. He looks in the rear-view mirror and yells, Ya Onja! The boy sits down. That is a command I know. You sit!

The kids are restless and rowdy. The traffic is bumper to bumper and spreading across at least ten lanes. Cars, buses, and taxis are going every direction possible, cutting each other off and narrowly avoiding collision. Motorbikes zip down the pedestrian walks to avoid the wait, and it is not uncommon to see cars do the same. The people seem oblivious as they dodge the approaching vehicles that barrel down the pavement. Their faces show no shock that certain death exists only a mere inch away.

I fidget in my seat and take a quick glance at the clock on the dash. It reads 8:37am. In this traffic, we are still at least an hour away. I yawn and drift off into a daydream. It's another Monday.
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I can barely believe that it has been two months. The time has been flying by, and I have been busy with one thing after another. It is for that reason that this email is just now arriving. Hopefully, you were all able to pass the time by looking at my photos :) In case you have been eagerly awaiting the next email in your Inbox, I will diligently try to cover the happenings of the last weeks.

Since I last wrote, I have been to a Korean wedding, toured some palaces, frolicked in Olympic Park, and spent some pleasant evenings strolling along the incredibly long Han river walk. You have probably already viewed the pictures from some of these events, but many more will be coming in the near future. Fall is here and my camera cannot stop capturing the golden utopia that Seoul has become. I spent the whole day today walking around tree lined avenues and losing myself inside the massiveness of Olympic Park. I reverted back to my 5 year old self and dove into unsuspecting piles of leaves that were gathered under trees on more than one occasion... I think quite a few Koreans now believe me to be insane, or perhaps they now believe that's what all Americans do when they see leaves. I'm sorry for possibly creating a new stereotype for Americans to deal with.

Now, on to culinary delights. Every day, every meal I eat rice and kimchi. There's no getting around that. Those two foods are staples of all Korean diets. Other than that, I eat a large variety of things that I usually have no idea what they are. There is always a soup, either cream of something or a broth with who knows what in it. The kimchi broth is good, though it opens up your sinus passages the second the first sip hits your lips. Believe me, it is that hot. I'm a fan of the seaweed soup too, and the miso here is also quite nice. I've had spring rolls, baked pumpkin, sweet potatoes, tofu squares, and dumplings filled with lotus root, spinach and garlic; bi bim bap and gimbap full of pickled radish, carrots, crab, cucumber, and lotus. I've eaten spicy sesame chicken and fiery beef and every kind of pork, fish, squid, and octopus you could imagine. I've had the black grapes here that are so sweet and dripping with juice that they almost taste like Gushers, and pears that are literally the size of your head. I've eaten cookies filled with onions, sesame seeds, and chocolate chips and salads composed of dried tentacles and seaweed and washed it all down with corn water. There are hole in the wall markets, makeshift stalls, overflowing truck beds, and proper shops hocking everything that exists in the spectrum of food and beverages. (Note: Corn water is by far the worst thing I've tasted. I got it not knowing what it was, and it tasted like wet popcorn mixed with old socks... no offense to anyone who likes it :))

My job is going well. This month I am teaching Newspaper, and I greatly enjoy it. I've had some Games classes, a few Host Family Dining Room classes, and this week a few Fine Arts classes. The job is definitely never boring. The kids can at times be crazy, but all in all they're good kids. Kids who bow to you when they pass; who run after you yelling Hello Teacher, pulling at your clothes and asking for your signature between classes; and who many times bring you candy, shove snacks into your hands, break off pieces of their cookies for you, or buy you cocoa or Lychee sodas (as was the case at dinner tonight).

My typical day begins with Western breakfast at 8:30, proceeded by a blaring alarm clock pulling me from my sleep around 7. Morning meetings start at 8:45, and then the first class is at 9. I teach 6 or 7 classes a day. They are 45 minutes a piece with a 15 minute break in between each one. Lunch (which is Korean food) is at 11:45, and my lunch time lasts until 1:30. Usually after eating, I veg out with some people by watching whatever show we've downloaded lately while having a massive cup of coffee. The last few days, it has been the current season of The Office. I am now caught up to my American-counterparts on that show. Other times I get my fill of election news for the day, or (at least for these last two months) spend the time scanning and faxing forms and making skype calls to my voting office in the states. [After many hours of struggle, my vote went through the Thursday before the election.] At 1:30 afternoon classes begin, and they go until dinner (also Korean food) at 5:15. After dinner, I am usually done for the day, except Wednesdays when we have a full staff meeting and Tuesdays when there are Korean lessons.

Halloween week was a big event here, pulling in massive loads of kids and promising to be a very full week. It lived up to expectation with me working my normal day and then volunteering my time to special events that ran until 9pm every night. Twelve hour work days get to you after a while, but it was fun to get to help out with everything we had going on. I helped decorate the school the weekend before the kids arrived, spent many evenings in play practice and prep meetings, and I wrote the play that we did on Wednesday night and was the narrator of it. Even though we still had a few kinks to work out right before the show with sound effects and such, all in all it went well. We performed it twice during the evening activities schedule. Monday night was a "haunted house" and Tuesday was Sing Along night where they learned Monster Mash and Purple People Eater. We also had a massive carnival on Thursday with Trick-or-treating, scavenger hunts, and carnival games, and that afternoon there was face painting and a costume contest. I dressed up every single day that week, and won the costume contest for the teachers :) Other days, we had cooking presentations and Halloween story times with ambassadors from the different English speaking embassies that dropped in to say hello. I can easily say that it was definitely the best week that I have had here.

As for classes, other than the situational theme classes that we teach here, we also do a "homeroom" class where kids review stuff from the day and go over different language art skills. You have the same team for homeroom every day, and if they are good then it's awesome and if they aren't it can be a loooong week. My homeroom team for Halloween was amazing. They were one of the Advanced English groups and just all around good kids. I had the pleasure of seeing them first class in the morning and last class of the day, since we were doing Halloween projects the last class of the day that week (they made masks and trick-or-treating bags). Language art classes consist of pronunciation, vocabulary, idioms, and grammar principles (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions). There's nothing like spending 45 minutes over-emphasizing P, B, & V; L & R; and F & Th. P kinda hurts your lips after awhile ;) And the kids here have a REALLY hard time with L and R.

It can be tough teaching the Beginner groups (and many weeks most of the groups are beginners), but when you have the Intermediate and Advanced groups, you can usually get them to understand the higher level principles rather easily. With my advanced language arts group, I was able to teach them about acronyms because R.I.P. came up, and I was able to tell them a lot about where I was from and reasons they might know my city (Elvis, Martin Luther King, Jr, FedEx, St. Jude, etc). When I have the higher levels in Art, I get to teach about pointillism, surrealism, cubism, expressionism, and pop art while discussing famous artists. And in Newspaper, they write me articles about the US Presidential Election (they're all Obama fans), the melamine issue (tainted milk products from China), and Crazy Cow (as they refer to the huge fear they have of American beef) most commonly.

There has, of course, been much more going on than I can easily fit into an email. All those little things that happen here or there, from the kindness of random strangers to the inexplicable happenings that throw your mind for a loop. For example, there was one night when a few friends and I found ourselves inside a cab where the speedometer needle hovered on 160kph all the way to the center of Seoul. As the neon lights of the city blurred outside my window and became merely a kaleidoscope of color and as the skyscrapers across the river melted into the night sky, I thought to myself how only a month before I had been sitting in my mother's living room in Memphis; how only a year before I had been in my apartment in Spain; how only two years before I had been arriving home from Wales and a summer spent traveling around Europe, and how only 3 years before I had been starting classes back in Hattiesburg after a semester in France. At that moment, despite the literal speed of the taxi, life seemed to slow down and fall into focus. I was now out of University, miles from home, living in Seoul, and teaching English.

Those moments, or ones similar to them, happen in a split-second and often fade just as quickly. And, while I could probably think of more, this email is already massively long. If you made it all the way to the end, bravo to you :) Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the fall where ever you may be in the world!

Moving to Seoul: The first days

For those of you that haven't heard from me in a while: I moved to Seoul to teach English for a year.

The first of many weeks is over, and I am still slightly feeling the effects of the jet lag (hence the lack of email for a week). Every night around 6 or 7pm my mind feels like it's being scrambled by an invisible egg beater, and I suddenly lose the ability to form coherent thoughts. This phenomena is unfortunate because there is a vast array of things to write about. So many so that I may never be able to go back and rehash the fabulous details with you here in the land of email. I mean, how do you begin to describe all that is Seoul? The shops and vendors lining every street and back alley. The neon crosses dotting the night sky. The kimchi served up at every meal like clockwork. The sights. The smells. The sounds. All coming together in such a fashion that sensory overload most certainly occurs. It will be difficult to summarize, that is for sure.

The beginning is always a good place to start: Back in 1984... ok, we won't get that carried away.

So, a little over a week ago, I got on a plane. Prior to that, I was the winner of 2 full body pat downs and various other you-could-be-a-terrorist-if tests. Then, I stepped on the 14 hour flight that would bring me here.

A solid day full of travel later, I arrived here. In Seoul. At Seoul English Village. (281-1 Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea 138-040... for those of you feeling generous with the letters, postcards, and parcels). I had little time to find my bearings after locating my bags due to an eager driver holding a sign declaring that he was there to pick up one: HEATHER GRINES. I didn't give any thought to the possibility that there might actually BE a Heather Grines; instead I followed this complete stranger out to a large unmarked white van that read: FREE CANDY. Ok, everything but it being 'unmarked' and reading 'free candy' is true. An hour later, I was delivered to my new home. I promptly passed out.

I would attempt to outline the days since I arrived in riveting detail, but 1.) I am still tired and 2.) many of you might not want to read the entire play-by-play. If you do want all the nitty gritty, do not fear. When I am adequately rested, I am going to type, type, type as fast as my little fingers can go. I've been jotting down notes here and there to help me remember. Until then, I shall leave you with this:

Some memorable moments:

> I used a squat toilet in the park my first day here. I have used many others since. I did not pee on myself - this is harder than it sounds :)

> I went to an island right near Seoul called Muui-do. The beach there (Hanagae Beach) was quite nice. The water was very warm, almost overly so, but the scenery was great.

> I've ridden all over Seoul on the subway -- it's very fast/ easy to use/ clean. Also, we took 3 buses and a ferry to get to the island. I pretty much covered every form of transportation you can use in a matter of 3 days: plane, taxi, subway, bus, ferry, feet... just need to hop on a train to make it complete.

> I ate VERY fresh prawns at a restaurant right on the beach. They were brought out alive and cooked at the table. It is always appetizing to watch your food die... right? They were delicious though.

> I took a rather extensive medical test to complete my immigration procedures and was found to be healthy. I am currently awaiting my Alien Registration Card to be delivered back.

> I went to Techno Mart, which is 10 stories of electronic madness. It's incomprehensible; you must come see it for yourself. Also, I've been to Coex Mall, which is a huge expanse of stores located almost entirely underground. Both are quite famous, feel free to Google away.

> I've been viciously attacked by mosquitoes while sleeping. I am allergic to mosquito bites -- in the states they swell up a bit, here they get absolutely massive. One bit my eyelid. My eye swelled almost shut. It was... rather amusing for the kids :) I started every class by telling them: A mean mosquito bit Heather teacher's eye :( I had tons of other bites, including one on my arm that got about the size of a sand dollar (or a coaster or a 5oz container lid or any other such circular sized object :)). I have since found out that they make a variety of products here filled with oil that you plug in so that the room is constantly filled with mosquito repellent fumes.

> I have almost finished my first week of teaching here. (I was observing classes for a few days at the beginning) This month I am teaching computer lab -- the place I work runs week long programs and has a variety of classes that the kids go to. I am known most commonly as Compooter teecher. Every now and again, I get Header Teecher or Basketball Teecher (because I play b-ball with them at break time a lot).

> Most of the kids I've had are good; a few are crazy monkeys --- that's what we call the trouble kids because it amuses them. For example, when I was observing post office, the kids were supposed to pick a place they wanted to go on vacation and then write a postcard to someone as if they were on vacation at that place. The teacher was asking the kids, And where do you want to go? One kid said: I want to go to Hell. In another class, when a boy was asked for his English name (like John or Joe), he said George Bush, I am King of World; you do what I say. hahah.

> I get 3 meals a day here on campus, and the food is delicious. I love spicy food; therefore, I love most anything Korean. Lots of times I don't know what I am eating. This is probably a good thing. For example, this afternoon I was told that last night the soup I was eating was ox tail soup. I have to say, ox tail is really not that bad :)

Korea so far

It's been 2 days.
I've been tired.
I've slept a bit.
I've walked a lot.
I've withdrawn won.
I've used a squat toilet.
I've ridden on the subway.
I've ridden quite a few buses.
I've ridden a ferry to an island.
I've gone to Hanagae Beach.
I've eaten some fresh prawns by the sea.
And when I say fresh I mean cooked alive.
I've had dinner with the directors & other teachers.
Tomorrow, I get to take my health exam... yippee!

It's a Korean holiday right now.
Work doesn't start back until Wed.
There will be photos uploaded soon.