- The Korean people. The good: Now, I'm a bit sad to say that in all my time in Korea, I didn't really make a lot of Korean friends. I let the 'Church of God' ladies hang around a bit (haha that's an adventure in itself!), and occasionally I went out with a teacher or 2 from my schools, but other than that I didn't really meet anyone. I have to say though that I really enjoy Korean people. I found most people to be friendly, welcoming, excited to see me or talk with me, and full of surprise and giggles when I tried to speak their language. The people at my favorite restaurants always took really good care of me, my local shopkeeper was always friendly, the chicken-on-a-stick couple were so lovely I hated to leave them behind, and my sock truck man always saved me a couple of pairs of my favorite patterned socks at the end of the month. People were always happy to share their few English words, and put up with my bungling through Korean - taxi drivers were my nemesis, but I could usually even charm them.
Another thing I love about Koreans in general is their heart, their spirit. Whether it's a sporting event, a pop concert, a new corner store, or the cheapest-best-freshest oranges in the city, people in Korea seem to go at things with their whole hearts. Maybe it's just from the perspective of an outsider, but Koreans really seem to be passionate about the things they care about, the things that are important to them. It's easy to get wrapped up in the joy and energy of a moment when everyone around you is charged up and giggling, laughing and yelling at the top of their lungs. Their joie de vivre is much easier to see and to feel than it is for me with everyone here at home, and it's something about the energy of Koreat that I really love!
- The bad: Now in the same breath I will also tell you that I have been: Asked MANY times (particulary by my friendly neighbourhood taxi drivers) if I was a prostitute (aka "from Russia"); Told "You teacher? No, I think you are a Russia people, no, not a teacher, really now... pretty girl, pretty eyes, haahaa, haahaagh" (TWICE, by 2 different men in 1 week!); Told by a female shopkeeper (after discussing it with her workmate) that I was "too fat" to buy women's clothing from their store (pronounced right before she literally shooed me out of her shop!), with "man feet" too big for ladies shoes (I'm only (?) a women's size 8, but the shoe-man just laughed and me and said, "no, no, no, you have man-feet!" before waving me off). Taxi drivers at the airport will try to tell you that there is no bus to the town or city you're going to ("Where you go, Suji? Oh, no, there's no more bus for Suji, gone - you take my taxi!"... Liar, liar pants on fire!!), and in the city they would occasionally 'take the long way home,' though that didn't work once I had a favorite route that I could direct them back to as they snorted or rolled their eyes and laughed at me in the rearview mirror while saying "okay, okay, we go this way lady."
- In Busan once I was (almost) refused a room in a yogwan because the owner didn't like Americans (he told his wife in Korean to tell us there were no rooms because he didn't want Americans in his hotel). By this time I understood quite a bit of Korean, and told him, in by really-quite-bad Korean, that he was a 'bad friend,' and that anyway, I was a Canadian, so he grudgingly allowed her to show us to a suite, lol. Aah, I'd almost forgotten about that, lol, good times, good times... I'm sure my American friends put up with a lot more crap than I do in Korea... it's far easier when they just assume you're a Russian hooker! Oh, and there's also the fun propensity for Korean women to ask outlandishly personal questions in front of lots of other people, or make comments about my impending spinsterhood (You're 30? You're not married? Ohhh, no man will want you now, that's a bad mistake, you're so old!) that I also loved, ahhhh Korea... Love it!
- The ugly: The occasionally annoying (sitting next to me on the subway and non-responsive to "hello" or downright ignoring... "Hi teacher! hi teacher! how are you? hi teacher how are you teacher? how are you teacher I'm fine thangyu and you? hi teacher are you fine teacher...?") or rude person (once in the train station after I'd waited 15 minutes to work my way up to the front of the ticket line in Seoul a tiny old grandmother slugged me on the upper arm (they're tough old biddies over there, don't mess with them, I mean it!) and then poked at me with her umbrella and hissed at me through her 3 teeth when I was at the ticket window because she had thusly shoved her way to the front of the line (budder budder peanut butter!) and wanted to go ahead of me - she slugged me!!!). Wacky! They don't sway me though, the rudies or the gnats, I love Koreans!
And yes, in case you're wondering, I sure did let the little grandma go first... anyone brazen enough to scuffle up to a foreigner 2 feet taller and an easy 50lbs heavier and smack her up with an umbrella without fear shouldn't be trifled with my friends: you just wait and let 'er shuffle away, lol....
The job, teaching. Man, teaching little kids is a fun job. Granted, I have always worked in the same type of school (a hagwon where you teach 4-6 year olds in the mornings and elementary students for a few hours in the afternoons), but I freakin' L*O*V*E* being a teacher. There were certainly days when I required frequent reminders of the fact, but overall teaching English to teeny Koreans is by far the best job I've ever had! Korean kids are SO friggin' cute!!!!
Some people might tell you that teaching overseas, or teaching ESL, is mindless-brainless work that doesn't require any thought or inspiration. I pity the kids that those people taught, because in my eyes it's all in your approach, and how much you're willing to bring to the table. I loved making up songs and games, putting interactive puzzles and word cards on the walls, creating routines that the kids loved and engaged in - but it is HARD work!! Those little buggers take every ounce of energy I can muster on most days, so it became really important to make sure I was taking good care of myself and charging my batteries so I could keep going! Going to the spa, seeing movies, travelling, going out with friends, all make the workday easy to get through (so long as you don't forget to do some of it!).
I have to say that it was life-changing to watch these little people timidly come into my room on the first day of class knowing very little of the English language, and leave a year later gregarious and fluently (mostly) English speaking - life changing! I think it's what pulls me back to it so often, seeing the change you can effect in such a small time on such a big scale, it's really wonderful.
For now I think I've covered many many many of the things I really love about living in Korea. There are (of course) things about the place and the people that I don't like, but really I feel like people gripe too much about these things, and forget to celebrate the things they enjoy. Why live there or spend time talking about it if you don't enjoy it? Once I make it back again I'm sure I'll be sharing plenty of gripes, haha, but I'll always have something to remind me about the good stuff!
Have a wonderful day... do you hear the Land of the Morning Calm calling your name yet?
sounds like the land of the morning calm is certainly calling YOUR name... again, where are you already?? am i going to have to come and GET you???
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