korea = a facelift for the self esteem

if any of you are feeling a lack of confidence in your physical appearance, you should come to korea. it's an instant cure for the effects of age: better than make-up, better than botox, better than surgery and a lot less painful. prove it? ok. here is a small list of the compliments i receive on a regular basis:

oh teacher! jacket! cute!
so beautiful.
teacher, your hair so good!
oh, teacher, face so small.
ooo, eyes pretty.
so funny.
teacher, today clothes very nice.
teacher, so cute.
teacher, i love you.
you curl your hair? i like.
you are best teacher.
oh teacher. your fashion is very good.
teacher, your shoes. very cute.
ooo, your hair. like silk.
teacher, so sexy!
...and on and on they go.

i'm on top of the world, looking down on creation...thank you, girls! thank you, korea!

box bliss

this blog post is a little out of order, due to my inability to catch up on my weekly reviews, but i'm too excited to wait. this weekend, i got a box from home. it kinda felt like christmas. many thanks to travis, maiyah and my mom who all spent time and money to bring me some box bliss. i love you all!

the box got a little beat up on the way over. yes, that's a hole. my deodorant was hanging onto that plastic tape for dear life.

let the fun (and proper dental hygiene) begin!

a million stickers for school, really soft towels, garlic, fiberone bars and some info on mold. thanks mom!!

ahh, the essentials: snowboard gear, beanies, mittens and chocolate. come on, korean winter. i'm ready for you.

i couldn't resist.

the aftermath

the best part was that i didn't have to enjoy it by myself. maiyah skyped with my while i opened my box; it's amazing the amount of things one can accomplish while skyping for 4 hours.

week 7: fame! i'm gonna live forever!

after lunch one day this week, two students that i don't know very well intercepted me in the hall while i was on my way to my office. giggling and holding onto each other, they asked me some standard questions: how was your lunch? how are you? do you like kimchi?

sensing my curiosity about this impromptu conversation, they said, in very broken english, "teacher, we want only talk you."
i said, "oh, you just want to talk? ok."
they replied, "yes, teacher. you're famous at our school!"

and really, what more do you need to know about week 7?

week 6: rewards

at the beginning of week 5, mihwa, a third grade student, came into my office asking if i would help her prepare for an entrance interview at an english language university in seoul. her goal? to become a translator at the UN. i agreed to help, and we put together a schedule. she only had 2 days, so every minute of free time that i had (about 6 hours) on thursday and friday were spent practicing mock interview questions and helping mihwa to polish her answers. sitting in an empty room, listening to mihwa's stories and learning about her life was an extraordinary moment in my korean adventure and was one of the most inspirational experiences of my life.

mihwa was quite nervous about her interview, but after our study sessions, she felt more confident. however, her grades did not reflect her countless hours of study nor her passion for learning and speaking english. and, in korea, grades are everything. the program only accepts 10 people in the entire country; odds were against her. with encouraging words, i sent her out on friday afternoon to face the admissions board on saturday morning.

monday morning of week 6, she came bursting into my office. although, she was still nervous about the outcome, considering her grades, the interview had gone well. i congratulated her for performing well in the interview and crossed my fingers. on wednesday of week 6, mihwa was notified that she was accepted.

my opinion? mihwa is going to change the world. here are some of her stories.

when she was in middle school, mihwa and her family traveled to china for vacation. one day, in shanghai, she got separated from her parents. at first, she was terrified. she didn't speak chinese and had no way of finding her family. eventually, it occurred to her to ask for help in english, because it is such a widely spoken language. she stopped a chinese man and told him, in english, that she had lost her father. luckily, he spoke english and was able to reunite her with her family. it was then that she decided to become a translator, recognizing the importance of being able to communicate with others in a common language. quite the insight for a middle school girl.

as part of korean high school education, students are required to participate in volunteer work of some kind. mihwa volunteered at a hospital for people with leprosy. at first, she was nervous about helping people with this horrible disease, but after spending a short time with them, she found that the patients at the hospital reminded her of her own family: her father, her mother, her grandfather and grandmother. at once, she felt a desire to care for them, not just for their physical needs but for their emotional needs as well.

about a year ago, mihwa read a book reading about ban ki-moon, secretary-general of the UN. he grew up in korea under financial strain when his father's business failed. ban ki-moon's dream was to become a diplomat. in korea, money is an essential part of receiving a quality education. many parents spend thousands of dollars on private academies to help their children learn english and succeed in school. as his family was unable to provide this, ban ki-moon spent time around the american military bases speaking with american soldiers to improve his english. mihwa was inspired by his story and his lifetime of seeking new challenges. he is her role model, and so far, i think he would be proud.

week 6 sidenote: i have learned a few korean words. hopefully, this is the beginning of a better understanding of the language. oh how i long for the days of the mission when i could speak the language all day long. speaking english all day is hindering my ability to crack this very complicated language.

week 5: there's just nothing like it

chicken nights are some of my favorite korean memories so far. they were sprung from the seeds of my early mornings and cultivated my resistence to hanging out at the local foreigners' bar. understanding both of these things, once a week my friend paolo came over, and we grubbed on the best fried chicken in the world. for real. i've lived in the south, and they ain't got nothin' on korea. really. i think they put crack in the chicken. as i exclaimed one chicken night, "there's just nothing like it!"

there's also just nothing like old dudes in the park.

one of the delights of mokpo is a walking path that winds through the city. it's a wonderful little amenity complete with exercize machines for public use placed every so often. i took the path to home plus this week to pick up some essentials. on my walk back, groceries and blanket in hand, an old man named pedro, whom lindsey and i met earlier that month, was sitting with his pals on a bench that lines the path. he called my name and waved me over. i shook my head and insisted that i had to go home. he insisted that i come over and sit for a while. what's a girl to do? so, i sat with three old korean men for about 30 minutes, answering their questions, which were asked in broken english, and drinking a hot chocolate they bought me from a vending machine.

life in korea...there's just nothing like it.

week 4: becoming an alien

week 4 brought some important logistical moments.

moment 1:

i finally got my alien registration card, which facilitated moment 2.

moment 2:

i finally got a bank account. and, not a moment to soon, because of moment 3.

moment 3:

my first pay day. whew. i needed that. but, not as much as i needed moment 4.

moment 4:

i discovered baskin robbins peanut rocket. seriously, stop reading my blog, google your nearest baskin robbins, and go get yourself some peanut rocket. it's that good. (this isn't actually a picture of peanut rocket. it's never in my cup long enough to take a picture. really, why are you still reading this? go get some.)

along with ice cream, week 4 also brought some love into my life.

love 1: snowboard club

on our bus ride to the ship festival on jindo, jane told me that she was part of a snowboard club here in mokpo. of course, i told her how much i love snowboarding and that i was hoping to meet people in korea who knew the sweet spots to ride. this week, i met the members of the club at a restaurant (owned by one of the members). we sat in the (closed) restaurant and talked shop, and then lindsey, erin and i went to norabong with some of the members. we had a great time singing our hearts out to ridiculous songs like aqua's "barbie girl" until 3am. the mokpo snowboard club is awesome, as expected, and i am looking forward to riding with them very soon.

love 2: orphanage

i've never volunteered at an orphanage before. in all of my travels and all of my volunteer experiences, the opportunity just never presented itself....until now. when i first arrived in mokpo. i met shanna. she organizes a volunteer program that provides free english classes to two orphanages in mokpo. after finally getting settled and getting over being sick, thursday of week 4 was my first day at orphanage. the house, run by caltholic nuns, is out in the country, about a 20 minute car ride from mokpo. we have 3 classes every thursday night, broken up by age. i work with three, very rowdy, but very cute 10 year old boys: self-named alex, shark and tiger. i instantly fell in love with them, despite their rambunctious nature. although it is difficult to get them to sit still, i enjoy being able to talk to them, listen to them, play with them, and watch them show off thier myriad talents e.g., mad yo-yo skills, crazy dance moves, legit piano playing, and punching and kicking each other without mercy. the teacher in me really wants to help them with their english as much as i can in between eraser fights, but really, i'm just happy to be able to hang out with them once a week.

week 3: finding my inner korean

i remember walking around mokpo my first week or so (which is now months ago) and feeling an absence of emotion for my korean experience. i live under a strict, self-imposed, no-regret policy, and i can honestly say that i never once felt regret about coming to korea, but i wanted to feel the sense of adventure and possibility that usually accompany such journeys. i am certain that the lack of enthusiasm was the result of a combination of factors that need not be mentioned here, especially since i have 8 weeks of posting to catch up on. what should be mentioned, however, is that that in week 3, i found the excitement that i had been missing; it was hiding somewhere with my inner korean.

[korean culture sidenote: one of the most intriguing aspects of korean culture is the obvious gender separation that dominates social interaction. this separation goes far beyond gender-specific schools; it is visible among the young and the old alike, in formal and casual situations. i haven't quite figured it out, but i find it fascinating. even in the school cafeteria, the male teachers and the female teachers sit at separate tables.]

one day at lunch, i walked up to the female teachers' table with my tray. as is customary, one of the teachers across the table from me (a chemistry teacher whose name i have yet to learn), bowed and said hello (in korean). i did the same, returning her hello in korean. she looked shocked, and another teacher sitting across from her (joyce) turned around with excitment. they both said (in english), "wow! you sound like a korean!" i laughed and thanked them. then, they asked who was teaching me korean. "no one," i replied, "i just listen to people speaking." they both seemed quite impressed by that, and the nameless chemistry teacher said, pointing at me, "genius!" oh yeah.

on friday of week 3, we had a sports festival for the faculty members of the 4 schools that are part of the hyein family (girls high school and middle school, boys high school and middle school). the schools competed against each other in a variety of sports, some more ridiculous than others. after the festival, the faculty of our school went out to dinner together at a traditional seafood place down by the harbor.

i walked in with joyce, a little later than everyone else. we started to make our way over to the right side of the room to sit at a table with a few empty seats. the principal of our school waved us over and insisted that we sit at the table with the administrators of the school and the owners of our 4 schools. i sat next to the principal, honored that they asked me to sit with them. the principal introduced me to the owners, who had some difficulty pronouncing my name. i suggested that perhaps they should give me a korean name to make it easier. after some deliberation, the principal (via translation) asked if i was christian.

"yes," i answered.
"then," she said, "you should pick a name from the bible."
"ok, what are some names from the bible?"
joyce suggested several, translating them into english. the last one was sarang. "love," she said.
"yes, love. sarang. that's the one i want."

the principal and others at the table approved. then, the pointing to herself, she said, "kim (this being her family name)." and then, pointing to me, "kim sarang." and, there it was. my inner korean was born, and then claimed by my principal. this, of course, was all done with boisterous laughter. and, silly though it may be, in that moment, i didn't feel like an outsider, like an american foreigner. i felt accepted into a surrogate korean family. and, man, do i love them.

the meal was...an experience. i ate all kinds of shellfish that i have never seen before, including a pink shellfish that i dug out of a shell that looked like i had picked it up on a beach somewhere and another that resembled turtle feet; i was told it was some kind of crab. both were very good. i also ate baby octopus (a mokpo speciality) for the first time. it was cooked and wrapped on a wood skewer, and actually, it was delicious. i ate the most expensive shellfish in korea, according to the people at the table, and another shellfish that was like chewing boulders. literally. not so good. we had several different kinds of raw fish, some traditional korean pancakes, two kinds of seafood soup and some really good potatoes. i tried everything on the table, and my fellow faculty members were impressed. although i was terrified in moments, the majority of the food was scrumptious.


during the meal, the principal (via translation) told me that she was impressed with my teaching and that the girls are loving my class. i was flattered, and happy to have the feedback, but then she told me that she hears the girls speaking english more and more outside of class, which thrilled me. i realized, for the first time, that my korean journey is different than other adventures i have had. excitement will not only be found in traveling and living in korea; it will be found primarily in teaching the 700+ girls at hyein high school. and really, i can't think of a better adventure.