Since being in a new foreign country, I haven’t been having problems separating German and English so much anymore. (Although I still always say “MENSCH!” when I’m frustrated.) But just as when I was in Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and France, when I speak to Koreans who can’t speak English, I often accidentally speak to them in German, not realising I’m doing so ☺
Statistics say there are a lot of Germans in South Korea. Based on the business industries here, I can believe it. (There’s even apparently a German-owned micro brewery here in Busan to support them all.) As I said in my last blog entry, a lot of Koreans get the opportunity to learn Deutsch, so it’s just a matter of me finding out how to tap into this community. We have one German left at our new church. She’s a masters student from Saarbruecken, but she’s only staying another two months or so. One of the teachers at my school lived in Germany for 3 years, but she claims that she can’t say more than “Guten Tag”, “Danke schoen” and “Auf Wiedersehen” ☹
Thankfully for my German and our sanity, we have internet at home now! Yay! It was about time we finally got it. Due to the administrative changes to classes and my teaching schedule, plus homework marking, “lunch time conversation classes” and “after school English” beginning this week, I really no longer have time to use internet at school at all. So I only found out late this week that Melissa (and David Mettler in Karlsruhe) gave birth to Lilian last Sunday. How great the internet is for hearing about and seeing these things quickly from the other side of the world!
The internet provider was chosen and the paperwork sorted out on Tuesday. Then we got connected on Wednesday night, as simple as that! Honestly, that’s super good service and the line is fast! All of the delay in setting it up was due to my co-teachers being so busy with all of those administrative changes. They have less time to help me with everyday stuff. It’s a good thing I’m not a newbie to living in foreign country.
Whilst on this topic, I should say that from May, Rob and I are planning to sign up with a Skype payment plan that means we’ll be able to ring and be rung from New Zealand, American and German landlines as if just ringing landlines within those countries. We’ll let you know these new “landline numbers” once we’ve sorted them out.
Rob or I might have mentioned from our orientation blog entries that we had a few free “survival Korean” lessons. Within week one of being in Busan I started looking for lessons here. With the help of another EPIK teacher, I found some free lessons held twice a week at Pusan National University. We don’t have trained Korean teachers or even teacher trainees, but native Korean uni students from a club called PNU Friends who have volunteered to help out foreigners. They’re really lovely people. Due to a lot of variable factors, the lessons haven’t been that effective yet, but I’m thankful for their generosity and help. And I have learned a couple of things faster than if I’d just been learning on my own. (Let’s face it, I’m normally totally unmotivated to learn on my own!) I may have already said it, but I can read now Hangeul now, albeit sloooooooooooowly.
So PNU is Busan’s “most prestigious university” and one of 7+ “universities” (are some merely higher education schools?) in Busan alone. Koreans are some of the most highly educated in the world. Compared with the rest of the world, really high percentages finish high school, undergrad and go on to post grad studies. (This doesn’t mean they can speak or understand English.) Including the university in Chon-on where we had our orientation, EVERY UNIVERSITY IS UP A REALLY STEEP HILL! Also including the university where our new church is. I have to say, I’m really happy about getting more exercise. Teacher sports start up this week. But apart from that, I’ve been wondering… what is the reason for every university being up the top of a steep hill? Busan (actually 85% or so of Korea) is “mountainous”. Koreans don’t seem to build on hills above 500m above sea level. So why do universities get the best views of a town? (Apart from the penthouses in sky-rise apartment buildings.) Is it because higher learning is something you have to work for and look up to? Is it because the clearer air is good for the brain? Is it because the beautiful view aids meditation and with that comes new ideas and ways of thinking? I’m sure there’s some ancient tradition and reasoning behind this.
One of the Eastern things that is so different from the West is the toilets. The traditional toilets are squat loos. I dunno about for the men, but for the ladies, it’s a long oval shaped urinal in the ground (instead of on the wall, like the guys have in so many countries). Although western style toilets are totally common in apartments, major tourist areas and department stores, squat loos are all you’re going to get at a school or a university. It occurred to me in my first week of teaching here that it has probably never crossed my colleagues’ minds that these loos are something I’ve had to learn to use. (You really want to be precise!) But I continually astound myself at how quickly I can adjust to new situations. Five weeks on ( that is, today) we were at an intercity bus station and I found myself wishing that there were squat loos for me to use, because at least it’s cleaner if they aren’t going to employ full time cleaners!
Sorry Dad, but that pedometer you gave me was not meant to be. It came flying off a couple of days ago and landed in the squat loo where it was irretrievable. Out of all of the places it could’ve fallen off and bounced into, I couldn’t believe it landed down there! Gutted. But at the same time, also a little comical. I bet you’ve smiled a little at this admission!
I had heard that Busan isn’t very polluted compared to elsewhere in Korea, thanks to sea breezes and such. But there have been a fair number or grey days here in the last month. Greyness that looks suspiciously like smog. Sometimes the sun looks an unusual yellow through it. Well it turns out there’s this weather phenomenon here called “the yellow dust” which is actually desert dust blown over from China! I think the worst of it is over now, but it was interesting to learn about it. It supposedly happens on and off particularly all through spring. You don’t really notice it’s yellow unless the sun’s almost setting, or you run your finger over a surface that hasn’t moved all day – your finger will be coated in yellow dust. Once it starts up, supposedly all the old people and the young children start wearing medical face masks everywhere outside. I don’t think I’ve noticed anymore masks than normal though. It can’t be that bad so far this year.
Back in the second week of March, I had the sneezes quite bad. I wasn’t sure if it was an allergy to some plant (because of spring), a minor cold or this yellow dust. Then I started to get a sore throat, which apparently is also a symptom of the yellow dust. So for more than a week I had this sore throat and occasionally sneezes. Then it became clear last week that it was a cold, because I got nose congestion. But it wasn’t too bad. The sore throat got worse though and for a teacher trying to keep the attention of up to 38 young teenagers at a time, this is never a good thing! So then this week, my throat got so painful, I was gifted some traditional chinese and pharmacy medication from my co-teachers. I felt so crappy mid-week, I stayed at home in the evenings and went to bed super early and slept a LOT of hours. That was the best help. It turns out it was a bug that everyone’s been getting. Now my colleagues and students have it and other EPIK teachers have had it. It was a real blessing I never lost my voice entirely like other friends of mine have. I was really worried mid-week though. I was thinking about going to a doctor if things didn’t get better – but my health insurance hadn’t yet been set up! It is now. Again, it’s a quick process once you get your alien registration card. So I was asking about where would be best to go to a doctor, how to do it, etc. All of my colleagues kept talking about hospital and I was thinking “Ok, I feel crappy, but it isn’t THAT bad!” Then I thought about other EPIK teachers who have been sick since we arrived in Korea and every single one of them was sent straight to hospital for tests, etc. So then I asked a co-teacher if Koreans go to a doctor outside the hospital or if they always just go to the hospital and it turns out, apart from traditional Chinese medicine and specialists, or if you know, like and have always had that family doctor, every Korean normally goes to the hospital to see a doctor if they can’t get fixed by what available from a pharmacy! Interesting, eh?!
Here’s another random fact: Koreans are considered more beautiful the smaller their heads are and the whiter their skin is. Therefore I’m regularly told I have a small head or that I’m pretty or beautiful. Since spring began, one thing that is totally clearly popular with the cougars (middle aged – older ladies) is the ridiculously large sun visor. These come in a range of colours and patterns, but they always look ridiculously large. Clearly they are popular because your whole face stays in the shade (preventing skin pigmentation) and it’s so out of proportion to your face that it makes your head look smaller!
Today it got pretty warm at the cherry blossom festival in Jinhae, so because we haven’t purchased sunscreen yet, I bought a sun hat with one of these visors (zip off! But you’re not going to catch me zipping it off!) Wearing it made me think someone should show this design to the NZ and Australian Cancer societies. It actually is totally practical and you know Shannon: always a sucker for practicality!
At the cherry blossom festival a few Koreans mentioned Obama to us. They are pleased about him. I believe I heard that the Korean president was visiting Obama sometime earlier this week. What was interesting was meeting an older kiwi woman today who came to Korea to teach at one of the famous “English-speaking towns” near an American naval base. She had come to Korea for a cultural experience. As a typical kiwi, whilst experiencing a new culture, she likes to share a little kiwi culture. (All kiwis are a little proud of NZ.) Her boss demanded that she speak with an American accent though and her Korean colleagues weren’t interested in New Zealand at all. So she was left wondering why they didn’t just hire more Americans instead of her. She said the Americans at the naval base were more interested in cultural exchange than her workmates, whose aim is to live a simulation of English speaking society.
Today at the cherry blossom festival Rob saw the New Zealand flag flying, amongst others. There was an expo run by the New Zealand Embassy in Seoul this weekend to promote trade, because the Korean president’s been busy! He was in NZ earlier in March and now there’s apparently a new trade deal between NZ and South Korea. Generally Koreans seem to know what their president is doing. Politics are important to them. Protests are totally common. The week leading up to “national test day” included a student and teacher protest in front of the school gates every morning saying that there shouldn’t be so many exams for Korean students across the board.Anyway, back to the kiwi lady I met today… She used to be a social worker and she’s really passionate about culture (a woman I could really relate to). It made her sad that Koreans weren’t so interested in NZ culture, but it made me sad that she assumed I know nothing about Maori culture and she knows I’m a kiwi too! I even indicated I have some knowledge of Maori language and tikanga during our conversation. I said I studied it at uni. But she still assumed I didn’t know anything about Maoridom. I find that sad, because as New Zealander, I think mana maori is an essential part of our culture. Is the public perception of our aboriginal (native) heritage really so unpopular that we can assume it’s not an accepted part of our culture? Maybe that’s getting a little heavy or deep for this time of night…
So one more random fact before I go (just to tie this all back to Germany, where I began today): the pom-poms on top of the traditional farmers’ hats here (we see these during the traditional famers’ dance) SO remind me of the pom-poms on the traditional ladies’ hats in the Black Forest!
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