Shannon’s German/Korean skills, random facts and experiences in South Korea thus far.

Kia ora alle!

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!

The First Stages of Culture Shock and a Multitude of Blessings

It’s Sunday and I’m unsure of the date! Uh, March 8th. I’m writing this on Rob’s laptop because we don’t have internet at home yet. I’m not even sure when I’ll be able to upload this, as every time I got to blogspot on my work laptop, everything apart from our writing is in Hanguel!

So, we’ve been in Busan just over a week now. I remember when I first started working in Karlsruhe…. Weeks seemed like months and months felt like more than a year had passed! In a new country and culture almost everything is new and we are but sponges, soaking up all of the new information, adapting as best we can. All of that new experience changes our perception of time drastically.

Rob’s already described a lot in so much detail, so to summarize what it’s been like for me: in our first week I’ve started a new job, met hundreds of people (of which only about 15 names will be remembered next week), improved drastically with reading Hanguel considering I haven’t been studying it, become capable of correctly pronouncing most of my students’ names, we’ve been communicating as best as we can with limited Korean, easy English and a lot of sign language, started forming our own physical understanding of this city’s layout, lived in two different locations, visited and got to know some people at two different churches…. So it somehow feels like we’ve been here much more than a week already, in a lot of ways.

Oh I can’t resist, because my first few days at school were really hard! So I here’s where I go into more detail. My first day of school was mostly very boring. My main co-teacher, Noh Hyun Jung, took me to school early and we sat in the teachers’ office basically all day.

My school’s teachers’ office sounds a bit like Rob’s: every teacher has their own desk area facing a cubicle wall. 4 teachers face the wall on either side. The vice principal has a stand-alone desk right in the very middle of this long room filled with teachers. The students open the sliding doors and come and talk to teachers freely between lessons. So I especially had a lot of visitors that first day, being the new foreign teacher (aka super star). Some were too shy to do anything but wave, smile and giggle. Quite a few bowed and said hello. One took my hand and bowed until her forehead was touching my hand. Many try to speak to me for more than just hello. A couple of them have a decent sized vocabulary, even if they don’t speak very fluently or grammatically correct. Occasionally they are just being silly. A giggling group visited to tell me they love me and that one of them was my predecessor’s girlfriend. Sometimes it’s awkward, because they are just hovering around me, the conversation has drawn to its natural close and I have to tell them “I need to get back to work now, so see you later. Good bye!”

So on that first day, without any computer and barely any Korean, I met my 3 other co-teachers, one of which is also new to Bansong Girls’ Middle School this year. Then I met and instantly forgot the names of some other friendly teachers. Many of the teachers are very friendly, but their English seems to be only slightly more advanced than my Korean and even my co-teachers have big problems understanding me sometimes. They are also very busy. They have more classes than I do, plus they have so much administrative work, it’s insane. I’m very aware of this, so I try not to be bothersome to them.

Korea seems to be the opposite of Germany when it comes to organisation. All anybody could tell me was that I probably wouldn’t have to teach that first day. I just read until about 9.30am, when the old principal and vice principal gave exit speeches and left. Then I just continued to read through my 3 new textbooks and the empty organisational files my predecessor had left me and made notes of things to ask my co-teachers. After an hour or so a new principal and vice principal arrived with an official from the Busan Office of Education and there were more speeches. Then we went back to doing our own things, which for me, was reading and making notes. At 11am we had an “opening ceremony” in the school gym, which was basically an assembly with only 2nd and 3rd graders. (1st graders started on Tuesday.) The new principal, vice-principal and 8 or so new teachers were introduced. When it was my turn to step forward and bow to the audience, the students screamed like I was a rock star, much to my surprise and embarrassment. Since then, two of my English classes have screamed in the same way when I enter their classrooms too. It’s very loud. I’m sure the excitement will wear off soon.
After the opening ceremony, it was back to reading for the rest of the day until 4.30pm, apart from a Korean lunch with the teachers in the teachers’ cafeteria.

On day two at school, I wanted to cry in the morning. I just felt left out because I can’t speak Korean. I can’t read the teachers’ notice board, or understand the announcements, or go to the staff meetings. I also felt like every one was too busy to help me out. There still wasn’t a schedule, so I had no idea if I’d be teaching that day or not. I had brought in our laptop, but couldn’t hook it up to a printer, so once my basic lesson planning was done, all I could do was try to get my co teachers to understand that I need to be able to have internet access and print before I can teach and that I can’t bring this laptop in each day, since I share it with Rob. Once they understood that, I got a school laptop that afternoon and since then I’ve been surfing the internet if all of my school planning’s finished. That has been a real outlet to my prior frustration, I have to say, although I feel a bit guilty that I’m there surfing for all to see when my colleagues have so much to do. But I’ve offered my help for anything and until we have some meetings about what my co teachers would like me to cover and when and what the lunch time and after school classes should cover, I really can’t plan that much more. I also wish my school laptop’s computer settings were in English, as then I’d be able to change the setup to how I like it, but apart from the software, it all defaults to Hanguel still.

My first classes on Wednesday – Friday with all three grades went really well. The students got to speak a lot, have agreed to my rules and had fun. From all of those classes, only a handful of students refused to speak English with me. With 700 students from a poor, often difficult background, a handful reusing to speak so far is much better than I what I was told at orientation to expect. My co teachers let me run the classes and assisted with monitoring the students’ work, making sure they understood and keeping the students in check. They were all surprised I could run a class. They didn’t understand I have prior teaching experience and they’re all quite happy with me, I think. On average, the 1st graders seem to be better in listening comprehension and speaking fluency than the 2nd and 3rd graders – especially the 2nd graders. I’m looking forward to next week. On Monday and Tuesday I get to meet those classes I haven’t yet met and I’ll be spending a lot more time lesson planning, having to use some material from their seemingly random textbooks. I’m going to have to have some meetings with my co teachers, although I still don’t have access to their schedules.

Apart from work differences and the language barrier, I hadn’t thought I was feeling culture shock much yet. But then we went to watch “The Watchmen” last night at the new local cinema… Here Hollywood movies remain in English, as there are plenty of Korean movies in Korean playing all of the time as well. At the end of that movie as the lights were slowly raised, I looked at the people walking out and it took me several seconds to realise they were all Korean, every one of them. Then I felt surprise at how much I had really escaped reality by watching that movie. I momentarily forgot what country I’m in!

Since I got a laptop and started teaching, I haven’t felt bad at all. The other teachers have begun to show real interest in getting to know me and I’ve found out some very interesting things about them. I’m super motivated to find a Korean course now! (And keep practising German.) There’s still a lot to do in terms of registering, changing banks, getting internet at home… general set up stuff. I feel really blessed to be at such a great school, with enthusiastic students, teachers who really care about quality education and their students’ well being. I feel really blessed to be in this awesome fully furnished apartment with Rob. I have a practice room! We’re praying for lots of guests and are seriously considering getting two little dogs. I feel really blessed about the churches we’ve found. We’ve met some wonderful people there who will probably become good friends and I’ve already got the electric bass from one of them. When we speak with our fellow EPIK colleagues, I realise that Rob and I have already seen a lot more of the city than most. Spring is clearly almost here, so I’m happy to report that after a slightly difficult beginning to the working week, I feel like we’re doing really well. I can only sing God praises.

A typical day so far

Let me give you guys a typical day for me as it stands so far. It will inevitably change since Korea is, as they say, dynamic but for now here's what it's like for me.

Shannon and I wake up around 6, have breakfast and then around 7 - 7:15 we catch the bus number 115-1 headed to Bansong. The bus ride takes about half an hour and is quite bumpy since along the way the bus goes up and down several hills. Most of the passengers who are unfortunate enough not to get a seat and are left standing have learned to keep a deathgrip on whatever they can hold on to. Drivers here are crazy and there have already been several times where cars have just pulled out in front of the bus with no warning whatsoever. Since Shannon and I get on near the beginning of the bus route we can usually find a seat. If not, we just spend the next 30 minutes feeling like human tetherballs. Once we get to the Bansong area, I get off several stops earlier than Shannon since her school is farther up in the hills.

After I get off the bus, my school is only 5 minutes away by foot. The walk takes me through a small commercial district leading into a residential type of area. My school is 4 stories tall and u-shaped. Directly in front of the school is a dirt soccer pitch where the students play during lunch or do exercises at various times of the day. The surrounding neighborhood is made up of small crammed-together apartment buildings (usually about 3-4 stories tall) in various states of disrepair (none of them are new or modern) which are divided by small streets that to me resemble back alleys more than they do streets. Scattered throughout the surrounding neighborhood are stationary shops and small Korean takeaways which primarily sell fried food including chicken, fish and squid. The shops are mainly for the kids as they walk to and from their home or bus stop. In my exploring, I've also found a network of streets only a few blocks over decked out with red overhanging curtains that is some sort of vegetable/fish/kitchen goods market.

Once at school, the first thing I do is take off my shoes. Street shoes are not allowed in the school so everyone takes off their shoes at the door and puts on a pair of house shoes. At the moment I don't have my own pair of house shoes so I'm using a random pair that are either from the last teacher or are for general visitors. It wasn't quite clear when they explained it to me and I haven't bothered to ask since I'm still trying to figure out my Korean shoe size. The house shoes are kept in a small cupboard with numbered shelves just inside the school entrance and everyone has one shelf that is specifically assigned to them. Mine is number 37.

After taking off my shoes, I go upstairs to the teachers' lounge on the 2nd floor. The teachers' lounge is a long room filled with cubicle sections on one side of the room. I have my own cubicle and my own computer but I share a printer with 5 other teachers sitting in my section. There are 7 cubicle sections in total and in the middle section sits the Vice Principal who in Korean is called "gwo-gam song-sang-neem". The Korean word for teacher is just "song-sang-neem" and the words for other types of teachers and school officials seem to be variations of that word. Just to let you know, I am the only foreigner in my school. There are 4 other English teachers but I alone am solely responsible for the conversation & vocabulary portion of my students' education.
One more thing to note: in America we count every grade starting after kindergarten. In Korea, they only count the grades at each school. So I teach 1st graders, 2nd graders and 3rd graders in middle school. In America, I think the equivalent would be 7th, 8th and 9th graders.

Okay, so everyday I go to my cubicle first, check my email and then look at my schedule. I usually have 3-4 classes a day (45 minutes each) depending on the week, since I only have certain 1st grade classes every other week. All of my classes are held in the EOZ (English Only Zone) which is a special classroom just for me on the 3rd floor and I get to choose how to decorate it and how to set it up. In every classroom there is a flatscreen HDTV (I'm not kidding) but in the EOZ there is a HUGE flatscreen HDTV (60 inches?) which I haven't used yet.

Since this is my first week, my only priority has been to introduce myself to the students in each class and then set out the rules. In total, I will have 18 classes a week and in each class there are 30-40 students. In order to avoid complete chaos, I've come up with 9 rules to ensure that the students understand that I'm not their friend or just some crazy foreigner - I'm their teacher. The rules that I have so far are :

1. Be on time
2. Speak English
3. Speak loudly (I make them shout this to get the point across)
4. Bring your book
5. Bring your pencil & eraser
6. Pay attention to teacher (I make sure they understand that this means no cellphones, falling asleep or looking out the window)
7. Be nice to each other (i.e. no fighting, wrestling, pushing or hitting)
8. Raise your hand if you have a question (they can shout out answers but if they need help I want them to get my attention)
9. Have fun (I want them to understand that they should enjoy my English class not dread it or be afraid to make mistakes)

At the end of each class I had this week, I actually made the students come up to the board and sign the piece of paper with all the rules on it to show that they promise to follow them. That way when there's a problem, I can simply point to the paper with their signature and remind them that agreed to follow the rules.

I've only had to discipline 1 student so far but I've had a few trouble-makers that I'm sure will need a strong hand in the future. If they break the rules, there are several things I can do. The first thing is to give them a warning, then if they are persistent I'll make them stand up at the front of the classroom (maybe even kneel to make it more humiliating) and if that still doesn't work then I can always have them hold both their hands high in the air until they're ready to co-operate. It might sound a bit barbaric in comparison to the USA but at least it's a lot better than hitting them which is what some of the Korean teachers do in their classrooms.

Lastly, I have to be at work from 830am - 430pm everyday irregardless of my schedule. So even if my last class ends at 1230 like it does on Wednesday, I have to sit at my desk until 430 and keep myself busy. That can mean preparing lesson plans, decorating and/or cleaning the EOZ or more than likely it means surfing the internet, talking to other teachers and waiting to see if someone needs my help. At 430pm, I leave school and walk down to the bus stop where I wait until Shannon calls me to say she got on the bus near her school. Then I catch the same bus as her and we go home.

That's what my days look like at the moment but maybe they'll change once I start really teaching from the books. After all, Korea is dynamic and things change literally from one minute to another.

If you want to know anything more about what I do or where I work, please send me your questions. Once we get our camera fixed and/or I buy my new dream camera (Canon 50D), Shannon and I'll post pics of our schools and the areas where we spend our time (home, shopping, church etc).

Day 2 in Busan

We're finally here - Busan! What a trip it was.

Let me take you back to last Friday. We left the university at 1130 in the morning, stopped for lunch along the way and finally arrived in Busan around 430 pm. When we got to our meeting point, we weren't allowed to leave the bus until our Korean guide called us by name. Outside the bus, our co-teachers were lining up like adoptive parents, chattering anxiously amongst themselves in the same way that we were doing on the bus. I wonder if it was as surreal for them as it was for us. Whenever our guide called one of our names, the whole bus would clap loudly and wish them well as they exited. Then their Korean co-teacher was would rush forward nervously and greet them warmly before whisking them away to get their luggage and drive them to their new apartment and school.

When our guide called our names, we were one of the last and it was the same experience. Our co-teachers met us as we stepped off the bus and immediately became our protective and somewhat surrogate parents. I had 2 co-teachers meet me and Shannon had only 1 meet her but in reality, we both have 4 co-teachers each.

After picking us up from the bus, our co-teachers took us to a temporary studio apartment since that's where the last English teacher lived. They had decided not to get us a new apartment until after talking to us so that they could find out exactly what kind of place to look for. Shannon and I are both pleased with their decision because it means we will have more control over where we'll live and will give us a chance to look at multiple apartments before making a final decision.

Right now we're living in a part of the city called Haeundae New Town which is about 45 minutes by bus from our schools and about 20 minutes from the beach. After looking at the map & walking around town, I think we'll choose to live in Haeundae (the "old" town which is still very modern) which is actually closer to the beach and about 15 minutes closer to our school. It's complicated. I'll post a map in about a week's time to give you more detail.

Back to Friday night. When we got to our temporary flat, the place was very dirty and so the co-teachers immediately called some professional cleaners to come and clean the place. They then took us out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant before taking us to a large department store to help us buy new bedclothes. Along the way my co-teacher gave me her subway card thing (it's a little keychain pendant that you can charge with money & then you use it to enter the subway & the money is automatically subtracted from it). When we went to put some money on it, we found out that there was still 5000 Won on it but she was adamant that I should still keep it as a gift. When we arrived at the department store, our co-teachers decided to pay for the bedcovers and pillows out of the school money (1/2 from my school & 1/2 from Shannon's) and so they encouraged to buy the best set we could since we were just starting out. I let Shannon make all the decisions in this regard and even though the Koreans kept showing her flowery patterns, Shannon made the wise decision to go with something a bit more gender neutral. In the end, she picked out a green & white duvet with matching pillows & a green mattress cover with black roosters all over it. Very funny but much better than the rosy pink antique flower patterns that seem to be on most of the bed stuff here.

After that, we went back to the apartment which was still being cleaned and made arrangements to be picked up on Monday for our first day at our new schools. I'll be teaching at Bansong Boys'School and Shannon at Bansong Girls' School.

All the while, our co-teachers asked us many questions, including if we knew how to do some very basic things. They really did treat us like newly adopted children. It was a strange sensation and there were many times when Shannon and I just had to smile appreciatively and leave it at that. I think that they weren't expecting to have such seasoned travelers or teachers to work with. It was very funny because they were impressed that we already had phones, could speak a little Korean and were not afraid to walk around alone in the city as new foreigners.

So yesterday was our first full day in Busan and we took the subway to Haeundae Beach and then to visit a friend of ours named Brett who is from South Africa and needed some people to cheer him up. He's alone in a remote part of the city and has never used the subway before so I think he's a bit depressed & needs to learn how to get around. We brought him some maps, helped him buy a subway charge token thing (like we both now have) and taught him what we knew before going back home again. We made plans to visit him again and have him visit us once he has figured out the subway.

Today we went to Seomyeon by subway and met some Americans at the Krispy Kreme that we found near the local department store. Yes, let me repeat that. They have Krispy Kreme doughnuts here. If you don't know what those are, then you haven't lived yet.

Anyway, after that we went to a bunch of different places looking at electronic goods before finding out that there's a Canon store near one of the subway stops. Shannon and I are going to go there in the coming week to check out the camera I want and to repair the one we have (yes, it's broken, it sucks). We then went to a Presbyterian church where one of our fellow EPIK teachers goes and had a good time. We're not sure if it will be our new church home but the possibility exists. No matter what, there's a good couples group going on and one of the people we met actually has friends in Erkelenz, Germany where my relatives live. How amazing is that?
So that's where we are so far. Tonight we have to go back to the apartment and prepare our clothes for tomorrow. Tomorrow we have to dress up really nice since it will be the first day we meet our principal and vice-principal. After that we can wear normal casual wear (nice jeans & nice shirt) but on the first day we have to look our best.

Just one last thing to note is that everywhere we go, we try to speak Korean to the adults but when we see children (toddlers, elementary schoolers and teenagers) we try to speak English. It's funny because many of them know how to say hello and if they don't respond to us, their parents always prod them as if saying "you know how to speak English, say hello to the funny foreigners!" We've also had a number of experiences where children on the subway will sit next to us and speak to us in English about everything and anything just to practice their English skills. It's funny but I figure we're here to promote English not only in our school but everywhere we go. That's the government's view too apparently.

Anyway, gotta go. The PC is yelling at me in Korean saying I have less than 3 minutes left. Hope this entry isn't too chaotic but give us a shout if you want more details or have questions!

Ciao for now!

Another note, this one at the end of the day

The classes we had today were great but tiring. There's a lot of information to digest and I know that I can't wait until orientation is over so that we can just get started doing what we do. A lot of this information is aimed at the extreme newbies who've never taught before but some of it is very useful, especially the stuff about Korean culture and working relationships.

One thing that is very different here is that when there is a problem, you don't go straight to the top boss. Instead, you go to the person just above you and then if they can't help you then they (not you) will go to the person just above them and then so forth. According to our instructors, our Korean co-teachers see us as cultural infants and tend to have a parental attitude toward us, as in "I must protect them and help them since they don't know how we do things here." If we bypass our Korean co-teachers in the hierarchy when we have a problem then the top boss will think that our co-teachers aren't being good parents and they'll feel very embarrassed, perhaps even betrayed. So, of course that's no good, but it is useful to know.

We had 4 lectures today:

1. Life as an EPIK Teacher
2. How to Co-Teach (we'll be team-teaching with a Korean teacher)
3. Songs & Chants (useful only for those brave people who chose to teach elementary school - myself not being one of them)
4. How to Teach Reading & Writing (actually a lot more fun than it sounds)

Notable things I came away with today:

• "As a foreigner it is sometimes best to let things go unexplained. To continue to seek a rational explanation will only result in frustration." (author unknown)
• "We're here to teach English, not change a culture." (one of our lecturers, Scott McLaughlin, on the topic of corporal punishment in the classrooms by our Korean co-teachers)

So now it's the end of the day but I decided not to go to our optional Korean classes tonight so that I could relax and unwind. One thing they teach you here is not to push yourself too hard and take a time out if you need one. It's a good thing to remember as well.