My First Anti-Foreigner Run In

Last night, after dinner I decided to take a walk around Seoul to buy a few things and hopefully find some bed sheets. No success with the bed sheets, but I did find some hair products for curly hair and was handed loads of sample beauty products, just for purchasing some conditioner.

I was getting a bit tired but I figured I'd walk further just see what the night time shopping was like. It was so odd seeing people going in and out of fashion stores at 9pm. I walked until I got to an area of Seoul where there weren't many stores, but rather loads and load of street food carts. I stopped to dig out my map and realized I'd forgotten it, which is fine, I'm horrible with maps as it is. I walked past a street cart where an old man was cleaning his grill. He glared at me the whole time, his eyes never leaving me. He didn't seem curious about me, but very displeased. I smiled and kept walking.

Suddenly I felt a splash of warm water on my back.  He had thrown the bucket he was using to clean his grill on me and the men standing around him were laughing. This was one of those moments where I was entirely too conflicted about what to do. I stood still for a moment and it took everything in my body not to hit that man. I walked up to him slowly, looked him dead in the eyes and told him he should be very careful about being disrespectful to people he doesn't know. I raised my voice, even though I knew he had no idea what I was saying. I wanted to make him understand.

Right before anything escalasted too much, a young man came running from across the street and began yelling at him. The older man conceded and walked away. Turns out the the young man spoke English and was studying at Universty in Seoul. He apologized and said the man was prejudice, put his arms around me and walked me away from the area.He said I had been in a pretty dodgy part of Seoul. I thanked him, wrung out my shirt (which was white and a bit see through at this point) and he gave me his phone number along with his zip up to walk home in. In moments of frustration it is so comforting to meet such nice people. My exerience in Korea, with the exception of this incident, has been so positive that I have to remain optimistic.

First Day at School

Today was my first full day in the middle school, although I don't begin teaching until September 10th. Instead, I will be lesson planning and sitting in on a few classes. Walking through the hallways was a very different experience. Students saw me and stared, some giggled, other bowed and said hello and  a few even practiced their English. My favorite was "you look like Beyonce" hahah! I met the rest of the staff and they all seemed quite nice, although I am quickly realizing I really need to learn Korean beyond the few words that I know. Most of my conversations consist of me smiling and my co-teacher translating. Meeting the principal was quite scary at first. He called me and my co-teacher into the office and asked us to sit down. He looked at me and spoke in Korean as my co-teacher laughed and repeated it back to me. Apparently he loves baseball and he wanted to know which team was my favorite. I quickly replied.."uh, the Brewers" he smiled, clapped and said "ah, yes Milwaukee, very good" We will get along well." He said his dream was to go to Penn Park and asked me about "the great Bambino." I must say my baseball knowledge leaves something to be desired. Perhaps the funniest aspect of the meeting was the fact that even when he used the few words he knew in English, like "welcome" and "very good" my co-teacher made sure to repeat them right after he had said them. I was quite happy with the way the meeting went.

After school I was invited to a "staff meeting," which turned out to be dinner at a restaurant. It was "Korean Bacon" and it was delicious, despite the fact that I am terrible with chop sticks. Everyone, and I literally mean everyone, waited for me to take a bite. Do you know how awkward it is to eat a big, huge greasy piece of bacon, with chopsticks you barely know how to use in front of 25 people? Some of them even moved their mouths are a sort of instruction for how I should chew.I struggled a bit and finally speared the bacon and awkwardly tossed it in my mouth, throwing my fists in the air! Victorious and it was delicious. Everyone nodded and clapped and then began ordering drinks. My principal staggered to the front and began to make a speech. This is how it sounded to me "jsdjajoiorir Maggie Smith-Su jsjojpojorjorje Rugby oiorioiroriqwri African oprjqorjirqirq Irish poqiwejwe Maggie Smith- Harry Potter ikowierei Oh yes kqweieiepopeo Welcome jqwejwejowej Soju. So really, I believe I understood all of the key points :) The speech took about a minute and a half and I just stood there with a big awkward grin plastered on my face, nodding at each person who made eye contact.

Next my principal came over and said "beer, you like?" I nodded, maybe a bit too eagerly and he smiled. He handed me a glass and poured my beer, then he asked me to pour his. I remembered something about pouring with two hands and I was grateful not to have spilled all over him. He said "Cheers to our middle school" and downed it in one. If I ever need an international drinking team partner, I would totally ask my principal to take the job. He then placed a bottle of soju in the middle of the table and gingerly danced away.

Meet your co-teacher...in a typhoon!

We arrived in Seoul this morning in the middle of a typhoon and I finally met my co-teacher! I bowed and said Anyong Haseyo(sp) in Korean like I had been told to do. She smiled and gave me a big hug. I was quite surprised as it seemed like such a Western thing to do. We spent an awkward few minutes just smiling at each other and trying to figure out what to do with my suitcases. She answered the phone, said a few things in Korean that I couldn't understand and a very nice car came roaring around the corner. An older woman jumped out, gave me a hug and said "Welcome to Korea," another one of my co-teachers and a very friendly woman. They followed me down the steps in the pre-typhoon weather holding an umbrella over my head. When we got to the trunk it was quite clear that my suitcase might not fit. They smiled, giggled and began furiously re-arranging the trunk. In two minutes I was all packed up and ready to go. She leaned over and said I made you lunch! It was a bag of baked potatoes and a bag of grapes. I smiled at the gesture.

When I arrived at my apartment I was surprised by how nice it was! I will be living in an officetel. I looked around and it seemed to have everything- a table and chairs with a bouquet of roses,a fridge stocked with beer, microwave, rice cooker, stove, washing machine, shower separate from the rest of the bathroom....just one thing missing....a bed! My co-teacher told me I would be staying with her for the night, so I grabbed some things and took the subway 40 minutes out to her place. When we arrived I was a bit anxious about meeting her mother. Again, I bowed and said hello. She ran over and gave me a big hug. She spoke very little English but her smile was so bright. They gave me a mattress pad, led me to my room and let me rest for a while. I had casually mentioned to my co-teacher that I loved Indian food. When I woke up she had made me an amazing Indian curry with loads of sides and lots of dessert. To say I was humbled, would be an understatement.

I was so surprised to have someone be so kind upon first meeting me, particularly because I felt like I might be a bit of a burden. We sat around for a few hours, listening to the Typhoon and talking about all the places we had visited. We had a lot more in common than I thought we would. She shared teaching tips, told me about the students and promised to help make my time in Korea as fantastic as possible. I feel very blessed! Tomorrow I head to school at 8:30 am, observe the classes and meet all of the teachers. At 3:30 I will attend my first staff meeting, complete with Soju....this should be a very interesting day!

Final Days: TB, drugtests and soju!

Today we had our teaching demonstrations! I think they went quite well, there were 9 groups each presenting a demo lesson to class of adults (many of whom pretended to be children). My group was given the topic "I have a headache" on health related issues! It was a fantastic comedy of errors complete with "ums and ehs,"fake fainting and some fantastically tacky miming on my part!

Our ridiculous slides!

Half way through the presentations our demo leader said "one of you actually has a middle school placement." Turns out that person was me! It was so difficult to make myself focus for the rest of the lesson. :)

After the teaching demos we met with representatives from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and received our orientation certificates and papers saying were STD, drug and TB free. It was hysterical seeing all the sighs of relief as people opened their envelopes!

Then we went on to our closing ceremony and final dinner! I had fully intended on staying in and packing the night before...but as per usual, ended up going out with the Seoul folks. We found a tiny convenience storem bought a few bottles of beer, soju and makgeolli (Korean rice wine) and sat outside the shop drinking on their patio. It was nice and I am really happy to be going to Seoul with such an excellent group of people. Were off bright and early in the morning!

Medical Exam

So, I had my medical exam today after a night of fasting (which may not seem like much to most people but do you have any idea how much I eat?). I arrived bright and early with the rest of the Epik cattle in the lobby. We had our medical forms and paid 50000 won (roughly $44) for the medical test. First I went in a room for a hearing check. I suppose I expected to hear some type of loud beep, but after about 3 seconds of buzzing and the Korean doctor asking if I heard anything, I gathered that it might be the buzz I was looking for.

Next we trekked through the rain to main Epik building for our urine sample. Now, this is maybe the funniest thing I have ever seen and a great indication/cultural experience on why Koreans are so much more open about bodily functions than many Western cultures. We were given a paper cup and a small vial with our name on it. We lined up outside the bathrooms (of course the girls line was longer) and one by one applicants nervously came out pee samples in hand (the more modest folks attempting to cover their samples so no one could see the color). This is just as well as I was certainly staring to see how many people were properly hydrated! Haha! The samples were then placed in little grated boxes in front of the most lovely, posh Korean women I've ever seen. She would simply smile and refuse to extend her hand as nervous applicants fumbled with their vials or attempted to hand them to her.

We moved on to the "height and weight room of doom." I stepped on the scale and the woman seemed confused, she asked me to get off the scale and on again. She was convinced the machine was off. She was in disbelief about my weight and she said I didn't seem "dense" enough to weigh so much. She turned red, smiled and sent me on to the eye test and medical "your fat" consultation. I was really glad to see that I wasn't the only one struggling with the eye exam and I am convinced Koreans must have far superior eye sight to mine as the numbers  on the screen appeared to be the size of a crumb. I spent most of the time rubbing my eyes and apologetically bowing for all of my "umms" and "I have no idea what that says."

In the "your fat" room, I was pleasantly surprised to have proper banter with a very nice doctor. I had been warned prior to the room, that because of the language barrier and the general differences in BMI, many foreigners were told they were obese or needed to diet. I shuffled back and fourth a bit as I was called forward "Anyong-haseyo" I managed to awkwardly stammer out before sitting down. The doctor clapped his hands, bowed his head and large smile spread across his face "you are very polite" he said. We then went through the standards: Do you have a history of this disease? Do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you exercise? "I see you play rugby" he says, very good sport, very very good he says patting his stomach and laughing. I could see a few of the applicants trying to hear what we were on about. He asked about medications, smiled and sent me on to blood pressure.

Blood pressure was the area I was nervous about, especially in front of doctors. My blood pressure just seems to spike up when I have any sort of important exam. The nurse fitted the cuff and began pumping, "excellent" she said and I felt myself breathe for the first time since I had sat down with her. She wrote down "100/80." I scooted over to the blood booth and was handed two vials. I sat down and made a fist as the nurse tapped around my vein like she was digging for gold. I could tell the second she put the needle in that nothing was going to come out. Instead of taking the needle out and reinserting, she decided to slide the needle around in a circular fashion, reminiscent to the way little kids stir cookie dough for their parents. "Would you like the other arm?" I asked. I immediately regretted the question. She cleaned my arm, shoved a piece of cotton in the crevice and began in on my left arm, this time the blood came quickly and she patted my arm, pleased with it's ability to cooperate on the second go. I walked across the lobby like "I dream of genie" arms crossed with two cotton balls shoved into the crevices, to my final test "TB."

The TB test was taken outside in a van that resembled an old midwestern ice cream truck. As I headed for the door I was stopped by coordinators "Are you wearing underwear?" "Do you have metal in your bra," "Are you wearing a bra?" flustered I yelled "I have a sports bra that I wear for rugby, it's pink" this seemed a sufficient answer and they sent me out to the van. Apparently metal interferes with the TB chest scans. Inside the truck was a row of girls, some T-shirt clad, but many in hospital gowns stuffing their faces with muffins and capri sun, so happy to finally eat after the fasting. When it was my turn I entered the tiny room and stood in between  two white plates, shortly after I heard the technician sigh, enter the room and press my body against the first plate, pulling my hands behind my back in a police fashion. He counted to 3 and the coordinator said "hold your breath." They were so consumed with the photo they forgot to tell me to breathe again. I appeared to the only person whose photo was fussed over. I panicked, could I have TB? How would I not know? Isn't that a disease for Victorian era children who own special gardens and wheel each about in make shift chairs?  I later realized it was because I had left a piece of jewelry on. With the exam over I grabbed 3 capri sun, two muffins and hopped out of the van for some major nappage.

Here's fingers crossed to a normal medical exam!

Maggie Moo is in Korea

Yesterday afternoon I arrived at Incheon Airport in Korea, after a 10 hour flight. Note to self: do not take your shoes off on a long plane flight- your feet will swell and you will look like the nutty professor.

Thank God the swelling has gone down so much since yesterday! Like my obese foot?

 I met up with a few folks from the EPIK facebook group and caught the coach to Daejeon for orientation. My first observations:

1) Korea is such a bright place! The lights are all so different here and it's definitely beautiful at night.

2)  There are so many Ramen noodle flavors!! I am in college dorm heaven

3) Dessert with meals consists of fresh fruit.

4. The money is pretty, but it's so confusing...either that or I am still entirely too jet lagged and silly to figure it out.

5. Toilet paper is thrown away instead of flushed.

6. Savory foods taste EXTREMELY sweet: soups, marinara sauce and dressings. It was a bit of a shock when I took a huge spoonful of asparagus soup and it tasted like cake batter..but atleast the dinner signs are priceless.

7. "Red Spicy Paste" makes everything taste delicious and I will probably eat it on fried chicken for the rest of my life.

8. The beauty products in Korea are far superior to the U.S and my face feels like it was just washed with silk!

I was going to attempt to make this post so much more articulate and structured than it is, but I don't think I can stay awake much longer! Tomorrow is our medical check up, so off to bed I go!

Post Wallet Snatching

After a bit of reflecting, winjing, bitching and being generally angry over having my wallet taken...I have decided to just stop.  Looking on the bright side, I still have my passport, the rest of my possessions and my health. I am still moving to South Korea and I am still going to have a great time and be an excellent teacher. I am satisfying my rage by telling myself that whoever has taken my wallet shall be eternally cursed to a life of bad sex and no travel.I cancelled my cards, filed a police report (not that it will matter) transferred myself some cash to paypal, ordered a new state ID and sat my ass down to have some wine! If the universe is going to diddle me sideways I believe I should at least be bevied up.

Replaying the events of last night make me feel like an idiot for not being more aware, but they also make me so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family (particularly those willing to help me all the way from the U.S). My neighbor Brent picked up his phone at whatever ungodly hour I called and made sure to get a hold of my family for me, not sure what I would have done if he hadn't picked up. Eventually he got a hold of my brother who was calm and kind. I dreaded calling my dad but I suppose I should have expected his response "I told you to be more aware" he said before hanging up (grumpy).  My mom was as supportive as ever and for that I am thankful. I am an idiot and the people around me love me anyway :)