Thursday, December 25, 2008

a Very Korean Christmas

Well folks, you might be wondering what does a foreigner do for Christmas in a country that doesn't really celebrate it. First off I guess I should explain what Christmas is in Korea. Christmas is a national holiday, but it is a national holiday in the sense that Memorial day is a national holiday. Korean's celebrate Christmas not by giving many gifts, but by simply giving one thoughtful gift to each other. Christmas is also not a time for family, but instead a time for friends to go out and drink. I think the best way I can explain Christmas is by saying that it is more like New Years. With that fun explanation aside let us begin this wonderful exploration of my Christmas.

For starters, even though Christmas is not that huge here, that does not stop the stores from doing all those wonderful things we do back home. Nor does it stop Christmas Carolers. I was walking home past the local movie theater on Christmas Eve and what did my eyes behold but fifteen high school girls Christmas Caroling. Sadly I did not have my camera on me at that moment, but luckily my friend Eli happened to go by at a later time and took a video of it. I feel that I cannot accurately explain this, so I will just show the video. All I can say is, enjoy.



Honestly, I think that if Christmas Caroling was like that back in the states it would be far more popular.

With Christmas Day upon us Brenden, Carissa, and i hopped the first bus to Boreyong to make Christmas dinner with our friend Drew. Honestly I was filled with a little apprehension about this trip, not because of the company, but I was afraid that somehow it wouldn't feel like Christmas. Luckily, I was dead wrong. Everything went awesome besides a little bit of an awkward situation on the bus to Boreyong. In short a girl who I have a little bit of a history with here in Korea was on the bus. What was the funniest thing was that we spent about half the bus ride texting each other. Nothing bad happened but still it was just kinda awkward.

Dinner, however was awesome. I was actually surprised by how well everything turned out. The chicken we roasted was delish, the sweet potatoes and orange juice didn't disappoint, neither did the mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, or the garlic bread. Carissa made dessert which consisted of Walnut pie and cookies. All told the meal was as epic as it could get.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

An Ode

An Ode

I awake at 7:20
Darkness envelops my room
As I stumble for the light I look out upon a dark world
Oh where have you gone?
My dear friend, why don’t you come?
I need you now more then ever

At 7:30 I enter my shower
Still dark, still cold
As the water begins to course over my body
I find myself thinking of everything you make easier
Ohh the world without you is dark far longer
My dear friend please come to this country

Ohh daylight savings time
Please make my morning easier
Without you the world is dark far too late
I cannot awake without you
You bring the blessed sun to the early morn
Oh when and where will I see you again?
When will I awake to the sun and not the moon?

I want to shower in the daylight
Please let me save some time my dearest
One simple hour is all I ask
Just give us one hour of savings
Let me awake to the sun and the birds
Ohh I do miss you my friend
Maybe another year I will see you again

Monday, December 8, 2008

The Foreigner Treatment

Now that I have settled in and things are becoming routine I've started to notice a few things. One of these things is what I call the foreigner treatment. It's hard to notice at first, but over time you generally start to realize that as a foreigner in Korea you are definitely treated differently then a Korean. There are several ways to help explain this phenomenon but I believe using direct examples is the best way.

First and foremost Koreans actually can be quite rude when you're using something at a bar. Take for example a pool table or a dart board. Now, I'm all for sharing and taking turns, what teacher isn't. Yet, I find this beginning to happen more and more. I will be in the middle of my first game of pool, or I will be playing darts with my friends and a bartender will walk up to me and tell me that other people are waiting for the table or for the board. Now this means we get to finish out our game and then vacate the machine. No problem with this. What bothers me is when they think that we are taking to long so they send the bartender or whoever speaks English five times during the course of our game. Yes, the people may have been a little impatient, but still a game takes until it is finished, and we're not even talking about using it for extra long. Now what's most important here, is that they expect us to limit ourselves to one game, however, when they get the table or machine they often will play three or four. That is what I call the foreigner treatment.

Another example would actually be this woman who took my cab. Drew and I had been waiting for about seven minutes to get a cab. Finally one starts coming down the road. Now I've already got my hand up, but this woman simply walks across the street and flags the cab down ten feet before us. I mean seriously my arm was already up flagging this guy. Luckily there was another cab two seconds behind it, but still it was rude. Once again the foreigner treatment. Had I been Korean she would not have done that. Now, it may seem like I'm just making a big deal out something that isn't that big, but still it does bother me.

I've never truly felt discriminated against, but I'm starting to get there. Another thing that helps is that I pal around with TC. TC is a Pakistani, Canadian, American who looks Pakistani. Simply put Koreans are somewhat racist. There is a definite hierarchy of races in this country. Luckily as a white person I rank second. However, TC being brown ranks him just above the bottom. This means that when we are out, Koreans are a lot more willing to be rude to him, and then subsequently rude to me. Now I do realize that I am talking very generally about things, and probably making several leaps in my theories but the simple truth is I know what I see.

I have one last piece of evidence to offer in support. This has more to do with Korean male insecurity, and the dreadful state of feminism in this country. Yeah, yeah, yah. I know I should be the last one to talk about feminism, but simply put this country could definitely need a massive infusion. Behind the bars in Korea now a days are mostly younger women. These women range from 19-35. There job is to not only serve drinks, but to also talk to and interact with the customers. Well, at several bars in the Seosan area I am a regular. This means also that I am rather good friends with many of the bartenders. I actually have several of their phone numbers.

Now what normally happens is I will be at a bar having some drink and talking to the bartenders. A rather drunk Korean man, or several will enter the bar and sit down. After placing their orders and sitting for a few moments, they will many times become very angry with the bartenders. They do because I am a foreigner and the girls are ignoring the Koreans to talk to me. Well, let's rephrase that, they're not ignoring them, they're just not paying attention to them. Seriously I have had several Korean men start barking orders at the bartenders. I've actually gotten very offended by this treatment several times. The worst part is that the girls actually go over and then pay attention to this guy. Ugh. Feminism please come to this country in massive amounts. I'd rather deal with militant feminists then practically subjugated women. At least then, the men in this country would have to start treating their women better. That's another story for another blog though. If I'm not careful I'll turn this into a really long post. Alas that is my diatribe on the Foreigner Treatment.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Snow, Snow, everywhere.

Well, it was everywhere until yesterday. Sad. As I said before this city is really awesome when it's covered in snow. Now it was truly covered in snow this time. We had over six inches of snow on Friday. It was truly beautiful. Here are some pictures. I would like to thank Drew for taking these wonderful pictures while we were out and about in Seosan. On that note lets begin the wonderful exploration of this past week.

School has been progressing well. The school year ends here during the winter so the students are starting to get a little rowdy. They are also beginning their cycle of testing which determines their grades. Unlike back home, grades are determined by tests in this country. Honestly I feel bad for the teachers because while they can still use corporeal punishment there is little else they have to maintain order. Luckily with these students that is all most of them need. I've talked with several of my other teachers here and have finally found the largest difference between our two education systems. Surprisingly it's not the fact you can hit your students, it's the fact that students at home make you earn their respect. Here there is an utter lack of disrespect. No that is not a typo. The students here would not even think to disrespect a teacher. It's creepy. I actually find myself wanting a student to disrespect me so I can maintain some semblance of normalcy. I mean seriously. The worst thing they do is mutter to themselves in Korean. Even the ADHD kids aren't that bad. It's nuts. It's like I died and went to respect heaven or something. I wouldn't say teacher heaven because there are still problems with the system.

Other then that this week was pretty low key except for a small things. For starters my friend Drew, who some of you may know arrived in Korea to begin teaching on Friday. Once again I made the trek up to Incheon International Airport to pick someone up. What made this trip so much fun was the fact that in and around Seosan there was six inches of snow falling. In Incheon and Seoul there was no snow, but around home it was flurries. Which meant that for the last 60 kilometers of our journey we were traveling at about 35 miles an hour. What's even more sad is that while we were doing this our car actually ended up sideways at one point but still moving forward. We hit a patch of ice. However I must say thanks to the superior driving skills of my recruiter Ryan he steered perfectly into the turn and straightened us out without even having to stop. Mad props Ryan.

The other big event of this weekend was the Saturday drinking fest known as Carissa's birthday celebration. The night included a bottle of whisky, some boilermakers, and a giant fireball of 151 that may or may not have singed some peoples eyebrows. Luckily I was behind the fireball taking pictures. Needless to say it was a good night. Most importantly what night like this wouldn't be complete without the following two things, one a fifteen minute pick on Will session, and me completely misinterpreting a text message and almost totally blowing it with a girl because of that. Freaking Konglish.

This week promises to be a very calm week for me, however there is the possibility that I once again will run up to Seoul this weekend. Drew wants to explore the ginormity that is Seoul, and I'm thinking about buying some really cheap stuff in Yongsan electronics district. Until then.