The Ramblings of Loren Christopher

Hey everyone!  Well, I was sick these past few days so I haven’t been up to anything too exciting lately.  The air is so dry here that I think that’s partly what did it.  I had a TERRIBLE cough…kept me up all night and I lost my voice, but it’s coming back finally.  A couple of my Korean friends went to the pharmacy for me and got me some Chinese medicine that really helped (although it tasted horrible!).  So I’m back in the full swing of things, as of yesterday.  I’m trying to get my own system worked out with my classes.  It’s a little overwhelming with all my classes…I started work so suddenly and they kind of just threw me into it all….so I’ve been trying to get things organized and squared away.  My best friend Aubrey is coming to visit me in a couple of weeks!!  I can’t wait!  It’ll be fun to do some sightseeing with her and introduce her to my friends here, etc.  Also, I’m heading to Japan for a weekend coming up pretty soon.  Oh and it snowed yesterday!  This was the first time it has snowed since I’ve been here….it was so nice watching it from inside my bedroom.  Although walking home from work last night (a two-minute walk by the way) I fell on my butt TWICE!  It didn’t go unnoticed by all the strangers walking along the street with me either, haha.  Oh well, I just had to laugh at myself and get back up.  I’m just know they were thinking something like, “Awwe, look at the silly/cute foreigner!”  

I always like to post some media with each entry, so here are a couple recent pictures of yours truly: 

 I’m enjoying some Korean BBQ here, which by the way if you have never tried, you are missing out!!

 Hope you’re all doing well.  I’m feeling 100% better now so no worries!

Much love! 

Well, the first lessons with my students were always fun. I had them ask me questions, mostly they inquired about where I was from, how tall I am, my age, and whether or not I’m married. Although I did get some oddball questions like “Teacha’, why are you handsome?”, or even “Teacha’, how did you become so tall?” How am I supposed to answer that one? Haha. But when I told them my height in centimeters (190) they instantly became quiet and every single jaw dropped.

They cannot seem to comprehend the fact that I don’t understand Korean…it’s really quite puzzling to them. But fortunately they’re really good about only speaking English in class, so I don’t have to get onto them about that. Let’s see….the average class size is about 15-20, and their ages range from about 7-12. For the most part they are very well behaved, a few of my classes really surprise me actually by how well-disciplined they are. But of course, I do have a couple unruly kids in a few classes….although I’ve come up with a system of discipline and rewards that seems to be working well so far.

So yeah, I really do like my job. It allows me to be my goofy self and crack jokes….I had a few of my classes yesterday in stitches because I was teaching much vs. many when using uncountable nouns. Like they said, “the desert has many sand”. So I asked, “Really? So can you count the sand?” I walked around the room pretending to pick up little bits of sand as I counted, and acted out being frustrated by the task of tallying up all the sand in the desert….they thought it was the funniest thing in the world, haha!

Well, here’s a quick video of one of my classes I had today….kinda short cause I feel weird about recording them, although they seem to think it’s normal so I’ll post more later. Hope you’re all doing well!

Ok…I was wondering why I wasn’t getting comments anymore even though many people are reading the blog. I had changed my settings to prevent spam and it turns out I was blocking everyone! All is fixed though, so you can comment away now!

In other news…I don’t know if you heard, but the South Gate in Seoul was destroyed by arson Sunday evening! I’m so upset by this because I didn’t get the chance to see it before it burned! A 600-year old monument….destroyed. It’s really sickening. Anyway here are the before and afters:

Makes me sick. Check out the New York Times article (click here) if you want to read about it.

On the bright side….I’m going to see Bjork in concert on Saturday!!!

I’m glad you all liked my Vlog! I got a pretty good response from it, so I’ll keep those coming! For now though, here are just a few things I’ve come to find interesting about living in Seoul.

The apartments have heated floors. I find this to be a much better way of heating a room. Not only do your feet never get cold, but as we all know, heat rises. How genius!

Most restaurants have a button on the table that you press when you need service. I find that this is both beneficial to the wait staff, as well as the customers. No more awkward interruptions by your server, no more servers waiting around and nonchalantly passing your table. Just push a button and presto…a group (not just one) of smiling Koreans are at your service!

Ajummas. Literally translated meaning “woman old enough to be married”. See picture below:

Sure, she may look like a sweet lady who just wants to offer you a bowl of kimchi….but if you’re in her way when she’s trying to get on or off the public transportation system then you had better watch out! These women often sport huge visors and/or fur coats. When they reach a certain age they cut their hair short, get a perm, and begin savagely stomping through subway stations, pushing anyone in there way to the side.

The stares. These aren’t as bad as I had previously thought they would be…but I assure you that I don’t walk around this city unnoticed. My height doesn’t help my anonymity very much either, haha. The Korean friends I’ve made so far say that these stares aren’t a bad thing….people are just curious about Westerners so a lot of them can’t help but look. The good thing is that if you look back, they will immediately glance away because they want to avoid any confrontation or awkwardness. This is VERY unlike Czechs, who if they recognized you as a foreigner, were perfectly content to stare at you the entire subway ride as you sat across from them….never breaking face.

Animal hats for kids. As if Korean kids were not cute enough on their own, their parents often dress them up in these animal hats for the winter:

There are many other quirks of this place that I’ve come to find interesting and endearing….so I’ll make these entries part of a continuing series. I always find it most fascinating to learn about these little social facts that really separate cultures….and there are many here, I can assure you.

Hope all is well, and much love!