The Ramblings of Loren Christopher

It’s a beautiful thing when you have a class full of dynamic kids that all get your sense of humor and have a similar one…yet at the same time they respect each other, and most importantly you the teacher.  When it is study time, they pay attention and carry on open discussions about the topic, but when it comes time to play games you’re sure that everyone will have a hilarious time (yourself included).

One such class of sixth graders just finished their semester at JLS and will be moving on to a higher grade which I don’t teach (not because I’m incapable, haha….I’m locked into a specific age/grade group).  I will miss these kids a lot.  We had a few tough times together there at the start, but in each instance I gave them a writing test where I asked questions like “What is a perfect teacher like?”, or “How could English class be more exciting for you?”.

The responses were not really what I expected, they were well-rationalized and sensible.  This class really helped me become a better teacher and enjoy my job a lot more.  They are a bit camera-shy in this video because I didn’t give them much time to prepare before we began recording, and they were nervous about making mistakes in their English.  They can speak well though, and I’ll miss ‘em!

As much as I like to take advantage of the weekends to go and do things in central Seoul, it can be a bit exhausting at times to fight all the crowds.  Soon enough, you get used to it though.  You go to the movie theater earlier to buy tickets….and if it’s raining, you almost expect that all the movies will be sold out for the rest of the day.  You learn not to fight the crowds or try to weave your way through them at a faster pace than everyone else.  No seats available on the subway, etc.

Almost 14 million people live in Seoul, so I’m not quite sure what I expected…although it was still a shock to me when I first arrived.  I’ve gotten used to it by now.  Going to Beijing and Shanghai recently was nice for many reason, but one of them was because we were able to walk from destination to destination without bumping into people everywhere we went.  It felt like the first time I had ever walked a straight line on a sidewalk for longer than 10 seconds!

Well, I went to visit Namdaemun Market and Myeongdong (click here for map).  There is much to see in both of these places for sure!  Namdaemun Market is a much cheaper version where you can find anything from octopus, to random trinket souvenirs, or clothing at a very discounted price.  At a place like this, you’re expected to bargain down.  You can start that fun process by saying “Kaht-kaht chuseyo” (Give me a discount).

Myeongdong on the other hand, is only a 10 minute walk away, and has more high-end goods and the prices that go with it.  It gets impossibly crowded on the weekends, but it’s a fun experiences to walk around and grab a bite to eat there after popping into a few of the shops.  I haven’t spent a lot of time in this area because I always go on the weekends when it’s insanely crowded.  Ashley and I used to hit up the TGIFriday’s there, and they also have a Tony Roma’s that gave a 50% discount on their baby back ribs every Monday (this deal only applied to foreigners, haha).

Instead, I opted to try the dish “samgyetang“, which is boiled chicken stuffed with ginseng and rice.  I’d heard about it before, although there isn’t a place that sells it in my area so I was on the lookout.  Namdaemun offers lots of ginseng products and I was sure I’d find it there.  Sure enough I read a small sign in Korean that read 삼계탕 so I popped in to try it out.  It didn’t dissapoint!

As some of you may know, Seoul was host to the 1988 Olympic Games.  This was a great source of pride for the country since it did not always have an easy and prosperous economic past.  When referring to the year 1988 in conversation or for whatever reasons, Koreans will often say “1988 Olympic” as an extension to the date.

Olympic Park is just a 15 minute bus ride away from me.  I hadn’t really been to this stretch of 1.5 million square meters (click here for a map) during my first few months here, mostly because it was too cold!  But, once things started blooming and warming up, I eventually made my way over to check it out.  The community that I live in isn’t as hussle bussle as many other parts of Seoul, but there are still enough buildings and pedestrian traffic that make me want to escape city-life every now and then, even if for an hour or so.  So Olympic Park is a great option for a quick getaway…..like I had today.

Also, having my new camera has inspired me to get back into photography…so I hope you’re enjoying the pictures as well!  I hopped on the 3412 bus with camera and iPod ready to go.  Surprisingly there weren’t that many people there today….maybe because of the pending rain that is forecast.  I thought it was just perfect though, cool enough to walk around without sweating, but I was still wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

There’s lots to do in the park.  You can rent a bicycle and ride around, have a picnic in the picnic garden, go swimming, listen to music, there are often concerts and shows at night, see the sculpture gardens, walk some of the little nature trails….lots of stuff.  I on the other hand, didn’t have too much time.  And seeing as how most of my friends were busy this morning or live too far away, I went by myself strictly to play with my camera.

Walking around (and I only walked half of the park) made me realize that I need to frequent this place more often.  These past few weeks I haven’t had much time to hang out in/around the city, what with being away in China and then having the summer intensive classes.  Plus the sense of urgency is on now that it is slowly beginning to cool down (and I mean slowly, we’re still a ways away from winter).  I want to get my outdoorsy fix before it’s too late for the year!

Also I got to thinking while I was strolling through the park and observing people….now maybe it’s because there weren’t really any parks in Pensacola.  And by any, I mean practically none.  The few parks they do have in Pensacola are kind of run down and can be a little sketchy.  My point is that Koreans really seem to appreciate being out in nature more.  Older Korean businessmen were perched on benches here and there just staring out at the greenery around them…soaking it in.  They often speak of nature and the elements as being good for the psyche, which is knowledge in almost any culture I think, but here it seems more stressed as a necessity?  I hope that makes sense, haha.  I’m rambling so that’s my cue to sign off.

I am lucky enough to have a little slice of heaven just a 10 minute subway or bus ride from where I live.  It’s a Korean BBQ restaurant that one of my Korean co-workers introduced me to a few months ago.  Now, I’ve had my share of Korean BBQ since I arrived in Seoul almost 7 months ago…it’s a treat, but this place knocks the others out of the ballpark in my opinion!  

It’s located in Cheonho-dong, a district near my home which is featured here on the right.  They’ve got lots of bars, restaurants, shops….one big Hyundai Department store which is I-don’t-know-how-many stories tall, complete with an international foodcourt in the basement level which is outstanding.  Long story short, Cheonho is a close place to visit and hang out for me, so I frequent it a lot.  When I DO head over there though, I always make sure I have an empty stomache and someone to go to this restaurant with me….like I had today!

The fact that I’m making a post about this place should speak to it’s mouth-watering food, but I’ll try to do my best and explain it.  The thing to order here is “galbi”, which is marinated pork meat.  They bring you an earthen pot with hot coals in it, place it down in a pit in the center or the table, and slap a couple grill plates on top.  This was also the first place I’d had bbq at a place in Korea that used coals instead of a gas grill.  As usual here in Korea, you are brought a wide array of side dishes.  Kimchi is one of them of course, others include a lighter lettuce kimchi which has not been fermented and is kind of sweet, red bean paste, pickeled radish strips (I think?), rice, spicy spicy crab, salad mixed with a sweet sauce, garlic, curdled blood soup with spinach (it sounds disgusting, but it’s spicy and I love it, haha), and I’m probably forgetting something else.

Also you’re provided with an apron in the event that you show up wearing white (as was the case with my Korean friend shown here, Woon Ha).  What happens next?  You just pick up the pork and toss it on the grill, munch on some of the side items while it’s cooking.  When it’s almost finished you can cut the meat with scissors (also provided of course) and start going to town.  This BBQ is basically for making lettuce wraps….oh yeah, so they bring you a big plate of different kinds of lettuce as well.  You can pretty much put anything inside the lettuce, with the meat…wrap it up and eat it whole.  The major components however, would be the galbi meat, garlic, red bean paste, and some of the salad with sauce mixture.  It is incredible…really I wish you could fly over and have some with me!

I know Korean food may seem bizarre and mysterious to many of you.  Heck, I didn’t have a clue what they ate here until a few months before I came over.  So I’ll try to make some more installments of my favorite Korean dishes as time goes on.  I figured I’d start with this one since it is by far my favorite.  In case you’re wondering…this meal filled us up to the point of exhaustion and was 20,000 won (20 USD), so the price isn’t bad either.  And that’s actually on the more expensive side for eating out!

Mmm, I’m smiling just thinking about the lunch.  A meal like this goes perfectly with the traditional alcoholic drink of the country…Soju.  I’ll have to leave that item for an entirely separate blog entry.  We didn’t have Soju this time because I had to work after, and of course that would not be a good thing.  Funny side note…I have actually heard stories of foriegn teachers who party a lot coming to work while being intoxicated.  Or even bringing it into the classroom with them!!  Can you imagine?!?  Alright, well that’s enough for now.  Here are some thumbnail pics to click on if you should so desire:

Although it’s largely a Christian country today, the culture of Korea revolves around the Confucian doctrine of hierarchy, knowing your place amongst others in society, addressing them according to their position to you, and so on.  If you’re not familiar with Confucianism, you can read up on it a little on the religious tolerance website.

Now, I’m not here to get into a discussion on religion.  This blog is about shedding some light on my life in Korea, and this religion has major impacts on the country that are visible in everyday life.  It’s really one of the things that fascinates me most about my new home….how such a modern and developed country can be based around these archaic (for lack of a better word) structures, yet still manage to find a harmonious balance between the two.

Now, I knew that you always address your elders with respect in Korea.  The grammar and vocabulary of the language is really centered around this concept, which makes learning it all that much more difficult!  But even if someone is just a few months older than you, you are expected to greet them in the appropriate regard.  For example, I always greet store owners and adults I encounter on a daily basis with “Anyonghaseyo” (hello).  Although if a child says hello to me, I reply with the shorter and less respectful greeting of “Anyong”.  This is also the way good friends can greet each other, but only when their relationship has reached a high level of comfort with one another.

I once made the mistake of saying “Anyonghaseyo” to a little girl in the convenience store, and everyone around me had a good laugh (myself included when I realized why they were giggling)….because it’s unheard of to address a junior that way.  No biggie though, I can always play the foreigner card and get off the hook with these cultural misunderstandings.  It’s important to know a person’s age if you’re talking to them, so a common first question upon meeting someone is “How old are you?”  This may seem rude and off-puting to us Westerners, but here it is almost a necessity for continuing the conversation in the appropriate manner.

In the workplace it’s the same way.  It’s customary to buy small gifts for your co-workers when you start working for the company…or maybe when you go away on vacation and come back.  I’ve done this upon returning from Japan and China.  Unfortunately though, I was unaware that you should buy a bigger and little bit more expensive gift for the boss.  They should receive something “more special” than the rest of the employees and must be shown the most respect.  Clueless here again, I returned from Japan all proud of myself for picking up some small Osaka Cake Rolls to give my collegues.  Maybe I even joked to myself about how “Korean” I’m becoming now….haha.  Well, I handed one to my boss….straight out of the same box that everyone else had been choosing from, *gasp*!!

My boss is really sweet, and of course she didn’t say anything.  I hope it didn’t hurt her feelings too much….she’s used to working around foreigners anyway so it’s not such a big deal I guess.  But I made sure to remember this little cultural quirk the next time I went on vacation, and happily gave her a slightly BETTER gift the next time!  I used both hands to give it to her….this is another custom, using two hands when giving or receiving things to/from another person.  I got that one down pretty early on though.  Again, greater care is taken when giving a gift to a person of authority whom you should respect.  Be sure to bow a little more than normal, arms at your side, etc.  Weddings and the most sacred occasions will demand a full bow in which you bend down and your head touches the floor.

Funnily enough, my position as a teacher is seen with a surprising degree of respect by the parents.  Every time I’ve been introduced to them or met them, I was a little taken back by how far they bowed to me (a slight bow, like a head nod almost, indicates a smaller degree of honor…..the bigger the bow the greater the respect, etc).  Then again my occupation in Korean is said with the honorary add-on word “nim”, which indicates a more respectable career.  Teacher is included with doctor, lawyer, and others of the like…haha.

We had a new staff guy that started working at my school about a month ago.  I could tell he was kind of nervous (but excited) to meet me, the foreigner.  He kept bowing a lot to me during his first week there….even when I passed him in the hall or walked by the main desk where he works, he would awkwardly stop what he was doing and nod deeply.  It was cute and funny at first, but then annoying because I had to bow back every time, haha.  I told him the next week, “It’s ok.  You don’t have to do that when you see me.”  I let out a laugh, gave him a good ole’ American pat on the shoulder, and nipped that in the bud straight away!

Hmm, there are probably some more interesting things related to this that I’m forgetting here…but it’s a little late.  Hope you enjoyed…..I heart Korea!

I had a 3-day weekend!  Friday was Korea’s 60th birthday as an independent country from Japan (back in August of 1948).  I had big plans Friday with friends to do things around the city…unfortunately the weather didn’t allow it so that was a bit of a bummer.  Ah well, we beat the rain by just staying inside and making the best of it.

So, much to my dismay, I haven’t been traveling around Korea as much as I should.  It’s so easy to hop on a train or bus and see some of the countryside….and there are so many different things to see here.  Finally I hopped on that bandwagon yesterday with a friend and we headed out to a coastal city called Samcheok.  It was so beautiful!  Unfortunately though, haha, we got rained on a bit there too…but I managed to take a few pics when it WAS clear.

It was really pretty, and nice to be near the water again!  Sooo, we just hung out in the small town and had a nice time.  It was cool to see a different aspect of Korean people, they’re friendlier in the countryside I think (at least they were more open to trying to talk to me).  It’s not all that common to have people coming up and talking to you in Seoul (same with any big city in the world, people are busier doing their own thing).  I came back to Seoul inspired to get out into the country more on the weekends….so I’m already planning another small trip.  This city of Samcheok is on the other side of the Korean peninsula, but it was only 4 hours by bus, and a nice/cheap bus at that.

Alright, well in the meantime it’s back to work for me tomorrow.  Three more days of summer camp…woohoo!  Oh geez, do I have enough powerpoint games and stickers to last?  I think so!!

One of the things about living and teaching abroad is that you get so many people who contact you asking questions about your life and work, because they are considering doing the same thing.  Since I moved here, I’ve had so many questions….and a few people asked me if I would make a video talking about some of the good and bad points of living and teaching English here in Korea.

I waited a while to make the video because I wanted to have a bit of experience under my belt first.  I hope you find it interesting, and more importantly, I hope it doesn’t come across that I’m bragging.  Life here really is easy and enjoyable, and I wanted to stress here that you can have an amazing time if you really are critical of which school you choose.

(Remember you can always click on these pictures to view a larger version)  Wow.  What a time I had in China!!  I’m not sure where to start really.  Beijing was much cleaner and less crowded than I had expected (contrary to the above picture), which was surprising to me.  Everyone was so excited about the Olympics coming up that it was really cool to feel that in the air everywhere, you could really feel the pride of the people.  And the people were so nice!  I won’t know until I go back whether or not it was just a facade before the big games, or if that’s the way they really treat foreigners….either way I enjoyed it.

So the first big thing we did was the Forbidden City and Tienamen Square in Beijing.  They were both really huge and I got a little impatient with the heat (soo hot!), but of course it was beautiful and great to finally see all of this in person.

To think that this place was closed off to the public for 500 years, it’s amazing to be there walking around and envision the emperor and so on living there!  We were a little beat from all the walking around, so we figured what better way to revive ourselves than to try some of the street food at one of the night markets?

Yes yes, it all looks innocent enough, but beware:

Yes my friends, I did in fact eat scorpions….3 of them!!  It started as a friendly “I dare you to do it” conversation and then the next thing I know we’re all standing there holding a skewer of 3 of these little critters deep fried and salted saying, “You go first!”  ”No, you go first and then I promise I’ll try it right after you!!”  Oddly enough, they didn’t taste bad at all….kind of like greasy chicken skin.  Well no, exactly like greasy chicken skin actually, except for the flakes of exoskeleton you’re still left with after the first few swallows (nothing a little swish of water can’t take care of!!).  We joked that a bag of scorpions would be the perfect accompaniment to a movie, or maybe even as a quick snack on the go.  The last picture I’m tearing off a piece of sea snake wrapped around a skewer.  It wasn’t as good as the scorpion, a bit too chewy for my liking but the sauce and spices they glazed on it was pretty good!  *sigh* Once you’ve eaten freshly-killed squirrel fed to you by a wild Thai man in the northern jungle, you just can’t say no to scorpion and snake I suppose, haha!

We saw the pandas at The Beijing Zoo.  The first exhibit was a little depressing, concrete rooms where they had little room to move around.  But they had just built an “Olympic Panda Exhibit” that was a little better…I bigger room with like 8 pandas wobbling around and being fed by one of the zoo-keepers.

Cute as can be!  It was truly special to see these guys!  Alright, well we’re off to The Great Wall of China.  Now, this has been near the top of my list of things to do in my lifetime (climb the Great Wall), so I was really excited about it.  It delivered on all counts!!  We ended up taking local transportation and then hiring a couple drivers to take us to one of the best parts of the wall where there aren’t many tourists and it’s the most scenic.  I’m so glad we did!  I was a little worried cause it was raining all morning, but then finally cleared up when we got there which made everything cooler and greener.

I uhmm, yeah don’t really know what to say here.  It was just more amazing than I imagined.  We kept looking around us in awe and all agreed that this was one of the most incredible things we’d ever seen/done in our lives.  It helped so much that there were hardly any people there, no one to bump into or get in your photos, nobody trying to sell you cheesy souvenirs, etc.  It was perfect!

We also went and checked out the Olympic stadium and grounds.  They were doing lots of security drills at the time and there were thousands upon thousands of young Chinese security guys marching around in a line so we got a few pictures of that as well.  I would have liked to actually have gone INTO the park, but they’re not allowing visitors until the games actually begin this week.

Unfortunately I didn’t take many pictures in Shanghai because it rained the first day, and the next two days were solely designated for shopping.  They have more than one H&M in Shanghai, what was I supposed to do?!?  I did get a nice heavy cashmere winter coat tailor made, and a 3-piece black suit tailor made (only $200 total!), and a good amount of clothing to take back with me to Seoul.  Also got some Christmas gifts from the big souvenir market, where you have to bargain with the best of them.  They had some cool communist and Mao memorabilia too.  Shanghai was definitely different from Beijing.  It seemed bigger and grittier, lots of construction and less of an image that they were trying to portray.  I felt like I experienced more of the “real China” there….although the country is so huge I would have to go back for a while to really get a handle on it.  I did stay long enough to gain a strong admiration for it though….it’s probably one of my favorite countries in Asia so far!!

So, after taking ridiculously cheap taxi rides, foot and body massages, getting a special candle shoved in my ear to suck the dirt out, lots of good Peking duck and dumplings, a massage with glass bulbs that they light on fire to suction your skin up inside them (I still have enormous red circles all over my back, lol)….I have returned to Seoul rejuvenated, inspired and ready to get back to work!  I’m teaching extra hours this week and next for a summer camp we’re doing….so the schedule will be a little tight, but I’m getting paid extra so I won’t complain too much.

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures: