Sadness and Happiness

Without going into too many details, I will say that I've been pretty down lately... But it's funny what will cheer you up when you are...

I always tell one of my favorite classes that they should all come to Canada to visit my house, and then they can meet my family and my cat and my mom can make them a big Canadian meal. Anyways, the other day we were talking about travelling and different countries and I asked them all "Where would you like to go and why?" and a bunch of the little kids said, "Canada." When I asked them why, they replied, "Your house."

It's funny because sometimes I wonder how much of what I say actually sinks in and makes an impression and hearing that just cheered me up somewhat.

I wore a skirt to school the other day as well, and one little girl gets up in the middle of class, motions for me to bend down, and whispers in my ear, "Teacher look beautiful."

And then of course, in my other class, the girls were all impressed with my skirt so I did a twirl for them.. and one little boy - the king of inappropriate comments - starts to laugh, points at his crotch, and says, "Don't do that, your thing will come out." Umm.. hmmm perhaps time for someone to have an anatomy lesson?? (Not from me of course!!)

So.. never thought I'd say this but in a time of me feeling down, it's the kids that have been cheering me up!

Smiley Princess, The Beef Project and Freedom Fries

Wow, it's been so long since I last wrote and I have so much to say... but will I say it all before I get bored of typing? Let's find out?

Smiley Princess: One of my students shyly told me the other day that she was no longer Sally. I could now refer to her as "Smiley Princess." Between my partner teacher and I, we deduced we should probably phone her mom and ask if she really wished her daughter to have the English name, Smiley Princess before making the name change official.

The Beef Project: For about 3 weeks, I felt horribly run down, tired, sick, and sorta depressed. Well since I am practically an MD I decided that the problem was Anemia.. since I couldn't remember the last time I ate anything with iron in it. So I've initiated the Beef Project, as I lovingly refer to it. I've been eating burgers, BBQ beef, philly cheese steaks and anything else beef I can get my hands on.. and spinach. And you know what? I feel better.. slightly.

Freedom Fries: Remember when the US decided to go into Iraq and France wouldn't support them? So all the crazy fanatical Americans wanted to change the name of French Fries to "Freedom Fries." Anyways, I never really gave any thought to it.. but recently I spent the day hanging out with a friend on the American military base just north of Seoul. We went out for lunch in the cafeteria, where one of the menu items was "Freedom Fries." So I had the pleasure of snacking on them. Sweet, sweet freedom. Freedom never tasted so oily and salty! *Shakes head*

Things of Note

Milestones recent or upcoming:

1) Took a field trip the other day with our school. The driver of the bus asked me to put on my seatbelt, and it occured to me that that was the first time in about 6 months that I've worn a seatbelt.. weird! How will I ever adjust to life back in Canada... if I go back to Canada!

2)Teacher's Day in Korea: the amount of gifts we got was unbelievable... I got, to name a few things, a Burberry scarf, Bvlgari perfume, tonnes of soaps, Clinique and Chanel makeup, jewelry, roses, candies and chocolates, etc.

3) This Saturday will mark my 6 month anniversary in Korea. It struck me the other day - well actually two things struck me. I was on the subway looking out at some Korean signs and surrounded by Korean people speaking Korean, and I didn't feel like I was in a foreign place really - I don't know if that makes any sense.. but I feel comfortable here, despite not speaking the language and whatnot... The second thing - I had a sorta rough day at work - the kids weren't listening to me (must have been the rain - the kids go crazy on rainy days, don't know why!), and I was really grumpy. Anyways at the end of the day, the thought popped into my head that I don't mind my job that much.. and this is after a bad day! So I surprise myself that I honestly don't mind teaching these days - I've hit a routine and things have become very easy for me... And I really do love some of the kids....

4) I had to wipe my first ass this past week. I went into the bathroom and this little girl I teach comes out with her stockings around her ankles and her dress hiked up around her waste. She bends over and sticks her bum at me, covered in poo. (Look at me talking like a kindergarten teacher). I desperatly tried to give her toilet paper and even mimed out some wiping motions for her but she kept insisting that she couldn't do it herself (she is only 3 or 4)... so finally I had to pull up my socks, jump in there, and get 'er done.

5) Not to jinx it, and despite the fact that I've put absolutely ALL my eggs into one basket... I finally sent in my application for grad school at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. I should find out within the month if I am accepted or not. Should I get in, I will have roughly a month and a half between finishing out my contract here and having to head to S. Africa to start in January. Fingers crossed!

And I guess that's it! Also, if you've forgotten about my pictures website, go to http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s307/hilthepill/ to see recent photos of me out and about or in my apartment being an idiot.. the joys of a digital camera!!

Recent Weeks

Okay here goes a brief, bullet pointed post:

• My rugby team has started playing in a touch league on the weekends pre-practice or games for the club... read more here: https://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2007/05/02/200705020021.asp
• Today in the middle of class, a bunch of kids are telling me things.. sorta all at once because they were excited, and this little boy blurts out "Sometimes I touch my grandma here!" (and points at his nipple)... umm... okay? What do you say in that situation?
• Today a little boy (he's about 5 or 6) came in halfway through class, then I turn around and he's run out and is crying in his mom's arms. Then his mom tells me that he is scared of me because he was late and that is why he was crying... Note to self: be nicer to that class (I'll admit they get on my nerves so I'm a little mean to them.. the rest of the kids like me though)
• Another note to self: don't frequent stores or banks around the school when it lets out - I went to the bank today after work and was stopped by a kid's parents who wanted to ask me how their son was doing. Lovely conversation, always! It's the one thing I have managed to avoid before now, as many parents don't speak English...
• I've become like a rock star at school, not sure exactly why. And it seems the amount that kids like me is inversely related(is that the right word??) to how mean I am in class. The classes where I'm rather stern, I see the kids afterwards and they come running yelling "Hilary Teacher!" and give me cookies and stuff... Also, a lot of other little kids come running and calling my name all the time too and I have no idea who they are...
• One little girl, I guess she's 5 or 6 as well, always goes to the bathroom with the door open. And by some fluke I always walk into the bathroom when she's on the toilet with her pants down, walking out of the washroom with her pants down or in some other stage of undress. And she is the most talkative girl. So I walk in the bathroom, and I hear this little voice, "What's your name?" And turn around and see her with her pants around her ankles. So I awkwardly answer, "Hilary Teacher." And she goes "Oh beautiful name. Is it your Korean name?" etc. etc. etc. This has happened three times now.. It's the strangest thing - I have a bathroom stalker!

And that's all for now!

Zoo Trip

Another short post.. Can't seem to get myself motivated for much longer than a little post these days! It's weird trying to write about life when it's just boring old life!!

Anyways, we went to the zoo on Wednesday. I asked my homeroom kids what their favorite part of the zoo was - what animal they liked the best. The only answer they would give me was "Hilary Teacher and Danny Teacher." So despite the fact that I had nothing to do with them at the zoo (we split into two groups and I wasn't part of theirs - I supervised a different class), and I teach then twice a day all week, we were still their favorite part of the day. Weird!!

Gotta love kids!

Korean Taxi Ride

The other day I decided to take a taxi home.. for very important reasons (I had to get home to do phone teaching and I wanted enough time to order pizza and have it arrive before I had to start - REAL important...). Anyways, I get into the taxi and the guy starts talking to me in mostly Korean but with the odd English word thrown in. At this point of my stay in Korea, I can understand certain words in Korean.. not too many I have to say. So he asks me where I'm from, and when I say Canada, he goes, "Oh, goood. Canada, number one!" And repeats this over and over.. then he says some other stuff and I finally figure out he's asking me if I have kids.. Then I say no. And I think from there he was asking me if I have a boyfriend or husband back in Canada. Then if I have one in Korea (either that or he was asking me if I wanted him to be my boyfriend - not sure - this is where it got hazy). Oh, also at some point he goes, "Jesus?" And I say "No!" Hahaha. Good times in broken English and Korean.

Pictures

Okay I finally got a digital camera.. my new baby!! But anyways, in lieu of emailing random images and posting them here and there, I'm gonna put them all in photobucket. You can see them at http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s307/hilthepill/ I should add more soon, it just takes so damn long!!

I am a Mommy

Okay - just a quick post because the night is winnowing away (correct usage??) and I'm lazy...

This week I have become a mommy. One of my classes - I am their only foreign teacher and they've become quite attached to me - and me to them, I'll admit. I teach them twice a day MWF and once on T/Th.. anyways, any time I see them in the hall they yell "Hilary Teacher!" and run over and hug me, wave or smile. When they walk past my class and they see me through the window, I hear them yelling my name - when I'm not teaching them, they try and kidnap me into their class.. (they're about 5 or 6 years old)... anyways one little girl always wants to hang off of me.. she was hugging me the other day, and called me "Oma" (which means mom in Korean) then all the others started chanting "oma, oma oma...". The next day I was handing out some stuff and this little guy, Peter, goes "Thank you, Mommy." Ahh good times...

And in one of my older afternoon classes, one of my students who I've taught for almost 5 months now called me Mom today! Weird!!

So I think I am officially a "Mom." Now I just need to get a minivan and some mom jeans.

Sniffing...

The things kids do are strange - if you've been reading my blog, you probably have gathered that! Anyways, in the past week, I have had two kids sniff me. One kid was walking around me running his nose all over my back and arms (yeah kinda gross, I know) and today one little girl wouldn't stop sniffing my arm. Other teachers have told me they've had kids do this as well. I wonder why they do it? It's not a bad smell thing (I think??) - I wonder if they just do it to foreign teachers, because they're curious about us? One of my classes that I teach - I'm the only foreign teacher they've ever had - today the boys were full on trying to lift up my shirt. I had to make them put their hands up and apologise to me for it... It's a strange line to walk with kids, because you want to let them know that certain behaviour isn't okay - but on the other hand, they don't mean anything malicious by it - they're just curious!

Magic Weapon

I have been in Korea now teaching for over 4 months (WHAT?! where does time go!)... And far from being an expert teacher, I have learned tricks - had bad classes and good, and discovered many ways of filling those extra 10 or 15 (or 30 - hahaha) extra minutes at the end of the class...

Lately I have discovered a new magic weapon. My super-duper interesting life ;) I have a little book of photographs from home - some from when I was younger, some of my house, some of my family, some of different places in Canada, and some of me playing rugby and baseball. I whip that out when I run out of things to do.. "Want to see teacher playing baseball? Want to see teacher's cat?"

In one of my afternoon classes I have all the smart kids that I taught in kindergarten until they graduated a month ago. Anyways the last few classes I've found myself off on some WILD tangents from the material we're supposed to be studying (which sucks anyways, so I don't feel bad). Like talking about the diets of elephant seals and sea lions. Or today, talking about all the different kinds of rays I've seen scuba diving and the different types of sharks - and the ones I've swam with. The other day, the kids sat silently as I regailed them with tails of how my brother and I used to play "car crash" in the living room - sitting across the carpet from one another, smashing toy cars into each other - the kids even had me draw the toy cars we'd play with on the board. (What?!)

I've promised this class I'll bring them pictures of my trip to the Galapagos as well to show them. So anyways, this is my new magic weapon. I figure it is interesting to them because it is so far removed from their lives. I don't know - but anyways, keeps me... and them occupied!

Phone Teaching

Part of my contract is that I have to phone teach once a month. This means phoning each of the kids in any class I have above a certain level and asking them simple questions for about 3-5 minutes, just as a way to show the parents that their kids can actually speak in English on the phone.

Anyways, most of the kids dread it - most are way quieter on the phone then they are in class - and I struggle to fill 3 minutes talking to them. I had one girl to call today and I was really worried about talking to her on the phone - in class she is very quiet and I get the impression that out of my class of 10 kids, she never really knows what's going on. So in class today, she is looking at me and saying, with a big smile, "Teacher, you me tonight." Finally I figured out she was reminding me to call her tonight...

So after the day of teaching, I pick up the phone to call her. Usually I have a list of several questions to ask the kids, then I say good bye and hang up.. So Ruth gets on the phone. I'm about to ask her some questions, and she says, "Teacher, how old are you?" Then she cycles through my family -"Teacher have brother? How old? How old is your father?" Etc. Etc.

Then she is asking me if I like pizza.. and hamburgers.. then she asks me if my brother likes hamburgers. And I tell her he'd eat hamburgers for every meal if he could. And she says, "Me too!" Then she asks me if I like apples. Then potatoes.

At this point, I'm ready to go - I've been on the phone for the requisite 5 minutes and beyond - so I tell her that that's all the questions I have for her and I have to go. She says "No. Now speak Korean!" So I ask her what she wants to hear - (hajima - stop it). So I oblige, and I say, "Goodnight Ruth - I have to go call some other children now." And she keeps saying no, no matter what I say!! At this point, all the other teachers in the staff room are in stitches as I try and get off the phone with this girl!!

Finally I end up hanging up on her! I can't believe I had to hang up on a student, I feel quite bad - I think she'll take it in good humour, right?? But MAN I just couldn't get her off the phone! It turned into about a 10 minute long conversation... But it was quite funny!!

How Can I Ever Trust Girls?

So I walk into class one day last week, and one of the little boys had crumpled up the syllabus his Korean teacher gave him into a ball. I go, "Kyle, Annie Teacher worked very hard on that. How do you think she would feel if she saw what you had done?" And he gets all sad and tries to tell me that the girls somehow tricked him into doing it. So I give the classic line, "You've got a mind of your own. Would you do anything just because the girls in class told you to do it?"

Halfway through my lesson, Kyle, who's had his head down for most of it, sits up and leans over to the little boy next to him. "Robert, how will I ever trust girls again?" He asks. Hahahahaha... sometimes I can't even believe the stuff that comes out of this little guy's mouth!

A Reminder...

Today the air raid sirens went off. Just a reminder, I guess, that Korea is still technically in a war. And then from time to time I see convoys of military trucks with Korean soldiers decked out in combat gear with weapons. It's so weird - to be in one of the more developed and nicer of Asian nations, but this is the reality.

A friend at school was telling me he was here during the time when North Korea was setting off their missiles. Anyways he said that the day North Korea detonated their bomb, there were about 3 air raid sirens, and that the atmosphere was really quiet and tense. Even on the streets...

And the other thing is that life just goes on... people keep on living. In my afternoon kindy class, I asked them if they heard the sirens, then I asked them what they were. One kid suggested a fire truck. Then I asked if it was a practice for when the planes (I mimed out some war planes firing bombs) came. And a few of the girls said, "Yes! That's it."

Even the little kids know... I wonder what it would be like to grow up in that... not that it's super prevalent - as growing up in somewhere like Iraq or Afghanistan must be... but it's definitely built into the national psyche, I think...

45 Minutes in the Life

Disclaimer: Before reading this, wanted to let you know that I only teach 1-3 year old class so for the most part, class does NOT go like this....

So the bell rings to start class. I dawdle a little in the teachers room but eventually muster up the strength to go into deer class. When I walk in, three of the kids have climbed way up onto a ledge by the window. I frantically yell "No!" as I run in and pick them all up and off the ledge (about 5 feet off the ground). One little boy scratches me as I lift him up. When I set him down, he wraps his arms around my leg and bites.

Finally I calm the kids down, and then two of them run out of the classroom. When I eventually get them all back in, I get them all settled down colouring for a bit. Things seem to be looking up. After a while, they start to lose interest in colouring so I get up and attempt to engage them in an actions song but the kids are only half paying attention. I hear a noise and I look over and one boy is half on the table. I firmly tell him "No." and put him back in his chair. A moment later, he is standing on the table and has kicked everything off onto the floor.

I pick him up and say, "Michael, NO! Stop it!!" (In Korean) and he is kicking me and scratching and whatnot, so I remove him to the corner of the room. I put a little chair and try and get him to sit. He's screaming and throws the chair over across the room - pretty strong for a 3 year old. Then he starts to scream, "YA YA YA" over and over (I think it means something along the lines of hey you! And one of the little girls starts screaming it back at him, taunting.

So I'm yelling trying to get everyone to quiet down, and then Michael starts to scream at the top of his lungs. Meanwhile I'm running around trying to clean everything up.... Finally everyone calms down and I give out stickers and Michael seems all sad and worn out. I know kids need to break down once in a while... but man is it stressful!! So I give him a few stickers, and everything seems all good.

By the end of the class I get the kids smiling and laughing again, until Michael grabs my leg again and bites.. and the little girl thinks it looks cool so she does the same.

Finally after what seems like 14 hours of heavy warfare, the dismissal bell rings and I run out like a bat out of hell...

I'm a Rockstar!

It's funny - while I'm teaching the little kids, I can tell they like me... more or less... at least I think they do? But as soon as I stop teaching them, I become like a rockstar! I walk through the halls when class has been let out and I have kids screaming my name... Kids that rarely said two words to me in class now come running when I pass, hold my hand, give me hugs, give me candy and treats as I go by!

There's one little girl - she was my youngest student before the class switch-up, she's so tiny! Anyways, she was one that would cry and cry for the first few classes... then eventually I got her to be okay with the classroom setting... But I still never heard so much as a few words out of her... Now I see her during the breaks and she's all talk! Smiling, and saying things to me! It's so weird to see this big change in her!

These other kids, I taught for about a month when I first arrived. I see them now in the halls and the amount they like me seems to grow exponentially as the time I actually taught them gets further and further away! At first they would shyly wave at me in the halls. Now it's been about 2 or 3 months since I taught them, and I'm getting hugs and my name yelled three or four times when I pass by.

It's nice to be appreciated ;)

Deer Class Continued...

If you read my previous post, you'll read about "Deer Class," my class of kids that are around 3 years old. Thankfully, my attacker was moved to another class - he's either older or younger than the other kids, I'm not sure!

Anyways, earlier in the day, I make a friendly wager with the other foreigner that teachers this class. He guesses that it will only take 3 minutes before the kids start to cry, I guess 6 minutes. It takes 2...

So I walk into class and before the other teacher leaves (she's Korean and very good with the little kids), two kids start bawling... One runs out and the other stays but is sobbing and pushing me away. After a little while, the president of the school brings the little guy back and I sit with the crying girl. I draw her a happy face and colour it green. I can see she's getting interested, so I draw here a cat and an orange sun. After this, she decides she is interested too so she stops crying and starts to colour with me.

The little boy keeps being brought in by the president or Korean teachers but keeps running out as soon as they leave. At one point, he comes back by himself and I see his eye peering in through a crack in the door. When he catches sight of me, the door slowly closes... And this is the last I see of him until he opens the door and one of the other little boys roars at him like a dinosaur... and he didn't come back!!

I got a good tip from a friend who reminded me just how young these kids are... I can't really be expected to teach them, can I? I mean at this age, they learn by osmosis! They already started repeating some words after me, and understood if I asked them questions like "Do you like dogs?" or "Do you like green?"

After, we played on the play mat with some toys - which of course caused a big problem when the two little boys wouldn't share - And when one wouldn't give back the toys at the end of class. I solved that by giving the good little kids stickers for giving back the toys, so eventually he did as well.

I think I am learning just as fast as the kids! Steep learning curve!!

Little Kids: 1, Hilary Teacher: 0

This week for Korean kids is the first week of the new school year. For me, this means that all the classes got restructured, a bunch of kids graduated and we got a bunch of new kids. Today at work it was semi-chaos with new kids showing up, classrooms being double booked, kids not knowing where to go, and a bunch of kids who have never been in a school environment before (oh and two brand new classes of Korean age 5 year old kids - that means they are most likely 3 years old!)... Anyways you can guess how "awesome" my day was - to make matters worse, one of the other teachers got into a fight with the head teacher so went home... extending my day by about an hour... so teaching from 9:30-7 pm with no breaks (aside from the 5 minutes between class, and the 15 minutes times two in the afternoon).. and because it was so chaotic, those breaks in between classes were basically non-existent...

After lunch, for 45 minutes I teach Deer class. It's the afore-mentioned brand new class of kids that are about 3 years old. So I get into class, and one kid is bawling. He runs out of class, all the other kids run out after him, so the president of the school has to escort them all back in. One little boy sits beside me and glares at me angrily out of the corners of his eyes. Then he starts to hit me, so I try to be nice but stern and tell him to stop. During all this, about every 5 or 10 minutes, some kids get up and run out of the room. The crier comes back in but quickly breaks down into tears again, leaving class, after which about 2 other kids leave class too. Including glary-mcpunch, who leaves class. When I try to stop him he starts to physically fight with me to open the door. At this point, I let him go because I don't want to have a fight with a 3 year old on his first day of school, besides I don't speak Korean and have no idea what's going on. This carries on in a loop for the rest of class.... I have no idea what to do! So stressful.. one of the longest and worst 45 minutes of my life! Who knew that it would be so hard!!

I'm a Deadbeat Tenant

So I'm an official deadbeat. And a dumb one at that....

Last week, I was supposed to get paid. It was a hectic week on account of our kindy's graduation on Friday, so I didn't worry too much when I hadn't been paid by Friday. The problem, however, was that I didn't pay my electricity bill last month. Yes, I'm a procrasinator... And the bill came due last Tuesday, but since I hadn't been paid, I couldn't pay this month's bill because it was twice what it normally would be... on account of my procrastination... (you get where I'm going with this??)

So I get home sometime last week and there's a notice in Korean stuck to my door. At the bottom, I see it has a large sum in won (Korean money)... I chuckle to myself and take it inside without really looking at it.. (I mean, what are they going to do to me, right?).

So I get home from work on Monday night (last night) and go to flick on the light. No light comes on. I look over to the little light that is on my heating guage. It's not there. And it hits me, they've disconnected my power. I'm a deadbeat. So I have to fumble around my dark apartment for my flashlight. And I get to spend the night huddled under my blanket for warmth, watching exactly one movie on my laptop - which has enough juice for exactly one movie - and connecting to a random wireless internet connection floating around my building.

This morning, hanging my head in shame, I have to explain to the head teacher that I'm a deadbeat who doesn't pay her bills - so the president of my school (whoops!!) has to call the company to get my electricity turned back on... sometimes I'm glad I don't speak Korean!! Or she doesn't speak English. How embarrassing.. So I guess procrastination has finally come back to haunt me. Have I learned my lesson? We shall see!!

Kids Are Way More Observant Than We Think....

This I'm beginning to discover after teaching for a while now. The kids notice EVERYTHING. They notice if I've showered in the morning as opposed to the night before. My hair is slightly damp and I get the question, "Teacher, shower today?" then we spend 10 minutes talking about when everyone showers. If I wear my hair down or in braids, it sends shockwaves down the halls - everyone is trying to touch my hair, or getting their friends to come look at me. If I have a cold or am tired, the kids are sure to call on it. I walk in with one of the other teachers, and I hear about it later in the day ("Teacher! I saw you talking with Brant Teacher this morning" - And then I have to explain that, no, we're not married, and no we don't have kids together). Anyways today, I got a good dose of kidisms...

So I'm sitting in Drama Class today - let me back up a moment... I have turned Drama Class into Art Class because the kids get way too out of hand if I try to teach them Drama. Anyways, we're all sitting around and one of the little boys I teach (6-7 years old) starts talking about his dad. And says "When my dad drinks soda, he..." And then gets up and wobbles around all shakily.

At first I have no idea what he is talking about. Then another boy starts to laugh, and yells out, "My dad, when he drink soda, he..." And proceeds to pretend to drink something, wobble around and fall back and act out smashing his head against the wall. Then a third boy gets up and goes, "My dad, he drink soda and BLAHHHHHHH," miming a bunch of vomit coming out of his mouth.

At this point, I wise up and go, "Soda or Soju??" And the kids chorus back, "Soju!!" Soju is Korean rice wine, by the way.

This is made even funnier by the fact that tomorrow is the kids graduation... So I get to meet all their parents. I am sure they would love to know that their little kids are not only telling their teacher about their drunken episodes but acting them out as well... I guess it is a Drama Class afterall!

Now I'm seriously afraid to ever have kids... It's like having a tiny spy in your house with you... all the time!

Things I've learned continued...

I am a superhero.

Well actually two superhero. One of them is "Bundegi Man" (real flattering - trying to explain I'm not a man didn't help). Because I was telling one of my classes that the smell of Bundegi (spelling?? these disgusting little wormy bugs that street vendors saute up for people - the taste is vile, but perhaps more vile is the smell...) makes me vomit into my own mouth a little. I mean I am walking down the street with no street vendors in sight, a slight breeze will start to blow, and then my nose will twitch. And I will know bundegi is near. And then I will go to great lengths to spot the offending vendor and cross the street, or at least hurry by with my breath held. Anyways, as Bundegi Man (Imagine Batman with a small wormy creature replacing the Bat Symbol), I scour the streets of Seoul blasting away the bundegi vendors (this according to one of my classes).

Superhero two is not quite as glamourous but more functional, and is simply Super Hilary. I got this name today. I was teaching one girl today and I left the class to go to the teacher's room. On the way I walked past another class I teach and the teacher was out of the room. I happened to see that two of the boys were about to get into a fist fight so I busted in yelling and pulled them out of class. I got them in the hall standing with their hands in the air (an effective Korean punishment) and of course they refused to talk to me - so I brought in the big guns. At this point, one of the boys was balling and the other was standing there with his face frozen like stone. Anyways, they got an ear full in Korean for a good 10 minutes. And when I returned to class, my student who had heard through the open door was applauding me and calling me Super Hilary....

Ahhh all in a day's work. ;)

Things I've Learned This Week...

1) Kimchi makes you taller. We were talking about height in one of my kindergarten classes, and the kids told me that one of the boys used to be the shortest, but because he ate a lot of kimchi, he was now the second tallest in the class. Eat up!

2) Valentine's Day in Korea is a day where the girls must give chocolate and cards to the boys. Interesting!! Luckily being a teacher seems to exempt me from this - I got a king's ransom in chocolates from the kids! Teaching does have it's perks, I suppose!!

3) I can make really little kids laugh just by dancing. Oh yeah, you should see my Charleston!

4) In Korean age, I am actually 25! I gained 2 years in one conversation. Yikes!!

5) I'm a strep throat vector. Even though exhibiting no symptoms, I still pass it on... but I've long suspected this!

And more...

Guam Continued...

Guam Pictures

Guam, finally!

So I have heard from some people that there has been no post on my blog for a while! Guess you are right... I will try and get the Guam trip out in one blast, so I don't lose steam like I did for my Japan trip.

So we flew out on the first Friday of the month, at around 9:30 at night. I knew the trip had begun when we cracked some beers in Incheon Int'l Airport while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive, and continued to carry them in through check-in.

Anyways, we touched down in Guam around 3:30 am, and boy was it nice to step into the mildy humid, warm night. (When we left Seoul it was around -10 Celcius!).

We got into our rooms, and crashed, finally, around 5 am. When I got up, I looked out my window and the first sights to hit my eyes were the beautiful turquoise sea, white sand beaches, flowers, palm trees and butterflies flitting around. Hmm... I think I am going to like Guam!

We headed off to the field, where our first game wasn't until the afternoon, so we had the morning to lounge around on the sidelines under palm trees, listening to Bob Marley on the loudspeakers. Could life get any better?

Anyways to make a long story short, we played rugby during the day (and it was fun ;) )

That night we had the dance - our team went as cave women, so we all made our costumes out of leopard print and had paper mache clubs, and our manager dressed as Barney Rubble... how cool!! We went to an all you can eat and drink surf and turf buffet - I think I have never eaten so much in my life! After the 3rd plate, I can recall saying "I think I am going to blow up..." And then came plates 4 and 5. Yeah, you do NOT make money off a rugby player at a buffet (have I mentioned, though, that I've lost about 25 pounds (I think??) in the time I've been in Seoul?). Later we walked down the street to go to some other clubs. On the way, we met some police officers and convinced them to take a picture with us in mock arrest... Hahahaha. You will see!!

For those of you that don't know, Guam is an American territory, or something like that - there's a lot of army posted on Guam. So going out to the bar was like being in an army base. And believe me there were some intelligent comments that came along with it... my favorite was a guy walking by leans over and says to his friend, "What is it, leopard print night or something?" Hahaha. Yeah. Leopard print night.

Anyways, the next day we got up and played some (sub-par) rugby but ended up winning the women's half of the tourney (in sudden death overtime, whoops!). Later we ate some more Tony Roma's ribs (they were sponsoring the tourney - never eaten so many ribs in my life!!) and watched some really cool Guamian (huh?) dancing with fire and hulas and the works!

After, we had our kangaroo court under the goal posts - I was the president so I got to fine people (myself included) for doing stupid stuff all weekend, got to shoot the boot for scoring my first try with the Seoul Sisters, and of course did my rendition of the Haka, Canadian style.

We went out Sun. night, and flew back around 3:30 am... rolled back into Seoul at 6:45 am, dashed home, and caught 30 minutes of sleep before I had to get up and get ready to teach - then taught all day. REAL cool. Actually, really NOT cool, I would not recommend this!!

But on the whole, I loved Guam. It was exactly what I needed, to get away from the cold, smogginess that is Seoul. It also made me realize that I really dislike teaching here and need to get a move on... so I don't know how much longer I will stay. Hopefully I can last out my 6 months so I don't have to pay back my flight!!

Pictures Continued...

Pic one is the Canadian National team at Interski- a bunch of Marie-Eve's friends. Pic two is some Korean traditional dancers at the Interski opening ceremonies. Pic three is Shauna, Me and TY a few weekends before on the chairlift at Pheonix Park, four is synchronized skiing from Interski (how cool!!) and 5 is me as usual being a fool on a (insert place name here) ski hill.

Pictures co. Marie-Eve

Okay, first pic is of me RIPPING down a green run. I sure schooled all those beginners!! Second is the flags of all the countries participating in Interski. Third, me with a real cool and effective sounding drink: "Fat Down." Hmm.. wonder what it's for?? Four really needs no explanation. And five is one of the Korean guys in traditional skiing or hunting?? (dunno- Tarzan?) gear at the opening ceremonies of Interski.

More Kid's Comments

Today was one of the few days I actually wore my hair down. Because it's curly and red it always causes such a stir I prefer to tie it back. Well actually for those of you who know me I always wear it tied back, I am just trying to make myself sound way cooler than I actually am ;)

Anyways first thing in the morning I walk down the hall of my school and three girls I teach start squealing and pointing at me and saying, "Teacher! Hair!" So I flip my hair like a supermodel and strut into the teachers room. Yeah, I'm soo cool!

In my first class, I'm sitting with the kids, and one of my girls says to me, "Hilary Teacher, your hair looks like long worms attached to your head." I nearly fall out of my chair laughing. What a way to describe hair. The funniest part is I think she meant it as something nice. Ahh me and my long wormy hair!

Korean Saunas

This weekend Marie-Eve and I went snowboarding/skiing again. At one of the hills - Yong Pyong (the city Vancouver beat out for the 2010 Olympics), they were having the Interski Congress - it's like the world cup for ski instructors for all over the world, held once every four years. So there were teams from all over the world - Canada, Montenegro, Italy, GB, NZ, Slovenia, etc. To name a few. Marie-Eve knew a bunch of the Canadian team so we spent some time hanging out with them, which was cool. Also the American team wasn't there on account of it being Korea and security problems (quel suprise!). On Sunday morning we got to see the opening ceremonies, which were a bunch of Korean dancing, drums etc. And each team doing one run down the hill doing synchronized skiing. Very cool!

Anyways back to my original point, we spent the night in a hostel. And this isn't the first place I've stayed that thinks a good ambient sleeping temp. is about 30 celsius. No joke! It was like trying to sleep in a sauna. And Koreans seem to just think this was great. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep for the night!

Culture Shock

Hmm... Haven't posted anything in a while.. what to write?

Anyone ever read that chart of the stages you go through adjusting to a new country? If not, check out http://student-services2.utoledo.edu/international/predeparture/shock.html

From my time in China and my time here in Korea, I'd have to say it's fairly accurate. Unfortunately I am in the "irritation" stage. I am annoyed with everything and everyone. I hate that everything is a big hassle - for example I finally found out yesterday where to take my recycling. Until then I'd been covertly sneaking plastic bottles out in my trash or taking them to the subway or other places with garbage to throw away... I hated doing it but had no idea where they went! And of course not speaking Korean, I had no idea who to ask and didn't know what I would ask anyways.

Also of annoyance is the fact that I haven't been sleeping well. One of my neighbours thinks it's really cool to practice his electric guitar nights between 12:30 am and 3 am, most nights. Also there's a bar outside my window which inevitably means there are some drunkards running around and yelling outside almost every night as well. I want to get a sniper rifle and sit here in wait. The other night these people were yelling at the top of their lungs for so long.. All I could think was "Aren't you cold? Go home!!" And then of course is the food issue - don't get me wrong... I love Korean food! But the food I am served at school is rediculously bad! Well, it's prepared in a tiny kitchen by one lady for about 100 kids, so I can't fault her.. also kids like things that are more bland then adults... But I'd say most days of the week there's only rice and some other dish that I don't mind eating. Some days there's nothing. And even the stuff I don't mind is starting to get on my nerves!!

And then of course is the fact that all my friends live so far away. So going to see them is such a big trek. In the busy subway or train all crushed in with all the people. And don't even get me started on the smog...

Sigh. Last night I spent awake tossing and turning because of a fever, what else is new? Hilary is sick in Korea....

Anyways I am gonna stop this post before I depress myself even more!

Initiated into the Club

What club you might ask? Well - read on to find out!!

I have a new class in the afternoons. It's 5 kids that are "six years old" in Korean speak, that usually means that they are 5. Here, they turn a year older on Jan. 1st - so in Korean, I am 24 not 23, even though my birthday is not until May 31. Even if the kid is born on Dec. 31 - they turn one on Jan. 1, so theoretically a kid could be one year old but really only one day!

Anyways, the class hardly speaks English and there's one little girl that is only 5 (4 in real age). Last class, she spent the better part of 30 minutes with tears brimming in her eyes and her lower lip quivering - and finally broke down so I had to take her out of class. Today, she almost immediately started crying, so I took her down to the front desk. I finally got a teacher to translate, and she said that she missed her mom. When they finally brought her back to class, she started crying again. So I picked her up like a doll and carried her around for a bit. Then I put her in a chair at the front and sat with her and helped her do her work. This seemed to suitably distract her, and she even went and sat at the table with all the other kids by the end of class so she could colour!

But anyways in the midst of all this, she starts walking all funny and says something to me in Korean, which I intuitively took to mean, "I have to pee." So I follow her to the bathroom wondering to myself, "Can 4 year olds go to the bathroom by themselves? Do I have to help? To what extent do I have to help?"

So she goes, and I kind of leave the door half open and awkwardly stand there, until I hear a little "Haseyo." (Done). So I go in - thankfully she knew how to go herself, so I just had to help her pull up her pants and tuck in her shirt.

So I'm finally initated into the little kid bathroom club! I've heard other teachers that teach the little babies talk about having to do that but until this day I never had. First time for everything!

Japan Pics, Courtesy of Arnel

Here are some Japan pics, courtesy of Arnel... The first is Me, Arnel, Keiko (his wife) and some of their friends on the day they got married. Second, is me eating traditional soba noodles on New Years Eve, and third is again New Years, having dinner at the Buddhist temple we stayed at.

Things I've Learned This Week:

1) According to Korean kindergarteners, the colour of my hair is "silver and gold" (hahaha)

2) One person can sure produce a lot of snot (you probably didn't want to know that, but whatev)

3) It's possible to hurt yourself coughing.

4) Sleeping pills don't own me, I own THEM!

5) Never underestimate the power of a really good nights sleep!

One Pill Makes You Larger...

And one pill makes you small. And the little blue half-pill? The strangest of them all. Just ask your Korean doctor...

I realize I haven't finished my Japan-logue.. sigh. But since I've come home, I've developed a rather nasty 'mystery illness' (avian flu?). I started to run a fever on Wed. night. Thursday at school, I still had it. Let me tell you - it's REALLY cool to try and teach kindergarteners when you're coughing, sneezing and running a fever. Now you're probably reading this and thinking "Why wouldn't you just go home?"

Well - in Korea, sick days are frowned upon... And I want to try and use mine letter on to currie a favour, but we shall see. At this point I hadn't slept in quite a few nights - up coughing and sick and whatnot. Friday comes, I'm even worse, so I come to school teach one block. By teach I mean sit in the corner with my head in my hands while I make the kids colour. After this I had a break so I go to the doctor who listens to my chest and says my breathing is bad (pneumonia? bronchitis?) and of course her English is not the greatest so I really have no idea what's wrong - she prescribes me "rest" and to stay away from "big cold winds" and a slurry of pills.

Each dose is about 4 or 5 pills. So I go back to school, at this point I ask for the day off but because another teacher is off sick I can't go. I take my pills. I begin to feel VERY drowsy. Then it dawns on me that perhaps I took the pills for night, and it turns out I did take the package of pills that contains a sleeping pill of sorts. So I teach the rest of the day fighting off a sleeping pill.

I ask another teacher what the pills are. And now I think that they are not supposed to help my cough or my flu at all. He told me a few of them are uppers like ephedrine, a few are downers and one is a sleeping pill... real cool. So I'll be all hopped up for the next few days - the problem was I couldn't ask anyone 'cause they only spoke Korean.

And all this would sound all funny to me... If I didn't feel quite so horrible. And to top it off, I woke up today (well not really woke up - I got up after tossing and turning awake all night) and it seems I have developed a sort of eye infection. Gotta love Korea!

More Japanamia

I spent a good chunk of time while I was in Japan planning all the great posts I was going to write for my blog. Now that I am home, time has slipped away from me - so I'm going to write the condensed version.

The first full day, Arnel took me to Nara - this funky little area that has a ton of temples, shrines and DEER. About 1200 to be exact. And when I say they are everywhere I mean it! The area is crawling with deer. You can walk right up to them and pet them. I made the mistake of buying some deer cookies and had to deal with a bunch of deer headbutting me and biting me... Learned my lesson! Don't feed the wildlife!!

That night, we met with a bunch of Arnel's friends at a bar and drank and ate a bunch of small different dishes. I tried chicken cartalidge (what??!) and pork fat.. as well as some other more palatable options. We were gonna do the Asian thing and stay out until the first train at 6 am back to where Arnel and Keiko live but decided to head home around midnight. Then decided to go to Karaoke. So around 1 am, we grabbed some more beer from Arnel's and hopped on bikes. Interesting trying to navigate on a bike when you're half drunk! The karaoke place was in an arcade, so we spent a little time playing the stupidest games we could find - the dancing one, a silly hand rhythm game, an arm wrestling game, etc. Then spent a few hours singing all the classics at karaoke (just the two of us) like Boys II Men. We sounded SO good! Noone in Korea will go to karaoke with me! I wonder why...

The next day, we got up late, went and then (surprise!) Arnel and Keiko were getting married!! We walked over to the city hall where they signed all their papers and I got to be one of their witnesses! Very cool! Thanks for letting me be a part of it, Arns and Keiko (or should I say K.J.) ;)

Anyways... more to come! I just got home and need to go to bed now!

Strollin' in the Park

So if it's nighttime in Canada, I would usually be inside for fear of getting rolled or murdahed. However, Japan is beyond safe - I was told if you left a bag sitting somewhere for an hour and then came back, your bag would still be there. And I believe it!

The first night I was there, Arnel and Keiko had to work, so I took a long walk to the park. Arnel and I 'sampled' a bunch of Japanese alcohols. Then we get outside and Arnel hands me a beer - apparently it's legal to stroll around in Japan drinking! It was really surreal to be walking down deserted back streets of Japan with a beer in my hand and my good friend Arnel!

Anyways, the park was wicked! Wish we had parks like that in Korea. I sat down in the dark, and this little cat jumps up onto my lap. Then it stood up to look me in the face and meowed in my face, like it was talking to me. Sweet. The Japanese people were probably thinking that I was a strange white cat whisperer, as there was another cat by me as well.

It was quite interesting - there were people running, training, skipping rope, stretching, skateboarding all at 10:30 at night!

This was my first indication I was gonna like Japan...

Trip to Japan

The one woe I've had since coming to Korea... well should I say, one of the woes, has been money. My bank account was frozen because I forgot to tell the bank I was moving to South Korea...whoops! And instead of a bank account in Korea I have a secret envelope hidden under something in my room.

So when I decided to go to Japan, this all presented quite a challenge - not to mention it was Christmas and everything was closed. After playing phone and email tag with several different travel agents, I finally managed to book a flight to Japan for the 27th on the 26th... and if you know me, you know how I like to do everything WELL in advance!

The trip to the airport was sans stress.. I think the first airport trip that I have ever had that was stressless!! I got there so early, and even though I had to go to immigration and the money exchange, I did everything in a matter of minutes. And spent the rest of the time shopping (I have never shopped at an airport - they have good stuff!). Oh I guess the one faux pas I made was not having my phone number memorized. So when I went through immigration I had to make one up. Whoops, hope they don't call me on it!

Soon enough we were in the air. And then I was in Japan. I was thinking of just making one post about the trip, but the trip was so amazing there will be many posts to come... and pictures, courtesy of my friend arnel - the professional photographer and Keiko, his new wife (my wonderful hosts!)... Stay tuned.