HJS

Well, I was just listening to last week’s Prairie Home Companion and I thought it might be a good time to write a post. We went to the Lotte Department Store and bought a small set of speakers to hook up to our laptop. We have a nice Internet connection, so its easy to listen to Internet radio stations and download Podcasts from iTunes. And it’s all free! Every day I’m able to download NPR podcasts to get the news along with lots of other fun shows. Garrison Keillor does a daily podcast called The Writer’s Almanac which has interesting tidbits related to literature and art along with a poetry reading. There’s nothing quite like listening to him read a poem; I’ve saved a few of my favorites and have listened to some ten or more times. And, of course, I always make sure to listen to my weekly Prairie Home Companion (on Sunday night here in Korea). The Internet is such an important part of our life here– it’s Home on demand! The other day, I wanted a little background music while I worked so I turned on the student run radio station at NYU! Pretty cool!

There’s so much to think about life here in Korea! Things are finally settling down after our big move. We’re finally starting to get our schedule down; unfortunately, we aren’t able to spend much time together during the week. I have set up my studio, but I can’t do much until after I’m done with my teaching which ends around 9:30 PM. I usually work till around 3 or 4 in the morning and then get to bed before light. We put tinfoil on the window in the bedroom, so it’s like a cave. I’m starting to get more done; I’ve missed having my own space to work in since we went to Paris. Heather writes in the morning, so during the night I have the whole place to myself!

The food in Korea is really incredible. We are trying to learn the names of the various dishes so that we don’t have to point at the pictures and nod and smile enthusiastically. When you don’t know a language, you end up smiling, nodding, and saying “please” and “thank you” in Korean. These might be the two most important words in any language.

The other day our boss, Mr. Kim, took Heather and I to lunch with his wife and new baby. He treated us to quite a meal. In Korea, you take off your shoes and eat at low tables on a raised floor. It is surprisingly comfortable and seems to aid digestion! Banchan is the name for the cluster of small dishes that are served to each party. Koreans do not eat a plate of food; rather, each diner chooses his/her meal randomly from among the banchan. The meal with our boss had over 20 banchan, but most meals have between 8 and 12. The good news is that most meals for two still come in under 15,000 Won ($15) and that includes beer or soju! The meal with Mr. Kim was incredible. We tasted so many different meats that I can’t even remember them all. Some of the highlights were whale, eel, raw whitefish, and raw beef strips. Beef is excellent when it isn’t cooked at all, but I’m not sure which cut we tried. Whale is extremely dense with succulent fat and a rich, smokey flavor. The flavor could have been the result of the preparation, but the meat reminded me of beef liver. It tasted healthy! Mr. Kim explained that whales are protected and are therefore very special to eat. They cannot be actively hunted, and can only be taken if caught in a net. Only a few fishermen a year are issed a licence for these nets, so whale is a big deal. Mr. Kim also recommended the eel which he said was especially for me. “Good for stamina!” he said.

The most amazing thing about food in Korea is the way its changed my eating style. It is common to spend two hours eating lightly, drinking lightly and talking all for the price of a meal for one at Chili’s back home. I’m glad I never went in for the sushi thing in California. Now I can enjoy it at a fraction of the cost!

Well, its getting late so I’ll sign off for now! Hope everyone is well!

Joel

No, I’m not planning to hit the western restaurants tonight; I’m just happy it’s Friday!

I spent all week nursing my first Korean cold. Nobody goes home sick here–except when they have “eye disease” (pinkeye, I finally figured out)–so the students are constantly infecting each other and the teachers, who spread it around again when they pass out papers. The bar soap in the school bathroom doesn’t seem like a good idea, so I’ve been making it through my days without eating or touching my face, then scrubbing up like a doctor the second I get home.

I won’t apologize for not posting recently. You don’t want to read that. I will say that we’ve been busy, but we’re okay, we’re happy, and we’re starting to adjust to the jobs.

We like Korea a lot. We like it so much that we forget it’s a foreign country. That’s partly why I haven’t posted in so long–it almost doesn’t feel like we’re “away.” We speak a lot of English, since we’re working at an English academy, so we don’t feel like outsiders the way we did in Paris. This morning, when I was walking in Ulsan Grand Park, I almost felt surprised to hear a group of little boys jabbering on in Korean: The park looks and feels so much like Hyde Park or Marin County, I’d forgotten where I was!

Joel’s job kind of sucks. Naughty little kids running wild for six hours. While I’m able to control my (much older) students by threatening–no, teacher, no!–to seat a boy and girl student next to each other, Joel’s students only stop screaming after they’ve been spanked. The foreign teachers (like us) aren’t allowed to actually crack the whip–thank God–but we can refer the bad cases to the Korean teachers, who will wail on their bottoms. This still feels morally shaky, though, so we’re holding off as long as we can. But since Joel’s kids do things like dangle classmates out the second-story window, that referral might have to happen soon.

Because I majored in Journalism instead of Art, I somehow got the posh gig. We work the same amount of hours–6.5 a day–but my classes consist of relatively angelic middle- and high-schoolers. While Joel’s students don’t know enough English to carry on a simple conversation, mine write me essays about capital punishment and applaud after their classmate’s speeches. I know their names now–that part was easier than I expected–and some of them are already very dear to me.

Oh, and the Koreans think we’re beautiful. I know we’re SO good looking and all, but seriously, you wouldn’t believe it. We’re like rock stars here. My female students ask to touch my hair; they giggle when Joel (ver hansom!) walks by. And every time we walk around outside, gaggles of kids trot out their English, daring each other to say “hi” to us. This definitely isn’t Paris!

Today is the three-week anniversary of our landing in Ulsan. We haven’t yet been to the beach. Tomorrow, we’re finally going! Look for pictures later this weekend.

We love you all. Take care!

Heather

Korean society is homogeneous. There’s a great Word-of-the-Day. For Westerners of non-Asian descent, this means that you will not see anyone that looks like you for days on end (unless you seek them out). It’s really quite an experience, and, because Koreans like foreigners, not an altogether unpleasant one! You cannot walk down the street without making a small scene. It gives you a tiny personal vision of what it must be like to be an African American in a wealthy neighborhood in the United States, but without the fear and negativity aimed at you. Koreans are really interested in foreigners, especially ones they can practice their English on. So, although it’s impolite in Korean society to even acknowlege people you don’t know, many people will smile at you and say “Hi.” Especially children and older people. Anyway, they consider Westerners to be outside the social hierarchy, so breaking social rules like these is tolerable.

I knew for sure I was in a very different place on my first trip to the grocery store. The GS Supermarket is a spotless, bright, florescent world with long aisles, lovely produce, and busy workers. Maybe a little too busy. They mop and polish ceaselessly, scrubbing in your wake just a few yards behind you after you’ve passed. There must be at least five sampling booths in the store at any time, politely bidding you try the special product. Korean pop tunes float through the bright air. Suddenly the music changes and a sort of anthem starts up. It really sounds like propaganda; a shrill voice drones. You notice that the workers have all stopped moving and are standing at stiff attention! They are chanting solemnly with the announcer and in the pause between every phrase they all bow deeply in perfect sync. After several rounds of bowing, the moment ends, the music and voice stop, and everyone resumes their former task with renewed vigor. They have declared their deep allegiance and thanks to you, the customer. It is hard not to feel a little shame. This is customer service, Stalin-style.

The other night we headed out to the university district with our Western collegues for the first time. They know enough Korean to get around on a night out and they know where some great spots are. We didn’t get started till around 11 PM, but Korea never sleeps, so things are just getting started around midnight. Already drunken businessmen were staggering through the streets. Every shop seemed to have 4 or 5 blazing neon lights, so the night sky was scarcely visible. First we ate Korean Barbecue (the grill is installed in your table for you to operate yourself!), and got our first full experience of taking off our shoes and sitting cross-legged at low tables. The waiters rushed out with what seemed like 30 small dishes to flood the table. Everyone shares these little bowls, taking only what they need for their next few bites. Our mates filled our glasses Korean-style; no one pours their own drinks — someone else pours yours and you pour someone else’s (and don’t forget to use both hands to pour and receive). And, of course, they introduced us to the wonderful world of Soju. In Korean, there is no word for alcoholism… I think it translates to something like “wonderful star pickle.” These Korean businessmen get points with their bosses by getting plastered (the worse you act, the better). This is different from the USA where a bad move at an office party can mean the death of promotion opportunities.

Heather and I didn’t drink much Soju, but we saw its effects on a few office gatherings at the tables nearby. After dinner we headed to a Western bar called Tombstone. When I say “Western” I don’t mean cowboys, I mean Anglos. We talked with some Irish people, a girl from LA, a ton of Canadians, and pretty soon I looked out the window and saw early morning blue growing slowly on the sides of the buildings. 5:00 AM! Our collegues and a few new friends made our exit into the early morning light. It was very quiet. Men in three piece suits sat growning on street corners and laying in the mouths of alleys. The neon lights were still on, but the blue morning twilight made them look duller and thinner. Electrical wires made a strange, loud cricket sound. An army of crickets! We set off with the idea of singing karaoke, but someone expressed the desire to eat, and so we headed into one of the many still-open restaraunts. We ate some kind of meat soup and kimchi and drank enough water to ward off a hangover. The party broke up, we jumped on a bus, were swept down a wide, already-crowded street, exited below our apartment complex, and headed up to bed. A grand time! We won’t stay up that late/early again soon, but it’s nice to know that life is going on all the time.

Goodnight from Ulsan, Korea!

Joel

HEATHER–We’re caught up in the first-week whirlwind of this strange new life, but I’m forcing myself to sit down and share a few things while they’re fresh.

Korea is stunning. Beautiful. I’ve never seen scenery like this. Some of you may remember us mentioning before we left that we knew our apartment would be near Ulsan Grand Park. Great, we thought–a place to run in the mornings. I was expecting something akin to McKinley Park in Sacramento: pleasant, grassy, gets the job done. Not so. There’s a giant, lush, meticulously manicured green mountain a half-mile walk from our door. We’ve seen maybe two of the park’s 900 acres so far, and we can’t wait to explore the whole thing!

The apartment, thank God, is better than I’d feared. It’s a big two-bedroom on the second floor of one of the many concrete highrise buildings in this neighborhood. In true frat-boy fashion, the teachers who lived here before us left half-eaten candy bars in the cupboards, sticky smudges on the windows and and microwave grime that took a few days to clean up. It took some scrubbing, but now the place is really comfortable. We have a studio space for Joel, a big bedroom with a wonderful hard, low bed, a decent living room and a workable kitchen. The only part that reminds us we’re in Korea is the bathroom.

Do you know about bathrooms in Korea? They’re actually called shower rooms here, and that’s exactly what they are. There’s no division between the “shower” area and the rest of the bathroom; the shower sprays into the open room and everything goes down a drain in the floor. Wild, huh? It’s rustic, but sort of fun.

Last night we taught our first classes. I’m luckier than Joel, I think: Mine are all middle-school and high-school kids. They were interested in me and listened to everything I said, and their English was good enough for some pretty advanced conversation. Joel is teaching younger kids (the director assigned me the older ones because of my Journalism degree), and they’re not as willing to talk. He spent the whole morning studying teachers’ guides and online tips from other English teachers, and right about now (3:30 p.m.) he should be starting his second day. Wish him luck!

I wish I could post pictures today, but we’ve been doing so much to get settled that we’ve barely taken any. We’ll get some on there soon, I promise (including one of that glamorous shower room!). For now, enjoy the suspense…

P.S. You can see pictures of Namgu, which is our part of Ulsan City, at http://english.ulsannamgu.go.kr/ and pictures of Ulsan at http://guide.ulsan.go.kr/index.neo

HEATHER–It’s just after 11 a.m. Saturday morning, though our California selves know it’s really 7 p.m. Friday night. “Yesterday” morning (Thursday) we went to S.F.O. and got on a plane; last night we landed in Ulsan City. After a 13+ hour flight and a 16-hour leap into the future, we were exhausted!

The hardest thing about the long trip was the knowledge that we’d meet our new bosses in our sticky, post-journey form. We tried to clean up during the Seoul layover, but we still looked pretty scary. But Mr. Kim and Ms. Kim (his sister-in-law) are total sweethearts, and we bonded with them quickly as they lugged our baggage to the apartment and took us out to T.G.I.Fridays–all in the waning hours of their Friday night. We’re getting a second chance to make a first impression in a few hours, when we’ll meet with them to go over the curriculum. Monday’s our first day as JoelTeacher and HeatherTeacher!

We’ve got tons to do and the camera’s still buried in luggage, so we might not get around to posting photos today. Check back in a few days, though, for our photos and first impressions of the Land of the Morning Calm!