HolyShitKorea!

I am a bad, bad blogger. Part of it has to do with the busy-ness (business?) of this semester…I’m teaching more hours than before and taking more responsibility for those classes. I’ve learned to effectively challenge my co-teachers and take control of my teaching plans and the lessons that result. This means I have a much better relationship with my students as their teacher (rather than some kind of curiosity or exotic teacher’s aid) and that I’m more involved in the educational process, but it also means I tend to hoard my free periods and spend them relaxing rather than blogging. The other cause of my general bloglessness seems to be that I feel more settled here in South Korea. I feel like a lot of my day-to-day experiences are less noteworthy. The constant wackiness of my first few months here has given way to a wary contentment. I often feel like there is nothing new to report. I realize that this is not really the case, however, and I am so, so grateful to those of you who have patiently hung on (that means you, Dave!). So here is a brief update of the last few months, with lots more (I promise!) to come.

1. Every school in our area received a government grant to build a new, state-of-the-art English room. Having my own classroom has made such a difference in my teaching. I have trained the students to wait outside until the bell rings and I can invite them in. I also make them clean up after class, and they can’t leave until I say so. This has made a world of difference to my school experience and has gone a long way in addressing the problems mentioned here. I am convinced that the subtle issue of ownership will always be relevant.

2. Since April I have been in charge of an extra-curricular English class full of some of my favorite first graders. We have written a book about a super-hero called Trashman who drinks alien blood, and whose offspring eventually destroy the Earth. It is brilliantly illustrated. I had each student record the page he had written, and now we have a book/CD set. I couldn’t be happier with the results, and soon it will be added to our new English library!

3. Summer on the east coast follows a cycle of sunny and gorgeous, then terrifyingly windy (our apartment complex is built like a wind tunnel), and then rain for days. Right now it’s pouring, and walking up the hill to school is becoming more and more treacherous. Also, every time it rains my students go nuts.  I’m not sure what it is, but the pressure drops and I just stand back and watch their brains explode.

4. I still go to yoga every week. I’ve picked up a lot of useful vocabulary, like inhale, exhale, slowly, straight, side, and how to count backwards from five. Learning to practice in Korean has developed a purely physical dimension to my practice that I’ve never had before. I’ve learned to be more present in class, and much more patient with myself. My teacher is more familiar with my body and my limits now, as well. She calls me “Eden,” and I figure that’s close enough. I’ve been trying to think of a good present to give her when I leave in three months.

5. In Korea, teachers finish university, then do student teaching, and then (ideally) get jobs. After teaching for three or four years, they have to go back to class to become fully certified teachers. Mike and I have been invited to teach on listening and speaking in the English classroom at one of these seminars this August! I am so excited!! I have a meeting with the coordinator this afternoon, hopefully to pin down exactly what is expected of us. On the phone, the coordinator told me that we were invited because we have a “good reputation” in Gangneung. I’m not sure what this means or who she talked to, but I was proud to hear it.

6. Koreans are scared of Swine Flu. They call it “SI” and schools have already been closed down for suspected cases. There are quarantine locations set up in Seoul. I currently have a sore throat, body aches, and a stuffy nose. The school nurse took my temperature and assured me that since I have no fever, I can’t have swine flu, but my co-teacher keeps looking at me funny and asking if any of my friends have recently traveled internationally. I’m tempted to fake it so I can get a week off.

7. We’re going to Bangladesh! My dear friend Josh Buning is getting married on August 15, and we’ll be there to give him all our love.

8. I’ve become a regular at a local Korean bathhouse that’s out near the beach. It’s only 5000 won (which is just a few cents over $4.00 US) to soak and scrub to my heart’s content. Jim Jil Bang is definitely at the top of the list of things I will miss when I go home.

9. We lost our cellphone, which was incredibly inconvenient. Finding and purchasing a replacement was easy (and cheap) enough, but getting the new phone activated was surprisingly difficult. We were shuffled around to multiple stores, told to come back another day, and finally had to sign some other document. I hope I haven’t extended my service contract or anything.

10. I miss summer in Michigan. I miss Bells beer and bare feet and hot dogs and Higgins Lake and the sweaty armpit that Lansing becomes in July. I miss you all! We’ve got our tickets home now, but it will be September before we’re back. Keep the place warm for me, eh?

Love, Erin

It seems that where money is concerned, things can never quite go smoothly. We were paid on September 25th via direct deposit, as promised, but did not receive the correct amount of 2 million won. We also didn’t receive a pay stub. We asked my co-teacher for one, and finally got it on Monday. As expected some money had been taken out for our insurance and pension, but over and above that we were 100,000 won short. I emailed our local program coordinator to double-check the amount that we were supposed to receive, and he confirmed that we had been shorted. So, we reluctantly took it up with my co-teacher. She pulled out a program manual from 2004 which gave the amount we had been paid as the starting salary for English teachers…4 years ago! We compared it to our contracts, and she made a call. By that afternoon, things had been straightened out, but we won’t get our missing 100,000 won until next month. We’ll probably have to ask for a pay stub then too.

In other news, I had an amazing experience last night. After Korean class (which is really hard and not even a little enjoyable and full of people debating the proper terms of address IN THE US/UK AND NOT IN KOREA EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A KOREAN CLASS) I met up with the ethics teacher from my school and another American teacher for a facial/massage extravaganza. Hyun Ju, the ethics teacher, is a good friend of the owner of the establishment, so we were given a discount and lots of personal attention.

First we had tea and looked through a book of services, and finally agreed on Hyun Ju’s favorite, for 30,000 won (right now, that’s just under $25). We were then given little green sandals and green strapless dresses that felt like hospital gowns, and ushered into a little alcove to change. We were reminded to remove our underwear, though I have no idea why. Then they laid us down on comfy tables and the owner prodded our faces and presumably outlined a strategy. She asked us the cause of our breakouts and if we used any depilatories or waxes, and then seemed satisfied and called in two adorable employees in matching dresses. My face was washed, smoothed, washed again and I swear she even poppped pimples. This woman now knows my face better than I do. It was unnerving and fantastic all at once. Then she washed my face again and gave me a ten minute ear, face and neck massage with lotion. It was one more wash after that, followed by a steam towel, and at last a light mask which she covered in wax paper, leaving only my nostrils exposed for breathing. I didn’t mind, as she proceeded to use the strongest hands imaginable for such a tiny person to massage my back (without rolling me over!), chest, and arms for 15 minutes or so.

Next it was off with the mask and another wash, massage, steam towel, and wash again. There was even some sort of exfoliator, followed by another wash, and then more lotion. She left for a moment at that point, returning to apply soft, wet gauze strips that smelled like green tea over my entire face. Then she smoothed a thick mud mask over everything - even my eyelids and lips. I couldn’t move my face. After that she abandoned me for a while, which was okay. I sort of dozed for a bit, and woke up to her saying “han-duh massa-gi.” Ok, ma’am. Hand massage it is. She did lovely, relaxing things to my hands, wrists, and arms for ten minutes or so, and then removed the gauze strips. “Hello!” she said, as I blinked at the lights overhead. Hello. I love you. Don’t ever stop massaging me.

She washed my face one last time, and applied some moisturizer. I got one more neck massage and a head rub, and then she pulled on my arms for a while, and massaged my armpits (which felt weirdly good). Then she had me sit up and she bent my back and pounded on my shoulders with her fists for a while, and finally said “Thank you.” Thank me? Thank you! I told her over and over, in English and Korean, how grateful I was, but she seemed kind of glad to be rid of me. Maybe she’s showered with gratitude by pleasure-doped clients every day. Or maybe it’s just that my skin holds untold horrors that you can only see at close range.

Run! Save yourselves!

The whole thing took about an hour and a half. I changed my clothes and hung out in the lobby with the owner, Stephanie, Hyun Ju and Hyun Ju’s gorgeous three year old daughter (who decided I was a scary monster but liked me anyway) for a while, then blissfully pedaled home. I slept great and today my skin is all glowy. I’m tempted to do this monthly.

Last night I went to a Korean bath house. I am still recovering. Five other ladies from the group and I headed across town via subway to Dragon Hill, a gigantic spa/resort that features a gigantic bath house, plus lots of other salon amenities. Apparently it was on the expensive side, at $10-$12 entry fee (depending on the time of day). The smaller neighborhood bath houses run around $3-$6. Your entry fee gets you access to all of the bathing rooms, showers, and pools, and, since your entry fee is good for 12 hours, you have access to sleeping rooms too.

So there is a men’s elevator and women’s elevator. At the 3rd floor, the door opened on dozens of naked women of all ages, just milling around. We each had keys with numbers on them that corresponded to lockers…we found those and undressed. From there we took our teeny tiny towels (nowhere near big enought to cover us) down to the bathing rooms. You have to shower before entering any of the bathing pools, so we lined up along a low row of mirrors, sat on the stools, and lathered up. Immediately we bacame more comfortable, since there were women all over the place doing the same thing, and paying us no attention. After a while we rinsed and sampled the pools. There were ginseng baths, sea water baths, hot tubs, “event” baths (whatever that means), all at different temperatures, and a cold water bath that you’re supposed to get in every ten minutes or so. We spent most of our time on the outside deck, well above street level and hidden by a high wall, dipping our feet in the footbath and talking.

The best part by far was the massage. At Dragon Hill the cost was about $30, but it’s less at smaller places. I got up on a long, vinyl-covered table, and a strong old lady in lacy black underwear began to rub me down. She had exfoliating mits on her hands and, in a very business-like way, she removed every inch of dead skin from my body. Then she soaped me off and made me get up to rinse. Then it was back on the table for an oil massage (lavender-scented) from head to toe, which included weird cupped-hand slaps all over. Then she spun me around like a huge slippery top (couldn’t quit laughing at that point), and washed my hair for me. This was by no means a private experience. We were at the far end of the bathing room, and I was at one of four tables like this. The rest of them were full, and the ajummas who were massaging us were yelling and joking with each other. Somehow, it was still restfull and my skin has never been this soft.

I’m definitely going to make a habit of this.