Students... kids!

Elementary level students are adorable and horrible at the same time. Any native teacher in Korea (or possibly the world) will agree with me. When you look at them, their little rosy cheeks and angelic smiles almost fool you into believing that they aren't tiny devils in disguise... almost... ;)

This morning walking to school I was thinking about the day ahead and dreading the horrible after school classes that always take SOOO much energy and patience out of me. when I happened upon a kid... who is in said after school class... and probably the worst one at that.He was riding his little pink plastic Winnie the Pooh scooter to school. It seems he had seen me walking behind him, and had slowed down in intervals so I could catch up. When i got near to him he stopped and smiled back at me, waving his hand furiously, his little eyes shining sweetly. Since we don't have much ability to communicate with each other he pointed to me, and then the scooter, motioning me to take the handlebars (which are at about waist level). i started laughing at how hilarious this situation would be.... i thought. why not? grabbed the scooter and scooted a few feet ahead... the kid running right behind me laughing and shouting WOOO HOOO!! this was seriously the best start to the day I have ever had. I stopped a few meters down the road and gave him his scooter back. he took it with a huge smile and rode slowly beside me the rest of the way to school. he stopped when we came to an intersection and didn't go until i said it was okay... so cute! we parted ways when we got close to school and he went to show off his scooter to his friends and let them have a whirl.

however, this afternoon was a completely different story. said child comes rampaging into my classroom, screaming his head off... and throwing things all over the place, hitting the other kids and tackling them to the ground (this is a common Korean child pastime I have found- nothing to be too worried about) I sighed and thought about the great one-on-one morning experience i had with this little one... how did his bright shining eyes turn so red all of a sudden? and where did those horns come from? I certainly didn't see them there before. The class continued and he never seemed to settle down. causing disturbances and not listening to a word i or anyone else said. I tried to hold on to that feeling i got this morning,  but it was slowly fading away into the abyss of my memory.

After the class ended and I plopped down in my chair, completely exhausted, the same student came over to me and held out his hand. in it was a tiny chocolate, and said to me "happy teacher? for you" I smiled and melted back into his cute little face. as i took the partially unwrapped chocolate from his hands he smiled at me and walked calmly away...

Its these moments that we must remember when we are looking for the patience to get through the hard times... like every Friday afternoon for me.and they are little angels.. just young and all they want to do is have fun, instead they are stuck in a classroom 6 days a week, 8+ hours a day reading/writing/and arithmetic! TGIF



side note... as i was editing this post- a little grade 1 student (about 5 years old) just came in and gave me a pen with a little handmade flower on top of it..... i suppose its for teachers day tomorrow..he is literally one of the students i talk about when I say they are soo cute! his mother has given him a perm, highlights and he wears the most fashionable clothes... haha. anyways, what a great way to end my Friday.

#78 Why Korea Sucks: It doesnt....

So when i think about leaving Korea I am filled with a total sense of joy and happiness. going back to my familiar town, living near to my family and friends; these ideas fill me with happiness and a desire to leave as soon as possible. But then i think about the things that ill miss when I am gone, and how being in Korea isn't really that bad at all, and that thought is kind of scary. I am immersed in a completely different culture, and i have allowed myself to get swept away into some of the more beautiful habits that this country holds. 

first: Food- A lot of foreigners complain about the food here in Korea, and wish it to be more like American food. Usually the complaints are about the fish based meals; I can understand if you don't have an affinity for fish how this would cause a problem. But living in Korea, I expected to eat Korean food, not western food. Now, I know I sometimes crave familiar foods- but its just that... I crave something familiar, and food just seems to be the easiest thing to rag on- it wont talk back.

It seems to me that a lot of people have dissociated themselves with that fact and just completely given up on even trying to accept and eat Korean food, and thus adapt to the place that they are living. They are trying to create their old world in this new place they have landed. This is a perfectly natural thing to do, to an extent. It feels to me that when we choose to live in a foreign country that we must take the good and the bad, and rather than simply refusing to try something; give it a try, you never know what will happen. In accordance with food.. think of all of the things you loved when you were a child- i can guarantee your palate has changed quite a bit since then; just as it can change with you acclimatise your palate to these new flavors- it might not like it at first- but after a while your taste-buds will settle in, and you can enjoy a truly authentic experience.

"Korean food is delicious and nutritious." We hear it all the time from our co teachers and friends; but have we ever taken the time to stop and listen? To wonder how this could possibly be? Most of the food here is fresh! so fresh in fact that sometimes its still moving on your plate. I know its not always the most appetizing thing to think of eating every part of an animal (including the bladder, blood, feet brains and tounge) but every part that they eat has a 'reason' behind it. there is a nutrient found in these foods that helps you maintain health. Im sure not ALL of these statements made are true.. but some of them must be; and I cant see why they wouldn't. I am served fresh fruits and veggies at every lunch hour, and a soup that couldn't possibly come from a package  or a bag (like most soups would back home in our school caf's)

I am a veggie, so i don't have to deal with a lot of the gross meat related food here, which may make me an hypocritical observer. But I find that there is such a backlash against the food in Korea from the foreigners that it begins to bother me. I almost WANT to try these foods to see what all the fuss and muss is about. Every day I am served a large plateful of fresh veggies (usually in some strange sauce of sorts) and often i find myself thinking about why they prepare these dishes in the way that they do. I look over to my co workers trays and notice huge hunks of meat and fish baked to perfection, bones still in. I look at their shiny hair and great complexions and seemingly healthy disposition and can begin to understand where it might come from. Its not very often you see an obese Korean... whereas in America the obesity rates have risen to such a high level that the centers for disease control estimate that at least "110,000 people die per year due to obesity and 1/3 of all cancer deaths are directly related to it."

"Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona remarked that obesity is a more pressing issue than terrorism, 'Obesity is a terror within. It's destroying our society from within and unless we do something about it, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9/11 or any other terrorist event that you can point out...'" (killeratlarge.com) [those interested in learning more about this epidemic can go here obesity in America]
I know this is an entirely different issue here but it is a pressing one. and one that i think about when i am deciding whether i want to eat the north American option or the Korean one. I feel that Korean people are more aware of what they are putting into their bodies (a mass generalization i know) and i want to be too.


The food is healthy here and i will surely miss it... (even when I'm eating my delicious poutine... haha)


brings me to my next topic.


Price: The cost of going out to eat here is EXPONENTIALLY less than at home (provided you are going for the non-American option of the yummy Korean food). Tell me a place in North America where you can get a bowl full of veggies and rice, a healthy and filling meal, with all the soup you could ask for, and several side dishes including kimchi, beans, radish, green garlic etc etc. and perhaps even a bowl of hot spicy soup with tofu for under 5$... I dare you to tell me where this exists in America. It simply doesn't! the cheap options include ... fast food, fast food, and more fast food. To go out and get a salad outside of the home costs about the same as it would for 3 people to eat out in Korea.  This is something my wallet and I will dearly miss when we depart.


These are some superficial things ill miss about Korea. within these ideas there are a few other things about the culture that come to mind that will be a happy memory to look back at. the fact that everything is "healthy." the funny little sayings that even the most inexperienced English speakers can say. Ill keep thinking of things as time goes on... but hey, I've still got another year left ;)