Sept. 24 - Moving home from Korea

 

What a gift my time in Korea has been. I can’t even believe the unplanned and amazing opportunities that came along for me in the past three years. I recently read a list of goals I’d written before getting to Korea and realized I’d completed very few of them but I ended up learning a lot more things that I hadn’t even expected. I had my first lessons in Korean (of course), Asian & Korean culture, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, pole dancing, running half marathons, Korean cooking, Loving What Is and The Art Of Living (the last two both literally and figuratively). I had a blood transfusion, learned about what my grandfather did when he fought in the Korean War, saw multiple people get hit by cars (and a bus once), learned some about yoga & meditation, learned about nutrition, got to dance with Jorjet Alcocer and meet and dance with some other incredible salseros & bachateros, I learned a ton of salsa from my Korean friends, made amazing friends and spent a good chunk of time in some ridiculous but enjoyable relationships.

From the very beginning of this trip, life has taken unbelievable care of me. I made friends on the airplane and continued making new friends all the way through including on the plane trip home. I’m just bursting with gratitude for the people that I met in Korea. Seung Yeon who I first met on the plane and later helped me shop at the grocery store, Deon who, even though we only met recently, has become an awesome friend and member of our family and totally got me to the airport and on my flight home smoothly, Yeseo who was the only person I knew when I moved there and came to the airport to pick me up, Jacqui, my coworker who arrived the same day as me and was my first partner in crime exploring the country, Philip and Jessica, the cutest couple in the world and such wonderful and inspiring friends, Logan, who made me laugh constantly and made work so much fun, Justin, Justin & Jonathan who always made KNC a good time, Anton who I met randomly at a lame salsa club and then introduced me to the best club in Korea where I continued to go weekly and meet the majority of my friends, Renata who the words friend and sister don’t even begin to describe so we’ll call her my angel, Nicole who was also unbelievably there for me in my times of need, Erica, my wonderful friend that taught me so much about professionalism and introduced me to my wonderful boss; Jin, who gave me more opportunities than I ever could have imagined, gave me space and autonomy to grow on my own as a teacher and person, and became a wonderful friend. Then there were my fantastic students, kids and adults (although I’m not referring to any of the middle schoolers I taught here lol) who accepted me in their culture, respected me, made me laugh, taught me about their language and customs and truly made me LOVE my job. Life changed once again when Lizzy came along and made me laugh harder than anyone, taught me what the words beauty and generosity mean, allowed me to move into her apartment, went on countless adventures with me and encouraged me to be the best person I can be. Our salsa crews who were my first, craziest and possibly most fun friends in Korea – Jay, Yoyo, Lanny, Albert, Vincent, Ricardo, Bruce, Gabriel, Gyu, Jimmy – not to mention Max & Ricky who provided countless nights of fun for us. My family – Tania, Franz, Aillen & Christian who have been so generous and kind in every way, putting smiles on my face every time I saw them and always ready to have a great time together. The Art of Living friends that I made who I could sit and listen to for hours – Sonia, Kat, Forest, Sagar, Prashant, Saatchi and everyone – I’ve learned so much from you guys! Terrie who was here for such a short time but made such a big impact with her hilarity, big personality and giant smile. Ryan who taught me a lot and gave me an opportunity to grow. Greg, Jiae, Christine, the Liams and everyone who made working at the Herald such a fun experience and provided me with so many enjoyable conversations. Reza and all the soccer guys on both HBC and Hunters who let me play in the men’s league, were awesome friends and a damn good time!

I was so focused on leaving Korea, saying goodbye to everyone and getting all my last-minute moving-out-of-the-country errands done, I now realize that I barely had time to think about coming home. I spent the majority of my day talking to my new Swedish friend (the guy who was seated next to me on the plane), catching up with other friends when I had wifi and sleeping so now I’ve just landed in Ohio and I feel mentally unprepared. It’s a strange experience to be here again – I already know this from the couple of hours I spent in Dallas Airport. Lots of white people, lots of fat people and really dramatic news channels are the first things I’ve noticed (quite similar to my experience in the States a year ago). Not because of those things but just because I’m no longer in my home – Korea – it feels really weird to be here. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it, though, and then head off for another beautiful adventure with my Lizzy!!

*Disclaimer – I did NOT mention all the people I’m grateful for meeting in Korea. I ran out of time!!!! You are all amazing and I’m forever grateful.

Sept. 13 - Letting Go

 I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect last Saturday in Seoul. I ran my fourth half marathon with one of my students and finally finished in less than two hours. Running with him, I realized he represented all of the students that I’ve had in the last three years – intelligent, generous, fun, interesting, different than me and loaded with lessons to teach me. The weather that day was the most beautiful we had in Seoul this year and we were in my very favorite part of the city – the parks along The Han River. There was greenery with flowers all in bloom on one side of me and the light of the sun was bouncing off the river on the other. It was the most beautiful Seoul has ever looked to me.

At night, I went out dancing with my friends, many of whom I only recently realized don’t speak a whole lot of English. In a place where it’s too loud to talk much anyway, we’ve mostly communicated through dancing and body language for the past three years, yet we’ve become extremely close; it hadn’t fully occurred to me before just how insignificant language barriers can be. That was an interesting reminder for someone who enjoys studying linguistics but anyway…I know it’ll be very difficult for me to leave these friends.

In fact, when I was running my race, I had a momentary thought that I never wanted the race to end – it was so beautiful and I felt so alive that I wished it would last forever. I quickly realized, however, that that wasn’t really what I would want; when the time came to cross the finish line, I knew it would feel just right. I knew I’d be ready for the end of the race in the exact moment that it ended – not a moment sooner nor a moment later. Life is always that way. I realized too that I’d begun to feel the same way about leaving Korea – which has been a perfect moment in time for me – but again I realized the truth. It’s true that it needs to come to an end; I feel great and I will continue to feel that way even when this chapter of my life comes to a close. I’m thankful for the race and for the entirety of my time in Korea. Letting the beautiful moments pass by instead of trying to hold onto them forever seems difficult at first but I know that when I do so, I give those moments the chance to change into something even more beautiful.

My little epiphany

 

Now that I live at the top of a hill, I’m able to run as much as I want without shin splints and it’s been amazing. I’ve been out there since winter ended but, as it’s gotten hotter, I’ve switched to shorts & a tank top, which feels AMAZING out there in the sun.

Because people don’t really run on the streets here, I get interesting reactions from Koreans every time I run. Sometimes people get super excited for some reason; they smile, give me a thumbs-up and yell “Good!” in their precious little accents. Other people look at me like I’m crazy, some people stop me and ask me where I’m from, a few make eye contact and smile, and some just ignore me. Anyway…

A few months ago, I was out there just doing my thing, working hard, feeling great about myself and about being outside. When I got to the top to do my burpees after one of the laps, an old man was outside his house working on a motorcycle. He gave me one of the dirtiest looks I’ve ever gotten and then immediately got up and came over to talk to me. Of course I couldn’t understand the words he was saying but I stopped what I was doing to listen and watch his gestures so I’d be able to figure it out. His facial expression and intonation were a typical whiny tone of Korean that I’ve never been a fan of. He kept pointing at me and then pointing down to the other side of the hill and I finally figured out that he was trying to tell me about a little park over there with workout machines. I thought…Okay, he just sounds whiny because he’s speaking Korean but he’s actually just trying to help me. How nice! So, even though he had slightly annoyed me, I bowed all politely like we do here in the ROK and explained with gestures and one-worded sentences that I was running here because I wanted to run up a hill. He looked confused but I wasn’t going to suddenly learn how to explain it in Korean so oh well. It was time for my next lap!

When I made it to the top and started my burpees, the look he gave me was even dirtier than the first. He was pointing at me and this time sounded angrier than whiny. The first thing I wanted to do was punch him in his old-man face because I wasn’t doing anything wrong and he was yelling at me - again. FINALLY I gathered from our little game of charades that he didn’t approve of my choice of outfit. (Keep in mind that showing shoulders is not quite considered appropriate, especially by older people, in Korea.)  Once I knew I had offended him just by wearing my normal clothes, I knew we wouldn’t come to an agreement so I just kept running but did my burpees on a different part of the hill.

Situations like this happen all the time when you live in a foreign country with a language barrier but I had a little epiphany afterwards. Thinking about how I felt during the whole thing, I realized that it was a good metaphor for any kind of problem I’ve ever had with other people.

At first, we had a misunderstanding – I knew he was upset with me but I didn’t understand why. This was, first, because of the language issue. However, even after I understood what he was saying, we still didn’t understand where each other were coming from. He was offended because I was wearing something that he’s not used to seeing. I was offended because I was doing something that’s normal in the country I came from and, until he’d started yelling at me, I’d been feeling all proud of myself and happy to be out in the sunshine.

In the end, whether it’s a language barrier or a difference in background or any other aspect, I realized that all the problems I have with other people are the exact same. We’re all trying to do our best but a failure to understand other people seems to be the root of every problem. Having realized this, I knew it was my job to put myself in his shoes and realize how uncomfortable I was making him feel. My first reaction is to say that we should compromise but, while that would be nice, I know I can only control how well I understand another person; so rather than wishing that others understood me, I need to do the only thing I can do which is try to put myself in their shoes to understand them. I’ve been practicing since but still have a long way to go.

HILARIOUS Student Mistakes

 There were plenty of others but these are some random ones I wrote down over the past couple years.

From My Time Teaching Kids:

My directions: Find five new vocabulary words and write a short definition in English for each.

My students' best answers:

1. Son – when a mom and dad lay a boy
2. Disabled - can’t do anything
3. Problem - the unemployment
4. Fur - a dog’s beard
5. Witch - bad grandmother
6. Mom - the family cook
7. Sniff – sniff the goods
8. Nagging - mom

Playing a game where one student describes a word to the rest, who have to guess…

Student 1: "It's brown and it's not a fruit."

Student 2: "Poop!"

<Answer: Wood>

Student 1: "It's a person."

Student 2: "Hitler? Obama?"

<Answer: a doctor>

Pronunciation Mix-Ups:

kitchen vs. chicken

> (My kids forever said they made dinner in the chicken).

"ET Teacher" instead of "PE teacher"

“I was born on Octopus 8^th” instead of “October 8^th”

Class Discussions:

Jimmy: What do you think about street vendors?

Kevin: I think they are necessary. No...I think they are dirty.

Shannon: Why?

Kevin: What's a "vendor?"

Other student: Someone who sells things…like fruit and vegetables.

Kevin: Their fruit & vegetables are dirty.

*Student: I'm hungry very much.

Me: No... I'm very hungry.

Student: Me too.

*Student: Teacher, have you laid a person?

Me: No, I don't have any children.

*10 mins into the class:

Student: "Can we start the class?"

Me: Omg...it already started. It's just that NO ONE IS LISTENING!!!!

*Me: What is sign language?

Student: When people tell you things with their hands

-> James promptly and (I believe) somewhat innocently flips the bird. “Like this?”

Me: Do you know how we celebrate Independence Day in the US?

Patrick: Strange woman and fire! *holds up arms like the statue of liberty*

(Although I have to say that that’s probably more than the majority of Americans would know about how Koreans celebrate their Independence Day.)

This almost seems too ridiculous to have actually happened but these are true stories.

 My good friend, Logan, and I used to hang out between all our classes (teaching at an English institute for elementary school students). Once, while I was in his room, we noticed that his kids were about to mess with his computer (which is no bueno when it’s tiny, reckless little kids and your own personal computer). Logan started to yell at them and mid-rant:

Logan: How would you like it if I went through your bag?!?

Student: Threw my bag?

Logan: Yeah!

Student: This bag? *Hesitantly picks up his backpack*

Logan: YEAH!

*Student, with a confused and helpless face, tosses his bag across the room in order to carry out the punishment he thought Logan was giving him.

Oh, the looks on both of their faces. Neither one of them understood the other but I got it all, watching from the sidelines. They were both pissed and confused the whole time and it was hilarious. I cried laughing and had to explain it all to my next class because I couldn’t regain composure to begin teaching again at the beginning of class.

No joke…same kid….the following week:

These kids had a nasty habit of leaning back in their chairs but they’re uncoordinated little elementary school students so you never know when one will lose their balance and crash to the floor (and yes, it most definitely happens).

*Student is leaning back in his chair*

Logan: Seat on the floor!!!

*Student mistakes “seat” for “sit.” Again, confused by his punishment. The kid never loses eye contact with Logan yet slowly but surely slides out of his chair and lowers himself to sit on the floor.

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. This is comedy that only life can write.

(Side note: This is a legitimate mistake in Korea. There’s no short ‘i’ sound in Korean so ‘i’ and ‘ee’ sound the same to them at first.)

Adult Students:

I was sitting between two of my students (Jasmine and Rachel) at dinner. In Korea, you never pour your own drink and you have to hold your glass with two hands when someone’s pouring yours. Rachel was pouring a glass for Jasmine but I took the glass to hold it for her so she wouldn’t have to cross over in front of me. Rachel filled the glass and then with her typical, genuinely curious face, just wanting to know if she’s using the expression correctly, she asked me: “So, could I call you her bitch?”

I was in a one-on-one class with my student, Min, and a gnat kept flying all around him. He swatted it away a few times but the gnat persisted. It was bothering him enough that I actually stopped talking about whatever our lesson was and said, “God, that gnat is obsessed with you!” His response was, “Oh, that’s my Tinkerbelle.” I died laughing (and asked if he’d just made that up or if it was a Korean expression – but it was all him). Later in the lesson when the thing finally landed on the desk, I killed it because…what else would you do with an annoying gnat? I’ll never forget his hilarious face of shock and disappointment as he whined, “You killed my Tinkerbelle!!” Sure, he was totally kidding…but this guy’s sense of humor and deadpan faces make the ridiculous things he says almost believable.

Every day in this particular class I wrote the homework on the board. One particular Friday when I wasn’t assigning any, I wrote, “Homework: Drink lots of *soju.” I left the room for a break and when I came back, one of my students who was excited to have no homework had written something along the lines of “Shannon is a great teacher. Let’s give her the clap.”

>> He meant to say “a round of applause” and it was really awkward explaining to them why you can’t talk about “giving someone the clap”.

*Soju = Korean liquor

An enormous company that I sometimes taught for in Korea used the slogan “Boys be ambitious” for a while. One of my old man students said those words to me when he gave me a gift and I saw it written on the box. I was utterly confused. I wanted to fix his English but I wasn’t entirely sure what he was getting at (plus they were already promoting and selling this particular product). I asked if he meant “boys are ambitious” but he said no. A couple weeks later, he showed me that it was a famous quote: “Boys, be ambitious!”

…We then had a discussion on the importance of accurate punctuation.

Walking in Korea

 This is a real conversation I had with Renata and for some reason I don’t want to forget it. I don’t think any further explanation is required.

Me: I have a question about Korea for you.

R: Okay.

Me: You know how in the States we drive on the right, pass on the left and even walk on the right and pass on the left? Like if two people are about to walk into each other both go to the right and it’s okay? And on escalators if you wanna walk, you walk around people on the left? And if you turn a corner you can turn it tightly if it’s a right turn but if it’s a left turn, you take it a little wider?

R: Actually, I’ve never thought about any of that in either country.

Me: Well here they do all of that except the corner one. They take left turns tightly around corners and crash into you if you’re walking around a corner.

R: I’ve just noticed that they crash into each other regardless. You can be walking on a straightaway and they crash into you. (*I die laughing.*) It’s true…those ajummas take you outta the game.

The Race Goes On

Half Marathon #2

My student/running buddy and I have run one more half marathon (along the beautiful Han River and Anyang Stream) together which was equally as awesome as the first and actually much easier since I paced myself this time. I still took over two hours but I never let myself get exhausted and, therefore, never had to stop! I considered that a success. 

We have one more race that we're planning to run together and hopefully I'll get it in less than two hours! Also...this time I couldn't refrain from taking pictures while running because the scenery was just too awesome (I'm gonna use that as my excuse for taking over two hours), not that pictures really do it any justice.

The Spartan Race!!

A couple weeks later, the Reebok Spartan Race I'd been waiting for finally came to Korea and it was a BLAST! My favorite part? My team! It was just two of my best friends and I...a Korean, a Peruvian and an American. Hilariously to us, we had no common language and yet we were easily able to communicate with each other. Choi and I spoke English, Tania and I spoke Spanish, and Choi and Tania spoke Korean. We had all three languages going the whole day and had perfect teamwork as a result!

The race itself was just as awesome as I'd hoped. All I'd wanted was a physical challenge out in the sun with my friends and I got just that. It was held at Vivaldi Park, a beautiful ski resort in Gang-won Province. Instead of the 5k run that we expected, we hiked up these enormous ski hills multiple times and the views at the top were absolutely incredible. The race was made up of mostly men, the majority of them military, but even they were having a tough time making it up those mountains. The obstacles throughout the race were also fun - monkey bars, climbing over walls, crawling under fences, hiking through woods, lifting cement blocks, flipping tires, carrying sandbags up one of the steepest hills, climbing a rope, swimming through mud, crawling under barbed wire, throwing spears, and jumping over fire just before the finish line! If you failed at an obstacle, you had to do 30 burpees with one of the workers watching you and counting. I ended up doing 60 thanks to the rope above the lake of mud and the fact that I'd never before tried to spear someone.

It was an amazing workout, so much fun and we even learned some little lessons. One of my friends really considered quitting about halfway up the first hill but, like they'd said at the beginning of the race, even if you have to carry your friends the whole way, everyone finishes! We held her hands and made sure we stopped to rest with her when she needed it. At the end of the race, we were all proud of ourselves but she had learned a big lesson in how much she could do if she pushed herself. I had a big lesson in there too because normally I like to compete...even if it's just with myself...and see how fast or how well I can do things. It was an exercise for me in self-control and teamwork. Good thing, too, because there's no way I ever could have climbed over those tall walls without my amazing teammates' help!

I most definitely recommend this or any other similar race to everyone and can't wait til I get the chance to do another!!

17 Month Update!

January 2013
 

I’ve been in Korea for 17 months now and, although I haven’t written about any of the even remotely recent, I’ve had plenty of blog-worthy experiences.

I am fortunate enough to have been in Korea when Gangnam Style was released, when our northern neighbors’ dear, sweet, beautiful leader, Kim Jong Il, died and when South Korea inaugurated its first female president.

In my first (almost) year and a half in Korea, I’ve become accustomed to bowing when I say hello to people and seeing wheelchairs driving on the streets. I’ve seen a girl in 6-inch stilettos get (slowly) hit by a car and dealt with absurd noise complaints from my irate neighbor at least half a dozen times. I’ve continued dancing and playing soccer, and even learned to ski. I’ve learned to read Korean, though I can only actually say about 20 words. I’ve experienced Korean saunas (despite the fact that you have to walk around naked) and gotten acupuncture and a massage for the first time. I’ve gone on too many a medical adventure, including an 11-day hospital stay that resulted in the Korean blood now flowing through my veins. I’ve visited the DMZ, where my grandfather was stationed when he was here all those years ago, and, best of all, I’ve learned a ton and made friends from all over the world.

I’ve definitely been here longer than the amount of time I consider appropriate to stay in one country, but the opportunities I’ve been given, combined with my inspiring students and amazing friendships, are making it all-too-easy easy to stay here until the last penny of that school loan is finally paid. More than seven months after my last post (sorry!), I’m pleased to let you all know that it’s still going amazingly well.