Questions

I always get asked questions that are really hard to answer. This is me trying.

People want to know what the biggest difference is between Korea and America. I've only been here 2 months, so I'm no expert, but I would say the way people treat each other, especially strangers. Koreans are much nicer, friendlier, more helpful to people they don't know. At least in my experience. In America if you're in trouble or need something you pretty much have to fend for yourself, in Korea the chances of someone stopping to help you are pretty great.

People also ask how I'm adjusting and how I'm doing with culture shock. I'm doing just fine. But, I knew for a really long time that I wanted to come here and I kind of prepared myself (as much as possible), plus I'm a pretty easygoing person. I go with the flow. By now I have gotten used to not being able to understand the people around me - it feels normal to hear Korean all the time. If I pass another foreigner on the street and hear them speaking English that feels weird. It's also amazing  how much you can communicate with people even when you don't speak the same langauge. Using lots of crazy hand gestures will eventually get you just about anything you want. Also, I can't see how much I stand out. I kind of forget how obvious my presence is in a crowd until I see a picture of me in the midst of a million Koreans.

How's the food? Well, I've never been a seafood fan. And I currently live in a port city with an abundance of seafood. So I don't love that. I'm getting used to fish, but I avoid eating it if I can. And when I say fish, I mean a fish. I'm definitely not ready for octopus legs or whale meat or clams or any of the other stuff they pull out of the ocean. Give me time. At every meal there will be rice, soup, and at least one kind of kimchi. Believe it or not, kimchi is growing on me. It's still disgusting, but not as disgusting as when I first arrived. My chopstick skills are pretty awesome! I've gotten so good - even my co-teachers say so. Sam used to bring me food with chopsticks so he could watch me eat and laugh, but that doesn't happen anymore :) I usually eat out on the weekends, and I cook dinner during the week. I'm no Martha Stewart, so I pretty much make chicken, rice, pasta, eggs, potatoes...send me recipes of things I can cook without an oven!

I get lots of questions about teaching. I love my job! There are times the kids make me crazy, but any teacher in any country will tell you the same thing. I teach 22 classes each week. Of those 22, there are 6 I teach without a co-teacher. Those classes make me dislike my job. It can be so hard and frustrating to give directions or discipline the kids when I don't speak Korean and they don't know what I'm saying in English. Plus, they all speak the same language, so it doesn't take long before they all start talking to each other. It's gotten a lot better since the beginning, but we've got a looooooooong way to go. Before I came to Korea I wasn't sure about the idea of working with a co-teacher, but now I love it. Sam and Yuri make my job so much easier, because they are there to translate directions or to tell kids to sit down and be quiet in Korean. Plus, its fun to have another adult in the room to laugh at the kids when they do funny things. I teach Kindergarten through 6th grade. I love that I do it all. The Kinders, 1st, and 2nd graders are super fun because they're so cute and excited about everything. I love the 5th and 6th graders because they know what I'm saying. I can have coversations about real things with some of them. The 3rd and 4th graders are the toughest because their langauge ability is in the middle. They don't know enough to really make conversation, but they know too much to just teach them vocabulary (which is what I do with the little ones).

So there you go. I hope you're satisfied :)

P.S. I wrote this blog while sitting at my desk at work. I have so much down time it's ridiculous.
Also, look what I can do!
조ㅑㄷ거ㅏ너ㅏㅇ리ㅓ티ㅏ처ㅣㄹㅈ댜ㅐㅊ어ㅏㅣㅓㅊㅌ천ㄷ렆
Pretty awesome huh?! The keyboards can type in both languages.