Archive | January, 2013

Egg-citing times

24 Jan

Hello everyone!  Well it’s been a great week here in South Korea!  I happily made it through the big flu and cold epidemic among students and staff at English Village with just a few days of sniffles and fatigue.  Now we are practically in a heat wave with three days in a row of weather above freezing.  Amazing!

I made my way to Seoul again last weekend and was so grateful to connect with a local  Soka Gokkai International chapter, a buddhist group of which I am a member.  It was so much fun!  I joined the International group of SGI in Seoul.  There were members from the United States, Japan, and South Korea.  The nice thing for me is that everyone speaks English and it felt like a little taste of home.  It was comforting to connect with a new group of people who were so welcoming and open.

I learned about this SGI group through a connection from a friend and great  SGI supporter back in New Orleans.  She heard that there was an SGI member who used to live in New Orleans who now lives in Seoul.  So she reached out to him and let him know I was here and within a day I was connected by email with other SGI members in the area and within a week I was directed to the meeting closest to me.

We met in the private home of one of the members who lives on a US Residential base for the military in Seoul.  Their spacious apartment had all the comforts of “home”… a kitchen stocked with American food, a dishwasher, and plenty of good company.  What was on the menu that day?  Good ol’ American chilli!  What a treat.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting every member of the SGI group and look forward to attending regularly.   They could not have been more generous, supportive and welcoming with their time, energy and attention.  I am so grateful and it will be nice to have connections in Seoul outside of my English Village life in Paju.

This week of teaching has been good, but has felt busy to me. At English Village we get new students every week, therefore my schedule changes very much from week to week.  This week I have taught elementary students and high school students from South Korea.

Here at the English Village our curriculum is developed for us and our job is to teach it.   Many of the classes here are created to be fun and engaging for the students with topics like Drama and Cooking.  This week I assisted with a class that learned about gravity.  They were given a piece of newspaper, string, tape and straws to create a “home” for an egg.  At the end of the class they drop it from a second story and hope it lands safely on the ground… in one piece… (some do… some don’t…)  We teach all classes only in English and students are encouraged to only speak English and not Korean (or whatever their native language is)…  This, as you can imagine, can be challenging for some students.

It is Thursday and it has been a full week for me and I must say I am looking forward to the weekend.  Friday is a light day for us as our students have classes just in the morning and then leave in the afternoon for home. This weekend I will be heading to Seoul again.  It is nice to teach and work during the week… and then satisfying to have a few days off to do something different!

Thanks for reading and for staying connected!  As always, I would love to hear from you!

Top photo is a truly foreign sight in Seoul – Girl Scouts!  And Girl Scout cookies!  Yes it’s Girl Scout cookie time, even in South Korea!  Here are a few Girl Scouts I spotted selling cookies on a US Military base in Seoul.

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Special Programs

12 Jan

Well it has been another week of growth, new opportunities and challenges here at the English Village in Paju, South Korea.  It’s hard to believe that I have been here for almost a month already!  I certainly don’t feel like a seasoned staff member yet, but I at least feel like I am more comfortable and familiar with the basics… which is good.   There is still more to learn, that’s for sure!

This past week I had the opportunity to work in a different area of programming at the English Village called Special Programs.  I was told early on by another staff member that the one thing you can count on at the English Village is change. So far I have found that to be true.  It seems that one must always be open for things to be different  – your daily schedule, what area you will work in, who you will teach with…

So I was moved over to Special Programs.  I am not sure for how long… perhaps a week, perhaps for good.  Time will tell.  So far I really enjoy it.  There is quite a bit of diversity in the students and curriculum in Student Programs.  There are also sometimes opportunities to work with and teach adult and college level students, which I like. In this past week I taught elementary and high school students from South Korea, Japan, and even a few students from Russia.  I also taught classes for a group of visiting adult teachers from South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Russia!

It was really fun for me working with and teaching the adults!  Their English level is so high and of course discipline isn’t a problem – so the focus gets to be more on teaching and learning English.  I taught subjects this week like “phrasal verbs” “idioms” and “slang”.  I am finding that beginning to teach English is also serving as a refresher course for myself.  Speaking English and teaching it to others are two different things.

I had to laugh while teaching slang… to notice how confusing the English language can be – words that typically mean one thing, but when used as slang mean something else.  One slang word on their worksheet was “the John” which many of us know is an informal word for the bathroom ( or the toilet, the WC, the Loo… depending on where you are from…)  A student asked “why is it called the John?”  I have no idea.  So I googled it and I learned that the slang term comes from Sir John Harrington who was the inventor of the first flushing toilet.  Who Knew!?

At the end of the week we had a closing ceremony for the adult students and I was surprised to find myself tearing up a bit.  The students all had such bright energy and were such kind people.  Their enthusiasm and appreciation for learning was really wonderful and it was fun to have the experience of teaching and connecting with them.

The cold weather continues on with a new dusting of snow arriving last night.  And so with the cold weather, outside of teaching time it is still mostly hibernation for me.  I am doing my best to cook up a storm in my tiny little kitchen thanks to the wonders of my new crock pot, my latest purchase in South Korea.  Today I am making Jamaican Fish.  Here is the recipe if you’re curious!  Since I don’t have an oven, I am learning there are MANY things you can cook in a crock pot that you would typically bake… sweet potatoes, even brownies!

As always, thanks for reading and stopping by!  Life is good in the frozen land of English Village as I stay warm and settle a little bit more into my world of newness and change teaching here in the northern peak of South Korea.

Photo of Korean women cooking up a storm at an indoor market in Seoul.

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Leaving the nest

6 Jan

After being in Paju City living and working at the English Village for the past few weeks, it was about time to leave the nest. Nothing dramatic, mind you, but a little outing. It was my first trip to Seoul. It was rooted in a practical matter – shopping. With the freezing cold temperatures outside, I was glad to get out, but for just a little bit. With my long down coat, three pairs of socks, gloves and scarf… I was ready to go!

I joined my friend Chris, one of the American staff here at the English Village. He and his wife have lived and worked in South Korea for the past three years. As they eat a strict gluten free diet, they are perfect guides and companions for my adventures in healthy eating in South Korea. With his wife’s nudging I was invited to join Chris on one of his regular shopping excursions. We stood outside the grounds of the English Village and waited for bus 2200, the bus that travels to Seoul practically non-stop about every 15 minutes. The journey takes about 45 minutes.

We traveled on the cold bus across the frozen land. About half way through the journey I was asked by the bus driver to be quiet. It was a simple gesture. The bus had stopped and when she walked by me she looked at me, put her finger to her lips, and made a “shhh” sound. Okay… was I talking too loud? Chris assured me that it was in part because we were foreigners but that also in general it is considered rude to talk loudly on public transportation. Koreans in general have much quieter speaking voices then Americans. In class we are always encouraging Korean students to speak up so we can hear them. My traveling companion Chris has a more soft-spoken voice. And me, well I had flashbacks to my 7th grade teacher letting me know in the middle of class that my voice carried…as well as my inability to whisper to my sister or my mother when I was a child in church on Sundays. Chris let me know that his wife had the same problem. Loud voice – good for teaching – I guess not so good for South Korean public transportation. I did my best to lower the volume and the journey continued.

In no time at all we were in Seoul. The bus stops at a subway station stop and we made our way down stairs the underground transportation system. Chris hooked me up with a “T-money” card, an electronic card when loaded with a little money is a fast and easy way to pay for the subway and other public transportation.

Chris was a good steward of the subway system giving me little tips for when I might negotiate the system on my own. The subway system in South Korea is quite well planned and seemed almost more scientific in its organization then the European systems I had become more comfortable with. We traveled about 7 stops away and then we arrived at our destination. What was on the shopping list for today? Baking goods. As Chris and his wife eat gluten free, they did a little research and found an area where local bakers go to buy gluten-free flours and specialty items as well as baking materials and goods. We wove through little streets lined with outdoor shops until we arrived at our destination.

I was impressed that Chris and his wife had found this area on their own. Just past rows of shops selling carpet, yarn and other unimaginable materials was a cluster of shops with a variety of fresh baking related products. I had come along in part out of curiosity and thinking perhaps I would find something that I wanted/needed for myself as I am still building my little “kitchen” in my small studio-like apartment on the English Village campus. My cooking tools are currently a dependable two ‘burner” hotplate and a crockpot. Our little apartments don’t have ovens as is typical in smaller South Korean apartments. So while baking is not currently on the agenda for me, I thought it couldn’t hurt to check things out.

We arrived at Chris’ favorite little shop filled with fresh flours, sweeteners, nuts, sprinkles, you name it. I found I eagerly dug in like a child happy to purchase more items to feed my budding little home. I bought some almond flour… for… who knows what, fresh coconut, raw pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and oats. They also had some spices so I bought some bay leaves and cloves. And they had a few random canned products, more “american style”, including tomato paste and black olives. I had not seen either of these products in Korean grocery stores so I snatched those up too! I was happy with my little purchase. We made our way through a few other shops in the area then headed back out to the main street.

I found this neighborhood, a maze of tiny shops and my first impression of Seoul, to be… beautiful. Not beautiful in any way that is particularly lavish or breath-taking. But beautiful mostly in its utter sense of foreignness to me. Just amazing.

We walked across the street and took a stroll through a local indoor market. We found dozens of little stands busily preparing food. Most of the food looked similar – something that looked like a potato pancake, and other items that looked egg based with some vegetables and meats. The Korean women knew just enough words of English to invite us to have a seat at their stand. We wove around a bit and settled into a small little informal restaurant/stand.

Chris and I stayed for a quick bite, sharing a large bowl of soul with eggs, dumplings, noodles and green onions. We also shared the potato like pancakes filled with seafood. After lunch we made our way back to the subway station. Seoul was beautiful but… it is just too cold for me to linger. In no time at all we were on the bus, this one heated, and soon on the interstate returning to Paju City and English Village.

On the ride back I noticed rows upon rows of similar looking high-rise buildings that ran for it seemed perhaps miles. What is that? I asked. Chris said they were high-rise apartment buildings. In truth the scene kind of gave me the creeps… like something from a futuristic science fiction movie or something. But Chris shared that something like 45% of the country’s population lives in Seoul and the surrounding areas. Many people!

On the ride back we listened to two Korean girls giggling uncontrollably about something…bahavior that seems typical for Korean little girls. One of the girls turned around and took a good look at me. I am told it is not unusual for Korean children to stop and stare at Foreigners (yep, that’s me! I’m a foreigner!) as it is not all that usual to see non-Koreans in Korea (although more common in the Seoul area…)

And now I am back safe and sound in my mostly warm apartment. The cold is leaking through the windows and underneath the door but I do my best to stay warm. It is the weekend but the halls of my apartment building and streets of the English Village and calm and quiet. I cooked a nice dinner for myself on my hot plate.  It feels good to be warm and settled in for the evening.

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